It's such a powerful item that it's little wonder that people couldn't figure it out. We just aren't expecting them to encounter something of that level yet.
“An item that contained three W’s” It’s a ring of three wishes, so let me get this straight. The Black Iron Pact are trying to cheat their way through this ancient legendary dungeon without running into any encounters. Going so far as to use wishes to alter their fate. Well if that’s not well deserving of the old Colville Screw than I don’t know what is.
What are you surprised about? The gang already was in one other dungeon and we know that there is a giant Drow enclave under the city as well. Not to mention the crypts of literally hundreds of noble houses and temples past and present.
I had a genuine 'oh fuck' moment as you were talking about the Ws in this video. It only just dawned on me that these guys are capable of wish! This will be the toughest battle for the chain yet! It *may* even last more than 2 rounds.
Hi Matt, Last night i just finished resding your book "Thief". Congratulations your books are awesome, realy like it. Love from your friends in Brazil!
Otyughs are a super fun creature that is as Matt says, no joke. But still fun and I tend to play them as kind of goofy and dangerous. I think the tension between Slim and the rest of The Chain adds to the sessions as does the tension between Leech and the others. Absolutely fun to watch.
Hi Matt, I know you just said you guys were taking a break, but has there been any thought to running a 1 shot where the rest of the player group plays as Chain retainers and acquires the butcher shop? I have run a couple side adventures that were based around what retainers had been up to in the meantime with a lot of success. Typically not combat based either so rolling stats and such was not a big deal. Having Angel and a couple of goons steal some documents heist style would be sweet. Just a thought.
When I first heard Matt’s Master Monk idea I went “oh my God I love that! I’m gonna steal that!” I love monks played them a lot. And long story short, now there is a Master of Fungus in my settings. Thanks to what happened to one of my characters with a mushroom colony and a mind-flayer.
I love these videos. I get so much insight into how to run a game with more tangible examples. The stream isnt something i really watch but these videos I think are great for this channel. To me theyre practical application of running the game videos. Keep up the great work
I hope you get good rest in those two weeks. Also keep these here. I love hearing them and your opinion as a DM as well. Which is why I think these should stay on here
Please keep this content on this channel. I don't watch live streaming. I do, however, love the champagne diary as an extention of your advice on being a better DM. While i like following the story, it is your honest self evaluation in reflection that really makes this content not only unique but ultimately gives it real value. Thanks again.
@@tennesseeponderer3146 Obvious misspelling. Good catch and thanks for the grade. But, then again, I'm not trying to be a good student. Just leaving a simple comment.
I wonder. When people “in the know” realize what The Chain is up to in the butcher shop. Would they try to legally take the butcher shop by producing documents saying it belongs to them or someone associated with them?
There's an easy way to approximate your Party's Challenge Rating (not the way in the DM Guide or UA). Take 1/2 x Level for each party member. A 7th level party of 6 characters will have a CR of 21. A CR 15 Purple Worm is going to be an easy fight. I noticed that some NPC adversaries from the published adventures were level 4 spell casters and their assigned challenge rating was 2. That gave me the idea to apply it to the PCs as well and it holds up in my game. It will model a Hard fight, if the number of participants are even on both sides and you match CR numbers. Just add up the CR numbers of the monsters until you get to the Party CR number. You also need to account for Action Economy if they outnumber their foe (6 vs. 1) that will push the difficulty lower (subtract 1 for each additional party member, CR 15 -5 = 10).
@@gossamera4665 Good question. I don't know, because the early editions didn't use "balanced" encounters. If it was too hard, you were expected to retreat or die. I haven't played 3.5 or 4e, so I can't comment on those editions. Maybe someone else can help us both out.
@@jokertim777 Ok. This might be a hard question to answer, but I heard Matt mentioning a vorpal blade, I dunno if that was wielded by one of the players or a baddie but even so it's bound to end up in player hands after the fact, so how much do you think handing out artifact weapons prematurely will affect this system? In terms of CR, what if anything would a +1 weapon represent? Again, I realize this might not be answerable. A vorpal blade is what, +4 or something...
@@gossamera4665 When 5e was released, the guidance given to DMs was to restrict +1 weapons to 5th and higher, +2 to 10th, and +3 to 15th so as not to throw off the "bounded accuracy" of the game system for determining hits to AC. There are no magic items with higher than +3 in the core rules of 5e for this reason. A Vorpal Sword is listed as having three properties; +3 to hit/dam, ignores resistance to slashing damage, and decapitation (if possible) on a critical hit. However, Matt doesn't always use standard magic items from the rule books. By taking a look at Slim's character sheet, it would appear that Matt has given Phil a +1 Sword with the decapitation property. Fun fact: Vorpal Sword comes from Lewis Carol's "Through the looking glass" (1871). It appears in the poem Jabberwocky, which is read by Alice and the sword makes a "Snicker-snack" noise when cutting off a head. So, having a +1 weapon is expected once a character reaches 5th level and won't throw anything off in terms of CR.
@@jokertim777 Wow a +1 vorpal sword, that's something. Well alrighty then, thank you, you've been very informative and helpful. :) Have you seen/played American Mcgee's Alice? I think I remember some of that from there, can't remember if I've read the original book though, it's definitely on my to do list but I feel like I've watched so many versions that I know the plot by heart, obviously Disney wouldn't put that in though.
Slim bothers me a bit. The not following orders thing is what the chain is about and he swore an oath. If they don't hold him to that then what's the point of the chain?
I see his character going one of two ways: he becomes close with the other senior officers and respects them. Falling in line he finally feels at home. Or he continues on this path and there comes a breaking point between him and King. Good opportunities for story development either way.
In my 15 years of D&D I have never seen a DM so ballsy and trusting in their players that they throw a full on WISH... yet I know.... Matt is that guy.
Decided to go to the newest video to say thanks Matt!! Just got the email that my followers book has been shipped hype to know u finished it can't wait for the next one
Matt a trick I used to stop players from taking "monster" prisoner was give them a bead from a necklace of fireball. When the players go to grab them, the monster bites. Was pretty proud of that since I made it up on the fly.
At a certain point that’s still DM fiat because a fireball can’t one shot creatures with more than 25 hp. Not that that particularly matters but it’s just a thought.
Alright DM Dad, sounds like you have them pinned against the wall. I am sure your players will think of a way to pull themselves out of the fire. Also here's to me calling those 20's for Slim ahead of time. Not 2 but, 3. Good luck, and good game to you.
Yeah ... anytime I've run a game where the PCs are up against the wall and I'm absolutely convinced that I'm about the demolish them, here come the wave of critical hits by the PCs right alongside my utter inability to hit the broadside of a barn ... while I'm IN the barn ... and standing next to the "broadside" wall itself...
Or y'know they start reaching into their bags for those potions they never used. Pull a victory from their rear when "Wild Magic" pulls out Unicorn from the fey wilds to say hi. Then, just when things look the grimmest. The fighter losses their mind Hulks out from the potion SMASH BBEG, SMASH new Thrall, >.> I was next so I smashed myself and played dead. INT 1, Fighter starts smashing bodies of Dead BBEG's next to me. Silent swallow an orange. Watch as my ally pops out of nowhere and Plane shifts the Fighter away to Celestia... \o\ Praise Bahamut I live, I rise with one eye open. "Where did you send her?" "Oh Celestia" Me-"Oh no...."
As to the alchemy test (arcana check and medicine check coming from a single player) I totally agree with your train of thinking Matt, however given the players reactions. It may be worth chewing over using variable DC's and allow them to split the task but at a significantly more difficult rate than if a single person where to do the same task. Food for thought. Love you guys either way, Have Fun and keep on rollin'.
"...'I'm the healer, I'll just heal him back,' and that's exactly what happened." But that's not what happened. Big Cat pulled Leech out of the Ogtyugh's tentacles and then Boots was the one who healed Leech. Then Leech healed himself before the short rest. I'm not sure King healed him at all in that episode, never mind that battle.
Having played the 3.5 adventure that I think Matt has based this part his campaign on, I’m hyped. First thought about it with the Sun Elf, the Iron Ring, Umber Hulk tunnels, and the note told me I was definitely right. Can’t wait to see how it continues!
This series staying in this channel is a better business move. If people hear the stories from your game on your more popular channel, they will feel tempted to check it out. It's a much bigger perceived effort to expect an audience to go to that other channeljust from sheer curiosity scrounged from theoretical videos.
I don't know if the players will retreat considering the fact they were thinking the doors closed because of the wards. And if they can't re open the door from this side easily then they might just think they will be chased down with no escape. So unless they have a way to retreat they might die just because they don't think they have a good option in a closed off area where if they are chased they have no way out.
The key to tonight may come down to how they use their NPC wizard. Buts? I don't remember. She could lay down another Stinking Cloud etc... and that might give them an edge. Plus she is HP to soak damage. Which should not be underestimated.
My thought about a workaround for the brain surgery medicine roll is removing the entire head and letting the alchemist do the cut work if that would work? If you assume adventurers have the way to preserve a brain then preserving an entire head should be even easier, maybe not tenable for really big monsters, but I'd definitely argue removing a head (and maybe even lower jaw to make it easier or smaller to carry) is more a survival skill than a medicine one.
Ok so to anyone who is freaking out because the iron pact has access to a Ring of Tree Wishes, think about this : they are willing to use at least 2 whole wishes to get into Ringwell and then get out. This means what is inside of Ringwell is worth more than 2, maybe 3 wishes.
Hey, I hope this is no bother and that I have not missed anything, but I was wondering where is the third book in your fantasy book series, Matt? I was watching an older video of yours from 2016, and you already had the first two out at that time. Did you decide not to finish it?
Hey matt! I am a new gm using Kalarel the vile as a villain. But instead of trying to summon orcus, he is trying to gain his favour so he can resurrect his dead wife whose soul is held by Orcus. The catch is, his dead wife is a ghost on the player's side. I am using her as an npc to push the story and give kalarel info about the party. When they finally reach the black tower, I will resurrect her through the portal, giving my players a shock. Thanks for the great videos! You made me gather a groyp and start running dnd. Regards from Turkey!
Just want to chime in that Boot's command ability could upgrade as he levels up like his natural Bardic Inspiration die!! That way it reflects in increasing knowledge and experience. Bards get d6s and d8s and d10s and so on, could totally do that with a command die too!
I'm interested, but a little worried, about how the Command check is gonna work out. It's a really fun idea but if the Chain had each gotten a free action before the AlphaTeam, they could have focused down a single member, so the BIP getting free actions in Round1 could result in the same. I hope all those combat simulations were good practice but I'm very worried that the team just won't retreat and will get completely wiped out!
@@mcolville I think when it was said (on the stream) that the other team would get a free action/movement as as a result of them winning that I assumed the Chain would have as well, since Boots' benefit wasn't explicitly stated at the time. First time seeing Command Check so I didn't know until this video that there were potentially different benefits.
Matt I got to save you should keep the campaign diaries on this channel as they provide a nice companion to Running the game and they also provide a good amount of DM information
Considering that the party has a size of 6 people by now, it's really important to bring numbers against them for a good challenge. One Creature alone won't do much, it literally can't defeat them in 5E because of the help action, unless it has strong AoE
Wait, they're TWO levels higher, have access to wishes AND are coming into the fight fresh in hit points and ablities?! They're so boned! How the fuck are they supposed to contend with these black iron wangrods?!
Well, good that none of the heroes' retainers is that bard variant that turns a hit into a crit once per day. That would result in lots of heads coming off with that vorpal blade o.O
Boots’s inspiration die should be a d8 not a d6, furthermore, an action is significantly better than a d4, especially if a spellcaster can get off two aoe’s before a party can scatter. A because the internet can’t convey tone of voice please let it be known that this is meant to be constructive criticism
Tennessee Bear Agreed - really cool in concept, but the reward for success and the penalty for failure (to the PCs) don’t match with the way the abilities are currently balanced. Scary if you’re a PC!
Though to be fair - it's not meant to be balanced. The enemy command ability is only going to fire once. Boots may have the chance to use this in every fight for the rest of the campaign.
Hi Matt! Have you ever considered Legendary Initiative? Triple advantage or something? It just seems stacked against your BBEG when SIX people are rolling against you.
I'm curious; when scavenging a creature's organs, if someone succeeds the int check to identify the organ's location, does that mean they remember the location for that type of creature in future? Like, if you successfully scavenged the brain of a purple worm, then a few sessions later you encountered another purple worm, would you be able to skip the int check because you already passed it previously? If so, how broadly applicable would that knowledge be? Would a black dragon's brain be in the same place as a blue dragon? Would it use the same categories as the potion effect?
I think the best way to explain that runes are not a language is to compare them to a math equation. You can look at a math equation and know what all the symbols mean and still have no idea what the purpose of the equation is. You have to actually have studied that particular area of mathematics and be familiar with the general equations that it uses for it to make any sense, because even if you can go "This equal 5" that is still almost useless with the context of what the solution is for.
Chloe Pechlaner rules for “Concordance”, a feature in Matt’s SaF book! Essentially a running tally of your relationship with your patron/deity. The higher the score, the more likely they are to aid you in battle.
Matthew, thank for consistently making *the* best D&D related content and DM inside game. Your videos inspired me to DM a homebrew and help me avoid a ton of amateur mistakes.
In fairness the confrontation with the Twelve Dragons was functionally a retreat. They got out pretty bloodlessly, but that's obviously what happened. Making this - by my count - the third time the Chain will have had no choice but to slink away in shame. And if the Black Iron Pact get the artifacts, it will be pretty injurious to party morale.
@@mcolville ...and enjoyment is the purpose of gaming, ye theatrical doofus. All I'm saying is, it's demoralizing for players to be chased around like rats by every significant party, and it's worse again when they're supposed to be hardened sellswords. Not that it matters now of course.
Not sure why the thought crossed my mind,but I'd love to see Matt DM a game for famous lets players. Namely Markiplier has enough friends to do it, also wouldn't mind seeing Boogie2988 give D&D a shot. Not that I'll ever get bored with the games Matt runs now,I just thought it might open the game to a broader audience.
FWIW I'd rather have a full movement or an action for my entire team (did I hear that right?) than a D4 for my teammates, given that action economy dictates the battle.
20:25 The Pact has an item that has access to 3 W's?
They've unlocked the internet guys, they have the first URL.
It sounds like a ring of wish. I'm not finished with the video yet but I'd say that's my guess
@@buckhunt6832 i tried to think though entire video what it might be and it never occurred to me somehow
@@godo2712 I'm almost positive it's a wish especially since it came in 3
As soon as he phrased it like that, I knew it was a ring of three wishes.
It's such a powerful item that it's little wonder that people couldn't figure it out. We just aren't expecting them to encounter something of that level yet.
“An item that contained three W’s”
It’s a ring of three wishes, so let me get this straight. The Black Iron Pact are trying to cheat their way through this ancient legendary dungeon without running into any encounters. Going so far as to use wishes to alter their fate.
Well if that’s not well deserving of the old Colville Screw than I don’t know what is.
Or it's a legendary item known as "The ring of URL". Allowing you to access the internet at will.
Yes. I stole that joke from someone else.
"ONE OF the dungeons beneath Capitol"
Anyone else catch that?
Scrolling through comments he said that literally as i read this. Thanks for pointing it out
The chain have been in one of the other dungeons so it's not a big surprise.
What are you surprised about? The gang already was in one other dungeon and we know that there is a giant Drow enclave under the city as well. Not to mention the crypts of literally hundreds of noble houses and temples past and present.
I had a genuine 'oh fuck' moment as you were talking about the Ws in this video. It only just dawned on me that these guys are capable of wish! This will be the toughest battle for the chain yet! It *may* even last more than 2 rounds.
Thank you for pointing this out. If they have something with 3 wishes in it, that may mean that the Black Iron Pact has a Genie in a lamp!
I literally said “oh fuck” as it donned on me. I kept thinking “they have two purple worms?”
@@treymclemore3418 Lmao! one use purple worm transport is headcanon now :D
My guess was a ring of wishes, but I guess yours works too.
@Trey McLemore
How do you misspell 'dawned' as 'donned' when the comment you're replying to spelled it correctly?
Hi Matt,
Last night i just finished resding your book "Thief". Congratulations your books are awesome, realy like it.
Love from your friends in Brazil!
"If you're not willing to bombard your own troops then you don't really want to win!"
King, Commander of the Chain of Acheron
You spelled Nails wrong 😉
@@SophiaAphrodite That was a reference to a webcomic called Schlock Mercenary.
Well, if they TPK, the players will at least have a few weeks to build up their favorite retainers up into new senior officers.
And the fact that there are more episodes.
Otyughs are a super fun creature that is as Matt says, no joke. But still fun and I tend to play them as kind of goofy and dangerous.
I think the tension between Slim and the rest of The Chain adds to the sessions as does the tension between Leech and the others. Absolutely fun to watch.
2 weeks without the stream? What am I meant to do, something productive? Are you crazy?
If any of the party survives maybe there will be some downtime content?
Dune!
Hi Matt,
I know you just said you guys were taking a break, but has there been any thought to running a 1 shot where the rest of the player group plays as Chain retainers and acquires the butcher shop? I have run a couple side adventures that were based around what retainers had been up to in the meantime with a lot of success. Typically not combat based either so rolling stats and such was not a big deal. Having Angel and a couple of goons steal some documents heist style would be sweet.
Just a thought.
Matt you look so happy! That makes me excited to watch you all play and TO RUN MY OWN GAMES.
what if they leave the dungeon only to find that the butcher's shop is now very lucrative and then Angel quits to become a butcher.
Their selection of meats must be divine
You forgot to mention the best part of the note: Odie the Imp found it and pretended to eat it!
When I first heard Matt’s Master Monk idea I went “oh my God I love that! I’m gonna steal that!”
I love monks played them a lot. And long story short, now there is a Master of Fungus in my settings. Thanks to what happened to one of my characters with a mushroom colony and a mind-flayer.
I love these videos. I get so much insight into how to run a game with more tangible examples. The stream isnt something i really watch but these videos I think are great for this channel. To me theyre practical application of running the game videos. Keep up the great work
I tend to tune out after the first 60-90 minutes of the show. So these help me pick up on things I missed or didn't understand
I'll never get tired of the "Tom, not Tom" gag.
A few things I love:
"Tom, not Tom"
"Of interest only to historians"
"How would you know that?"
"Blimey"
Anything Odie says or does
I hope you get good rest in those two weeks. Also keep these here. I love hearing them and your opinion as a DM as well. Which is why I think these should stay on here
Some if the best dungeons and dragons comes from the players having there backs against the wall.
This will be epic.
This video is a return to form and energy you had when you were still filming from home! Good going!
Please keep this content on this channel. I don't watch live streaming. I do, however, love the champagne diary as an extention of your advice on being a better DM. While i like following the story, it is your honest self evaluation in reflection that really makes this content not only unique but ultimately gives it real value.
Thanks again.
It'll still be on youtube either way
Champagne?
@@tennesseeponderer3146 Obvious misspelling. Good catch and thanks for the grade. But, then again, I'm not trying to be a good student. Just leaving a simple comment.
Right as I finished last week's video the alert for this went out so it's cool getting to instantly continue the story
WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES
Fantastic video! I had my session zero recently and it was all because of you. Going to be DMing REAL SOON!
OH SH!T. It´s wishes, 3 wishes.
I dunno...are you sure it's not wombats?
It’s Wumbo
I'd love to see a 'back in the boat' night with the juniors episode.
And a butcher's shop with no meat, ala cheese sketch.
I wonder. When people “in the know” realize what The Chain is up to in the butcher shop. Would they try to legally take the butcher shop by producing documents saying it belongs to them or someone associated with them?
“Be seeing you”
Me: ... wait what ?!
“Wait no, peace out”
Me: oh good...
am I the only one who wishes he always said Peace Out?
Shiboleth
There's an easy way to approximate your Party's Challenge Rating (not the way in the DM Guide or UA). Take 1/2 x Level for each party member. A 7th level party of 6 characters will have a CR of 21. A CR 15 Purple Worm is going to be an easy fight. I noticed that some NPC adversaries from the published adventures were level 4 spell casters and their assigned challenge rating was 2. That gave me the idea to apply it to the PCs as well and it holds up in my game. It will model a Hard fight, if the number of participants are even on both sides and you match CR numbers. Just add up the CR numbers of the monsters until you get to the Party CR number.
You also need to account for Action Economy if they outnumber their foe (6 vs. 1) that will push the difficulty lower (subtract 1 for each additional party member, CR 15 -5 = 10).
Nice. Do you know whether this is exclusive to 5e or if it translates to other editions as well?
@@gossamera4665 Good question. I don't know, because the early editions didn't use "balanced" encounters. If it was too hard, you were expected to retreat or die. I haven't played 3.5 or 4e, so I can't comment on those editions. Maybe someone else can help us both out.
@@jokertim777 Ok. This might be a hard question to answer, but I heard Matt mentioning a vorpal blade, I dunno if that was wielded by one of the players or a baddie but even so it's bound to end up in player hands after the fact, so how much do you think handing out artifact weapons prematurely will affect this system? In terms of CR, what if anything would a +1 weapon represent? Again, I realize this might not be answerable.
A vorpal blade is what, +4 or something...
@@gossamera4665 When 5e was released, the guidance given to DMs was to restrict +1 weapons to 5th and higher, +2 to 10th, and +3 to 15th so as not to throw off the "bounded accuracy" of the game system for determining hits to AC. There are no magic items with higher than +3 in the core rules of 5e for this reason. A Vorpal Sword is listed as having three properties; +3 to hit/dam, ignores resistance to slashing damage, and decapitation (if possible) on a critical hit. However, Matt doesn't always use standard magic items from the rule books. By taking a look at Slim's character sheet, it would appear that Matt has given Phil a +1 Sword with the decapitation property.
Fun fact: Vorpal Sword comes from Lewis Carol's "Through the looking glass" (1871). It appears in the poem Jabberwocky, which is read by Alice and the sword makes a "Snicker-snack" noise when cutting off a head.
So, having a +1 weapon is expected once a character reaches 5th level and won't throw anything off in terms of CR.
@@jokertim777 Wow a +1 vorpal sword, that's something. Well alrighty then, thank you, you've been very informative and helpful. :)
Have you seen/played American Mcgee's Alice? I think I remember some of that from there, can't remember if I've read the original book though, it's definitely on my to do list but I feel like I've watched so many versions that I know the plot by heart, obviously Disney wouldn't put that in though.
When DM gets really excited over encounter, as a player, you know it's time to run
when i realized what 'W' meant i put my head in my hands and released a high pitched squeal in fear for the chain.
Slim bothers me a bit. The not following orders thing is what the chain is about and he swore an oath. If they don't hold him to that then what's the point of the chain?
Good plot fodder!
I think it's basically Slim's character arc. He'll learn to think of his friends as equals (enough) and to trust and respect them enough.
Yeah i can see the warrior becoming a soldier arc for him if things go well
He is the chain’s equivalent of Raven.
I see his character going one of two ways: he becomes close with the other senior officers and respects them. Falling in line he finally feels at home. Or he continues on this path and there comes a breaking point between him and King. Good opportunities for story development either way.
I do enjoy your retelling and especially the commentary. thanx for doing it.
I think you should be able to split the alchemy/medicine check, but do the medicine check at disadvantage if they need to be guided by the alchemist
"...sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger, sometimes you're the ball..."
I think you misspelled Glen
@@tennesseeponderer3146 Not sure what you mean? I was referencing the Dire Straits song that (I think) Matt was referencing in the video.
I was referencing the walking dead
@@tennesseeponderer3146 Oh, kinda a non sequitur then -- unrelated to the matter at hand...
It was
Does Matt say "be seeing you" as a nethack reference?
Well, mostly I'm referencing the thing Nethack is referencing. But yes.
@@mcolville The Prisoner?
More than likely, since he plays Nethack fairly often on stream
W is a wish. Maybe they have a ring of wishing?
In my 15 years of D&D I have never seen a DM so ballsy and trusting in their players that they throw a full on WISH... yet I know.... Matt is that guy.
Decided to go to the newest video to say thanks Matt!! Just got the email that my followers book has been shipped hype to know u finished it can't wait for the next one
Matt a trick I used to stop players from taking "monster" prisoner was give them a bead from a necklace of fireball.
When the players go to grab them, the monster bites.
Was pretty proud of that since I made it up on the fly.
At a certain point that’s still DM fiat because a fireball can’t one shot creatures with more than 25 hp. Not that that particularly matters but it’s just a thought.
Alright DM Dad, sounds like you have them pinned against the wall. I am sure your players will think of a way to pull themselves out of the fire. Also here's to me calling those 20's for Slim ahead of time. Not 2 but, 3. Good luck, and good game to you.
Yeah ... anytime I've run a game where the PCs are up against the wall and I'm absolutely convinced that I'm about the demolish them, here come the wave of critical hits by the PCs right alongside my utter inability to hit the broadside of a barn ... while I'm IN the barn ... and standing next to the "broadside" wall itself...
Or y'know they start reaching into their bags for those potions they never used. Pull a victory from their rear when "Wild Magic" pulls out Unicorn from the fey wilds to say hi. Then, just when things look the grimmest. The fighter losses their mind Hulks out from the potion SMASH BBEG, SMASH new Thrall, >.> I was next so I smashed myself and played dead. INT 1, Fighter starts smashing bodies of Dead BBEG's next to me. Silent swallow an orange. Watch as my ally pops out of nowhere and Plane shifts the Fighter away to Celestia... \o\ Praise Bahamut I live, I rise with one eye open. "Where did you send her?" "Oh Celestia" Me-"Oh no...."
As to the alchemy test (arcana check and medicine check coming from a single player) I totally agree with your train of thinking Matt, however given the players reactions. It may be worth chewing over using variable DC's and allow them to split the task but at a significantly more difficult rate than if a single person where to do the same task. Food for thought. Love you guys either way, Have Fun and keep on rollin'.
I hope Maranath enjoyed the sandwich he conquered with the second W.
"...'I'm the healer, I'll just heal him back,' and that's exactly what happened."
But that's not what happened. Big Cat pulled Leech out of the Ogtyugh's tentacles and then Boots was the one who healed Leech. Then Leech healed himself before the short rest. I'm not sure King healed him at all in that episode, never mind that battle.
Having played the 3.5 adventure that I think Matt has based this part his campaign on, I’m hyped. First thought about it with the Sun Elf, the Iron Ring, Umber Hulk tunnels, and the note told me I was definitely right.
Can’t wait to see how it continues!
???
Indeed. Pretty sure this lead up to entering Ringwell was inspired by / based on a 3.5 adventure for Ptolus called "The Banewarrens."
I loved listening to this! I cannot wait for the fight tonight. I might even be able to catch Siemens of it live.
"Be seeing you," might be accurate this time. Because I think Evil Matt is going to be Psi Cop Bester to the Chain's blip temps tonight.
This series staying in this channel is a better business move. If people hear the stories from your game on your more popular channel, they will feel tempted to check it out. It's a much bigger perceived effort to expect an audience to go to that other channeljust from sheer curiosity scrounged from theoretical videos.
I don't know if the players will retreat considering the fact they were thinking the doors closed because of the wards. And if they can't re open the door from this side easily then they might just think they will be chased down with no escape. So unless they have a way to retreat they might die just because they don't think they have a good option in a closed off area where if they are chased they have no way out.
I would still love to see a long Ringwell campaign.
Please keep these videos on this channel, Mcdm can stay with livestream reruns
Didn't occur to me until now that in Matt's setting, above a certain level, the entire party constantly reeks of 'ozone'
Oh gosh, I am scared here Matt. I hope nobody dies!!!
The key to tonight may come down to how they use their NPC wizard. Buts? I don't remember. She could lay down another Stinking Cloud etc... and that might give them an edge. Plus she is HP to soak damage. Which should not be underestimated.
My thought about a workaround for the brain surgery medicine roll is removing the entire head and letting the alchemist do the cut work if that would work? If you assume adventurers have the way to preserve a brain then preserving an entire head should be even easier, maybe not tenable for really big monsters, but I'd definitely argue removing a head (and maybe even lower jaw to make it easier or smaller to carry) is more a survival skill than a medicine one.
Tom, not Tom playing Copper
Not
Tom, not Tom, playing Copper
Ok so to anyone who is freaking out because the iron pact has access to a Ring of Tree Wishes, think about this : they are willing to use at least 2 whole wishes to get into Ringwell and then get out. This means what is inside of Ringwell is worth more than 2, maybe 3 wishes.
If they dominate a Purple Worm, do they have to kill Stillgar when they get back?
Hey, I hope this is no bother and that I have not missed anything, but I was wondering where is the third book in your fantasy book series, Matt? I was watching an older video of yours from 2016, and you already had the first two out at that time. Did you decide not to finish it?
Hey matt! I am a new gm using Kalarel the vile as a villain. But instead of trying to summon orcus, he is trying to gain his favour so he can resurrect his dead wife whose soul is held by Orcus. The catch is, his dead wife is a ghost on the player's side. I am using her as an npc to push the story and give kalarel info about the party. When they finally reach the black tower, I will resurrect her through the portal, giving my players a shock. Thanks for the great videos! You made me gather a groyp and start running dnd. Regards from Turkey!
Just leaving a commet for the peace out.
Just... thank you
Were i them id buy and run small businesses around the city to throw off the trail of ringwell and to serve as outposts around the city
I like this idea
1 enemy for the chain? Traps+ specialized terrain that aides the enemy+ multi attack+ reactions= really hard fight
Just want to chime in that Boot's command ability could upgrade as he levels up like his natural Bardic Inspiration die!! That way it reflects in increasing knowledge and experience. Bards get d6s and d8s and d10s and so on, could totally do that with a command die too!
27:46 I thought it was master of crows?
I'm interested, but a little worried, about how the Command check is gonna work out. It's a really fun idea but if the Chain had each gotten a free action before the AlphaTeam, they could have focused down a single member, so the BIP getting free actions in Round1 could result in the same. I hope all those combat simulations were good practice but I'm very worried that the team just won't retreat and will get completely wiped out!
Why would the Chain each have gotten a free action?
@@mcolville I think when it was said (on the stream) that the other team would get a free action/movement as as a result of them winning that I assumed the Chain would have as well, since Boots' benefit wasn't explicitly stated at the time. First time seeing Command Check so I didn't know until this video that there were potentially different benefits.
Matt I got to save you should keep the campaign diaries on this channel as they provide a nice companion to Running the game and they also provide a good amount of DM information
Considering that the party has a size of 6 people by now, it's really important to bring numbers against them for a good challenge.
One Creature alone won't do much, it literally can't defeat them in 5E because of the help action, unless it has strong AoE
30:56 Nice watch!
Wait, they're TWO levels higher, have access to wishes AND are coming into the fight fresh in hit points and ablities?! They're so boned! How the fuck are they supposed to contend with these black iron wangrods?!
They’re the chain of freakin Acheron that’s how
Well, good that none of the heroes' retainers is that bard variant that turns a hit into a crit once per day. That would result in lots of heads coming off with that vorpal blade o.O
Boots’s inspiration die should be a d8 not a d6, furthermore, an action is significantly better than a d4, especially if a spellcaster can get off two aoe’s before a party can scatter. A because the internet can’t convey tone of voice please let it be known that this is meant to be constructive criticism
Tennessee Bear Agreed - really cool in concept, but the reward for success and the penalty for failure (to the PCs) don’t match with the way the abilities are currently balanced. Scary if you’re a PC!
Though to be fair - it's not meant to be balanced. The enemy command ability is only going to fire once. Boots may have the chance to use this in every fight for the rest of the campaign.
You have a point, though I do still think boots ability should be buffed
I'm kinda surprised they didn't just find the brain, then cut it out with like a foot margin on every side so they didn't have to be as precise.
Hi Matt! Have you ever considered Legendary Initiative? Triple advantage or something? It just seems stacked against your BBEG when SIX people are rolling against you.
I'm curious; when scavenging a creature's organs, if someone succeeds the int check to identify the organ's location, does that mean they remember the location for that type of creature in future?
Like, if you successfully scavenged the brain of a purple worm, then a few sessions later you encountered another purple worm, would you be able to skip the int check because you already passed it previously?
If so, how broadly applicable would that knowledge be? Would a black dragon's brain be in the same place as a blue dragon? Would it use the same categories as the potion effect?
Love the shirt! 🏳️🌈
I was just going to say exactly that!
Oh my god, i think three W's means three wishes
Hope the enemies have no bag with three watermelons because they can be very hard. :D
THE TOOTH
Oh my god, these are happening too quickly! I'm still trying to catch up with campaign 1! 😫
I think the best way to explain that runes are not a language is to compare them to a math equation. You can look at a math equation and know what all the symbols mean and still have no idea what the purpose of the equation is. You have to actually have studied that particular area of mathematics and be familiar with the general equations that it uses for it to make any sense, because even if you can go "This equal 5" that is still almost useless with the context of what the solution is for.
I fond the campaign diaries to be even more educational than the running the game videos.
So if patrons/dieties are called upon, theres a chance of intervention outside of class abilities?
Chloe Pechlaner rules for “Concordance”, a feature in Matt’s SaF book! Essentially a running tally of your relationship with your patron/deity. The higher the score, the more likely they are to aid you in battle.
@@hawkeyegough8586 i somehow forgot about it; well, not exactly, more my brain went "dont you need a temple to do that?" But no, thats not right.
For me I think I would let someone else do it at disadvantage, if u think about it surgery is done but a room full of ppl
You didn’t ask for our opinion but I’d personally prefer if you’d keep these videos in this channel
trequor why would you think that?
Matthew, thank for consistently making *the* best D&D related content and DM inside game. Your videos inspired me to DM a homebrew and help me avoid a ton of amateur mistakes.
"one of the dungeons beneath capitol" - there are more!!??!?!
Well the library was a dungeon.
@@charlesjones1535 touche
In fairness the confrontation with the Twelve Dragons was functionally a retreat. They got out pretty bloodlessly, but that's obviously what happened. Making this - by my count - the third time the Chain will have had no choice but to slink away in shame. And if the Black Iron Pact get the artifacts, it will be pretty injurious to party morale.
Rashness is the characteristic of youth. Prudence, that of mellowed age. And discretion...the better part of valour.
@@mcolville ...and enjoyment is the purpose of gaming, ye theatrical doofus. All I'm saying is, it's demoralizing for players to be chased around like rats by every significant party, and it's worse again when they're supposed to be hardened sellswords. Not that it matters now of course.
Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em!
Haven't watched the stream yet, but I'm worried the players not knowing that w means wish will cause some issues and they won't retreat in time.
Good Gawds I love this channel!!
Not sure why the thought crossed my mind,but I'd love to see Matt DM a game for famous lets players. Namely Markiplier has enough friends to do it, also wouldn't mind seeing Boogie2988 give D&D a shot. Not that I'll ever get bored with the games Matt runs now,I just thought it might open the game to a broader audience.
Nice Prisoner reference.
This is the Banewarrens or at least an adaption of that.
two week break you say. any chance of some codies?
FWIW I'd rather have a full movement or an action for my entire team (did I hear that right?) than a D4 for my teammates, given that action economy dictates the battle.
aureliomanalo I think that’s the point, Matt deliberately made these guys op, like they have one of the op monks of legend
Love you guys, would love to work for you!
Did they use Nature to harvest the Purpworm poison?
"An item containing 3 Ws" oH
Ok, so I JUST realised Buts and Boots are two different characters. Is one a retainer and the other a PC?
Love ya Matt!
Wait... purple worm song?
He likes to sing the chorus of Purple Rain by Prince. Except "worm."