Chris Perkins impressed his players with his thoughtful work
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- We don’t get to decide where inspiration comes from. This little moment with Chris Perkins as the dungeon master has always stuck with me.
The players were astonished at the work that Chris had put into the game. It heightened the experience for them, even if they just took a second to marvel at the madness in spending time drawing out a map that nobody was even supposed to see.
Does anyone else pick up on moments like this and get inspired, or am I a little nuts?
#dnd #dndinspiration #dungeonsanddragons #dndhomebrew
There are a ton of other things I love about the way Chris Perkins runs the game. He chooses his words carefully, and is willing to provide all sort of information to his table to help them make decisions.
He’s also not afraid to lean into the rule of cool, and let fantastical things happen at the table.
Honestly, the tone he sets at the table with these guys is worth a look. There are a bunch of streams available online if you search around.
I know I am making progress when my players take pictures of the set pieces I lay out as the game plays out.
Oh yeah, that's a nice feeling for sure.
I came up with a list of 100 tricks, traps, puzzles, and riddles, for a campaign called The Tower, which was reality tv meets contestant show meets D&D...and then I literally put The Tower into a story I ended up publishing. Any time we needed a break in some other campaign (such as one of the other DMs needing a break), the other players CLAMORED for a chance to run through The Tower...which I literally just rolled d00 to determine what they would encounter next. Ended up putting my players into the book's dedication by character names--and some of the stunts they pulled AS characters got mentioned in the novel, too! (With permission.)
This is oh so heartwarming. Just people having fun, just being that little kid they once were
100% yes!
My wife thought we were just a bunch of geeks. She’d go watch TV somewhere else or whatever. But recently she noted, “It really is heartwarming to hear a bunch of adults, guys, playing out loud, having fun, without being coarse or drunk or gross.”
I’d call that a win!
You should invite her to play one day too.
@@KitOkunari I’ve offered a couple time, especially when I DM for our adult children. But she said that’s not her thing.
I want to give you kudos for the "Tone" and implied emotion in many of your videos! It is so full filling when I come by your work. Thank you for sharing your skilled content and work!
Wow, thank you! I don't even know what to say... that's just a lovely comment. Thanks!!
I love the fact that Chris can take the humor of a 6 year old, snippets of non-coherent adventures made with characters that originally had 0 effort put in to them, and somehow create a rich story that to this day is one of the most enjoyable adventures i've seen.
I learned to embroider so that I could make a series of highly important magic tapestries for my game. So far, I have a mermaid, a werewolf, and a mage with sunflowers for a head. 10 out of 10, would recommend.
That's so cool! I've been tempted to try my hand at that a couple of times... I may have to revisit some ideas now.
That sounds incredible! I would love to hear more about the magic tapestries!
@@kithric4878 The party actually found the first one last night, and the response was absolutely incredible! There is a lot of complex world building, so I apologize for the long response. In my world, the gods are all celestial bodies - the sun, moon, stars, twilight, etc... Without the divine light of the gods, there would be a void that deals 1D12 necrotic damage per hour, you don't get the benefits of a long rest, and violent and strange creatures who are native to that darkness would come and wreak havoc. Basically, it's a death sentence to lose the light.
The campaign had a hot start, where the festival the party was attending was abruptly swallowed by void. It was chaos. This is mostly how the party met one another (I ran a series of background oneshots that led them there for their own reasons and had a party of 5 consolidated into 3 smaller groups at that point)... I'll spare you some additional context that might bog this down but would make it seem a little less random. The sun and moon elves in this world are seen as divine, and they are capable of emanating sunlight and moonlight for 30ft each. This protects against the draining effects of the void, but is not enough light to deter opportunistic monsters from darting in for a quick attack (they are very hungry and food motivated.)
The party had to find the elves and complete a ritual to anchor divine light (one large aura) to escort the thousand people they could save from that city back into the light (Crystal Chronicles style). The point of the campaign is to figure out what happened, who did this, prevent it from happening again, and determine how it can be reversed.
The festival the party was at was a celebration (the heroes festival) in remembrance of a collection of heroes that were directly imbued with the sun and moon's power on what is known as either the "night of sorrow" or the "night the world went mad". The relevant piece here is that on that night, a void expanded, many people went crazy and started killing, and the sun and moon chose people to fight against the darkness. Those people successfully drove back the darkness, and had become demigods - immortal and divine. Temples were erected in their honor across the land, and they became known as the Emissaries to the gods. The sun and moon elves tend to these temples, and people are only allowed in the entrance of the temple - never in the core.
The truth is that these people were not chosen... they just happened to be standing in particular spots across the world in a particular moment. There are points across the land that are tether points for the sun and moon (predetermined by sacred geometry), and the light receded because one of those tethers had been severed. The temples were actually erected to fortify and protect these tethers, and the tapestries the party is finding are the souls of the Emissaries that have been stolen through a version of the Imprisonment spell. The party is able (under specific conditions) to enter their minds into the tapestries to speak with the trapped souls (which makes them great NPCs- mentors/tools for lore). The party will need to use that guidance, and account of what happened, to find and stop the mage responsible.
Whew! Believe it or not, that's the abridged version. The party just found the mermaid and three of them managed to (accidentally) enter, while the other two are still panicking. Those who entered found themselves on a beautiful island garden 60ft across. The water around the garden is impossibly still, mirroring the night sky and making it seem as if the island is floating in an endless sea of stars. In the center of the garden is a mermaid, 15ft tall and glittering with silver light. What's perplexing is that the person who did this was using starlight... and the stars haven't been seen for 30K years. The party will find more Emissaries, all similarly trapped.
i want to hear more about this... it's so cool
I learned to DM by watching Chris Perkins run Acq Inc.
He was one of my formative DMs as well.
Same! Way back in 2015, my friend and I would listen to acquisitions incorporated between breaks at uni. Chris is my all time favourite.
Their _2010_ Christmas special? It was in 2017. You gave me and existential crisis!
Huh, maybe it's mis-labeled on Amazon? That's what I was going off of.
I do full illustrations for my battle maps. But I work as an illustrator, so I don't see it as something special.
That's an amazing thing you do! I'm sure your players recognize that it's very, very special.
It absolutely is!
@@ryanimeldm They do, but maybe not the same way another group would. We're all artists in this group, they're my friends from art school.
They also make illustration of our campaign and their own character artworks.
Maybe that's why I don't see it as something very special 😅
😎😎😎
Chris is a literal god ❤
Amen! 🙏
Is there a link to that special
Here you go: www.amazon.com/Acquisitions-Incorporated-Holiday-Jerry-Holkins/dp/B01MQW2SIE
As a DM who puts in a lot of work on things like this but doesn’t get much of a reaction at all, it can be pretty dang discouraging. What should I do
Hmm, good question. Do you enjoy working on all the things you work on? Does it bring fulfillment to you, personally, in how you run the game?
And do your players understand the work you put in?
If you put in the extra work, but find it's not as much fun as you thought, there are other ways to run the game which don't take that extra work. And if you do enjoy it, but the players don't care, well... maybe the next table you run, they will.
For this dynamic at the table to exist takes everyone, DM and players both, being a good fit for each other. In some cases it's about seeking out *your* table -- whatever that may be. Maybe you haven't found a great DM/player group fit yet?
Do you know what makes the players tick? And are you pouring your effort into those areas/endeavors? Do the players' interests and focus line up with yours? If you are putting a lot of work in because it brings you joy, then that's one thing. If you are putting a lot of work in for your players, and they don't seem to notice or care, that's more of a problem. Have you talked to your players about how you are feeling? It could be as easy as having a discussion about desires and expectations. It is also entirely possible that they DO notice and appreciate, but aren't vocal about it. In the end, the advice you have already been given is also good... What people want and expect can sometimes differ, and you may be more suited with other players. But if these players are your friends and you want to play with them, I'd just talk to them.
@@SeniorSundaythat’s some very helpful insight. thank you. I’ll likely have a chat with them soon
He may be a great DM but he works for and runs a rotten company.
I don't think he runs it, I think he's the senior story designer at Wizards of the Coast.
I can't speak for him. But in my experience, some of the people most unhappy with a company, and trying the hardest to change it, are the people that work there.
Luv wen my players would call me the next day and compliment me😊
Ooh yeah, that's the best!