What's your favorite season of Dimension 20 ? (No spoilers please!) ►► Check out Pentival's full character sheet & Brennan's ongoing updates to their build! dndbeyond.link/yt_BrennanQnASheet ►► Learn more about Streaming for Survivors and donate: twitter.com/wavawrcc/status/1504141069612568578
Misfits and Magic. I love all of them to varying degrees, but Misfits and Magic is something that I can just turn on for for a comfort show, I think I've listened to it about... 2 or 3 times now. Aabria is an amazing DM, and the chemistry between the players is just fantastic, and it's not too long to the point where I'm setting aside large chunks of time over the course of weeks to listen to it.
I just love Brennan so much, what a phenomenal human being. Additionally Brennan if you happen to see this, don't worry I'm right here, in the comments
I love the cry for help that occurs in the 8th minute, just apologising for breaking the flow of the Q&A because Brennan desperately needed to get it off his chest xD. Dog bless Brennan and dog bless Amy for pondering the issue and suggesting 'Twin brother? out for revenge?', what a beautifully chaotic short exchange of anxious DM to DM talk.
Improvisation, like any other DM tool, is like a muscle. Using it develops it. You need to do it to improve it. You're going to struggle at first and that's okay. We all did. But the more you do it, the easier it gets. Its the "become comfortable being uncomfortable" rule.
as someone who was watched like 100hrs of DMing tips I can absolutely confirm that the first 3 hours of your first session will be infinitely more helpful. It's not that the 100hrs of DMing tips isn't useful and I definitely don't regret any of the time I've spent watching OGs wax poetic about the art of adventure writing... But it is incredibly unlikely that you will understand the ridiculous interplay of these ideas at the table until you sit down and start running a game.
It's also fair to consider how much more useful the tips become to you _after_ you've already started. Because now you _know_ what they're talking about, it's less the relationship of a student and a teacher and more just a veteran sharing their experience with a newbie. You're also more aware of what aspects you suck the most at and need the most help, and what elements of the game you can just straight up ignore. Tips about character voices? I already know I'm not interested in those, get those outta here!
Yep! I'm definitely paying attention to the ways different DMs handle different interactions in actual plays. It gives me ideas, but I would watch those videos anyway. But you have to do the thing to develop your own style and identify areas where you need to learn or practice, as well as identify where your strengths are.
I think the true helpfulness of tips and the role they play in improvement isn't as a silver bullet (because they aren't), but as a supplement to help contextualize the data you collect from participating in the actual activity into something more clear/digestable/actionable. Like what the above replies that I didn't see until after spending 5 mins writing this said, tips are so much more helpful when you _know_ what they're taking about. The difference in how helpful the tips I randomly learned about music and the tips about music my friend gave me as critiques of a song I'm making is *_night and day_*
I will never get tired of his answer to the "broken characters" question. Brennan slowly losing his mind, Amy just giggling her ass off... it's perfect.
"How do I improvise?" You are already awesome at improvising. Living a life means constantly improvising. Every choice is improvised. The quest is to transfer the skills you already use all the time (improvising in the real world) to a fantasy world. For me, at least, that clarifies a lot of stuff, and lowers the bar for entry. You don't need to learn new skills, just learn to apply skills you already have in a new context. Cheers
Amy's point @3:35 is also great advice for players using pen and paper. Put the stuff you're going to use all the time in the "attacks" box. Spell attacks/DCs. Sneak attack dice. If you're playing a Warlock and you _don't_ have Eldritch Blast written is as if it were a weapon, you may wasting a lot of other people's time.
For me, barbarian attacks. Moreso with multiclasses but barbarian always. I write one attack, no raging, no GWM, just raw base weapon attack and damage. Then i write the attack and damage while raging, then another of raging+GWM, and so on, so that i don't have to check which modifiers apply to what attacks. If i have other features like smites, auras, bardic inspiration or flourishes, sneak attack, any of that, it either gets it's own column, it's most common use state, or an "everything" attack so that i don't have to be chasing down various modifiers and finding out if they're to attack, damage, or both.
Underrated Dino with similar energy: Pachycephalosaurus. Carnivore but not huge as dinos go… and its whole skull acts like a football helmet. “If I don’t like you, you will know it.”
#1 tip for getting good at improv w/r/t D&D: prepare nothing and figure it out along the way. It's gonna suck, but it'll eventually get better. #2 tip: get very familiar with the setting you're playing in. Not the scenarios that you're presenting to the players, just the setting overall. If you know the general look of the world, it's a lot easier to fill in random details.
Getting very familiar with the setting is preparation. Don't tell new people not to prepare. An experienced DM has been preparing for years, and therefore doesn't need a lot of new prep. A new DM should have some stuff written down and prepped.
Brennan’s full on breakdown over 3.5 really resonates with me as a Pathfinder DM. I have come to hate this busted, bloated system. I just want the simplicity of 5e, I don’t want to have to deal with a billion feats on each high level monster.
Best way to start DMing: if you're already playing for some time, pick a group of nice people, say you're a beginner and is trying to learn, be honest about your limitations and give it a try - if possible with a module you've already played. Lots of experienced players love to play, but don't like to dm, and if they're nice they'll help you with rules and lore.
I hadn't dm'd before. I got my siblings together to play and just dove in. The first one was so stressful and I made mistakes. I was so sweaty and nervous. They had a great time, which is the goal, but it was rocky at parts. The second session was so much better. I prepared things I was missing in the earlier session and knew where to leave space. I'm excited for my third session where we will be diving head first into combat
If there's someone doing deeper thinking about RPGs, specifically D&D, than Brennan, I can't think of who it would be. And yet, so humble and generous. Huge fan.
as a side note I think the best advice I ever heard was, "The players don't care nearly as much as you think they do." Which may have even been BLM. I don't remember who said it rn but the point is that your players are just trying to have fun with their friends and all you have to do is give them the opportunity. Everything else comes in time but that basic concept is the most important. It's called playing not working ykwim? Also setting expectations and communicating openly with your players at the outset. You'll give yourself a lot of wiggle room if you just tell your players you're learning and there may be things you mess up. Seriously DMing is intimidating but it's not rocket science and no one expects you to be the next BLM so get after it
I had read that or similar ones before, but I think I only really interiorized it a few weeks back. I played in a one-shot where the DM was pretty mediocre, and I had an absolute blast
Im stupid, I deadass stood here like an idiot for about 30 seconds asking myself "wtf is BLM?" And the only answer I could come up with was Black Lives Matter. Ps: I have figured it out (Im slow but I get there)
I made a lvl 18 warblade from Tome of Battle + a prestige class from the same book that could perform 26 attacks every other round at range by throwing a falchion with full bab. That was the last cheese I churned for dnd 3.5
I started with AD&D 2e back in 1995 or so. The guy who introduced me to it (I hesitate to call him my first DM, but technically true) ended up becoming a bit of a troublemaker in school, kept getting suspended and eventually changed schools. I was the only one in our group with a party time job, so I went out and got the PH, DMG, and MM and Sierra became the default DM. My DMship was born of necessity. 30 years later, no regrets. I'm not particularly witty or amazing at improv, but my love of trivia makes it easier for me to hold a lot in my head and recall obscure things at the right time. My DM Tip: Start. Then take some time to reflect on what parts were easier and which were more challenging. Adjust your style to work toward your strengths. There are as many DM styles as there are DMs. Go for it!
Brennan's advice on Improv is spot on. I've been DMing for over 20 years. The first time I DM'd is so embarrassing to look back on. Over time, with a lot of patience from my players throughout the years, I have become (in my opinion) very good at Improv when it comes to DMing. I can even use that improv to create and build on multi-layered stories and encounters that wow my players every time we play. It literally just took practice and effort. Simple as that. DM or Player. Get in the reps. Play with good people. Have as much fun as you can. That's the essence of amazing D&D.
To piggypack on Brennan's response, another good strategy for learning any type of skill is revisiting what you've done reflectively. And not to over analyse, and pick apart, but to go back and reflect on what went well and where you need to improve. THEN go watch the tip videos and put them into practice next time.
Nearly a year into running my first campaign I can probably say it’s true. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. I played one short campaign of 4th edition in college. I just knew the setting. I wasn’t running a module so it was literally my first time doing 100%dming including challenge design. The only 5e experience I’d had up to that pointwas buying the books for my shelf awaiting a group to play and watching critical role. Last night was probably the first time I can say I felt like an actual dm. I actually felt like my players were engaged in the moral challenges, I felt they were immersed in the fiction and actually playing through their characters. It takes time but “just do it” is such great advice.
THE most important skill to learn as a GM is be comfortable looking like an idiot in-front of people. Honestly not just as GM, I made great strides in my personal life and my mental health by being less afraid of looking silly.
The comparison between athletes and DMs can be applied to almost any creative field, too. The idea of “just go do it and you’ll get better by doing it” is so apparent when it comes to growing those physical skills, but we often ignore it’s importance to becoming better writers, artists, and musicians. There will necessarily always be an awkward period for your skill and your work. Practice is the means by which we grow.
One of the best tips on improving improv skills is to start with completely improvised sessions. Have players quickly make characters on the spot and start playing without preparing a thing.
I've been doing improv for a year and I absolutely agree. I'd just like to add that there's books that have helped me greatly and I love them (Keith Johnstone's Impro is a personal bible of mine), but I think those books clicked with me because I had already done a couple of months of improv workshops and training before reading them Just find a group or a class and go try it out. I promise they will be very very welcoming and supportive
Someone, please send the Turn Optimization flow chart idea to Mercer for the CR players. I wanted to make one for Yasha so badly, since she only had like 7 choices, but debated what to do for minutes, every turn...
My first campaign had something like this. If one or two players couldn’t make it, the DM would get their basic decisions for the session’s events (mainly for if the active players need a tiebreaker), a default combo, and a few if-thens.
Brennan you really let me down with the Triceratops (Just kidding, that childlike joy on Sam Neil's face as he leans on one is one of the greatest scenes in the original Jurassic Park!). The correct answer is Mosasaur. For all its other faults, Jurassic World really did right by my girl Mosasaur. When that moment happened near the end, I was literally saying to myself, "Just push the damn thing near the water and my hero will clean house!" Needless to say, I about shat myself when that fantasy actually came true seconds later.
a character with +21 initiative would imply they're always on edge and ready to go pedal to the metal on a hair trigger... what a nightmare of an existence and not just because of the trauma the character probably definitely had to have gone through to be like this.
Everyone who sees beautiful fruit fall from a tree that was planted 30 years ago wishes they could produce that fruit, but nobody wants to plant a tree.
Depending on how crazy you want to go. You can really get some insane numbers. Without items. U can still add stuff like bardic inspiration, guidance, bless especially if your party is gonna assist.
Gettin in the comments! How do you deal with a player one shotting your big bad? Take a leaflet out of JRPG games and give your boss an o the fly second form that triggers on his death.
Yep no as a auz man that was a more than passing grade on that accident, solid b+ Edit: as a newer dm that deals with min-maxers I love Brendan’s freak out, all I have to do is kill them or try to at best
If you have dropout, Dimension20 is a D&D actual play show he usually hosts/DM's. There's also a few full campaigns uploaded to the Dimension20 youtube channel that you can watch for free. High in production value and shenanigans. He's in a campaign as a player on this channel as well(Battle for Beyond), coming in at the second episode. I just finished watching it, I thought it was pretty good.
@@emilysmith2965 My old boss told me a story about working at a pet store when he was younger. After every Easter, there would be bunch of rabbits returned to the store by people who hadn't thought through their purchase. Inevitably, the rabbits would have been fed carrots, resulting in bloody stool. The employees would put the rabbits out of their misery and then feed them to the python.
Unfortunately D&D Beyond does NOT allow the keeping/tracking of notes. You have to use third party software, or pen & paper, to keep track of such things. Also, with 3rd party software like MS Word, office, Excel, and many other document apps, you need a service like Dropbox, iCloud, etcetera to keep your data available available to different computers over the internet. Also, the worksheets, like the one for Strixhaven, cannot be stored with your character on D&D Beyond.
@@pretzelpanda one note is my campaign notes. It's so good The linking of pages and notes is amazing. I have everything from encounters linking to places to enemies to items. Makes running it so quick. Then afterwards I try remember to do my session notes and update worldanvil for my players so they can see what's happened.
What's your favorite season of Dimension 20 ? (No spoilers please!)
►► Check out Pentival's full character sheet & Brennan's ongoing updates to their build! dndbeyond.link/yt_BrennanQnASheet
►► Learn more about Streaming for Survivors and donate: twitter.com/wavawrcc/status/1504141069612568578
Crown of Candy - Phenomenal.
If eligible for inclusion (I'm not sure it counts as a "season") I'd vote for Escape from the Blood Keep.
Misfits and Magic. I love all of them to varying degrees, but Misfits and Magic is something that I can just turn on for for a comfort show, I think I've listened to it about... 2 or 3 times now. Aabria is an amazing DM, and the chemistry between the players is just fantastic, and it's not too long to the point where I'm setting aside large chunks of time over the course of weeks to listen to it.
"I must disagree with the premise of the question" Typical Brennan Lee Mulligan answer xD
That philosophy education hard at work.
same energy as "The answer is no. If you nut in the astral plane you will not go backwards."
I just love Brennan so much, what a phenomenal human being. Additionally Brennan if you happen to see this, don't worry I'm right here, in the comments
Honestly If I see Brennan kicking a puppy I would think the puppy deserved it.
@@xadielplasencia3674 "I'm gonna kill that dog!"
Right here in the comments with ya!
@@xadielplasencia3674 I almost laugh snorted my cereal reading this 😂...ah fuck
Brennan telling DMs to "Get Gud" is the most Brennan thing ever. It's true and I love it.
I love the cry for help that occurs in the 8th minute, just apologising for breaking the flow of the Q&A because Brennan desperately needed to get it off his chest xD. Dog bless Brennan and dog bless Amy for pondering the issue and suggesting 'Twin brother? out for revenge?', what a beautifully chaotic short exchange of anxious DM to DM talk.
Dog bless you for being here
Improvisation, like any other DM tool, is like a muscle. Using it develops it. You need to do it to improve it. You're going to struggle at first and that's okay. We all did. But the more you do it, the easier it gets. Its the "become comfortable being uncomfortable" rule.
as someone who was watched like 100hrs of DMing tips I can absolutely confirm that the first 3 hours of your first session will be infinitely more helpful.
It's not that the 100hrs of DMing tips isn't useful and I definitely don't regret any of the time I've spent watching OGs wax poetic about the art of adventure writing...
But it is incredibly unlikely that you will understand the ridiculous interplay of these ideas at the table until you sit down and start running a game.
It's also fair to consider how much more useful the tips become to you _after_ you've already started. Because now you _know_ what they're talking about, it's less the relationship of a student and a teacher and more just a veteran sharing their experience with a newbie.
You're also more aware of what aspects you suck the most at and need the most help, and what elements of the game you can just straight up ignore. Tips about character voices? I already know I'm not interested in those, get those outta here!
Yep! I'm definitely paying attention to the ways different DMs handle different interactions in actual plays. It gives me ideas, but I would watch those videos anyway. But you have to do the thing to develop your own style and identify areas where you need to learn or practice, as well as identify where your strengths are.
I think the true helpfulness of tips and the role they play in improvement isn't as a silver bullet (because they aren't), but as a supplement to help contextualize the data you collect from participating in the actual activity into something more clear/digestable/actionable.
Like what the above replies that I didn't see until after spending 5 mins writing this said, tips are so much more helpful when you _know_ what they're taking about. The difference in how helpful the tips I randomly learned about music and the tips about music my friend gave me as critiques of a song I'm making is *_night and day_*
Every two minutes the question in the chat was "Is Loose Duke on the ship?!?" 😂
No answer was given.
We know the answer! He's on the ship until Emily rolls a nat20 lol
@@under20over40 But if she rolls a nat20, Brennan rolls something and does a little surprised face, who knows what will happen.
Loose Duke lives in a state of quantum flux where he is both on the ship and under arrest back in baustin
I have to believe that Loose Duke is on the ship
@@PreistofGHAZpork lol schrödingers loose duke
I will never get tired of his answer to the "broken characters" question. Brennan slowly losing his mind, Amy just giggling her ass off... it's perfect.
I'd watch a show that's just Brennan making characters for games.
"How do I improvise?"
You are already awesome at improvising. Living a life means constantly improvising. Every choice is improvised.
The quest is to transfer the skills you already use all the time (improvising in the real world) to a fantasy world.
For me, at least, that clarifies a lot of stuff, and lowers the bar for entry.
You don't need to learn new skills, just learn to apply skills you already have in a new context.
Cheers
Not everyone has those skills to begin with, especially neurodivergants.
Amy's point @3:35 is also great advice for players using pen and paper. Put the stuff you're going to use all the time in the "attacks" box. Spell attacks/DCs. Sneak attack dice. If you're playing a Warlock and you _don't_ have Eldritch Blast written is as if it were a weapon, you may wasting a lot of other people's time.
For me, barbarian attacks. Moreso with multiclasses but barbarian always.
I write one attack, no raging, no GWM, just raw base weapon attack and damage. Then i write the attack and damage while raging, then another of raging+GWM, and so on, so that i don't have to check which modifiers apply to what attacks. If i have other features like smites, auras, bardic inspiration or flourishes, sneak attack, any of that, it either gets it's own column, it's most common use state, or an "everything" attack so that i don't have to be chasing down various modifiers and finding out if they're to attack, damage, or both.
Amy is such a good interviewer, the sheer speed at which she reads questions but still sounds intelligible is crazy!
I never would’ve guessed Brennan’s favorite dinosaur is a triceratops, but his explanation as to why makes sense
Underrated Dino with similar energy: Pachycephalosaurus. Carnivore but not huge as dinos go… and its whole skull acts like a football helmet. “If I don’t like you, you will know it.”
#1 tip for getting good at improv w/r/t D&D: prepare nothing and figure it out along the way. It's gonna suck, but it'll eventually get better.
#2 tip: get very familiar with the setting you're playing in. Not the scenarios that you're presenting to the players, just the setting overall. If you know the general look of the world, it's a lot easier to fill in random details.
Getting very familiar with the setting is preparation. Don't tell new people not to prepare. An experienced DM has been preparing for years, and therefore doesn't need a lot of new prep. A new DM should have some stuff written down and prepped.
Thank you for not breaking this up into 6 3 minute videos that cut off in the middle of a thought.
7:07 you can tell here that brennan's players didn't just break 3.5, they broke brennan
A wagon made of lightsabers 🤣
The lad himself. One of my biggest inspirations for making D&D content. I hope to game with him some day!
Brennan’s full on breakdown over 3.5 really resonates with me as a Pathfinder DM. I have come to hate this busted, bloated system. I just want the simplicity of 5e, I don’t want to have to deal with a billion feats on each high level monster.
Dude, Dungeon World will blow your friggin' mind. It's an actual joy to run.
Can't you just dumb it down a bit? Not familiar with Pathfinder at all.
@@cooperton4949 I actually liked about the last three books they printed: Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, and Magic of Incarnum.
Pathfinder was my first system and I still love it dearly, but I'm super hyped to be transferring to the more simplified PF 2e.
@@captaintoet1983 That's what they're saying, they wish they were playing 5e because it would be simpler.
Best way to start DMing: if you're already playing for some time, pick a group of nice people, say you're a beginner and is trying to learn, be honest about your limitations and give it a try - if possible with a module you've already played.
Lots of experienced players love to play, but don't like to dm, and if they're nice they'll help you with rules and lore.
I hadn't dm'd before. I got my siblings together to play and just dove in. The first one was so stressful and I made mistakes. I was so sweaty and nervous. They had a great time, which is the goal, but it was rocky at parts. The second session was so much better. I prepared things I was missing in the earlier session and knew where to leave space. I'm excited for my third session where we will be diving head first into combat
If there's someone doing deeper thinking about RPGs, specifically D&D, than Brennan, I can't think of who it would be. And yet, so humble and generous. Huge fan.
as a side note I think the best advice I ever heard was, "The players don't care nearly as much as you think they do."
Which may have even been BLM. I don't remember who said it rn but the point is that your players are just trying to have fun with their friends and all you have to do is give them the opportunity. Everything else comes in time but that basic concept is the most important.
It's called playing not working ykwim?
Also setting expectations and communicating openly with your players at the outset. You'll give yourself a lot of wiggle room if you just tell your players you're learning and there may be things you mess up.
Seriously DMing is intimidating but it's not rocket science and no one expects you to be the next BLM so get after it
I had read that or similar ones before, but I think I only really interiorized it a few weeks back. I played in a one-shot where the DM was pretty mediocre, and I had an absolute blast
Right, you don't have to be amazing for it to be a good time
Im stupid, I deadass stood here like an idiot for about 30 seconds asking myself "wtf is BLM?" And the only answer I could come up with was Black Lives Matter.
Ps: I have figured it out (Im slow but I get there)
@@xadielplasencia3674 Yeah, that's why it's usually either the full name or Brendad xD BLM is just taken.
Black lives matter
I made a lvl 18 warblade from Tome of Battle + a prestige class from the same book that could perform 26 attacks every other round at range by throwing a falchion with full bab.
That was the last cheese I churned for dnd 3.5
I made a diamond mind focused warforge warblade once. He lasted one session before the dm asked me to retire him for the sake of party balance
I started with AD&D 2e back in 1995 or so. The guy who introduced me to it (I hesitate to call him my first DM, but technically true) ended up becoming a bit of a troublemaker in school, kept getting suspended and eventually changed schools. I was the only one in our group with a party time job, so I went out and got the PH, DMG, and MM and Sierra became the default DM.
My DMship was born of necessity. 30 years later, no regrets. I'm not particularly witty or amazing at improv, but my love of trivia makes it easier for me to hold a lot in my head and recall obscure things at the right time.
My DM Tip: Start. Then take some time to reflect on what parts were easier and which were more challenging. Adjust your style to work toward your strengths. There are as many DM styles as there are DMs. Go for it!
Y’all are awesome! Thank you dndbeyond for providing consistent and quality dnd content! I couldn’t do it without you!!
I just noticed that Five Longfoot is literally only wearing Studded Leather armor, and is still that busted
Brennan's advice on Improv is spot on. I've been DMing for over 20 years. The first time I DM'd is so embarrassing to look back on. Over time, with a lot of patience from my players throughout the years, I have become (in my opinion) very good at Improv when it comes to DMing. I can even use that improv to create and build on multi-layered stories and encounters that wow my players every time we play. It literally just took practice and effort. Simple as that. DM or Player. Get in the reps. Play with good people. Have as much fun as you can. That's the essence of amazing D&D.
To piggypack on Brennan's response, another good strategy for learning any type of skill is revisiting what you've done reflectively. And not to over analyse, and pick apart, but to go back and reflect on what went well and where you need to improve. THEN go watch the tip videos and put them into practice next time.
Try candied carrots: butter, honey or maple syrup, and spiced rum (slowly boiled in a saucepan).
Brennan's "I've gone through so much."
I love this human being so much.
Nearly a year into running my first campaign I can probably say it’s true. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. I played one short campaign of 4th edition in college. I just knew the setting. I wasn’t running a module so it was literally my first time doing 100%dming including challenge design. The only 5e experience I’d had up to that pointwas buying the books for my shelf awaiting a group to play and watching critical role.
Last night was probably the first time I can say I felt like an actual dm. I actually felt like my players were engaged in the moral challenges, I felt they were immersed in the fiction and actually playing through their characters.
It takes time but “just do it” is such great advice.
Had a 3.5 character with +21 initiative. My first real D&D character not just a weekend one shot.
THE most important skill to learn as a GM is be comfortable looking like an idiot in-front of people.
Honestly not just as GM, I made great strides in my personal life and my mental health by being less afraid of looking silly.
9:10 Top 3 Tips for Getting Gud at Improv - For anyone who doesn't want to watch the whole thing and just wants the meat of the video.
“Is loose duke on the ship?”
I wish I could add Brennan to every online D&D game.
The comparison between athletes and DMs can be applied to almost any creative field, too. The idea of “just go do it and you’ll get better by doing it” is so apparent when it comes to growing those physical skills, but we often ignore it’s importance to becoming better writers, artists, and musicians. There will necessarily always be an awkward period for your skill and your work. Practice is the means by which we grow.
I wish i had a portion of Amy's energy, shes always positive/happy
Don't suppose you can share an example of one of those flowsheets?
If you quicken booming blade, you also get an additional attack that way
One of the best tips on improving improv skills is to start with completely improvised sessions. Have players quickly make characters on the spot and start playing without preparing a thing.
Wait.
This video has the two humans who are most capable in life of overwhelming my urge to refuse to smile.
How??
@2:41 is there an online example of Aabria Iyengar’s flow chart?
As an Australian - Brennan - your accent is perfect mate.
Anyone have an image or PDF of Aabria's flowchart? I think one of my players could really use it.
I'd love to see it if it's arrived anywhere!
Amy, thank you so much for guiding me to the Custom actions option
Great response to improv question
I would watch a video of Brennan ranting for hours
I've been doing improv for a year and I absolutely agree. I'd just like to add that there's books that have helped me greatly and I love them (Keith Johnstone's Impro is a personal bible of mine), but I think those books clicked with me because I had already done a couple of months of improv workshops and training before reading them
Just find a group or a class and go try it out. I promise they will be very very welcoming and supportive
Brennan doing an Australian(?) accent is something I didn't know I needed. lolz
True about a lots of things! Do it, be it!
ya know when you can just tell when someone loves what they do? yea, that!
Someone, please send the Turn Optimization flow chart idea to Mercer for the CR players. I wanted to make one for Yasha so badly, since she only had like 7 choices, but debated what to do for minutes, every turn...
My first campaign had something like this. If one or two players couldn’t make it, the DM would get their basic decisions for the session’s events (mainly for if the active players need a tiebreaker), a default combo, and a few if-thens.
And also publish one to Twitter so we can all steal it
I've done the whole possessing a mundane item and adding brilliant energy
thank you for entertaining and enjoying Brenna nan to enjoy
The "learning physics vs practicing baseball" is the core of my aarocokra wizard who wants to be a fighter 😅
I want to see these flow sheets
shoutout to Aabria my second favourite DM, sorry Brennan you only get third place. still great word pictures though.
God damn this man is smart
Brennan you really let me down with the Triceratops (Just kidding, that childlike joy on Sam Neil's face as he leans on one is one of the greatest scenes in the original Jurassic Park!). The correct answer is Mosasaur. For all its other faults, Jurassic World really did right by my girl Mosasaur. When that moment happened near the end, I was literally saying to myself, "Just push the damn thing near the water and my hero will clean house!" Needless to say, I about shat myself when that fantasy actually came true seconds later.
Preach Brenden.
a character with +21 initiative would imply they're always on edge and ready to go pedal to the metal on a hair trigger... what a nightmare of an existence and not just because of the trauma the character probably definitely had to have gone through to be like this.
Have you seen a rabbit? They’ll eat their young if they get too stressed
From NY, been playing dnd for decades, annnnd fave dino is the triceratops?!?! Brennan you might just be my Irish doppleganger 😂
Triceratops would definitely be in Goat House.
Absolutely!
Everyone who sees beautiful fruit fall from a tree that was planted 30 years ago wishes they could produce that fruit, but nobody wants to plant a tree.
Hey… Hey… is loose duke on the ship?
I believe the Duke is still on the loose
This was really cool.
16:25
The only right answer to this question!!
you can get to 31 initiative before having stats going over 20.
Depending on how crazy you want to go.
You can really get some insane numbers.
Without items.
U can still add stuff like bardic inspiration, guidance, bless especially if your party is gonna assist.
BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN!
That is all.
I be amused and also think I got more intelligent...wtf 🤣 I adore all the tangential upgrades I've gotten thru d&d
how am i only now seeing the Bait plush.....
Anyone got a pdf or template for that action economy flow chart he was talking about. I’d love to make my own but don’t know where to start…
Gettin in the comments! How do you deal with a player one shotting your big bad? Take a leaflet out of JRPG games and give your boss an o the fly second form that triggers on his death.
Yep no as a auz man that was a more than passing grade on that accident, solid b+
Edit: as a newer dm that deals with min-maxers I love Brendan’s freak out, all I have to do is kill them or try to at best
I found Brennan on Game Changer, and now I found out he plays D&D? Very cultured man.
If you have dropout, Dimension20 is a D&D actual play show he usually hosts/DM's. There's also a few full campaigns uploaded to the Dimension20 youtube channel that you can watch for free. High in production value and shenanigans.
He's in a campaign as a player on this channel as well(Battle for Beyond), coming in at the second episode. I just finished watching it, I thought it was pretty good.
Also he won large sum of money (no spoilers) in "Who wants to be a millionaire" which allowed him to move to LA and be a writer in College Humor
Flowchart. I kinda want to see that.
Engagement for the engagement god!
Someone should really leak Abriah’s Flow chart
Made a harengon build with a minimum initiative roll of 35.
Get. Good. That's all it takes.
Skip to @9:14 for Brennan talking about a good DM tip.
Brennan: You can probably get that higher. Like a 21...
Me: Uh did I do this wrong then? *shows them character sheet with a 31 Init...
PSA: Carrots are very bad for rabbits. They will literally shred a rabbit's digestive system.
Carrots are like candy for bunnies. They are little treats, not the main thing to eat.
@@emilysmith2965 My old boss told me a story about working at a pet store when he was younger. After every Easter, there would be bunch of rabbits returned to the store by people who hadn't thought through their purchase. Inevitably, the rabbits would have been fed carrots, resulting in bloody stool. The employees would put the rabbits out of their misery and then feed them to the python.
Brennan is so handsome :0
Amy looks like she could be Rebecca Sugar's sister
Is the rabbit made after rise of the guardians ?? Why are rabbits Australian??
5e is great but I prefer 3/3.5, mainly for one reason, ASIs are and not or. Meaning 1 in 2 plus a feat, rather than 2 in 1 or a feat.
House rule that way!
This is an ok homebrew.
I think Brennan is my fantasy of a husband lol
Unfortunately D&D Beyond does NOT allow the keeping/tracking of notes. You have to use third party software, or pen & paper, to keep track of such things. Also, with 3rd party software like MS Word, office, Excel, and many other document apps, you need a service like Dropbox, iCloud, etcetera to keep your data available available to different computers over the internet.
Also, the worksheets, like the one for Strixhaven, cannot be stored with your character on D&D Beyond.
Isn't there literally a section in on the character sheet called "notes"?
@@NickMunch It's a bit clunky and definantly not orginaized well enough, but ye you right
Try using MS OneNote for note taking. You just need a Microsoft account, and that's free
It works across devices, and even on phones
@@pretzelpanda one note is my campaign notes.
It's so good
The linking of pages and notes is amazing.
I have everything from encounters linking to places to enemies to items. Makes running it so quick.
Then afterwards I try remember to do my session notes and update worldanvil for my players so they can see what's happened.
🐰
brennan marry me pls
Git gud scrubs.