We talk about how the campaign went and a bunch of other stuff. I think there are some good lessons in here, and it was a lot of fun! Audio is weird. Alas.
I've started my first campaign last week because of all the wonderful videos you put out. I marathoned all of your videos for 2 months, prepping for my campaign, and it all started from the "One night stand" (one shot) of the Goblin Dungeon video you did. I misheard you when you mentioned the knights, and thought you said "Knights of Delirium" and viola - a new campaign was born. :'D An order of Chaotic ghost knights recruiting adventurers who pass their 'tests' to help them defeat an exiled demon trying to end the world. They failed in life, but hope to succeed in their death.
I love the way you think and the concept that as the GM you don't have to know all the answers. Like you said, it leaves space for future inspiration and for the characters (and players) to help with the story. Thank you Matt, you are truly a river to your people!
Having read the first six Thomas Covenant books, it's fun having moments during your campaign videos where I can go "I SEE WHERE YOU GOT THAT FROM, COLVILLE!"
Wish they would do a Planeshift Ravnica, for that city campaign. A world nearly completely covered in an urban sprawl held together by 10 guilds the run it all.
RE: DM's Guild I'm not a fan of that by submitting content there, you give up publishing rights, for the one-in-a-million chance WotC wants to put it in one of their books. It means Matthew Mercer couldn't put his Gunslinger or Blood Hunter into the Tal'dorei campaign guide.
It's been a while since I heard him mention it, so I could very well be wrong now. Still, if he had to go out of his way to talk to WotC about it, it doesn't imply it was easy.
In fact, that's more of a red flag. If Mercer weren't such a powerhouse in the D&D world thanks to Critical Role and being approached by WotC to participate in actual canon adventures (Force Grey), I'd imagine the response would be very different.
Actually In a recent interview he stated that they were not included in the book (due to DM's Guild Policies) but were still very much a part of the world
I love when Wharf gets introduced in Deep Space Nine. I feel like I remembered him from TNG to be basically a black character who happened to be an alien too. But when I get to contrast Wharf to Captain Cisco, there's a super stark contrast, and it becomes super clear: Wharf is an Alien. (For some reason the contrast with Jordy LaForge didn't do that for me...)
You're videos are super helpful! Keep up the good work, and thanks for both the help you bing your viewers and the enjoyment you bring your players! Also, notification squad!
I kinda feel that when in the stream they were discussing whether or not vampires are lawful they missed one big thing (which this is not a criticism or saying they play bad ) but they missed yes she did ask for permission to come in but under a disguise knowing the players be more comfortable and accepting of that disguise than lady sariel so yes they abide to rules and conducts but they will exploit loop holes so like lawyer vampires
I do the same thing! I feel like I need to rush to things because I feel like it ont be as fun but its the opposite! Players get more immersed when you take your time to describe and roleplay sceanarios
1:27:26 Hearing you say that honestly fills me with a sense of relief, as knowing that even an experienced and great DM can have moments like that makes feel less awful when I have those moments myself.
Great video, very insightful :) I will say on the issue of giving the players magic items that the designers of the game don't follow their own advice on that front. I'm running one of the pre-made adventures and in the first two dungeons the players were rewarded with a Wand of Magic Missiles and a +1 Dagger, among other utility items like a driftglobe. This was at level 1 and 2, and they've continued to get cool stuff since then. My experience with Lost Mines of Phlandonger was similar. So basically you shouldn't feel bad about giving the players magic stuff before 5th level, because WotC certainly don't! I will say that I generally replace all of the +1 weapons, because my players don't have any trouble hitting or damaging enemies and +whatever weapons don't seem that interesting to me. Even just a weapon that can cast a cantrip none of the players have is probably more interesting.
FergMcVerbag Perhaps WotC's advice is not that the party should find _one_ magic weapon by about level 5, but rather _one each?_ So the _average player_ finds one such item by that level, not the _average team._ Then it makes sense that some of them are spaced out at earlier levels.
Matt, let me start by saying that I admire everything you do. Session Zero - What's funny is that you said "I believe that others believe in a Session Zero"...then went on to talk about character creation and setting expectations.... That's a Session Zero. Custom versus Pre-Written campaigns - Based on your amazing creative energy and passion - write your own campaign. It give greater creative control and allows for alteration along the way more than any other type. Yes, it's more work, but (IMO) allows for more improv. Politics vs Underdark - My own DM is currently running Out of The Abyss, which is (obviously) an Underdark campaign, and he's also dealing with the politics my Noble background inserted into the campaign. His secret? He created a situation beyond the players' abilities to deal with without aid, so we had to escape to the surface. Then allies had to be recruited. Insert politics, but under the stress of knowing things are going to hell (figuratively) Below. Player buy in. - My DM also allows for player input into the campaign. I'm very invested in the campaign and watch other players. I'll throw ideas at him (out of game) over what I think might be good ideas for other players. I created my own Noble House, including ideas behind NPCs, history, and the like. My DM cherry picked that content for his desires and ran with it. He enjoys my commitment, and uses it to his advantage. He uses, disregards, or changes as he desires, and I'm good with that. (It's a thing I learned from Vampire: The Masquerade) Player death - When I DM, I always tell my own players that death is always on the table. They know that I refuse to save them from their own bad decisions, and that the world is a living thing. Declaring this up front is always best, as you have said yourself. New campaign - Looking forward to everything in your new campaign. Lars, Tom, Anna and Phil are great choices. I normally never watch live streams, and I can say that Anna and Phil are AWESOME. You're a lucky DM to have such amazing players. Last thing: I dislike Critical Role for a number of reasons. I avoid it. I tried watching it. Twice. Just can't. I'd watch your channel all the live long day. Why? It's more genuine. I BELIEVE in the gamers and the DM. It feels like a real campaign - not a bunch of actors trying to grab the limelight. It feels like a D&D game. I follow AQI - C Team for the same reasons.
of course it's a matter of opinion, but I didn't like Aquisitions for the same reason you dislike critical role. But for some reason, Critical Role does appeal to me xD
The one player who consistently tried to get everything and whined when he didn't get his way, Scott Kurtz, is no longer with AQI. That might help. AQI - "The C Team" has four different players with Jerry Holkins (Oman Dran) as the DM. It's a separate series.
Mike Gould I don't really think saying 'I don't believe in the GAMERS' is a valid criticism. You're free to feel how you want but many of the players have been playing RPGs for years. Some are relative newbies but they've all got excellent geek credentials. I think saying someone isn't a genuine gamer because they play a certain way that they enjoy seems very 'gatekeepy'.
I concur that the statement carries a whiff of pretense. Allow me to rephrase. I did not say that I do not believe in the players in Critical Role. I DID say that I certainly believe in the efforts and choices of Colville's players as MORE genuine. If you sit at multiple tables with multiple DMs and players, there's a 100% chance that you'll relate to Colville's players. I have a "Lars", an "EJ" a "TJ" and a "Phil" at my table. There's a minuscule chance you'll relate to Mercer's. Having watched Critical Role for quite a while before bouncing, it's more correct to say that I dislike their STYLE of play, which is a valid opinion. The overly dramatic, overly descriptive, endless narrative and upstaging came off like less of a D&D game and more like an audition to me. If there was a live action show about the D&D universe (costumes, special effects, the lot), Critical Role's players are perfect to fill those roles. They do not come off as just a bunch of people playing D&D. When I listen to the early AQI podcasts, even just the audio ones, those guys sound like people playing D&D. Sure, they joke a lot and can be quite funny, but our table is big on humour too. I can relate to that as well.
Watched the Post Mortem. Very interesting analysis. Made me think about my last long campaign I ran, in a different way and learn a few things from it. Thanks, Ian
I remember the session where EJ was too lenient on the kid that stole the... (jewelry I think) and had to reverse his decision. That was a good engaging session. I've never had players in the position of being the law. It has sort of inspired my current campaign. Thanks Matt!
I've had some problems with giving the druid in my game more personal stuff for his character and your phoenix idea is exactly what I needed. Going to tweek it for my world but I'm just going to, yeah, borrow that and... bye.
I've had Matt's derros at 1:05:03 in the back of my mind since this video was uploaded. In the next couple of weeks my players a finally going into the underdark where my 4 year campaign is gonna end, and they are going to meet some insane derros there. So happy I could find this part again :D
Man I am so excited to see how you prep Against the Cult of the Reptile God. It's because of you that I used it as my starting campaign with some slight modifications (turned the theme into a mad cult of the Void) and I am interested to see your prep for it and compare it to how I went about it.
I know the answer were i to phrase this as a question and i will still propose this: Set up a Patreon! Some of us - me included - are not just "allright with spending a buck or two" but WANT to give you money on a regular basis. I would love to help you finance the studio for streaming because I feel i'd get my moneys worth out of it.
How we usually do monstrous characters is either only 1 or the whole party. A whole party of monstrous characters means they can't do anything the normal way and must negotiate everything in a different way than usual.
I'm running Castle Whiterock. It's like the person making the map didn't communicate with the writer. There are places where the map and room descriptions don't agree on the cardinal directions. There can be a good campaign in there, but it's a lot of work to get it to run smoothly.
Matt, have you ever seen the heroes and halfwits style? Their game is probably not for actual DnD players as its pretty murder hobo ish, but their camera setup is pretty good. Their table is 3 players one side, 2 players the other with the DM center and camera opposite of the players. It takes on a podcast type feeling where everyone is talking over the table to each other. Each player and the DM have a face cam for when they are doing individual acts and the DM has a facecam for when hes storytelling. Then a single overhead camera to pan over the battlefield at times during the battle.
Hey Matt, some ideas for your space problem of 14x14 studio. Retail space is expensive, but a Public Storage Unit might fit the bill if it has power and 24hr access? Near TRS for easy commute for you and your players? I also note you are in a house. Perhaps this house has a garage? As a fellow socal resident, we tend to park our cars in driveways and make that garage space into something else..a gaming space/studio/workshop/gym etc..perhaps 14x14 fits in your garage? If you do not mind having it at your home that is. Just some thoughts! Looking forward to the stream!
There was some part of this video where Matt was talking about the Stream of Annihilation and how he really got along with (I think he used the term "kindred spirits") a few of the other guys. I only thought to look up the names after the whole video ended, and I'm having trouble finding that bit again. I I could only remember he mentioned Mark Hulmes by name (due to the name mispronunciation). What was the other named he mentioned? It seemed to me from watching "One Grung Above" that Matt got along well with Ruty Rutenberg, but I do not know if that is the other name he mentioned.
Thank you for the comments about character death. It's so hard to make alot of dungeons & dragons players and GMs be more aware of the medium, to care about the entertaiment, the shared entertainment, to actually play to entertain their group, instead of getting stuck in some notion of how the game should or have to be, despite that elements of it might not be entertaining and as such serves little to no purpose to that individual or group.
Matt I don't know if you read these comments, but if you do i wanted to bring up something you said about Ajax the Invincible. You mentioned how you are not sure yet how he became a living saint and you earlier stated that you like to leave such things open ended until you get inspiration. Something that might help spark such is, what if Ajax is one of your campaign's version of The Dead Three (Baal, Merkul, Bane). To me he has always sounded like Bane.
Those rules about getting a +1 weapon at level 5 are never followed, not even by WotC. Lost Mines of Phandelver has them lurking in the shadows at levels 2-3. I've no idea as to the beginning, middle and ending of your campaign(s) since I never watched the streams but loved the snippets you shared in the diaries. Learned a lot along the way.
Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed the political aspects of the game and, if I was a player, would likewise have enjoyed them. Then again, I enjoy RP far more than 'rolling dice' or 'fighting orcs', which seems to be unusual from what I've seen. Thankfully, I've found an amazing DM that really enjoys RP as well and we've started a few one-on-one campaigns focused largely on that aspect. We both also play together in another campaign where our love for RP has gotten us into hot water with the rest of the group on more than one occasion, as such can easily eat up a lot of session time.
Just finished my first "season" of GM'ing a Elder scrolls campaign, Heavily influenced by Matts advice. I was kinda loosing interest in continuing writing all that stuff, watched this- now i'm pumped again. :) Thanks Matt
I do think that you could still have it fast forward a while and have this epic war between the two evils, with the Baron (or rather Duke) trying to establish a third force, and Bedegar being sort of a safe heaven from two of those sources (the Duke will just command soldiers from the Baron of Bedegar, while the armies of Sariel will not enter the barony). It also would make an interesting point of potential conflict and mistrust between Bedegar and Dollrath (did I misspell that?).
I would love to hear how the discussion went on the campaign without being to invasive. I think we might learn a lot from it, especially what to ask the players and what to look for.
Hey Matthew! Thanks to you (and partly Matt Mercer) I started running the game for a group of friends. Unfortunately I am one of these terribly lazy people, grossly underpreparing for my sessions. One of the issues that I have is that I don't really have any means of challenging my players except for combat. Could you make a video about designing riddles and skill challenges(or good sources to rip those off of), to help people like me spice up their game? Also, thanks for all the great content you provide! Keep up the good work!
The occasional white noise sound could be from vibrations that your mic is picking up from the surface it's on. Commonly used especially with a Yeti mic there are dampener stands that only diminishes the vibrations for around $15-20.
Might post this on the subreddit but what's your opinion on Paizo's world after talking about different cultures of the past and middle ages and wizards. Personally I like that there's a place like ancient egypt, china, the middle east, ect, ect. Makes the world feel more authentic than an entire world of well middle ages europe. Also RPG's in cities are SO fun man. Had a Whole 2 month campaign about overthrowing this person and basically starting a rebellion. After a while it became overwhelming because it was a homebrew thing but it was crazy cool.
"How does your item know what level you are?" About that, how does my character know what level he is, or what level spell he just cast. I get your point, Matt, although it does raise the issues that I've long since had with level based systems (and one of my major issues with D&D for the past 20+ years). Great video as always, always love hearing your thoughts on the game, as even if they are different you never present anything as being right, you simply give a point of view and encourage others to find what works for them (even if that's the antithesis of what you do and enjoy).
I don't quite know the particulars of your campaign, but I can think of a way to solve the Lady Sariel vs Ajax. Could they not fight a war in which Lady Sariel simply stays away from Bedegar? I am probably oversimplifying the situation and butchering the names, but to me it sounds like it's doable.
I have at least one player who developed a backstory that would diverge my campaign away from the city politics that the group is dealing with right now. I can tell he is having fun but I have to figure out a way to rope in his back story of "Find out who my Dad is" His character is basically Starlord Genesai version. But I feel like I might have to have a long adventure in the plane of air for him to find his father. That would pull the other players away from their goals and back stories that are more politically involved. I feel like I have two choices send them off on the quest to find his dad and have them return to a completely changed political landscape or resolve the political stuff first before going to find his father. They are only at 4th level so I have plenty of time. What do you all think I should do?
32:00 "I always overestimate how much the players will get done." That's because it can take a group of players an hour of table time to make one decision if the DM lets them. For instance, with the question "Do we fight Lady Vampire, or make a deal with her?" After fifteen minutes of discussion, they began talking in circles and rehashing the same points. And that discussion went on for over an hour. That's when a decision could/should have been forced. "You all have talked this over. What is the decision?" And if they can't decide, let them roll dice for it. Everyone rolls a d6; those who want to make the deal add their d6s together; those who want to fight add theirs together; those who have no preference don't add at all. Then you see with side has the higher number. Then THAT's what the group does. That may seem gamey, but D&D is a game, and game elements and "fun for all" need to be considerations. If they are not, fun can easily perish to death by committee. Sometimes if the DM doesn't force the action, half a session or an entire session can go by with nothing happening but the players trying to decide what to do. Edit: 1:38:00 "I'm really unhappy with the quality of the stream -- this last stream." Why? The video is great. The audio is great. I would stop worrying about the quality of the stream and just focus on running a great game for your players and the growing audience. There might be a few "stream snobs" out there who grumble and nit pick, but big deal. If we want to view a professionally created production, we go Netflix or cable TV. We come to your channel to see D&D. A crappy stream might get in the way of that; but yours is far from crappy. Any little nit picks people might have will not detract from the other 99% of people enjoying the content. Just play D&D, and they will come.
Players arguing about what to do is playing. If they're having fun, limiting that is punishing them for enjoying themselves. I never had a sense that the players were not having fun last week. And they obviously didn't go in circles, since they ultimately decided to do the opposite of what the consensus was before that. I don't make it my business to punish the players for enjoying themselves, even if the folks watching are frustrated. I was pretty unhappy with the audio and video, but mostly because of the room we were in and the size of the table. Those will all be fixed.
Fair enough. Different groups play D&D differently, and player tastes vary. The players in one of the groups I run definitively do not like spending too much time discussing what to do next. Several of them have straight up told me that they frustrate themselves because they can't decide on things, and want me to step in and ensure that things keep moving. For my players, it might have been somewhat interesting for the two or three players discussing the various options, but the other players just wanted to get on with it, whatever "it" was. But you know your players. If they enjoy that, then it's a win.
I would've liked to hear more reasons as to why Matt thinks Fantasy Grounds is way better than Roll20. Having used both, I actually prefer Roll20 by a bit. Fantasy Grounds is a very nice program, but it's too structured and therefore limiting in some respects, I find. Roll20 is much more open and flexible. Which can definitely be a drawback, depending on what you're looking for.
On rolling stats: I have been experimenting with all sorts of ways of doing this over the last year. My favorite way so far has been having the players take two 15's and put it where they want, then roll down from there, leaving them where they lie. (4d6, drop the lowest) It lets the players choose what is most important for the character but still gives some randomness for more intriguing character stats to play off of.
You mentioned how useful it was to have players track monster hit points, especially for such a large party. Does this mean you would also let the players explicitly know about damage resistances and immunities whenever they are encountered? I need a lot of enemies in combat to have a chance of challenging my party of 7 players, and at some point, the bookkeeping breaks down because I'm focused on having the baddies doing interesting things.
Nathan Anderson Yes he answered this, he tells them when it happens, you notice your flame doesnt burn them as it usually does. i guess he'll say: this means resistance...
That's the problem with most digital tabletop options. They all do something "well" and other things sub-optimally. Fantasy Grounds is getting loads better every year, but it requires a LOT of upfront investment. If you have money to burn? Go Fantasy Grounds. If you want to use only official content? Go Fantasy Grounds. But if you don't want to buy everything through Fantasy Grounds because you already own books? Then Fantasy Grounds makes it next to impossible to integrate that content unless you have a degree in using the program. Roll20 is a lot easier to pick up and roll with it. No investment needed, no need to buy tons of modules or content. Sure, there's less infrastructure. But you're paying for that infrastructure with FG.
I want to do an urban campaign called, "grand theft cart" or something. Inspired by GTA and also in part by a section of the Acquisitions Incorporated C team campaign. I also want to do a Pokémon campaign. Where the players characters are mostly just normal citizens of the world. Players Pokémon are the ones that level up, and have classes, and feats, etc. Split up all of the spells in the PHB into different types. For example, the firebolt cantrip would be a fire type move. And fairy type Pokémon like Gardevior would be clerics.
I would LOVE for them to do the city game, the low magic game, etc. But also the Ravenloft Setting, Dark Sun Setting, etc. In actuality, my bieef with 5th edition so far is that they keep publishing lot's of pre made adventures and very little actual content. The thing those 4 books I've mentioned have in common is that they all need very specific rules that are not necessarily covered by the base classes and have gone so far totally unsupported...
Matt, Point buy vs rolls in my mind comes down to two schools of thought. Do players create the character they want to play for that campaign or do they have to play the character the campaign hands them?
I think maybe its the difference between a newer player and an older one as well. The people I play with, along with myself, are much newer players. When we are first getting a group together, before any actual meeting happens, we are already thinking about who we want to be and how that might affect how we behave. I think there might be a sense of disappointment for newer players if they cannot be who they feel like they want to going in because the rolls didnt fall that way. Whereas with older players, they have already been through most of the races and classes once and maybe like the element of randomness more.
I disagree that 5th Edition doesn't support the idea of giving players magic items early. I remember reading a passage from the DMG that basically says "Don't take these guidelines too seriously. If your first level character finds a ring of invisibility that might create a great story!" I just want to give credit to the 5th Edition D&D team for how they handle advice to DMs about how judicious to be with magic items.
I think it would be cool if just a regular old blade (wrougt in silver to harm the vampire maybe?) outfought Orion. Then the king of magical weapons would have lost (a metaphor to a simple peasant hero defeating an evil lord?), and maybe it would have to surrender its power to this new blade? At least that is what I would do if it were my game. Does it sound nice?
Another part of fewer magic items (ie plus numbers) has to do with the bounded accuracy mechanic built into the system. I don't like it either. And while yes it is fun to hit, 2/3rds of the time feels much too often to me - I support 50% of the time. The Massive hit times just within the system does move combat faster, but again I feel much too fast.
Hey Matt, have you ever done a Mystery campaign (Murder Mystery type, finding clues and solving the mystery, like Nancy Drew)? I want to throw one for my fiancee, but I'd be interested in hearing your advice about it.
I assume your discussion at 10:45 was to Catherine Rider's, "Magic and Religion in Medieval England." Those interested may also want to check out the Magic in Medieval Europe course at Coursera, which I believe you can take for free online as long as you forego getting a certificate (or it's $50 to get the certification that you completed the course). It includes things Rider's book omits, like Islamic Magic and you can learn about Geomancy. I have no financial interest in the plug, I just liked the course more than Rider's book, though I enjoyed that too. www.coursera.org/learn/magic-middle-ages
Weird Circle of Life thing: TH-camr Rythian makes an appearance in chat in the last 10 minutes or so of the video. . . He claims Matt's videos got him into DMing for the first time. . . Rythian once did a series called Castle Blackrock, which followed a Role Play Minecraft story he and his Yogscast friends crafted, which served as the inspiration for my D&D campaign setting which I ran for over a year and I just revived to play last week. Weeeiiiirrrd.
Great job Matt. Is the next campaign going to be on TH-cam? As someone from Europe, I can never catch the stream, but really want to be able to see the new stuff.
I've started my first campaign last week because of all the wonderful videos you put out. I marathoned all of your videos for 2 months, prepping for my campaign, and it all started from the "One night stand" (one shot) of the Goblin Dungeon video you did.
I misheard you when you mentioned the knights, and thought you said "Knights of Delirium" and viola - a new campaign was born. :'D
An order of Chaotic ghost knights recruiting adventurers who pass their 'tests' to help them defeat an exiled demon trying to end the world. They failed in life, but hope to succeed in their death.
I love the way you think and the concept that as the GM you don't have to know all the answers. Like you said, it leaves space for future inspiration and for the characters (and players) to help with the story. Thank you Matt, you are truly a river to your people!
Having read the first six Thomas Covenant books, it's fun having moments during your campaign videos where I can go "I SEE WHERE YOU GOT THAT FROM, COLVILLE!"
Grabbing the chance from thr notification squad to say "amazing job on inspiring aspiring DMs, keep the quality work up!"
Wish they would do a Planeshift Ravnica, for that city campaign. A world nearly completely covered in an urban sprawl held together by 10 guilds the run it all.
RiotKurhein you totally called that one
RE: DM's Guild
I'm not a fan of that by submitting content there, you give up publishing rights, for the one-in-a-million chance WotC wants to put it in one of their books. It means Matthew Mercer couldn't put his Gunslinger or Blood Hunter into the Tal'dorei campaign guide.
I believe he talked to them about that, and it seems he was successful as they are going to be in the book.
It's been a while since I heard him mention it, so I could very well be wrong now. Still, if he had to go out of his way to talk to WotC about it, it doesn't imply it was easy.
In fact, that's more of a red flag. If Mercer weren't such a powerhouse in the D&D world thanks to Critical Role and being approached by WotC to participate in actual canon adventures (Force Grey), I'd imagine the response would be very different.
Actually In a recent interview he stated that they were not included in the book (due to DM's Guild Policies) but were still very much a part of the world
That sucks, I thought he managed to get it in the book. Thanks for the info!
I love when Wharf gets introduced in Deep Space Nine. I feel like I remembered him from TNG to be basically a black character who happened to be an alien too. But when I get to contrast Wharf to Captain Cisco, there's a super stark contrast, and it becomes super clear: Wharf is an Alien. (For some reason the contrast with Jordy LaForge didn't do that for me...)
I really liked Phil! Please bring him back for season 2!
Can you do a video that just talking about the campaign?
Ajax is soap where I live. It removes invincible stains.
You're videos are super helpful! Keep up the good work, and thanks for both the help you bing your viewers and the enjoyment you bring your players! Also, notification squad!
THE CHOSEN ONE HAS REJECTED ME!!!!! story at 1:03:10
Thanks haha
lol
Thanks for posting to youtube! I can rarely catch things live and love your stuff :3
Never shave Matt. Never.
Oops!
I'd avoid DM's Guild as well. As you said, Matt, the deal for content providers is draconian.
Damn I was just gonna check out a bit of this before going to dinner and I sat through the whole damn thing! 😎 Nice going! Now I'm starving...
1:12:02 Moment of silence for the Fallen Derro...
F
I kinda feel that when in the stream they were discussing whether or not vampires are lawful they missed one big thing (which this is not a criticism or saying they play bad ) but they missed yes she did ask for permission to come in but under a disguise knowing the players be more comfortable and accepting of that disguise than lady sariel so yes they abide to rules and conducts but they will exploit loop holes so like lawyer vampires
Thank you for giving the spelling of the Ptolus setting! Now I can finally find (and consider using) this thing you’ve been referring to.
I do the same thing! I feel like I need to rush to things because I feel like it ont be as fun but its the opposite! Players get more immersed when you take your time to describe and roleplay sceanarios
1:27:26 Hearing you say that honestly fills me with a sense of relief, as knowing that even an experienced and great DM can have moments like that makes feel less awful when I have those moments myself.
HOLY SHIT hahaha 4:19 "Players always want to take as few risks as possible, Unless your Ej" :3 haha, well it is true XD hah
Ejay2287 if this is you, loved watching you in Colville's game!
I kind of want to do a campaign set in ancient Africa and use a lot of yoruban mythology. I think it'd be interesting and new. Hopefully its doable.
That sounds cool. I think any setting is easily doable for DnD as long as you take a bit of time to prepare for it.
Great video, very insightful :) I will say on the issue of giving the players magic items that the designers of the game don't follow their own advice on that front.
I'm running one of the pre-made adventures and in the first two dungeons the players were rewarded with a Wand of Magic Missiles and a +1 Dagger, among other utility items like a driftglobe. This was at level 1 and 2, and they've continued to get cool stuff since then. My experience with Lost Mines of Phlandonger was similar. So basically you shouldn't feel bad about giving the players magic stuff before 5th level, because WotC certainly don't!
I will say that I generally replace all of the +1 weapons, because my players don't have any trouble hitting or damaging enemies and +whatever weapons don't seem that interesting to me. Even just a weapon that can cast a cantrip none of the players have is probably more interesting.
FergMcVerbag Perhaps WotC's advice is not that the party should find _one_ magic weapon by about level 5, but rather _one each?_ So the _average player_ finds one such item by that level, not the _average team._ Then it makes sense that some of them are spaced out at earlier levels.
Matt, let me start by saying that I admire everything you do.
Session Zero - What's funny is that you said "I believe that others believe in a Session Zero"...then went on to talk about character creation and setting expectations.... That's a Session Zero.
Custom versus Pre-Written campaigns - Based on your amazing creative energy and passion - write your own campaign. It give greater creative control and allows for alteration along the way more than any other type. Yes, it's more work, but (IMO) allows for more improv.
Politics vs Underdark - My own DM is currently running Out of The Abyss, which is (obviously) an Underdark campaign, and he's also dealing with the politics my Noble background inserted into the campaign. His secret? He created a situation beyond the players' abilities to deal with without aid, so we had to escape to the surface. Then allies had to be recruited. Insert politics, but under the stress of knowing things are going to hell (figuratively) Below.
Player buy in. - My DM also allows for player input into the campaign. I'm very invested in the campaign and watch other players. I'll throw ideas at him (out of game) over what I think might be good ideas for other players. I created my own Noble House, including ideas behind NPCs, history, and the like. My DM cherry picked that content for his desires and ran with it. He enjoys my commitment, and uses it to his advantage. He uses, disregards, or changes as he desires, and I'm good with that. (It's a thing I learned from Vampire: The Masquerade)
Player death - When I DM, I always tell my own players that death is always on the table. They know that I refuse to save them from their own bad decisions, and that the world is a living thing. Declaring this up front is always best, as you have said yourself.
New campaign - Looking forward to everything in your new campaign. Lars, Tom, Anna and Phil are great choices. I normally never watch live streams, and I can say that Anna and Phil are AWESOME. You're a lucky DM to have such amazing players.
Last thing: I dislike Critical Role for a number of reasons. I avoid it. I tried watching it. Twice. Just can't. I'd watch your channel all the live long day. Why? It's more genuine. I BELIEVE in the gamers and the DM. It feels like a real campaign - not a bunch of actors trying to grab the limelight. It feels like a D&D game. I follow AQI - C Team for the same reasons.
of course it's a matter of opinion, but I didn't like Aquisitions for the same reason you dislike critical role. But for some reason, Critical Role does appeal to me xD
The one player who consistently tried to get everything and whined when he didn't get his way, Scott Kurtz, is no longer with AQI. That might help. AQI - "The C Team" has four different players with Jerry Holkins (Oman Dran) as the DM. It's a separate series.
Mike Gould I don't really think saying 'I don't believe in the GAMERS' is a valid criticism. You're free to feel how you want but many of the players have been playing RPGs for years. Some are relative newbies but they've all got excellent geek credentials. I think saying someone isn't a genuine gamer because they play a certain way that they enjoy seems very 'gatekeepy'.
I concur that the statement carries a whiff of pretense. Allow me to rephrase. I did not say that I do not believe in the players in Critical Role. I DID say that I certainly believe in the efforts and choices of Colville's players as MORE genuine. If you sit at multiple tables with multiple DMs and players, there's a 100% chance that you'll relate to Colville's players. I have a "Lars", an "EJ" a "TJ" and a "Phil" at my table.
There's a minuscule chance you'll relate to Mercer's. Having watched Critical Role for quite a while before bouncing, it's more correct to say that I dislike their STYLE of play, which is a valid opinion. The overly dramatic, overly descriptive, endless narrative and upstaging came off like less of a D&D game and more like an audition to me. If there was a live action show about the D&D universe (costumes, special effects, the lot), Critical Role's players are perfect to fill those roles. They do not come off as just a bunch of people playing D&D.
When I listen to the early AQI podcasts, even just the audio ones, those guys sound like people playing D&D. Sure, they joke a lot and can be quite funny, but our table is big on humour too. I can relate to that as well.
Watched the Post Mortem. Very interesting analysis. Made me think about my last long campaign I ran, in a different way and learn a few things from it. Thanks,
Ian
Thanks for doing this, Matt. Lots of great info shared during your stream.
The ending was oddly perfect. Thanks for your insight, Matt. Looking forward to seeing future campaigns from you and your crew. :D
1:13:15 Time stamp reference for Matt's amazing Xanathar Beholder impression. You're welcome
Thanks for uploading this, sensei.
I remember the session where EJ was too lenient on the kid that stole the... (jewelry I think) and had to reverse his decision. That was a good engaging session. I've never had players in the position of being the law. It has sort of inspired my current campaign. Thanks Matt!
There was so many great moments in this that validated things I have been running into as a 1st year DM. Great video.
Dunno why but I've just been watching at 50:20 over and over again. His delivery of Druid stuff is hilarious lol.
I've had some problems with giving the druid in my game more personal stuff for his character and your phoenix idea is exactly what I needed. Going to tweek it for my world but I'm just going to, yeah, borrow that and... bye.
I've had Matt's derros at 1:05:03 in the back of my mind since this video was uploaded. In the next couple of weeks my players a finally going into the underdark where my 4 year campaign is gonna end, and they are going to meet some insane derros there. So happy I could find this part again :D
Man I am so excited to see how you prep Against the Cult of the Reptile God. It's because of you that I used it as my starting campaign with some slight modifications (turned the theme into a mad cult of the Void) and I am interested to see your prep for it and compare it to how I went about it.
I know the answer were i to phrase this as a question and i will still propose this: Set up a Patreon!
Some of us - me included - are not just "allright with spending a buck or two" but WANT to give you money on a regular basis.
I would love to help you finance the studio for streaming because I feel i'd get my moneys worth out of it.
How we usually do monstrous characters is either only 1 or the whole party. A whole party of monstrous characters means they can't do anything the normal way and must negotiate everything in a different way than usual.
I'm running Castle Whiterock. It's like the person making the map didn't communicate with the writer. There are places where the map and room descriptions don't agree on the cardinal directions. There can be a good campaign in there, but it's a lot of work to get it to run smoothly.
Matt, have you ever seen the heroes and halfwits style? Their game is probably not for actual DnD players as its pretty murder hobo ish, but their camera setup is pretty good. Their table is 3 players one side, 2 players the other with the DM center and camera opposite of the players. It takes on a podcast type feeling where everyone is talking over the table to each other. Each player and the DM have a face cam for when they are doing individual acts and the DM has a facecam for when hes storytelling. Then a single overhead camera to pan over the battlefield at times during the battle.
Hey Matt, some ideas for your space problem of 14x14 studio. Retail space is expensive, but a Public Storage Unit might fit the bill if it has power and 24hr access? Near TRS for easy commute for you and your players? I also note you are in a house. Perhaps this house has a garage? As a fellow socal resident, we tend to park our cars in driveways and make that garage space into something else..a gaming space/studio/workshop/gym etc..perhaps 14x14 fits in your garage? If you do not mind having it at your home that is. Just some thoughts! Looking forward to the stream!
I appreciate that Fredo Corleone line thrown in there.
There was some part of this video where Matt was talking about the Stream of Annihilation and how he really got along with (I think he used the term "kindred spirits") a few of the other guys. I only thought to look up the names after the whole video ended, and I'm having trouble finding that bit again. I I could only remember he mentioned Mark Hulmes by name (due to the name mispronunciation). What was the other named he mentioned? It seemed to me from watching "One Grung Above" that Matt got along well with Ruty Rutenberg, but I do not know if that is the other name he mentioned.
Thank you for the comments about character death. It's so hard to make alot of dungeons & dragons players and GMs be more aware of the medium, to care about the entertaiment, the shared entertainment, to actually play to entertain their group, instead of getting stuck in some notion of how the game should or have to be, despite that elements of it might not be entertaining and as such serves little to no purpose to that individual or group.
Matt I don't know if you read these comments, but if you do i wanted to bring up something you said about Ajax the Invincible. You mentioned how you are not sure yet how he became a living saint and you earlier stated that you like to leave such things open ended until you get inspiration. Something that might help spark such is, what if Ajax is one of your campaign's version of The Dead Three (Baal, Merkul, Bane). To me he has always sounded like Bane.
Those rules about getting a +1 weapon at level 5 are never followed, not even by WotC. Lost Mines of Phandelver has them lurking in the shadows at levels 2-3.
I've no idea as to the beginning, middle and ending of your campaign(s) since I never watched the streams but loved the snippets you shared in the diaries. Learned a lot along the way.
Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed the political aspects of the game and, if I was a player, would likewise have enjoyed them. Then again, I enjoy RP far more than 'rolling dice' or 'fighting orcs', which seems to be unusual from what I've seen.
Thankfully, I've found an amazing DM that really enjoys RP as well and we've started a few one-on-one campaigns focused largely on that aspect. We both also play together in another campaign where our love for RP has gotten us into hot water with the rest of the group on more than one occasion, as such can easily eat up a lot of session time.
Just finished my first "season" of GM'ing a Elder scrolls campaign, Heavily influenced by Matts advice.
I was kinda loosing interest in continuing writing all that stuff, watched this- now i'm pumped again. :) Thanks Matt
So hyped for the stronghold rules, the warfare rules and the CAMPAIGN SETTING!!!!!
sweet its nice to see these kind of video's to learn and inprove. still stream looks clean keep it up
Saw "Under Orders, Under Fire", it was a great watch indeed.
Your voice effects freaked my cat out like I have never seen before :)
I do think that you could still have it fast forward a while and have this epic war between the two evils, with the Baron (or rather Duke) trying to establish a third force, and Bedegar being sort of a safe heaven from two of those sources (the Duke will just command soldiers from the Baron of Bedegar, while the armies of Sariel will not enter the barony). It also would make an interesting point of potential conflict and mistrust between Bedegar and Dollrath (did I misspell that?).
Matt the love you have for our game is inspiring
I would love to hear how the discussion went on the campaign without being to invasive. I think we might learn a lot from it, especially what to ask the players and what to look for.
Thanks for adding this to youtube!!!
Hey Matthew! Thanks to you (and partly Matt Mercer) I started running the game for a group of friends. Unfortunately I am one of these terribly lazy people, grossly underpreparing for my sessions. One of the issues that I have is that I don't really have any means of challenging my players except for combat. Could you make a video about designing riddles and skill challenges(or good sources to rip those off of), to help people like me spice up their game?
Also, thanks for all the great content you provide! Keep up the good work!
Best ending possible.
The occasional white noise sound could be from vibrations that your mic is picking up from the surface it's on. Commonly used especially with a Yeti mic there are dampener stands that only diminishes the vibrations for around $15-20.
As I'm listening more, the noise is echoing your speech, so yea it's vibrations from what your mic is on.
Might post this on the subreddit but what's your opinion on Paizo's world after talking about different cultures of the past and middle ages and wizards. Personally I like that there's a place like ancient egypt, china, the middle east, ect, ect. Makes the world feel more authentic than an entire world of well middle ages europe.
Also RPG's in cities are SO fun man. Had a Whole 2 month campaign about overthrowing this person and basically starting a rebellion. After a while it became overwhelming because it was a homebrew thing but it was crazy cool.
"How does your item know what level you are?"
About that, how does my character know what level he is, or what level spell he just cast.
I get your point, Matt, although it does raise the issues that I've long since had with level based systems (and one of my major issues with D&D for the past 20+ years).
Great video as always, always love hearing your thoughts on the game, as even if they are different you never present anything as being right, you simply give a point of view and encourage others to find what works for them (even if that's the antithesis of what you do and enjoy).
Your characters do not know what level they are.
what an ending to the stream lmao
ominous moaning and Matt frantically saying "oh no, the cameras dying, the cameras dying!"
I don't quite know the particulars of your campaign, but I can think of a way to solve the Lady Sariel vs Ajax. Could they not fight a war in which Lady Sariel simply stays away from Bedegar? I am probably oversimplifying the situation and butchering the names, but to me it sounds like it's doable.
I have at least one player who developed a backstory that would diverge my campaign away from the city politics that the group is dealing with right now. I can tell he is having fun but I have to figure out a way to rope in his back story of "Find out who my Dad is" His character is basically Starlord Genesai version. But I feel like I might have to have a long adventure in the plane of air for him to find his father. That would pull the other players away from their goals and back stories that are more politically involved. I feel like I have two choices send them off on the quest to find his dad and have them return to a completely changed political landscape or resolve the political stuff first before going to find his father. They are only at 4th level so I have plenty of time. What do you all think I should do?
I love the Mighty Boosh. Next character concept: Milky Joe
32:00 "I always overestimate how much the players will get done." That's because it can take a group of players an hour of table time to make one decision if the DM lets them.
For instance, with the question "Do we fight Lady Vampire, or make a deal with her?" After fifteen minutes of discussion, they began talking in circles and rehashing the same points. And that discussion went on for over an hour. That's when a decision could/should have been forced. "You all have talked this over. What is the decision?"
And if they can't decide, let them roll dice for it. Everyone rolls a d6; those who want to make the deal add their d6s together; those who want to fight add theirs together; those who have no preference don't add at all. Then you see with side has the higher number. Then THAT's what the group does. That may seem gamey, but D&D is a game, and game elements and "fun for all" need to be considerations. If they are not, fun can easily perish to death by committee.
Sometimes if the DM doesn't force the action, half a session or an entire session can go by with nothing happening but the players trying to decide what to do.
Edit: 1:38:00 "I'm really unhappy with the quality of the stream -- this last stream." Why? The video is great. The audio is great. I would stop worrying about the quality of the stream and just focus on running a great game for your players and the growing audience. There might be a few "stream snobs" out there who grumble and nit pick, but big deal. If we want to view a professionally created production, we go Netflix or cable TV. We come to your channel to see D&D. A crappy stream might get in the way of that; but yours is far from crappy. Any little nit picks people might have will not detract from the other 99% of people enjoying the content. Just play D&D, and they will come.
Players arguing about what to do is playing. If they're having fun, limiting that is punishing them for enjoying themselves. I never had a sense that the players were not having fun last week. And they obviously didn't go in circles, since they ultimately decided to do the opposite of what the consensus was before that.
I don't make it my business to punish the players for enjoying themselves, even if the folks watching are frustrated.
I was pretty unhappy with the audio and video, but mostly because of the room we were in and the size of the table. Those will all be fixed.
Fair enough. Different groups play D&D differently, and player tastes vary. The players in one of the groups I run definitively do not like spending too much time discussing what to do next. Several of them have straight up told me that they frustrate themselves because they can't decide on things, and want me to step in and ensure that things keep moving. For my players, it might have been somewhat interesting for the two or three players discussing the various options, but the other players just wanted to get on with it, whatever "it" was. But you know your players. If they enjoy that, then it's a win.
I would've liked to hear more reasons as to why Matt thinks Fantasy Grounds is way better than Roll20. Having used both, I actually prefer Roll20 by a bit. Fantasy Grounds is a very nice program, but it's too structured and therefore limiting in some respects, I find. Roll20 is much more open and flexible. Which can definitely be a drawback, depending on what you're looking for.
52:42 Terry Pratchett reference!
On rolling stats: I have been experimenting with all sorts of ways of doing this over the last year. My favorite way so far has been having the players take two 15's and put it where they want, then roll down from there, leaving them where they lie. (4d6, drop the lowest) It lets the players choose what is most important for the character but still gives some randomness for more intriguing character stats to play off of.
That voice mod you used near the beginning reminded me so much of the cut dialogue for Artorias in Dark Souls DLC.
You mentioned how useful it was to have players track monster hit points, especially for such a large party. Does this mean you would also let the players explicitly know about damage resistances and immunities whenever they are encountered?
I need a lot of enemies in combat to have a chance of challenging my party of 7 players, and at some point, the bookkeeping breaks down because I'm focused on having the baddies doing interesting things.
Nathan Anderson Yes he answered this, he tells them when it happens, you notice your flame doesnt burn them as it usually does. i guess he'll say: this means resistance...
That's the problem with most digital tabletop options. They all do something "well" and other things sub-optimally.
Fantasy Grounds is getting loads better every year, but it requires a LOT of upfront investment. If you have money to burn? Go Fantasy Grounds. If you want to use only official content? Go Fantasy Grounds. But if you don't want to buy everything through Fantasy Grounds because you already own books? Then Fantasy Grounds makes it next to impossible to integrate that content unless you have a degree in using the program.
Roll20 is a lot easier to pick up and roll with it. No investment needed, no need to buy tons of modules or content. Sure, there's less infrastructure. But you're paying for that infrastructure with FG.
I bought your books, and look forward to reading them. I fear this is going to make me want to play D&D supremely bad but can't find a group.
Thank you Matt as always and wow the timing on that ending was aces
Matt I greatly appreciate your Mighty Boosh reference
I want to do an urban campaign called, "grand theft cart" or something. Inspired by GTA and also in part by a section of the Acquisitions Incorporated C team campaign.
I also want to do a Pokémon campaign. Where the players characters are mostly just normal citizens of the world. Players Pokémon are the ones that level up, and have classes, and feats, etc. Split up all of the spells in the PHB into different types. For example, the firebolt cantrip would be a fire type move. And fairy type Pokémon like Gardevior would be clerics.
I would LOVE for them to do the city game, the low magic game, etc. But also the Ravenloft Setting, Dark Sun Setting, etc. In actuality, my bieef with 5th edition so far is that they keep publishing lot's of pre made adventures and very little actual content. The thing those 4 books I've mentioned have in common is that they all need very specific rules that are not necessarily covered by the base classes and have gone so far totally unsupported...
Feynman's Tuva Throat singers.
What happened around 14:38 ? Did you cut some audio-fixing?
I believe that was when the stream crashed.
Just wanted to stop by to say hi and that I love you Matt....... hi, I love you Matt!
Why am I laughing so hard about a darrow's suicide? It sounds horrific!
I will definitely be contributing to the stronghold rules. I miss the moment when you hit 9th level and you're suddenly a lord.
If you haven't read them already, the night angel trilogy and the light bringer series by Brent weeks are extremely good darker fantasy novels.
Matt, Point buy vs rolls in my mind comes down to two schools of thought. Do players create the character they want to play for that campaign or do they have to play the character the campaign hands them?
I think the process of discovering your character is better than either of those options.
I think maybe its the difference between a newer player and an older one as well. The people I play with, along with myself, are much newer players. When we are first getting a group together, before any actual meeting happens, we are already thinking about who we want to be and how that might affect how we behave. I think there might be a sense of disappointment for newer players if they cannot be who they feel like they want to going in because the rolls didnt fall that way. Whereas with older players, they have already been through most of the races and classes once and maybe like the element of randomness more.
Matt, go for it, set up that DM website! I'm sure many people will contribute to keeping it running if you refuse to put advertisements on it.
I disagree that 5th Edition doesn't support the idea of giving players magic items early. I remember reading a passage from the DMG that basically says "Don't take these guidelines too seriously. If your first level character finds a ring of invisibility that might create a great story!" I just want to give credit to the 5th Edition D&D team for how they handle advice to DMs about how judicious to be with magic items.
I think it would be cool if just a regular old blade (wrougt in silver to harm the vampire maybe?) outfought Orion. Then the king of magical weapons would have lost (a metaphor to a simple peasant hero defeating an evil lord?), and maybe it would have to surrender its power to this new blade? At least that is what I would do if it were my game. Does it sound nice?
Another part of fewer magic items (ie plus numbers) has to do with the bounded accuracy mechanic built into the system. I don't like it either. And while yes it is fun to hit, 2/3rds of the time feels much too often to me - I support 50% of the time. The Massive hit times just within the system does move combat faster, but again I feel much too fast.
The swords of the drgon feel inspired a little by Fred Saberhagens swors books.
Ahh, The Mighty Boosh. It's been a fair while since I've watched that.
go to bed Matthew!
Sleep is for the weak.
And people who want to keep their day jobs.
Hey Matt, have you ever done a Mystery campaign (Murder Mystery type, finding clues and solving the mystery, like Nancy Drew)? I want to throw one for my fiancee, but I'd be interested in hearing your advice about it.
The law of time and the law of death? That's directly from Thomas Covenant, as is the Wyrd... isn't it?
I assume your discussion at 10:45 was to Catherine Rider's, "Magic and Religion in Medieval England." Those interested may also want to check out the Magic in Medieval Europe course at Coursera, which I believe you can take for free online as long as you forego getting a certificate (or it's $50 to get the certification that you completed the course). It includes things Rider's book omits, like Islamic Magic and you can learn about Geomancy. I have no financial interest in the plug, I just liked the course more than Rider's book, though I enjoyed that too. www.coursera.org/learn/magic-middle-ages
Weird Circle of Life thing: TH-camr Rythian makes an appearance in chat in the last 10 minutes or so of the video. . . He claims Matt's videos got him into DMing for the first time. . . Rythian once did a series called Castle Blackrock, which followed a Role Play Minecraft story he and his Yogscast friends crafted, which served as the inspiration for my D&D campaign setting which I ran for over a year and I just revived to play last week. Weeeiiiirrrd.
Great job Matt. Is the next campaign going to be on TH-cam? As someone from Europe, I can never catch the stream, but really want to be able to see the new stuff.
Please put link to your kickstarted in the description
Shiloh Elgin it's not up yet
10 am in the uk and matthew will not load, end me.
100% correct about the Fantasy Grounds forum :)
so glad i couldn't sleep tonight