"I thought you were a river for your people." "I am and this river only goes one direction." Probably one of my new favorite quotes. That was a literal knee slapped for me
Funny thought: What if your "incorruptible" dragonborns were originally "incorrigible" dragonborns because the wizard who first created the dragonborns tried to teach them speak good English, but they all developed the same accent with the drawn out s, z, and k. The wizard gave up and call the dragonborns "incorrigible", but everyone else through bad English, wishful thinking, or intentional branding thought the wizard meant the dragonborns are "incorruptible". As a result, even though the dragonborns have no natural tendency toward good or evil, over time they all became the paragons for good (except for a few rogue dragonborns) because everyone calls them "incorruptible" and treats them like paragons for good.
Not only that, but you can use Dex for any "Monk Weapon", even if they're not a Finesse weapon normally. Str focused Monks are the exception rather than the rule in 5E, and Dex was their primary attribute in 4E too. This was likely due the developers wanting to emphasize fine motor skill aspect of many real world martial arts over the more fantastic thought process of stronger means you hit harder. It was also a response to player's desires, since a lot of people (including myself) would go out of their way to make Dex based monks in 3E, even though getting Weapon Finesse: Unarmed Strike was a huge pain because of the 1+ base attack bonus prerequisite forcing you to wait until character level 3 to become the character you wanted to be.
Regarding the rolling strategy of 4d6-lowest in order, I wonder if it would be a little more fun to choose race first, then roll. For starters, that is kind of the first thing people get (you're born, and your skills show as you grow,) but also it could lead to some fun circumstances. For example, I could really, really want to play as a dwarf, but the attributes I roll are perfect for a ranger. That's a fun circumstance! Suddenly I have to think about who this dwarf is, and why they felt called to be a ranger of all things. The same goes for a high elf barbarian, or a halfling fighter.
I try to make a list of questions about playing the game. My goal to encourage the player to have a fun way to play the character in the game play since that is their role for the game. Then I let them do a point buy system. Sadly this method does not work well with 5th and its discouraging of role playing.
I never really got that impression from 5th. If anything, it seems like their design mentality was to strip out a lot of the rigid mechanics of 3/3.5e and 4e and allow for greater roleplaying flexibility.
***** Well, 5th dictate your character role by the class you pick. To have any control you need to multi-class or play a spell user. The same as 3.5. Comparing pathfinder, 4th and 5th's fighter and I find 5th to be the limited class. Then there the background in 5th which is the worse thing you can do to discourage role playing.
Actually, a Monk can use DEX for attacks. So having a Monk with low STR isn't bad. But that character's DEX was pretty low, so it wouldn't really work.
I mean it _could_ have worked, if the Monk was of a race that got bonuses to Dex (Elf, Half-Elf, Halfling, etc). It wouldn't be totally optimal, but it could work.
Hey Matt! I really appreciate your videos, they've been a big help and inspiration in getting me into D&D. I just finished DMing my first session for a homebrew campaign and, though I was nervous as hell, I think it went all right. I just wanted to say thanks for being a part of showing me how awesome something like D&D can be.
@@mnm1273 Oh wow this is a blast from the past. I'm happy to say it's gone pretty well! I've made some good friends through DnD and I currently DM for a group of five good friends. I'm running them through Ghosts of Saltmarsh right now and actually killed my first ever PC two nights ago when the party inexplicably decided the best plan was to allow themselves to get captured by pirates and locked in the bilge. IDK what the hell they were thinking. Feels weird to kill a character but fortunately he wasn't too upset about it.
@@hawkins4791 That's great. I for one am impressed you played for so long without a PC dying. Took me two sessions before a TPK (it was supposed to be a one shot so wasn't a disaster). You must make well balanced ecounter and have generally sensible players. Really nice ot know you're still DMing.
@@mnm1273 Idk if i'd call my combat well balanced. I actually tend to err too far on the side of caution I think. It tends to make most of my encounters rather unfortunately easy. I'm trying to ramp things up in difficulty, and having a pre-built adventure helps with that. Also my current group is almost bizarrely combat averse haha! Maybe this death will make them think better of letting themselves get into terrible situations, and take tactical combat situations where they have an advantage. I doubt it though. Their main takeaway seemed to be "We need to roll better on social checks". I find that strange but I don't really mind. If they want to be social then so be it.
@@hawkins4791 Couldn't agree more about letting them stay non combat oreinted if they want to. Makingsure comabt is an option is always great but if that's not how they want to go most of the time letting them do that in a way you find fun and rewarding is great.
Lol you exclaimed "Four in the morning!?" at 3:58 AM during my viewing of this video! It's not a matter of going to bed, it's a matter of I've already been asleep for 10 hours and need to distract myself until work! What better way than rpg prep and homework? Thanks for all you do, Matt! Forever indebted!
6:25 I think this drives my friends (and me) crazy, I hate moving on from games and systems as soon as I get proficient in them. I want to use that proficiency and have fun with it, whereas my friends often just want this nugget of an experience and then want to move onto some new thing. Thank you for articulating that!
This video reminds me of why I never again made my players roll characters randomly ever since I was a kid. Also, clerics are probably the characters who are most different from each other depending on deity, domains, etc, so I really dont see the harm in having two clerics. Entertaining video, though.
Hey Matt, you mentioned how Surnames are a recent thing, while mostly true in the English-speaking... well honestly you can hardly say 14th century England spoke "English", but whatever... There is a long and varied history among many cultures and many date back to BCE. Even in Western Europe, Ireland had hereditary Surnames from at least the 10th century. I bring it up mostly because I find the history of these sorts of things interesting and good inspiration for character names, not that I think characters should be forced to have more than one name. Sometimes it's more fun for a new character to earn their surname through deed and action. :) Also a shame I missed the stream, still nice to wake up this morning to a new video :)
Wild Magic sorcery is really silly and fun, but with the established lore of Collabris and how that particular character was Dragonborn, I wish it was Draconic Bloodline instead.
To paraphrase the Stat Generation Method 1 in my game after you finish the initial rolls you can then choose to re-roll any one number that is a 9 or lower and keep a higher new number if generated. That way you CAN have a much higher chance of getting a Class you prefer and saves a whole LOT of time on otherwise wasted Stat rolls...
Also a great source for random name creation I use is the Seventh Sanctum website who has a random generator for just about anything you could need help with in designing your game world environment...
I'm so late to this video, but I really wanted the Bard to be an older character. Someone who had traveled the world looking for adventure and glory when he was younger and now has built up this immense knowledge of the world and it inhabitants. Now he's that revered wise old man, retelling stories of the past around the crackling campfire to a captive audience.
If people are wanting you to host a game in Fantasy Grounds, you could have an application process that gets narrowed down to 4-5 people. Having a 'test' of some sort, like a couple of "what would you do if...." / "What are you looking to get out of this?" / "What kind of hero would you want to play" / even some Fantasy Grounds questions to make sure you don't have to stop and explain the program every five minutes and a lot of those kinds of questions, and have multiple answers or write a short paragraph. It wouldn't have to be a big deal, but you could definitely weed out some trolls that way. You might be able to make it a livestream or a video from your perspective and give tips on the DMing process IN Fantasy Grounds. TL;DR, would love to see you do more Fantasy Grounds stuff. Maybe some tutorials? Is it a good way to organize a custom campaign? How would you do it?
I returned to this video after recently rolling a character using the Matt Colville Method. She came out with all Ability Scores over 14, coming out equal to a 72 point buy, and after racial adjustment she had three 18's (STR, CON, and WIS). She is the party's Bhaltair, except I went with Cleric rather than Monk.
Sad i lost the stream >: Welp, i've put Phandelver, on the divise, inbetween Haldrim and The Burnt Hills! The place is perfect to put everything. Even adapted, somethings, like adding some more personality to the Redbrands, making then a little connected to the Burnt Hills bandits tribes =P
I have plenty of imagination to make up my own adventures, but the mapping/cartography aspect is where I hit the cliffs of insanity. Anyone know what is a good map making program that could get me something that looks something like what you see in Wizards modules? Knowing where to start and where to get a good assortment of drop in things like medieval houses, stables, rocks, trees, streams, bridges, roads and such that could be used to make towns or other scenes to make encounters from that actually LOOK GREAT. I use Fantasy Grounds and am utterly sold on it being the best option for me. Now I just need to make my own maps so I can customize everything I need to develop my own adventures. Any cartographers out there that have suggestions on what to use? Links are appreciated.
You mention having all the villains created for you in an adventure, which villains in the adventures that you've run (aside from Karalel the Vile) did you like the most?
Mr. Colville, you should get a buddy to write a simple script for stat generation. A computer program can do the exact same process instantly. You could put it in something like a webpage so you can open the webpage or refresh it to get a new set of stats. Though it's possible you might not want to, for the same reason some authors use pens instead of keyboards to write. Rolling and watching the stats and being frustrated by rerolls might help you to think about what the character will be, beyond the number values of the stats.
Ive finally chewed through your playing the game playlist and loved your sage like wisdom . . Anywho... Do you ever entirely create a creature for an encounter? if so (even if not i guess) what're your favourite creatures/types of creatures?
Mr. Colville. I have a suggestion / request. Perhaps you could start a side series where you suggest adventures that can be easily adapted into other campaigns. My biggest fear as a DM on a tight budget is purchasing an adventure and finding out it's not suited for a lot of tinkering, or its scope doesn't fit into my campaign.
He's actually working collaboratively with his fans to make a website to essentially do just that, we're people can submit their content for the world to see
Vineares If I can make a small suggestion with regard to your request: Look at any adventure as an outline or guideline. Look at the general plot line and the motivation of its NPCs and villains. So long as you retain those elements, you should be able to change the environment in which it occurs, and even adjust the monsters. Look for creatures of your desired CR, and adjust on the fly if necessary (by lowering/increasing hit points or having opponents flee/reinforcements arrive). It might take a little work, but I promise, once you've done it a few times, it gets easier.
Vineares DM's Guild has a lot of adventures of different levels you can easily adapt into campaigns and a large number are pay what you want so you don't need to worry about wasting your money on an adventure you either don't want to use after you read it, or if your players just ignore it (though they are of various quality of course) or might I suggest looking into the dungeons featured in Tales from the Yawning Portal, all of which can easily be used in any setting.
After finishing watching this (after almost 2 months)- Was the quest for Phandelver played over on Twitch and is now no longer available to watch? (the first part at least :C I would have loved to see the characters come to life~)
You can do anything in D&D, therefore, that could have easily been an Evolve Campaign, but Fantasy instead of Sci-Fi. Actually, thinking about it now, Evolve and the stereotypical game of Dungeons & Dragons have enough similarities with one another, it wouldn't be difficult to make an Evolve-inspired D&D game... Now I'm wondering if that was what inspired the Slayer's Take in Matt Mercer's world... And now I sort of want to run a game of D&D Evolve...
Someone said he needs a sound track where he just goes boop beep boop and now in 2019 all his streams have a patch in the background XD we love progress
I have a question. I've done many many one session D&D games, but I would love to be able to keep a campaign longer then a month. It's not a player problem it's more of a motivation problem. I would love tips on how to keep a campaign going. Thank you for all of your videos it has allowed me to think of many interesting ideas for my games.
I like the rule that a character should at least have 2 15's Because as fun as it seems to take a weak character out there they won't survive long and said player will have to roll another one. If a character is weak they stay a farmer, citizen, trader or whatever their job is. They are not trained into the ways of a hero. In my views, quite a few common soldiers have failed "hero training."
I'll be DMimg Phandelver this weekend. Last time I played DnD was 10 years ago, your videos helped a lot to get me back in the groove! My party won't have a healer (we have a rogue, a ranger, a wizard and two fighters), what should I do to improve their survivability?
Remind them about hit dice, and let them take long rests without you rolling for random encounters, might work. They'll still have to be careful, and might make them plan ahead a bit more.
Oh man, I didn't watch this live because it said you were streaming evolve! I was prepping encounters for me upcoming session and didn't want non DnD Distractions. It's funny how it's even mentioned live why you didn't change it xD
While watching this I was inspired by a new character generation method: Each player at the table (max 6) rolls one set of 4d6 (drop lowest). Record that result. If you have fewer than six players, some roll more than once to generate 6 total tolls. If you have more, some do not roll. Those six rolls create a pool of ability score values that the whole party uses, assigning each score where they choose. Each score is only used once. When you finish, (theoretically), everyone has contributed to the ability pool. Theoretically it's fair to everyone, yet carries the shared risk and fun on rolling ability scores. Thoughts? EDIT: To reflect a "heroic character" the total of all the ability scores added together should be at least 72.
Is it true that a PC isn't "legal" in 5e if they don't have at least two 15 base stats before race modifications? Or is this a Collerule? Or leftover idea from a different game or edition? Just curious - I couldn't find any information about this
The whole character creation process is just a Collerule. My group allows you to distribute the numbers 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 to whichever stat you want. There are many variations, do whatever your group decides. The Player's Handbook suggests you use roll-4-pick-3 but distribute the numbers any way you want; or use 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8; or 15,15,15,8,8,8.
Matt, is it ok if I call you Matt? I don't want to be weird Matt, but I could listen to your videos all day. You're a fluid speaker. I don't sub often but you've got my subscription.
I like what you did with this video as a collaboration and to explain things, but if it were me... (keep in mind, I play 3.5ed so my terminology may be off but concepts are similar as far as I know) 1st set of rolls would be a half-orc fighter- Who I would arm with a bastard sword and the best armor/shield I can afford until I can buy better stuff. 2nd set of rolls, totally a Warlock who doesn't need strength for Eldritch Blast as a ranged touch attack. For what you're doing here, the Halfling Druid is awesome as a way to explore options and generate a party, but in a real game I wouldn't even allow a 6 STR Druid because Druids have to be able to solo and therefore have to have a viable attack. 3rd set of rolls, multi class. Start as a Rogue for 1st lvl skill point bonus, then level up to a 1st level non-combat Cleric (I take Favored Soul over Priest, but whatever...) His role in the party would be to do the "stuff" that goes on in a dungeon outside of combat- open locks, find traps, HEAL! and cast buffs. 4th set- Sorcerer, half-elf. (Side note- Dragonborn is a specialty race in 3.5 from the MM instead of the PH, but Zarketh for a name) 5th- Awesome! One of my favorite characters... WARMAGE!!! Or alternatively... Start as a Rogue for the 1st lvl HP and skill point bonus (with that intelligence, x4, good golly what a bunch of skills!) along with light armor and longbow, which will be unstoppable because as an ELF he has a 19 dex. Then level up with the CHA as a strong Sorcerer who can use spells to attack with a ranged bonus of +4 against an opponent's Touch Attack AC. Either way, +4 AC, ranged attack (and attack bonus upon leveling up), and initiative.
I wish my players would roll like you did for your character. In my 4 pc and I game, the lowest stat between the four of them is 13. It's challenging when no one is stat challenged. XD
"I thought you were a river for your people." "I am and this river only goes one direction." Probably one of my new favorite quotes. That was a literal knee slapped for me
*slapper
+
Matthew Colville is immensely quotable.
Funny thought: What if your "incorruptible" dragonborns were originally "incorrigible" dragonborns because the wizard who first created the dragonborns tried to teach them speak good English, but they all developed the same accent with the drawn out s, z, and k. The wizard gave up and call the dragonborns "incorrigible", but everyone else through bad English, wishful thinking, or intentional branding thought the wizard meant the dragonborns are "incorruptible". As a result, even though the dragonborns have no natural tendency toward good or evil, over time they all became the paragons for good (except for a few rogue dragonborns) because everyone calls them "incorruptible" and treats them like paragons for good.
Matt acts like my dad if he were into dnd instead of sports it's pretty great.
i don't know how monks work in previous editions, but in 5th edition, the use dexterity for unarmed attacks,etc.
Not only that, but you can use Dex for any "Monk Weapon", even if they're not a Finesse weapon normally. Str focused Monks are the exception rather than the rule in 5E, and Dex was their primary attribute in 4E too.
This was likely due the developers wanting to emphasize fine motor skill aspect of many real world martial arts over the more fantastic thought process of stronger means you hit harder. It was also a response to player's desires, since a lot of people (including myself) would go out of their way to make Dex based monks in 3E, even though getting Weapon Finesse: Unarmed Strike was a huge pain because of the 1+ base attack bonus prerequisite forcing you to wait until character level 3 to become the character you wanted to be.
@@Shalakor And Monks in older Editions were rather MAD in my expirience. In 5 ist much Wasser to have all the Stars were they need to be.
I could, literally, watch Matt Colville create characters all day.
Regarding the rolling strategy of 4d6-lowest in order, I wonder if it would be a little more fun to choose race first, then roll. For starters, that is kind of the first thing people get (you're born, and your skills show as you grow,) but also it could lead to some fun circumstances. For example, I could really, really want to play as a dwarf, but the attributes I roll are perfect for a ranger. That's a fun circumstance! Suddenly I have to think about who this dwarf is, and why they felt called to be a ranger of all things. The same goes for a high elf barbarian, or a halfling fighter.
Choosing Race second means the player has a chance to get their stats a little closer to the ideal for their class.
Yeah, that's true, and I do like having that wiggle room once the dice come down.
I try to make a list of questions about playing the game. My goal to encourage the player to have a fun way to play the character in the game play since that is their role for the game. Then I let them do a point buy system. Sadly this method does not work well with 5th and its discouraging of role playing.
I never really got that impression from 5th. If anything, it seems like their design mentality was to strip out a lot of the rigid mechanics of 3/3.5e and 4e and allow for greater roleplaying flexibility.
***** Well, 5th dictate your character role by the class you pick. To have any control you need to multi-class or play a spell user. The same as 3.5. Comparing pathfinder, 4th and 5th's fighter and I find 5th to be the limited class.
Then there the background in 5th which is the worse thing you can do to discourage role playing.
Starting the stream with a song is such a great idea I love it
Great stream. Thanks for your time.
I still think you should try 2d6+6 for Stats / Ability Scores: the range is from 8 to 18 and the average is 13.
Actually, a Monk can use DEX for attacks. So having a Monk with low STR isn't bad. But that character's DEX was pretty low, so it wouldn't really work.
I mean it _could_ have worked, if the Monk was of a race that got bonuses to Dex (Elf, Half-Elf, Halfling, etc). It wouldn't be totally optimal, but it could work.
I play a halfling monk with 8 Strength and it's been a breeze so far!
By my calculation, the probability of rolling a "legal character" for a Matt Colville game is around 42%.
Rolling two 15s is hard.
I let my players start the "counting" of the dice, untill they roll 15 or higher. That way they only need one more.
Matt Mercer DOES NOT make up all of his own adventures. I HAVE THE MODULES from the 1980s for several portions of his Critical Role campaign.
Hey Matt! I really appreciate your videos, they've been a big help and inspiration in getting me into D&D. I just finished DMing my first session for a homebrew campaign and, though I was nervous as hell, I think it went all right. I just wanted to say thanks for being a part of showing me how awesome something like D&D can be.
So how's your DMing gone since then?
@@mnm1273 Oh wow this is a blast from the past. I'm happy to say it's gone pretty well! I've made some good friends through DnD and I currently DM for a group of five good friends. I'm running them through Ghosts of Saltmarsh right now and actually killed my first ever PC two nights ago when the party inexplicably decided the best plan was to allow themselves to get captured by pirates and locked in the bilge. IDK what the hell they were thinking. Feels weird to kill a character but fortunately he wasn't too upset about it.
@@hawkins4791 That's great. I for one am impressed you played for so long without a PC dying. Took me two sessions before a TPK (it was supposed to be a one shot so wasn't a disaster). You must make well balanced ecounter and have generally sensible players.
Really nice ot know you're still DMing.
@@mnm1273 Idk if i'd call my combat well balanced. I actually tend to err too far on the side of caution I think. It tends to make most of my encounters rather unfortunately easy. I'm trying to ramp things up in difficulty, and having a pre-built adventure helps with that. Also my current group is almost bizarrely combat averse haha! Maybe this death will make them think better of letting themselves get into terrible situations, and take tactical combat situations where they have an advantage. I doubt it though. Their main takeaway seemed to be "We need to roll better on social checks". I find that strange but I don't really mind. If they want to be social then so be it.
@@hawkins4791 Couldn't agree more about letting them stay non combat oreinted if they want to. Makingsure comabt is an option is always great but if that's not how they want to go most of the time letting them do that in a way you find fun and rewarding is great.
The fighter is totally from Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising. my FAVORITE dnd movie of all time btw.
"Hide behind the pile of dead bards!"
Lol you exclaimed "Four in the morning!?" at 3:58 AM during my viewing of this video! It's not a matter of going to bed, it's a matter of I've already been asleep for 10 hours and need to distract myself until work! What better way than rpg prep and homework? Thanks for all you do, Matt! Forever indebted!
6:25 I think this drives my friends (and me) crazy, I hate moving on from games and systems as soon as I get proficient in them. I want to use that proficiency and have fun with it, whereas my friends often just want this nugget of an experience and then want to move onto some new thing. Thank you for articulating that!
I feel like some God rolled my stats when I was created, and I didn’t get two 15s, and he or she was like “yep, not gonna be a hero”
Very funny! Made me laugh out loud. Sound like my life too. Surprised me more people didn't thumb up.
52:23 - Matt provides an excellent reaction!!
This video reminds me of why I never again made my players roll characters randomly ever since I was a kid.
Also, clerics are probably the characters who are most different from each other depending on deity, domains, etc, so I really dont see the harm in having two clerics.
Entertaining video, though.
I was so happy when I saw the thumbnail, thinking it was the fighter series coming back... but still, good vid!
I LOVE the party mix! I'm sold on the Colville method of character generation, though I'm curious the reception it would get at my table.
46:10 - "Kermit the Hermit"? I like that.
Haven't even watched it yet and I am excited. Reading through this campaign with the intent of running it so this is exactly what I need!
Hey Matt, you mentioned how Surnames are a recent thing, while mostly true in the English-speaking... well honestly you can hardly say 14th century England spoke "English", but whatever... There is a long and varied history among many cultures and many date back to BCE. Even in Western Europe, Ireland had hereditary Surnames from at least the 10th century. I bring it up mostly because I find the history of these sorts of things interesting and good inspiration for character names, not that I think characters should be forced to have more than one name. Sometimes it's more fun for a new character to earn their surname through deed and action. :)
Also a shame I missed the stream, still nice to wake up this morning to a new video :)
Wild Magic sorcery is really silly and fun, but with the established lore of Collabris and how that particular character was Dragonborn, I wish it was Draconic Bloodline instead.
Funnily enough even with all the re-rolls, one of my favourite parts of this video was the stat rolling!
To paraphrase the Stat Generation Method 1 in my game after you finish the initial rolls you can then choose to re-roll any one number that is a 9 or lower and keep a higher new number if generated. That way you CAN have a much higher chance of getting a Class you prefer and saves a whole LOT of time on otherwise wasted Stat rolls...
Also a great source for random name creation I use is the Seventh Sanctum website who has a random generator for just about anything you could need help with in designing your game world environment...
Always fun to watch a video of Matt playing Evolve!
Great characters, interesting mix between race/class. I have missed the creative D&D streams.
I like changing where they start making their character like start with meta question about how they want to play a character.
I'm so late to this video, but I really wanted the Bard to be an older character. Someone who had traveled the world looking for adventure and glory when he was younger and now has built up this immense knowledge of the world and it inhabitants. Now he's that revered wise old man, retelling stories of the past around the crackling campfire to a captive audience.
Interesting fact: If you listen to Matthew Colville at 1/2 speed, he sounds DRUNK AS F**K!
Love the videos brother!!
If people are wanting you to host a game in Fantasy Grounds, you could have an application process that gets narrowed down to 4-5 people. Having a 'test' of some sort, like a couple of "what would you do if...." / "What are you looking to get out of this?" / "What kind of hero would you want to play" / even some Fantasy Grounds questions to make sure you don't have to stop and explain the program every five minutes and a lot of those kinds of questions, and have multiple answers or write a short paragraph. It wouldn't have to be a big deal, but you could definitely weed out some trolls that way. You might be able to make it a livestream or a video from your perspective and give tips on the DMing process IN Fantasy Grounds.
TL;DR, would love to see you do more Fantasy Grounds stuff. Maybe some tutorials? Is it a good way to organize a custom campaign? How would you do it?
"Almost legal, 14" I hope no one hears that out of context
Joe Burn x CBC c
He must be a fan of Roy Moore.
Dang I read that out of context
Wish I was there. Human Bard named Dankiel RailCliff.
I would have watched the stream but it said Evolve so I prioritized it lower than my own prep, but this would have helped :(
I returned to this video after recently rolling a character using the Matt Colville Method. She came out with all Ability Scores over 14, coming out equal to a 72 point buy, and after racial adjustment she had three 18's (STR, CON, and WIS). She is the party's Bhaltair, except I went with Cleric rather than Monk.
My favorite Character I have had, had no stats over 14. and it had 7 and 9.
Sad i lost the stream >:
Welp, i've put Phandelver, on the divise, inbetween Haldrim and The Burnt Hills! The place is perfect to put everything.
Even adapted, somethings, like adding some more personality to the Redbrands, making then a little connected to the Burnt Hills bandits tribes =P
I have plenty of imagination to make up my own adventures, but the mapping/cartography aspect is where I hit the cliffs of insanity.
Anyone know what is a good map making program that could get me something that looks something like what you see in Wizards modules? Knowing where to start and where to get a good assortment of drop in things like medieval houses, stables, rocks, trees, streams, bridges, roads and such that could be used to make towns or other scenes to make encounters from that actually LOOK GREAT.
I use Fantasy Grounds and am utterly sold on it being the best option for me. Now I just need to make my own maps so I can customize everything I need to develop my own adventures.
Any cartographers out there that have suggestions on what to use? Links are appreciated.
Seems the party is going to struggle with locked doors. No str, no picks locks
The first character had a 15 strength before adding in half-orc, no? Plenty of strength. Going to lose some knee-caps to traps, though.
true. my mistake
I watch these videos at .5 times the speed of light... GIT GUD!
1:01:57 “Ooh, almost legal - 14!” Oh no, Matt!
I play a goliath eldritch knight, and damn that made me moist...
I vote you finish this off and take it to a con and stream Phandelver live from the contention center. Something something Origins. Ohio is great.
Definitely spending my next paycheck on a cosplay for Halloween and a license for this recreationally.
11:25 My cleric has 14 wis at lvl 12, and it's the best character I've ever played. Bless OP
What happened to prepping phandelver? :(
I second this; was really looking forward to seeing the adaptation.
Still waiting...
You mention having all the villains created for you in an adventure, which villains in the adventures that you've run (aside from Karalel the Vile) did you like the most?
Did he say Hank and Mike Greene? Love it!
Mr. Colville, you should get a buddy to write a simple script for stat generation. A computer program can do the exact same process instantly. You could put it in something like a webpage so you can open the webpage or refresh it to get a new set of stats.
Though it's possible you might not want to, for the same reason some authors use pens instead of keyboards to write. Rolling and watching the stats and being frustrated by rerolls might help you to think about what the character will be, beyond the number values of the stats.
Love watching your videos, always a lot of fun.
Ive finally chewed through your playing the game playlist and loved your sage like wisdom . .
Anywho... Do you ever entirely create a creature for an encounter? if so (even if not i guess) what're your favourite creatures/types of creatures?
The best opening to a TH-cam video ever
Whoever suggested Kima for the halfling, hats off to you.
Mr. Colville. I have a suggestion / request. Perhaps you could start a side series where you suggest adventures that can be easily adapted into other campaigns. My biggest fear as a DM on a tight budget is purchasing an adventure and finding out it's not suited for a lot of tinkering, or its scope doesn't fit into my campaign.
He's actually working collaboratively with his fans to make a website to essentially do just that, we're people can submit their content for the world to see
You mean Adventure Lookup? That project seems to be pretty much dead at this point.
Vineares If I can make a small suggestion with regard to your request:
Look at any adventure as an outline or guideline. Look at the general plot line and the motivation of its NPCs and villains. So long as you retain those elements, you should be able to change the environment in which it occurs, and even adjust the monsters. Look for creatures of your desired CR, and adjust on the fly if necessary (by lowering/increasing hit points or having opponents flee/reinforcements arrive). It might take a little work, but I promise, once you've done it a few times, it gets easier.
Vineares DM's Guild has a lot of adventures of different levels you can easily adapt into campaigns and a large number are pay what you want so you don't need to worry about wasting your money on an adventure you either don't want to use after you read it, or if your players just ignore it (though they are of various quality of course) or might I suggest looking into the dungeons featured in Tales from the Yawning Portal, all of which can easily be used in any setting.
Perhaps you should look again :)
Using Matt's rollings system thing, these are the stats for five characters we've started using :)
*STR* 10 *STR* 18 *STR* 15 *STR* 10 *STR* 18
*DEX* 09 *DEX* 03 *DEX* 16 *DEX* 15 *DEX* 13
*CON* 15 *CON* 15 *CON* 16 *CON* 15 *CON* 15
*INT* 13 *INT* 16 *INT* 13 *INT* 13 *INT* 16
*WIS* 10 *WIS* 17 *WIS* 10 *WIS* 14 *WIS* 11
*CHA* 17 *CHA* 14 *CHA* 10 *CHA* 15 *CHA* 11
The second character is mine :3
Would love a summary video about Collaboris!
After finishing watching this (after almost 2 months)- Was the quest for Phandelver played over on Twitch and is now no longer available to watch? (the first part at least :C I would have loved to see the characters come to life~)
Have you made the adventure prep video yet for Phandelver?
As a new dm who’s only run this about three times… this is cool
What program do you use to run your campaigns? If you don't mind me asking
You can do anything in D&D, therefore, that could have easily been an Evolve Campaign, but Fantasy instead of Sci-Fi. Actually, thinking about it now, Evolve and the stereotypical game of Dungeons & Dragons have enough similarities with one another, it wouldn't be difficult to make an Evolve-inspired D&D game...
Now I'm wondering if that was what inspired the Slayer's Take in Matt Mercer's world... And now I sort of want to run a game of D&D Evolve...
Someone said he needs a sound track where he just goes boop beep boop and now in 2019 all his streams have a patch in the background XD we love progress
I’m planning on seeding these characters in my campaign!
"Almost legal, 14!" Kappa
"Someone says they speed me up to 1.25" Tries it....wow! It works!
Who Dislikes this video??? Matt is great!
I have a question. I've done many many one session D&D games, but I would love to be able to keep a campaign longer then a month. It's not a player problem it's more of a motivation problem. I would love tips on how to keep a campaign going. Thank you for all of your videos it has allowed me to think of many interesting ideas for my games.
Never really get why people only go for War domain when they want a fighter cleric, tempest is so much better IMHO
War Cleric is fighter cleric, Tempest Cleric is DPS cleric. More physical attacks/abilities with War, but higher damage capabilities with Tempest
you helped me start my own campaign
I turned your video to 1.5x speed, this is great! thanks for mentioning it
also .5x speed ROFL
Aww, c'mon Matt. You could've had a Goliath named "Ushaka, when the mountain fell"
*shakes her head* "Kiteo, his eyes closed."
Hadn't noticed the fast talking. . . my kids have me well trained I guess. This is a comfortable speed for me.
What about having a contest, and then DMing for a whole group of people who already play together!? Make the contest a group thing!
I like the rule that a character should at least have 2 15's Because as fun as it seems to take a weak character out there they won't survive long and said player will have to roll another one.
If a character is weak they stay a farmer, citizen, trader or whatever their job is. They are not trained into the ways of a hero. In my views, quite a few common soldiers have failed "hero training."
I'll be DMimg Phandelver this weekend. Last time I played DnD was 10 years ago, your videos helped a lot to get me back in the groove!
My party won't have a healer (we have a rogue, a ranger, a wizard and two fighters), what should I do to improve their survivability?
Remind them about hit dice, and let them take long rests without you rolling for random encounters, might work. They'll still have to be careful, and might make them plan ahead a bit more.
5th character, I'm just screaming Short Sword Dual-wielding Battlemaster!
Heard about people listening at 1.5 speed, so what do I do? Put it on 1.5 speed of course!
Oh man, I didn't watch this live because it said you were streaming evolve! I was prepping encounters for me upcoming session and didn't want non DnD Distractions. It's funny how it's even mentioned live why you didn't change it xD
While watching this I was inspired by a new character generation method:
Each player at the table (max 6) rolls one set of 4d6 (drop lowest). Record that result.
If you have fewer than six players, some roll more than once to generate 6 total tolls. If you have more, some do not roll.
Those six rolls create a pool of ability score values that the whole party uses, assigning each score where they choose. Each score is only used once.
When you finish, (theoretically), everyone has contributed to the ability pool. Theoretically it's fair to everyone, yet carries the shared risk and fun on rolling ability scores.
Thoughts?
EDIT: To reflect a "heroic character" the total of all the ability scores added together should be at least 72.
I like this. It's the best of both worlds.
I still think you should have made one a Nac Mac Feegle.
+3 STR, +4 CON, -5 INT, -5 WIS, 70' movement and only 9" tall. What could go wrong?
"8 strength monk? Wouldn't that be awful?!"
No, Matt, because monks don't use Strength. They use Dexterity and Wisdom.
dude, if you slow the speed down to 0.5 it sounds like He's drunk
Is it true that a PC isn't "legal" in 5e if they don't have at least two 15 base stats before race modifications? Or is this a Collerule? Or leftover idea from a different game or edition? Just curious - I couldn't find any information about this
The whole character creation process is just a Collerule. My group allows you to distribute the numbers 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 to whichever stat you want. There are many variations, do whatever your group decides. The Player's Handbook suggests you use roll-4-pick-3 but distribute the numbers any way you want; or use 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8; or 15,15,15,8,8,8.
sweeet, was just checking for new stuff!
I heard "Could be worse, could be Gink" somewhere there. Like, the half-orc ranger? O:
Matt, is it ok if I call you Matt? I don't want to be weird Matt, but I could listen to your videos all day. You're a fluid speaker. I don't sub often but you've got my subscription.
"What application is this?"
Notepad... it's Notepad.
Tfw he confirms he's a nerdfighter, and then talks about "Mike" Green 🤔
that singing in the beginning tho
"I watch his videos at 1.5 speed." This comment has changed my entire viewing experience! Thank you!
I like what you did with this video as a collaboration and to explain things, but if it were me... (keep in mind, I play 3.5ed so my terminology may be off but concepts are similar as far as I know)
1st set of rolls would be a half-orc fighter- Who I would arm with a bastard sword and the best armor/shield I can afford until I can buy better stuff.
2nd set of rolls, totally a Warlock who doesn't need strength for Eldritch Blast as a ranged touch attack. For what you're doing here, the Halfling Druid is awesome as a way to explore options and generate a party, but in a real game I wouldn't even allow a 6 STR Druid because Druids have to be able to solo and therefore have to have a viable attack.
3rd set of rolls, multi class. Start as a Rogue for 1st lvl skill point bonus, then level up to a 1st level non-combat Cleric (I take Favored Soul over Priest, but whatever...) His role in the party would be to do the "stuff" that goes on in a dungeon outside of combat- open locks, find traps, HEAL! and cast buffs.
4th set- Sorcerer, half-elf. (Side note- Dragonborn is a specialty race in 3.5 from the MM instead of the PH, but Zarketh for a name)
5th- Awesome! One of my favorite characters... WARMAGE!!! Or alternatively... Start as a Rogue for the 1st lvl HP and skill point bonus (with that intelligence, x4, good golly what a bunch of skills!) along with light armor and longbow, which will be unstoppable because as an ELF he has a 19 dex. Then level up with the CHA as a strong Sorcerer who can use spells to attack with a ranged bonus of +4 against an opponent's Touch Attack AC. Either way, +4 AC, ranged attack (and attack bonus upon leveling up), and initiative.
While watching this video at work, someone who walked by asked if I was watching a video of myself.... Apparently we look similar haha.
Just in case, here is this: www.reddit.com/r/mattcolville/comments/64qmkk/did_matt_ever_do_that_video_showing_how_he_would/
Hey Matt, did you ever put the log of the Campaign setting we created online?
Loved the video but spent most of it trying to figure out who Mike Green is hahahaha
I wish my players would roll like you did for your character. In my 4 pc and I game, the lowest stat between the four of them is 13. It's challenging when no one is stat challenged. XD
Matt, you asked the question, " What is PCB"? It means, Printed Circuit Board. Enjoy.
I watch it a 2x speed and i get annoyed about how slow it is
I have this program too but his looks so much different