Download the MONSTROUS Preview Packet: www.thecloudcurio.com/monstrous I use 6B and 6B pencil, some soft charcoal, a kneaded and a mechanical eraser, and a wad of paper towel. This was drawn on 100 pound Strathmore bristol board. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Patreon: www.patreon.com/mapcrow Podcast: thesplatbook.com/episodes Itch Store: mapcrow.itch.io/
This video brings to mind one of my favorite quotes: “Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon." - G.K. Chesterton, in his essay 'The Red Angel'
Yeah, the whole drawing is so evocative. Such a little important detail, that flips the drawing on its head. You could understand the drawing in so many ways. Is the mosquito a fearless individual facing against horrible monster? Is the monster going to die because of sickness? Are they comrades or just two different sides of the same coin? So many possible interpretations. Me personally, I kind of feel bad for the "monster" in there. You don't see this very often - something you hate against something you fear.
Standing ovation, my friend! 👏👏👏 This is a much needed (and wonderfully narrated!) reminder to us all to be the hero and face the monsters not just in roleplay at the table, but in our lives. ⚔
Thank you for the excellent video. The idea of monsters as an obstacle in a literary sense reminds of a book I read a while back. It described the function of the living dead in Norse Mythology as a number of things, but chief among those roles was as an obstacle to what the still living hero of a tale wants. So what you say in this video really lines up with that. Which I think is really neat.
Thank you!! Do you remember the title of the book you were reading?? The Hobbit is a great example of a progression of Monster encounters that not only get in the way of what the heroes want, but also act as twisted reflections on the protagonist. Monsters act as a contrast to the hero not always by being the opposite, but by being a warning that "you and I are not so different".
@@mapcrow yes I do remember it. It was called "The Function of the Living Dead in Medieval Norse and Celtic Literature: Death and Desire" by Gregg A Smith. It was a very interesting read. Also you're absolutely right about monsters being able to act as a twisted reflection. I love when that happens in stories I'm reading.
damn dude. Listening to you unpack all of that hit home in my own life, given some personal struggles I find myself going through at the moment. Thank you for unpacking that. It was exceedingly helpful on an emotional level, as well as an artistic and creative level (I too am an authour and Dungeon Master.) Also, watching you draw these monsters is amazing. I'm working on my own tabletop rpg game system, and when I go to publish it I'll be in the market for an illistrator. Granted this won't be for some time in the future, but I'd be interested in working with you if you're down. Thanks for all you do Map Crow.
Thank you for the kind words!! I am not open for commissions for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid. I have this project and a full time teaching load.
@@mapcrow no worries! Like I said, this won't be for quite some time down the road. Best of luck with Monstrous! I'll be looking to buy that when it comes out.
Before watching the video i want to say that monsters ARE the point for SOME of us. Seeing the Balrog as a little kid is what invested me in LoTR and made me a fantasy nerd. Monsters bring me JOY of COURSE I want them in my game!
This was honestly inspiring. It can be easy to forget that these blocks of stats should still be monstrous when players have killed their 100th goblin, so thanks for the reminder that we can always emphasize these aspects and not fall into a narrative rut. Also love a good surprise Tolkien quote. Great video, thanks for doing what you do!
Thank you!! Yeah, goblins lose there bite real quick if they don’t have a plan, if they aren’t attacking people weaker than them, if they aren’t put in a context that makes them the old boogeymen they once were.
Love this topic! And love your take on it. Buzzing now, going to create things that are difficult to kill. Shout-out to Arcane for nailing this topic, when Silco says: "To fight. To survive. And all the while, this question lingers before you... Have you had enough?"
amazing video, and stunning artwork as always, Kyle. I feel that same simulated fear, and tension in my own games, and its the sole reason i play, to be honest. My life in the real world is dull, and grey, and lacking in any adventure or falir. But when I play TTRPGs with my friends, i get to experience some excitment first-hand. My own TTRPG I'm writing is a survival horror game, and i think your view on monsters representing real world fears and anxieties fits perfectly. My entire system is built from the ground up to maximize tension, and to feel that very feel you descrive in your video. As always, this video was a big help, and I implore you to keep making these amazing videos and resources. P.S. Wheres my demons at? lol :)
Heck yeah! I think that is a big aspect to adventure in TTRPGs, I can feel like my actions have consequences and I am kind of a big deal for once. Real life doesn't make me feel that way too often! Haha. The demon video might take a bit. We have kicked off writing Monstrous and I want to make sure I'm communicating with the team and making the best monsters we can! I have some concepts, but I'm still looking for a strong visual take. I know it's frustrating to wait, but these things take time.
I am a Christian man drinking deeply from the well of responsibility, leadership, and yes - slaying monsters. It was such a delight to find this little gem randomly on TH-cam. Whether you’re a man of faith or not, based on how you unpack this topic, I thought you might also enjoy the Babylon Bee interview of Jonathan Pageau. He’s an Eastern Orthodox iconographer so he basically lives in the space of artistic symbolism. In that interview, he talks about monsters in a way I’d never heard before but which echoes you here: guardians of the boundaries between spaces and cultures, and increasingly bizarre and dangerous the further we are from home. Regardless, wanted to let you know how much I appreciated and enjoyed this video. It resonates with the season I’m in and it’s nice to feel a little saner for having good company, haha.
Now you got me thinking about monsters and what they represent! Much food for thought for my own game - which has natural monsters in the form of large versions of British wildlife. Loved hearing Vonnegut - one of my favourite authors. I'll be hitting the books shops this weekend!
Cheers!! Yeah, many animal have spiritual symbolism that you can play around with, but if the perils of the wild are a big aspect to play up, weather, floods, crop blights, livestock diseases, thorns and thistles are other aspects of nature to tie into your Monster designs as well! Monsters often need to threaten the communities to make them the hero's problem to begin with!
@@mapcrow Good advice Kyle! I've already factored in stuff like natural energy/electricity, twigs and branches snapping, etc. This game will be amazing when it's finished!
This is the big difference between JRR Tolkein and GRR Martin. Tolkein held stories as a method of fighting nihilism while Martin uses stories to reinforce nihilism. I much prefer Tolkein's POV.
They are very much about making different stories for different audiences. Tolkien's concept of recovery through fairy stories is a strong flavor of hope that I enjoy greatly!
Hey Kyle, just wanna say this was another banger of a video! Well done :) I appreciate how you bring in scholarly text so much and I wanna read more of the stuff you tap into! Would you consider creating a reading list or set of suggestions for us? Thanks for the great work! Keep it up :)
This video is beautiful and your rant about life and meaning gave me hope and helped me with my personal struggle, thank you for making this. Loved your manticore piece as well.
This is such a great discussion on monsters, and relation to story. Also congrats Kyle! If I can't immediately back, I do plan to buy at the very least on the module!
I been wanting to work on monster design for my on work utilizing GURPS framework and this is exactly what I needed, thank you! I want the world to be s character in of themselves that the player’s experience learning more about the world and themselves
Thanks for regularly posting new videos and podcasts regarding all things RPG related. My favorite monsters are irredeemably evil. As an example, I had the Dragon from Lost Mine DEMAND tribute from each resident in town. The monster’s greed registered as truly loathsome to the players when a father was forced to give up his wedding ring to prevent the vile Wyrm from attacking his family. It will be really satisfying for the players to unload on the villain at the end of the campaign and bring closure to the frontier settlement.
I really have, in roleplaying, felt surges of hope and meaning through my characters. Sometimes playing the role of someone who does RIGHT despite having little hope... sometimes that's very inspiring. Of course there are other lessons to be learned or... intangible emotional boons or perspectives to be gained from other types of fantasy, but in the classic case of simply facing 'unnecessary obstacles' and 'monsters', yes, I very much feel that significance.
Honestly loved this video so much, was not prepared for a life-changing rant about struggle and death haha! With that in mind however, it made me think about struggle and death in rpgs: I've been playing in an OSE campaign and death happens so frequently that it has very quickly become a tedious and boring occurrence. And what a shame that is, when the potential for struggle is lost just because you die and roll up a new character as if the previous one never existed. How much characterful it would be to, rather than just let characters die, let them struggle on (perhaps with some sort of injury or complication) until they either succeed heroically or are shamefully ground into the dirt by the magnitude of their own failure! Not sure that was entirely relevant to the video but it got me thinking nonetheless!
Thank you for the kind words!! I've never run a high lethality game that was supposed to continue for a long time, I'll bet that really changes things. I think the interesting thing about death in OSR games is that is does break the genre they are emulating in favor of simulation. Encounters are deathly and the stakes are high in a Conan story, but Conan is never going to die before his time. In many ways, death outside of narrative terms is a true departure in terms of narrative needs, but I do think permadeath is really important to games.
If you let it happen happiness is also inevitable. That would be G.K. Chesterton's view. He wrote something along the lines of, "If pain were really the dominant emotion of mankind we would all have hung ourselves."
Tears were born though they dared not leave the comfort of my eyes. That was so powerful! And the manticore is so expressive. As if it asks itself what is its place really. The big questions indeed!
amazing video I have visstions of you giving this speach after someone asked so whats the book about in a meeting room it ends with you standing on the table yelling this out and then going so next on the list is layout i was thinking ....
My big problem with monsters is that very rarely do everyone’s personal character goals align with “Kill the monster” no matter what reasons there are behind that. Like, when my goal is to find my lost brother, it’s extremely hard to care about the manticore attacking a random village I just showed up to. Like, the Tolkien interpretation assumes that you yourself are a good person who would help those people, but rarely is anyone I know excited to do lawful good things for the glory of being a paragon of righteousness. Even money is rarely good enough a motivator, because what use do I even have for money in a D&D type game?
Money buys a lot of things - maybe you find someone who knows something about a ring of kidnappers that were mysteriously in an area that your brother was last seen in, but they want an exorbitant fee to give you that info, and putting them under duress isn't going to do it. But that manticore contract sure is pricey... The real answer to this is that, 1, it's your job as a player to bring a character to the table that fits into the kind of game the GM is willing to run, and 2, it's the GM's job to facilitate the stories of those characters once they're brought to the table. If one of those two isn't happening, well... that's a table issue, not an issue with the game system itself. :(
Perhaps if it is clear that nobody else cares, that will encourage players to intervene. In the end, what are the PC's but those who will step in when nobody else is. Make it personal. The Manticore is not just attacking some village. Your players passed through that village, and a kid gave them a piece of bread. The shoe fell off of one of their ponies and the blacksmith repaired it, on the house. Villagers were having a holiday and gave them as much beer as they could drink.
I dunno, I guess the natural instinct as a game player in this hypothetical situation I’ve created for us isn’t to be the one who steps in, but instead it’s to let the monster destroy the village and pick it clean once it’s gone and avoid the entire pointless conflict. But that doesn’t really ever feel like it’s in the spirit of an RPG. So the compromise is to exploit the town for money so later you can use it to effectively say “Hello GM I’d like to buy plot success with the mechanic I’ve accumulated.” Which also doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of an RPG. It just feels like monsters existing in a game serve the purpose of “You will die unless you fight or run” or pushing people into the style of gameplay that Benjamin was describing. Personally, I think it’s on the GM to make all of that important to the players, not the other way around. Like, why does the manticore have a scar in the shape of my family crest? Or an equivalent thing for one of my companions. Thats way more interesting immediately vs. simply expecting players to do the work of engaging with what you put in front of them. (Most GMs I’ve played with do the players make it interesting approach)
@@vitotamito I guess the "let the monster strike and then loot" approach would work in a post-apocalyptic setting. Perhaps hint that if there are no more towns and the monster isn't stopped, they will have nowhere to rest, resupply or spend their cash.
@@vitotamito That's a fair opinion. Imo, the burden lies on both player and gm to make things interesting for them - not everything is going to pertain to every single character's storyline, after all, since it's usually a multi-player game - but there's no one way to run, and certainly not one way to play. My tactic for making that sort of thing fun for me would be to think about how my character feels about the possibility of, say, some village kids losing their siblings to that hungry manticore; if my motivation is finding my brother, well, that seems like it'd hit pretty hard on a pretty recent sore spot. But I also tend to play characters who get invested fast, and commit, so that's totally down to character type.
I love watching your vids. Nice to see you lose yourself a bit in the drama. My preference is more light-hearted, but I can't help being excited when someone is talking passionately. You will continue to get my viewership. 👍
Ha! Thank you! I tend to design darker than I run. Humor is going to come out no matter what, so I don’t feel like that’s something I need to plan for. Haha
I have fought and won gloriously but also fought and struggled and despaired only for it to end in annihilation not only of our characters but of the material plane of that game and let me tell you it fucked me up for a while, thinking about it still fucks me up a bit. Gm’s last words about my character were literally “she struggles in vain until the black sphere envelops her and then nothing…”
@@mapcrow I do still play with the group. I actually am playing with them my homemade robotech/macross game tonight. We’ve talked a bit about it since then and we all now consider session 0’s very important and I think try and be more mindful about these kind of things. I had warned them that durring the pandemic I had kind of gained an existential dread about the end of the world and wouldn’t like the story to go in that direction and the gm and player who was involved in betraying us said they had forgotten…and I believe them. It sucks that people would forget something you consider important to you, but everyone had different priorities and a lot happening in their lives, and if something was said in a conversation weeks or months ago it could be expected to be forgotten. So now we try and get it in writing. I still ruminate on what happened and consider writing a short story about it, but when I try I can’t make it come out.
@@startingfromlevelone9510 That's good that you worked it out with your group! I think that stuff can really turn people off, but it can also make very powerful experiences, which is good and bad sometimes.
"...and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action!" There is your monster won; the disheartened inaction of men. Riddled with the venom of the monster. The monster had better dice rolls than Hamlet...that is, until he killed (action) his false father (lie) in favor of his real father (truth.) The monster stops all men from the great treasure. The ultimate treasure of self knowing, which is to say Spiritual enlightenment. Great video; particularly when you WERE getting "carried away" as you put it.
Usually when I answer a question relating to "What is D&D" I think the most basic and important answer you can give is this: Dungeons and Dragons is a game about killing monsters. The base of the game is a complex strategic battle simulator. The way the game rewards you intrinsically (That is to say without artifice) is when you use your cool abilities to turn something that moves into an inanimate object. That is D&D in its most basic form. 99% of the rules relate to how our characters use violence against each other. Upon this D&D is also a game about simulating a secondary world. Where your character has a direct effect upon the world around them. Which means that your character, through problemsolving and diplomacy can circumvent conflict in order to give you other avenues to reach your goal. Dungeons and Dragons is a monster slaying game where your character inhabits a world that seems real. And as such ideally your character should inhabit this world as if it was real.
Sure sure, I’m with ya. But moving beyond the most basic description, why use monsters and magic at all? Why tell a story at all? War games continue to do perfectly fine without much story to distract from the strategy. All this is just my taste, but I feel like leaving metaphor out of the story is leaving too much meat on the bone.
This style is inspired by Stephen Gammell. If you check the description, or pinned comment, you'll see the tools I used listed out for ya. If you watch some of the more recent Building Better Monsters videos, you can see more the technique. Basically, I shave off some charcoal or graphite, then smear it around with a paper towel. I'll use a mechanical or gum eraser to bring back the higher values if I need them.
I'm not a Shakespeare expert, but was that a whole Hamlet soliloquy? I couldn't pick out the iambic pentameter, but you hide that really easily with delivery.
Sure. That is what happens in the game. But that question is asked in a narrative context. If the difference between a dragon and a goblin are only expressed in combat, the DND is only celebrating its war gaming roots. I doubt very much that many folks just start the game with “There is a goblin. What do you do?”
@@mapcrow Yes, meant it in the context of what you laid out in the video. For the Christian evil is here, it's defeat is certain, but today, this moment, when we see as in a glass darkly, what do you do?
Sure! I'll add that to the list! But I think it basically comes down to adding Cover and Elevation Changes. But honestly, Narrative Stakes and Time Pressure are going to make fights more interesting than most maps will.
Monsters in D&D ARE stat blocks. D&D was a war game with fantasy opponents and light role playing. 5e is something entirely different. It is a marketing department wrapped around an old IP with unrealized profit potential.
Bro do you preach? Because you have the cadence of a pastor. Not a bad thing. I don't do the whole religion or church thing anymore, but you brought me back to my childhood in a way I'd didn't expect, and again not in a bad way. I was genuinely captivated. 😅
Haha! I studied the Bible way back in undergrad, and I was seminary bound for a bit of time, but I just found my beliefs weren't as strong as my curiosity. Haha. Still, I have been told I have pastor vibes from people who don't even know my academic past. Haha!!
This question what are they for is why I don't care to have monster races as player characters. Through monsters they can show the true ugliness of humanity. The idea of Pig faced orcs as mutated humans gluttony, wrathful, merciless. Or dragons manifest when a city commits great sin. I think having hard topics like slavery, war, genocide, racism in a game can have its place and these monsters are tools to help make the subject matter more palatable.
I tend to agree. I really wish having human centric games was more common and easier to sell to new players. But the appeal for players to play a unique and bespoke hero is very strong.
That depends on where the line between monster and person falls. For one group, orcs are monsters, for another they are people. Both groups probably agree on monsters being bad and metaphorical, just differ on what falls into which category. As to 'hard topics', this usually just comes down to what different people find fun. And the best indication of whether someone will have fun with a hard theme is having no personal experience of it. That way it remains interesting and hypothetical, and not, you know, how my grandmother was killed. Then there is the player *being* the monster (Vampire/Werewolf etc... or even Batman or Dexter), that is a whole different kind of story, that of "the monster that is on our side", or "the good monster". For a lot of people this is very empowering. Totally valid, just a different kind of story.
Above all, I think art teachers should be skilled at teaching. Secondly, I think art teachers, at the colligate level, should have a professional practice of art in the basic sphere in which they are teaching. They need current, industry relevant perspectives. Art teachers in K-12 need to create a spirit of experimentation and curiosity about the world around us, more than they need to teach the art history canon and do the same projects every semester. However, K-12 in the US is highly regulated by people who don't care about the arts or teaching very much. In my view, art and teaching are skills not talents by the time you get to the point you are doing it for a living.
Your impassioned speech about the meaninglessness and futility of life and the fight against despair is oddly appropriate for a video including topics such as religion and faith 😂
Yup! I don't think it's that odd. No matter how you slice it, most religions are based on stories. If you believe the stories or not, doesn't mean they don't serve a narrative function. Stories have been doing this whole "why do I suffer, why do I love" thing for as long as humanity has been around.
Download the MONSTROUS Preview Packet: www.thecloudcurio.com/monstrous
I use 6B and 6B pencil, some soft charcoal, a kneaded and a mechanical eraser, and a wad of paper towel. This was drawn on 100 pound Strathmore bristol board.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Patreon: www.patreon.com/mapcrow
Podcast: thesplatbook.com/episodes
Itch Store: mapcrow.itch.io/
This video brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:
“Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon." - G.K. Chesterton, in his essay 'The Red Angel'
Heck yeah!! Love a good Chesterton quotation!! Angry Street is a story I think about frequently!! And thanks for siting the source too!!
I know the manticor is an astonishing piece of art, but that little bug is breath-taking.
Thank you!! Yeah, I really enjoyed that little touch to the composition!
No you Are breath taking
Yeah, the whole drawing is so evocative. Such a little important detail, that flips the drawing on its head. You could understand the drawing in so many ways. Is the mosquito a fearless individual facing against horrible monster? Is the monster going to die because of sickness? Are they comrades or just two different sides of the same coin? So many possible interpretations.
Me personally, I kind of feel bad for the "monster" in there. You don't see this very often - something you hate against something you fear.
Standing ovation, my friend! 👏👏👏 This is a much needed (and wonderfully narrated!) reminder to us all to be the hero and face the monsters not just in roleplay at the table, but in our lives. ⚔
Thank you so much! And yeah, we cling to heroes because there are more things to be frightened of than ways to solve them.
Thank you for the excellent video. The idea of monsters as an obstacle in a literary sense reminds of a book I read a while back. It described the function of the living dead in Norse Mythology as a number of things, but chief among those roles was as an obstacle to what the still living hero of a tale wants. So what you say in this video really lines up with that. Which I think is really neat.
Thank you!! Do you remember the title of the book you were reading?? The Hobbit is a great example of a progression of Monster encounters that not only get in the way of what the heroes want, but also act as twisted reflections on the protagonist. Monsters act as a contrast to the hero not always by being the opposite, but by being a warning that "you and I are not so different".
@@mapcrow yes I do remember it. It was called "The Function of the Living Dead in Medieval Norse and Celtic Literature: Death and Desire" by Gregg A Smith. It was a very interesting read. Also you're absolutely right about monsters being able to act as a twisted reflection. I love when that happens in stories I'm reading.
damn dude. Listening to you unpack all of that hit home in my own life, given some personal struggles I find myself going through at the moment. Thank you for unpacking that. It was exceedingly helpful on an emotional level, as well as an artistic and creative level (I too am an authour and Dungeon Master.)
Also, watching you draw these monsters is amazing. I'm working on my own tabletop rpg game system, and when I go to publish it I'll be in the market for an illistrator. Granted this won't be for some time in the future, but I'd be interested in working with you if you're down. Thanks for all you do Map Crow.
Thank you for the kind words!! I am not open for commissions for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid. I have this project and a full time teaching load.
@@mapcrow no worries! Like I said, this won't be for quite some time down the road. Best of luck with Monstrous! I'll be looking to buy that when it comes out.
Just wanted to say I love your work, it’s always so inspiring.
Thank you so much!
Before watching the video i want to say that monsters ARE the point for SOME of us. Seeing the Balrog as a little kid is what invested me in LoTR and made me a fantasy nerd. Monsters bring me JOY of COURSE I want them in my game!
Well, I hope you dig the Tolkien essay then!
This was honestly inspiring. It can be easy to forget that these blocks of stats should still be monstrous when players have killed their 100th goblin, so thanks for the reminder that we can always emphasize these aspects and not fall into a narrative rut. Also love a good surprise Tolkien quote. Great video, thanks for doing what you do!
Thank you!! Yeah, goblins lose there bite real quick if they don’t have a plan, if they aren’t attacking people weaker than them, if they aren’t put in a context that makes them the old boogeymen they once were.
I met you as CXC and was so happy to learn about your youtube. I've been a fan since! Love these critical analyses on the nerdy games we all love.
Love this topic! And love your take on it. Buzzing now, going to create things that are difficult to kill.
Shout-out to Arcane for nailing this topic, when Silco says: "To fight. To survive. And all the while, this question lingers before you... Have you had enough?"
amazing video, and stunning artwork as always, Kyle. I feel that same simulated fear, and tension in my own games, and its the sole reason i play, to be honest.
My life in the real world is dull, and grey, and lacking in any adventure or falir. But when I play TTRPGs with my friends, i get to experience some excitment first-hand.
My own TTRPG I'm writing is a survival horror game, and i think your view on monsters representing real world fears and anxieties fits perfectly. My entire system is built from the ground up to maximize tension, and to feel that very feel you descrive in your video.
As always, this video was a big help, and I implore you to keep making these amazing videos and resources.
P.S. Wheres my demons at? lol :)
Heck yeah! I think that is a big aspect to adventure in TTRPGs, I can feel like my actions have consequences and I am kind of a big deal for once. Real life doesn't make me feel that way too often! Haha.
The demon video might take a bit. We have kicked off writing Monstrous and I want to make sure I'm communicating with the team and making the best monsters we can! I have some concepts, but I'm still looking for a strong visual take. I know it's frustrating to wait, but these things take time.
I am a Christian man drinking deeply from the well of responsibility, leadership, and yes - slaying monsters. It was such a delight to find this little gem randomly on TH-cam. Whether you’re a man of faith or not, based on how you unpack this topic, I thought you might also enjoy the Babylon Bee interview of Jonathan Pageau. He’s an Eastern Orthodox iconographer so he basically lives in the space of artistic symbolism.
In that interview, he talks about monsters in a way I’d never heard before but which echoes you here: guardians of the boundaries between spaces and cultures, and increasingly bizarre and dangerous the further we are from home.
Regardless, wanted to let you know how much I appreciated and enjoyed this video. It resonates with the season I’m in and it’s nice to feel a little saner for having good company, haha.
Now you got me thinking about monsters and what they represent! Much food for thought for my own game - which has natural monsters in the form of large versions of British wildlife. Loved hearing Vonnegut - one of my favourite authors. I'll be hitting the books shops this weekend!
Cheers!! Yeah, many animal have spiritual symbolism that you can play around with, but if the perils of the wild are a big aspect to play up, weather, floods, crop blights, livestock diseases, thorns and thistles are other aspects of nature to tie into your Monster designs as well! Monsters often need to threaten the communities to make them the hero's problem to begin with!
@@mapcrow Good advice Kyle! I've already factored in stuff like natural energy/electricity, twigs and branches snapping, etc. This game will be amazing when it's finished!
That was a hilarious dramatic tangent towards the middle there! 🤣
Ha! Yeah, you know, I love a tangent, especially a dramatic one! Haha
This is the big difference between JRR Tolkein and GRR Martin. Tolkein held stories as a method of fighting nihilism while Martin uses stories to reinforce nihilism. I much prefer Tolkein's POV.
They are very much about making different stories for different audiences. Tolkien's concept of recovery through fairy stories is a strong flavor of hope that I enjoy greatly!
The whole video is a masterpiece and that academically dramatic narration was awe inspiring. Bravo!
Hey Kyle, just wanna say this was another banger of a video! Well done :) I appreciate how you bring in scholarly text so much and I wanna read more of the stuff you tap into! Would you consider creating a reading list or set of suggestions for us? Thanks for the great work! Keep it up :)
I can do that! The Map Crow Syllabus! Haha
@@mapcrow you're a king!!!
This video is beautiful and your rant about life and meaning gave me hope and helped me with my personal struggle, thank you for making this. Loved your manticore piece as well.
I'm so glad! Stories often help me with personal struggles too, especially old ones.
The only thing worse than a monster is a monster with an existential crisis.
Excellent video and comentary as always!! cannot wait until monstrous comes out!!
Thank you!! I love working on this boook!! Can’t wait to get it to people, but it’s a marathon!! Haha
Wooo, that got pretty intense there! I think I need to go sit down.
Great video, Kyle!
This is such a great discussion on monsters, and relation to story. Also congrats Kyle! If I can't immediately back, I do plan to buy at the very least on the module!
Thank you so much! It’s good to hear from you Nathan!
I been wanting to work on monster design for my on work utilizing GURPS framework and this is exactly what I needed, thank you! I want the world to be s character in of themselves that the player’s experience learning more about the world and themselves
Heck yeah! A designer after my own heart!
Thanks for regularly posting new videos and podcasts regarding all things RPG related. My favorite monsters are irredeemably evil. As an example, I had the Dragon from Lost Mine DEMAND tribute from each resident in town. The monster’s greed registered as truly loathsome to the players when a father was forced to give up his wedding ring to prevent the vile Wyrm from attacking his family. It will be really satisfying for the players to unload on the villain at the end of the campaign and bring closure to the frontier settlement.
I really have, in roleplaying, felt surges of hope and meaning through my characters. Sometimes playing the role of someone who does RIGHT despite having little hope... sometimes that's very inspiring.
Of course there are other lessons to be learned or... intangible emotional boons or perspectives to be gained from other types of fantasy, but in the classic case of simply facing 'unnecessary obstacles' and 'monsters', yes, I very much feel that significance.
Honestly loved this video so much, was not prepared for a life-changing rant about struggle and death haha!
With that in mind however, it made me think about struggle and death in rpgs: I've been playing in an OSE campaign and death happens so frequently that it has very quickly become a tedious and boring occurrence. And what a shame that is, when the potential for struggle is lost just because you die and roll up a new character as if the previous one never existed. How much characterful it would be to, rather than just let characters die, let them struggle on (perhaps with some sort of injury or complication) until they either succeed heroically or are shamefully ground into the dirt by the magnitude of their own failure!
Not sure that was entirely relevant to the video but it got me thinking nonetheless!
Thank you for the kind words!!
I've never run a high lethality game that was supposed to continue for a long time, I'll bet that really changes things. I think the interesting thing about death in OSR games is that is does break the genre they are emulating in favor of simulation. Encounters are deathly and the stakes are high in a Conan story, but Conan is never going to die before his time. In many ways, death outside of narrative terms is a true departure in terms of narrative needs, but I do think permadeath is really important to games.
Thanks for the huge glass of inspiration! Glad I found the channel!
The academic style here is so cool! I'm totally stealing these ideas about monstrosity when I teach creative writing.
If you let it happen happiness is also inevitable. That would be G.K. Chesterton's view. He wrote something along the lines of, "If pain were really the dominant emotion of mankind we would all have hung ourselves."
Holy shit, the way you effortlessly drew the grid in the beginning... I... what....
Tears were born though they dared not leave the comfort of my eyes. That was so powerful! And the manticore is so expressive. As if it asks itself what is its place really. The big questions indeed!
amazing video
I have visstions of you giving this speach after someone asked so whats the book about in a meeting room it ends with you standing on the table yelling this out and then going so next on the list is layout i was thinking ....
Haha! Thank you for the kind words!! And my students will frequently find me foaming at the mouth when introducing certain topics! Haha
This speech was incredible..... o.o maybe it's not your most helpful video, but it's definitely my most favorite one!
The human fingers on a lion body are far creepier than I thought they would be
My big problem with monsters is that very rarely do everyone’s personal character goals align with “Kill the monster” no matter what reasons there are behind that. Like, when my goal is to find my lost brother, it’s extremely hard to care about the manticore attacking a random village I just showed up to. Like, the Tolkien interpretation assumes that you yourself are a good person who would help those people, but rarely is anyone I know excited to do lawful good things for the glory of being a paragon of righteousness. Even money is rarely good enough a motivator, because what use do I even have for money in a D&D type game?
Money buys a lot of things - maybe you find someone who knows something about a ring of kidnappers that were mysteriously in an area that your brother was last seen in, but they want an exorbitant fee to give you that info, and putting them under duress isn't going to do it. But that manticore contract sure is pricey...
The real answer to this is that, 1, it's your job as a player to bring a character to the table that fits into the kind of game the GM is willing to run, and 2, it's the GM's job to facilitate the stories of those characters once they're brought to the table. If one of those two isn't happening, well... that's a table issue, not an issue with the game system itself. :(
Perhaps if it is clear that nobody else cares, that will encourage players to intervene. In the end, what are the PC's but those who will step in when nobody else is. Make it personal. The Manticore is not just attacking some village. Your players passed through that village, and a kid gave them a piece of bread. The shoe fell off of one of their ponies and the blacksmith repaired it, on the house. Villagers were having a holiday and gave them as much beer as they could drink.
I dunno, I guess the natural instinct as a game player in this hypothetical situation I’ve created for us isn’t to be the one who steps in, but instead it’s to let the monster destroy the village and pick it clean once it’s gone and avoid the entire pointless conflict. But that doesn’t really ever feel like it’s in the spirit of an RPG.
So the compromise is to exploit the town for money so later you can use it to effectively say “Hello GM I’d like to buy plot success with the mechanic I’ve accumulated.” Which also doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of an RPG.
It just feels like monsters existing in a game serve the purpose of “You will die unless you fight or run” or pushing people into the style of gameplay that Benjamin was describing. Personally, I think it’s on the GM to make all of that important to the players, not the other way around. Like, why does the manticore have a scar in the shape of my family crest? Or an equivalent thing for one of my companions. Thats way more interesting immediately vs. simply expecting players to do the work of engaging with what you put in front of them. (Most GMs I’ve played with do the players make it interesting approach)
@@vitotamito I guess the "let the monster strike and then loot" approach would work in a post-apocalyptic setting. Perhaps hint that if there are no more towns and the monster isn't stopped, they will have nowhere to rest, resupply or spend their cash.
@@vitotamito That's a fair opinion. Imo, the burden lies on both player and gm to make things interesting for them - not everything is going to pertain to every single character's storyline, after all, since it's usually a multi-player game - but there's no one way to run, and certainly not one way to play. My tactic for making that sort of thing fun for me would be to think about how my character feels about the possibility of, say, some village kids losing their siblings to that hungry manticore; if my motivation is finding my brother, well, that seems like it'd hit pretty hard on a pretty recent sore spot. But I also tend to play characters who get invested fast, and commit, so that's totally down to character type.
I love watching your vids. Nice to see you lose yourself a bit in the drama. My preference is more light-hearted, but I can't help being excited when someone is talking passionately. You will continue to get my viewership. 👍
Ha! Thank you! I tend to design darker than I run. Humor is going to come out no matter what, so I don’t feel like that’s something I need to plan for. Haha
I have fought and won gloriously but also fought and struggled and despaired only for it to end in annihilation not only of our characters but of the material plane of that game and let me tell you it fucked me up for a while, thinking about it still fucks me up a bit. Gm’s last words about my character were literally “she struggles in vain until the black sphere envelops her and then nothing…”
Whoa, that sounds pretty heavy. Do you still play with that group, or have you decided that kind of game style isn't for you?
@@mapcrow I do still play with the group. I actually am playing with them my homemade robotech/macross game tonight. We’ve talked a bit about it since then and we all now consider session 0’s very important and I think try and be more mindful about these kind of things. I had warned them that durring the pandemic I had kind of gained an existential dread about the end of the world and wouldn’t like the story to go in that direction and the gm and player who was involved in betraying us said they had forgotten…and I believe them. It sucks that people would forget something you consider important to you, but everyone had different priorities and a lot happening in their lives, and if something was said in a conversation weeks or months ago it could be expected to be forgotten. So now we try and get it in writing.
I still ruminate on what happened and consider writing a short story about it, but when I try I can’t make it come out.
@@startingfromlevelone9510 That's good that you worked it out with your group! I think that stuff can really turn people off, but it can also make very powerful experiences, which is good and bad sometimes.
"...and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action!"
There is your monster won; the disheartened inaction of men. Riddled with the venom of the monster. The monster had better dice rolls than Hamlet...that is, until he killed (action) his false father (lie) in favor of his real father (truth.) The monster stops all men from the great treasure. The ultimate treasure of self knowing, which is to say Spiritual enlightenment.
Great video; particularly when you WERE getting "carried away" as you put it.
literally the perfect way to start the day, thanks for the upload!!
Thank you! The pleasure is mine!
Usually when I answer a question relating to "What is D&D" I think the most basic and important answer you can give is this:
Dungeons and Dragons is a game about killing monsters. The base of the game is a complex strategic battle simulator. The way the game rewards you intrinsically (That is to say without artifice) is when you use your cool abilities to turn something that moves into an inanimate object.
That is D&D in its most basic form. 99% of the rules relate to how our characters use violence against each other.
Upon this D&D is also a game about simulating a secondary world. Where your character has a direct effect upon the world around them. Which means that your character, through problemsolving and diplomacy can circumvent conflict in order to give you other avenues to reach your goal.
Dungeons and Dragons is a monster slaying game where your character inhabits a world that seems real. And as such ideally your character should inhabit this world as if it was real.
Sure sure, I’m with ya. But moving beyond the most basic description, why use monsters and magic at all? Why tell a story at all? War games continue to do perfectly fine without much story to distract from the strategy. All this is just my taste, but I feel like leaving metaphor out of the story is leaving too much meat on the bone.
I truly enjoy your animated preacher dissolving into maniacal cackle. Very fun. Very intense. ;)
Yeah, I think it's important not to take myself too seriously. Haha! Cheers!!
As a DM this was a great perspective. Thanks. Yes more of this. :)
Amazing video, just want I needed today. Thanks for all the great content @mapcrow
My pleasure! Thank you for the kind words!
The Need.
The Need to go out and face the monsters that a thousand generations before me had successfully faced. To continue the Chain..
Gotta ask what art technique and tools did you just use to make this picture. Never heard of charcoal used to make pictures in this way
This style is inspired by Stephen Gammell. If you check the description, or pinned comment, you'll see the tools I used listed out for ya. If you watch some of the more recent Building Better Monsters videos, you can see more the technique. Basically, I shave off some charcoal or graphite, then smear it around with a paper towel. I'll use a mechanical or gum eraser to bring back the higher values if I need them.
i love this video so much OMG. wish i could support your patreon because this is my jam lol
I'm not a Shakespeare expert, but was that a whole Hamlet soliloquy? I couldn't pick out the iambic pentameter, but you hide that really easily with delivery.
I do a little quotation from from Hamlet, but not full lines.
True very true, and sometimes cool fights and clickety clack shapes make brain go burrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Well put
Wow! Great charcoal and erase technique. Nice lecture
LETS GOOOO. ANOTHER BANGER.
Thank you so much!!
It comes down to the DMs question, "what do you do?"
Sure. That is what happens in the game. But that question is asked in a narrative context. If the difference between a dragon and a goblin are only expressed in combat, the DND is only celebrating its war gaming roots. I doubt very much that many folks just start the game with “There is a goblin. What do you do?”
@@mapcrow Yes, meant it in the context of what you laid out in the video. For the Christian evil is here, it's defeat is certain, but today, this moment, when we see as in a glass darkly, what do you do?
Am I the only one that thinks that Manticore looks like one of the wild things in Where The Wild Things Are?
Ha! Someone else made the same observation! Not something I was thinking about, but I do kinda see it now! Haha
D&D: not just an elaborate game of craps.
Love it.
"Tolkien goes on a bit"... can I get that on a tshirt?
very inspiring video.
your channel is so cool to get ideas, or get another look at what I am doing as a dm.
Thank you so much! I'm so happy to share this stuff with folks!!
If you are able to could you do a video on how to use maps to fights more interesting? I think you would be great at it.
Sure! I'll add that to the list! But I think it basically comes down to adding Cover and Elevation Changes. But honestly, Narrative Stakes and Time Pressure are going to make fights more interesting than most maps will.
Awesome, another cute dnd video about drawing creatures... Oh... Ooohhh... Huh.
Haha!! What part got to ya? Was it reading an academic journal or the existential spiraling? Cheers!!
@@mapcrow I have videos on in the background while I work. About halfway through I had to restart your video and actually pay attention. Thanks !
@@tagg1080 Oh my gosh! No even kidding, that's the highest compliment I can get! Cheers!!
You’re my favourite TH-camr 🌟
Wow, thank you!! Cheers!!
very inspiring im so stoned and really felt it
🔥
damn you went off!
Always! Haha
Soooo epic! Well done!
Thank you so much!!
Monsters in D&D ARE stat blocks.
D&D was a war game with fantasy opponents and
light role playing.
5e is something entirely different.
It is a marketing department wrapped around
an old IP with unrealized profit potential.
Then I think it should be clear that I am talking about 5E.
Bro do you preach? Because you have the cadence of a pastor. Not a bad thing. I don't do the whole religion or church thing anymore, but you brought me back to my childhood in a way I'd didn't expect, and again not in a bad way. I was genuinely captivated. 😅
Haha! I studied the Bible way back in undergrad, and I was seminary bound for a bit of time, but I just found my beliefs weren't as strong as my curiosity. Haha. Still, I have been told I have pastor vibes from people who don't even know my academic past. Haha!!
Love your work!
Thank you so much!!
Man, I wish I could draw.
This question what are they for is why I don't care to have monster races as player characters. Through monsters they can show the true ugliness of humanity. The idea of Pig faced orcs as mutated humans gluttony, wrathful, merciless. Or dragons manifest when a city commits great sin. I think having hard topics like slavery, war, genocide, racism in a game can have its place and these monsters are tools to help make the subject matter more palatable.
I tend to agree. I really wish having human centric games was more common and easier to sell to new players. But the appeal for players to play a unique and bespoke hero is very strong.
That depends on where the line between monster and person falls. For one group, orcs are monsters, for another they are people. Both groups probably agree on monsters being bad and metaphorical, just differ on what falls into which category.
As to 'hard topics', this usually just comes down to what different people find fun. And the best indication of whether someone will have fun with a hard theme is having no personal experience of it. That way it remains interesting and hypothetical, and not, you know, how my grandmother was killed.
Then there is the player *being* the monster (Vampire/Werewolf etc... or even Batman or Dexter), that is a whole different kind of story, that of "the monster that is on our side", or "the good monster". For a lot of people this is very empowering. Totally valid, just a different kind of story.
another banger 🔥🔥
Thank you so much!!
Do you believe that a teacher of art should be a talented artist themselves, in order to teach art technique, art history etc, at a high school level?
Above all, I think art teachers should be skilled at teaching. Secondly, I think art teachers, at the colligate level, should have a professional practice of art in the basic sphere in which they are teaching. They need current, industry relevant perspectives. Art teachers in K-12 need to create a spirit of experimentation and curiosity about the world around us, more than they need to teach the art history canon and do the same projects every semester. However, K-12 in the US is highly regulated by people who don't care about the arts or teaching very much. In my view, art and teaching are skills not talents by the time you get to the point you are doing it for a living.
Brill!
O
Wow
🍻
Your impassioned speech about the meaninglessness and futility of life and the fight against despair is oddly appropriate for a video including topics such as religion and faith 😂
Yup! I don't think it's that odd. No matter how you slice it, most religions are based on stories. If you believe the stories or not, doesn't mean they don't serve a narrative function. Stories have been doing this whole "why do I suffer, why do I love" thing for as long as humanity has been around.