It is actual play, but I think the role of editing with dimension 20 really cannot be understated. I got into watching stuff like this because of Critical Role, like, I think, a plurality of people who started watching shows like this, and I loved it. But a 4 hour episode where so much of it ends up being not particularly important packs so much less punch than a two hour episode absolutely packed with character moments and drama. Combat is punchier because the excess math is cut out and rulings discussions are omitted unless they have dramatic importance, all while adding in intuitive HP bars when a pc gets hit, and closeups of the map that somewhat depict the action in the fight. CR can't do that, not because the cast and crew aren't talented enough, they absolutely are, but rather because their format just doesn't allow for it. I think that the shorter seasons also play into D20's appeal. The shorter seasons and variety of settings and characters make it more approachable than it would be if they ran for literally hundred-episode seasons. If I'm not a big fan of a setting? Oh well, I guess I'll wait for a bit and catch up on some other stuff, they'll be done in a few months and I'll check back in. In CR, if I'm not into what the cast is doing right then, I'm out for two years, and I'm probably not getting back in outside of one-shots and short series that they do once in a blue moon. I do like CR, but I fell off of the show because a 4+ hour commitment is a *lot*. 2-2.5 hours? Sure. I'll knock out my dalies in ff14 while I watch, then I'll get set for bed because it's just about 8 at night and there's still some time to do things. D20 is, in my opinion, the most well realized actual play content on the internet. It tells tight stories in a watchable time frame and still keeps the unpredictability and tension that makes D&D shows different from standard TV and movies. The fact that the personalities involved are wonderful are what makes it perfect for me.
In terms of what you said about Siobhan, a good example of that is the line she said that made me cry the most in Crown of Candy, and it's just a small throwaway moment: "He was a good man and we treated him terribly."
12:12 to this day, I still don't know if Zac really muted his zoom call and screamed out loud, or if he just made some absolutely beautiful scream faces while being completely silent. But I don't need to know, because I love it either way.
While Siobhan is the emotional heavyweight, let's not forget Lou's last conversation with his father from season 1 or kugrashes deep tragedy with his family. I honestly think all the characters in Unsleeping city have moved me to near tears at one point or another
I think Riva is such a great example of Siobhan shining comedically “SHE’S GETTING MARRIED!!” Kills me every time and her character being a psychic from a completely honest and cooperative community coming into the wider universe and immediately getting sucked into a pleasure putty pyramid scheme, which she thoroughly believes in cause the person who recruited her was fully convinced It’s just incredible, and really highlights her power of empathy translating into comedy
god, everyone's just on top of their game in starstruck. emily ocean's 11-ing that latest combat, ally being deadly just with a phone, lou being the most horrifying extrapolation of healthcare debt, zac leaning hard on "less is more," siobhan dropping the book of brad, and what may be murph's most legendary line in the whole show: "Barry Nyne is the most powerful villain the galaxy. Imagine, if you will, me." just, endless chef's kisses.
@@Tyranno Still fucks with me how the most exciting part of the combat where the PCs are being chased by cops, soldiers, body part repo men, corporate spies, and knock off versions of one of the main cast while hot pleasure putty rains from the skies, is Margaret using full turns to engage in online banking because of a joke from Zac
You hit the nail on the head about what makes TTRPG media so entertaining, at least for me anyway. The fact that the stories are not 100% guaranteed to play out in a particular way makes them feel exhilarating in a way that few other media can replicate, and their collaborative spirit (exemplified here by your spotlights on each player) gives them a very warm and inviting feeling. Not to mention that the lower barrier to entry means that AP podcasts are often a great storytelling avenue for marginalized creators to get their stories out there. There are so many fantastic pods featuring BIPOC, queer, non-cis, disabled, and neurodivergent creators and casts, and it really makes the comparative lack of those voices in mainstream media stand out all the more. Heck, D20 itself has been a great example of that recently with campaigns like Misfits & Magic and The Seven. The only thing that makes me sad about AP shows is that I have such a hard time getting friends and family to understand why I love them so much. My brother in particular has told me flat-out that he just can't get into them because he can't get immersed in the story and forget that it's a game/production for a while. Which TBH is a fair point. If someone really doesn't want a story to be interrupted with laughter, table talk, or breaking the immersion with mentions of rules and stats, that's an entirely fair preference. Heck, it's one I think a lot of people have. Still, it's hard for me to be so deeply into these shows and to not really be able to share them with anyone IRL. So I really appreciate you making a video like this that's just gushing about how much you love a show like this, honestly.
For real though, I am obsessed with dimension 20. I started to watch all seasons for the second time. Help. To think that I stumbled into it by accident
Oh I've already watched all the main seasons atleast 3 times, including The Seven because it can be a main season in my heart ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡, if you have Dropout be prepared that you might never watch anything else again
one of my favourite dimension 20 moments was in a starstruck odyssey, one of my fave d20 seasons ever. it was the finale, and there had been a running joke about this npc named "loose duke". emily consistently had her character roll insight checks to see if he was on the ship, much to brennan's frustration and dismay. this all pays off in the finale, in a moment that had me losing my shit; we're getting to the endgame, the final battle, the group has just managed to get through multiple obstacles, even if the bbeg is just out of reach. that's when brennan says "loose duke jumps out of the airvents". cue laughter, screaming and frustration from emily, as the whole table explodes into chaos.
My only experience with D20 is the short Not-Harry-Potter campaign "Magic and Misfits" Aabria DM'd and it was spectacular. I should go and watch some of the other campaigns you mentioned here!
I honestly wanted Arthur Augefort to drop by after some kind of coke binge just dropping out of the sky dressed like Walter White just in his underwear going about as if nothing happened.
I honestly wanted Arthur Augefort to drop by after some kind of coke binge just dropping out of the sky dressed like Walter White just in his underwear going about as if nothing happened.
Great video! One of my favorite scenes is when Emily burns her house down on Long Island in Unsleeping City but Zac SWIMS the Sound and puts out the fire single handedly and when the reporter interviews him he just says “I was just doing what anyone would do.” 😂😂😂
One of my favorite Emily moment was when Fig cried because she thought her mom was going to die. She's so chaotic and wild so that moment really stayed with me :')
"what a parasocial nightmare THAT would be" 😂 Thank you for making this video. I truly believe this cast deserves absolute hype and appreciation. Brennan has said that he likes to make stories where the characters face real danger, and have the opportunity as a team to be triumphant, because real life is hard and stories should bring us hope and joy. The whole crew seems to share his vision, and are so kind to one another. Hope you've had a chance to check out Starstruck cause it is beautifully unhinged and exemplifies found family taking on a true neutral galaxy ✨️
Love this show. Typically nat 20 are only an auto hit in combat as you can't crit skill challenges but Brennan does tend to roll with the best outcome in his games on 20s for the fun since it is entertainment after all. I still remember rolling for ghosts lol
as someone who first found ttrpgs threw d20 and is now starting to dip his toe into CR, NNADPOD, and other actual play shows. Its funny because now i understand how rare a long campaign of dnd can be but before i assumed dnd to be a long form game, so the 16-20 episode seasons seem much more approach able. I feel like d20 is such a good entry way into developing a dnd pallete. like at the beginning its easy to fall in love with the big swing chaotic players of emily and ally. but as time goes on you learn the more nuanced flavors strong roleplay/acting chops of siobhan or Lou and the meta-level scene driving genius of Zack or Murph. all the corecast have their strengthes but show that d20 is only a taste of what dnd have to offer.
i've watched most of the dimension 20 shows and played dnd for years, but this was still well worth the watch. something i find interesting is that you've learned so much more about the storytelling potential and almost therapeutic nature of playing roleplaying games just by watching this show than most people i've met who've played dnd for years. roleplaying games are a huge part of my life and brennan is one of my biggest inspirations, so it's almost painful to talk about rpgs with dnd nerds who don't view it any deeper than "it's like a video game but with dice and more freedom to do whatever you want". so it's really fun to see someone get into my favourite hobby from a very different angle. anyways, great video!
Sometimes I want to pick apart Brenan Lee Mulligan's brain because I see alot of my own neurodivergent tendencies and habits in him and he's also probably the kind of person I wish I was when it comes to a multitude of things, but mostly his story telling and improv abilities
Been playing and GMing TTRPGs for years and im a big fan of dimension 20. Enjoyed the video. The show is pretty far from the average table, the game even if its pretty different when the players are not actors and the GM does not have a production crew. But it just captures the fun and essence of TTPRGs in a great way. So far this is by far the best DnD show. Right now im GMing pathfinder 2e and im loving the system.
I have to say, part of the reason why d20 is the best. It's the most "on the rails" (one could uncharitably and inaccurately say the least authentic to the game) version of the actual-play genre. There are at least a couple layers of kayfabe. But that's not a bad thing. That's a show doing its job
That show seems really fun, and yes, it does feel exactly like that. I'm sorry you never had many roleplaying experiences, and I enjoy them, since I like leading as DM for the original 0E version of D&D, where I appreciate how stripped down the rules are and where it's very easy to wing shit out. It seems like you've gotten the sights to start DM-ing too, and one of the game's Olds, Tim Kask, talks about 5 essential tips to be a DM, detailed here but I'll just recap them cos nobody wants to watch a long video with a boomer. I'm pretty sure Dimension 20 have made these plain anyway: th-cam.com/video/3LGx_WyDyYQ/w-d-xo.html 1. Always have fun. Even the DMs need to have fun for themselves, and help every person in the group crack a smile at least once every session, otherwise there is no point in playing. 2. Keep it simple, especially for new players. If you have new players you gotta streamline some things for them, and it might sometimes involve something like condensing a 4-day campaign into 4 hours, just to make that first impression. You might have to omit some rules that bog the game down and keep it fast and simple. The most you need is just the six stats, and you're good to go. 3. Fast + Simple = Involvement. Keep the players involved. If they don't get involved(since many players might be quiet or too shy or don't feel like competing), you gotta ask them "What are you doing? And what are you doing? And what are you doing?", and try to turn the attention of the table towards them. Introduce them to their characters' abilities by pointing them out to them, like "Bob the Elf managed to detect something on the corner of the northeastern wall", and everyone turns their heads to Bob and Bob also gets to learn something about what Elvish characters can do. 4. Not everything has to be killed! Reward XP based on challenge and creative problem-solving. If you just incapacitate some Ogres or make them flee, or surmount them in some way, you gain XP, arguably more bountiful than if you would through combat. 5. Know when to take hands off the steering wheel. Let your players decide where to go and what to do, and the only time you gotta put your foot down is if they're doing something where they'll obviously going to fall to their doom, like puppies running towards an electric fence. Some other tips: -Make descriptions short and evocative. Trigger the theatre of the mind with sights and scents and touch. Think of a term like "The most transluscent, rainbowy cave you've ever seen." -Tim Kask usually asks his players to think of two nouns and write them on a piece of paper before every session. Then he looks at these nouns and tries to work them in the day's session through some improv.
D20 is much better viewing than CR because it's shorter, more variety, easier to follow and thanks to it diverse cast their emotional beats don't seem forced
Every time Itry to come up with a "best Zac moment" I fail because I immediately remember Something else amazing. Zach to me is like a comedy sniper, he picks his moment and utterly destroys my sides ruthless efficiency.
Bro I loved Will Weaton's Tabetop. A lot of those games and the casts were fantastic and I was so upset when it stopped running. I similarly have never really played any tabletop RPGs, I relate to the way you see it a lot, nice vid
I feel ya. Never played any TTRPGs. Just happened to watch Viva La Dirt leagues first and second DnD campaign back in spring 2020 and had to google for more! Of course discovered Critical Role first, consumed ALL of it by the end of 2020 :D Also watched at least half of all D20 content along side with Roll 20's one-shots and other such vids by now. Can't get enough.. still haven't got a chance to play yet thou.
Personally I dislike Ally’s play style because she so clearly using the game as a constant revenge fantasy. I get that everyone has their own experiences and I’m not saying you shouldn’t use those experiences but with Ally it is just so on the nose and while I understand that a lot of the players will throw in the occasional one liner it’s just hard to stay immersed in the game when one of the players is consistently bringing in their own real world problems. I want to be clear that I would say this about someone bringing in their own worldview constantly on the opposite side of the issue so if they were more pro religion. Again everyone uses the experiences they have gathered throughout their life but the lack of subtlety or diversity of character is what grinds my gears slightly.
That's what makes it fun. In any fantasy books, anything fiction will have something the author deals with in real life. Even the characters. Having a character designed around you, and you can put some of your life in a character is a good thing. Otherwise, it comes off fake
@@Dndnerd591 I agree that it’s common for a creator to use some of their own experiences but great ones do it in a way that does not take you out of the story or is not their only characteristic. I get that Ally was new here so I will lay off a little bit but looking at someone like Emily play Fig you can tell she is using some of her own personality but you can also tell that Fig is still a very different character from Emily. When it comes to Ally and Kristen that line is very very blurred. For me personally it takes me out of the game. But in the end people can play what they want.
I really think that mostly applies to the first few characters. It was their first time playing, and you do need to go through the awkward phase, and get stuff figured out
![The Tomb of Ultimate Evil [Full Episode] | Escape From the Bloodkeep Episode 6](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8OUNHM0dMZ8/mqdefault.jpg)
It is actual play, but I think the role of editing with dimension 20 really cannot be understated. I got into watching stuff like this because of Critical Role, like, I think, a plurality of people who started watching shows like this, and I loved it. But a 4 hour episode where so much of it ends up being not particularly important packs so much less punch than a two hour episode absolutely packed with character moments and drama. Combat is punchier because the excess math is cut out and rulings discussions are omitted unless they have dramatic importance, all while adding in intuitive HP bars when a pc gets hit, and closeups of the map that somewhat depict the action in the fight. CR can't do that, not because the cast and crew aren't talented enough, they absolutely are, but rather because their format just doesn't allow for it.
I think that the shorter seasons also play into D20's appeal. The shorter seasons and variety of settings and characters make it more approachable than it would be if they ran for literally hundred-episode seasons. If I'm not a big fan of a setting? Oh well, I guess I'll wait for a bit and catch up on some other stuff, they'll be done in a few months and I'll check back in. In CR, if I'm not into what the cast is doing right then, I'm out for two years, and I'm probably not getting back in outside of one-shots and short series that they do once in a blue moon. I do like CR, but I fell off of the show because a 4+ hour commitment is a *lot*. 2-2.5 hours? Sure. I'll knock out my dalies in ff14 while I watch, then I'll get set for bed because it's just about 8 at night and there's still some time to do things.
D20 is, in my opinion, the most well realized actual play content on the internet. It tells tight stories in a watchable time frame and still keeps the unpredictability and tension that makes D&D shows different from standard TV and movies. The fact that the personalities involved are wonderful are what makes it perfect for me.
In terms of what you said about Siobhan, a good example of that is the line she said that made me cry the most in Crown of Candy, and it's just a small throwaway moment: "He was a good man and we treated him terribly."
Who was she talking about I cant remember
@@Ashely56 a certain chocolate bunny
12:12 to this day, I still don't know if Zac really muted his zoom call and screamed out loud, or if he just made some absolutely beautiful scream faces while being completely silent. But I don't need to know, because I love it either way.
While Siobhan is the emotional heavyweight, let's not forget Lou's last conversation with his father from season 1 or kugrashes deep tragedy with his family. I honestly think all the characters in Unsleeping city have moved me to near tears at one point or another
or like, everytime lou talks with his wife/ex lover with brennan
Misty’s talk with the American dream is a highlight
Sophia choosing herself at the top of the Empire State Building gets me
I think Riva is such a great example of Siobhan shining comedically
“SHE’S GETTING MARRIED!!” Kills me every time and her character being a psychic from a completely honest and cooperative community coming into the wider universe and immediately getting sucked into a pleasure putty pyramid scheme, which she thoroughly believes in cause the person who recruited her was fully convinced
It’s just incredible, and really highlights her power of empathy translating into comedy
Now that Starstruck Odyssey is out it feels like all the main cast went full speed into the insanity
god, everyone's just on top of their game in starstruck. emily ocean's 11-ing that latest combat, ally being deadly just with a phone, lou being the most horrifying extrapolation of healthcare debt, zac leaning hard on "less is more," siobhan dropping the book of brad, and what may be murph's most legendary line in the whole show: "Barry Nyne is the most powerful villain the galaxy. Imagine, if you will, me."
just, endless chef's kisses.
@@Tyranno Still fucks with me how the most exciting part of the combat where the PCs are being chased by cops, soldiers, body part repo men, corporate spies, and knock off versions of one of the main cast while hot pleasure putty rains from the skies, is Margaret using full turns to engage in online banking because of a joke from Zac
You hit the nail on the head about what makes TTRPG media so entertaining, at least for me anyway. The fact that the stories are not 100% guaranteed to play out in a particular way makes them feel exhilarating in a way that few other media can replicate, and their collaborative spirit (exemplified here by your spotlights on each player) gives them a very warm and inviting feeling. Not to mention that the lower barrier to entry means that AP podcasts are often a great storytelling avenue for marginalized creators to get their stories out there. There are so many fantastic pods featuring BIPOC, queer, non-cis, disabled, and neurodivergent creators and casts, and it really makes the comparative lack of those voices in mainstream media stand out all the more. Heck, D20 itself has been a great example of that recently with campaigns like Misfits & Magic and The Seven.
The only thing that makes me sad about AP shows is that I have such a hard time getting friends and family to understand why I love them so much. My brother in particular has told me flat-out that he just can't get into them because he can't get immersed in the story and forget that it's a game/production for a while. Which TBH is a fair point. If someone really doesn't want a story to be interrupted with laughter, table talk, or breaking the immersion with mentions of rules and stats, that's an entirely fair preference. Heck, it's one I think a lot of people have. Still, it's hard for me to be so deeply into these shows and to not really be able to share them with anyone IRL. So I really appreciate you making a video like this that's just gushing about how much you love a show like this, honestly.
For real though, I am obsessed with dimension 20. I started to watch all seasons for the second time. Help. To think that I stumbled into it by accident
Oh I've already watched all the main seasons atleast 3 times, including The Seven because it can be a main season in my heart ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡, if you have Dropout be prepared that you might never watch anything else again
one of my favourite dimension 20 moments was in a starstruck odyssey, one of my fave d20 seasons ever. it was the finale, and there had been a running joke about this npc named "loose duke". emily consistently had her character roll insight checks to see if he was on the ship, much to brennan's frustration and dismay. this all pays off in the finale, in a moment that had me losing my shit;
we're getting to the endgame, the final battle, the group has just managed to get through multiple obstacles, even if the bbeg is just out of reach. that's when brennan says "loose duke jumps out of the airvents". cue laughter, screaming and frustration from emily, as the whole table explodes into chaos.
My only experience with D20 is the short Not-Harry-Potter campaign "Magic and Misfits" Aabria DM'd and it was spectacular. I should go and watch some of the other campaigns you mentioned here!
100%
Brennen is the best DM on the planet, you have to watch a season with him as DM.
The other campaigns are just as wild and wacky, even when they're not trying to be
I honestly wanted Arthur Augefort to drop by after some kind of coke binge just dropping out of the sky dressed like Walter White just in his underwear going about as if nothing happened.
I honestly wanted Arthur Augefort to drop by after some kind of coke binge just dropping out of the sky dressed like Walter White just in his underwear going about as if nothing happened.
Great video!
One of my favorite scenes is when Emily burns her house down on Long Island in Unsleeping City but Zac SWIMS the Sound and puts out the fire single handedly and when the reporter interviews him he just says “I was just doing what anyone would do.” 😂😂😂
are we just gonna ignore Brennan flirting with Murph through the guise of Baron, Riz's romance partner?
That is NOT flirting, that is psychological warfare
sophomore was actually filmed a while after a crown of candy, so that happened after theo got slammed down big style
One of my favorite Emily moment was when Fig cried because she thought her mom was going to die. She's so chaotic and wild so that moment really stayed with me :')
Will Wheaton is infamous in the TTRPG community for being cursed, that man rolls more natural 1s than any other player ever
"what a parasocial nightmare THAT would be" 😂
Thank you for making this video. I truly believe this cast deserves absolute hype and appreciation. Brennan has said that he likes to make stories where the characters face real danger, and have the opportunity as a team to be triumphant, because real life is hard and stories should bring us hope and joy. The whole crew seems to share his vision, and are so kind to one another.
Hope you've had a chance to check out Starstruck cause it is beautifully unhinged and exemplifies found family taking on a true neutral galaxy ✨️
Love this show. Typically nat 20 are only an auto hit in combat as you can't crit skill challenges but Brennan does tend to roll with the best outcome in his games on 20s for the fun since it is entertainment after all. I still remember rolling for ghosts lol
as someone who first found ttrpgs threw d20 and is now starting to dip his toe into CR, NNADPOD, and other actual play shows. Its funny because now i understand how rare a long campaign of dnd can be but before i assumed dnd to be a long form game, so the 16-20 episode seasons seem much more approach able. I feel like d20 is such a good entry way into developing a dnd pallete. like at the beginning its easy to fall in love with the big swing chaotic players of emily and ally. but as time goes on you learn the more nuanced flavors strong roleplay/acting chops of siobhan or Lou and the meta-level scene driving genius of Zack or Murph. all the corecast have their strengthes but show that d20 is only a taste of what dnd have to offer.
i've watched most of the dimension 20 shows and played dnd for years, but this was still well worth the watch. something i find interesting is that you've learned so much more about the storytelling potential and almost therapeutic nature of playing roleplaying games just by watching this show than most people i've met who've played dnd for years. roleplaying games are a huge part of my life and brennan is one of my biggest inspirations, so it's almost painful to talk about rpgs with dnd nerds who don't view it any deeper than "it's like a video game but with dice and more freedom to do whatever you want". so it's really fun to see someone get into my favourite hobby from a very different angle. anyways, great video!
This is great. I recently got obsessed with Dimension 20 and then found your nuzlocke video. This was a great coincidence!
Sometimes I want to pick apart Brenan Lee Mulligan's brain because I see alot of my own neurodivergent tendencies and habits in him and he's also probably the kind of person I wish I was when it comes to a multitude of things, but mostly his story telling and improv abilities
"IS LOOSE DUKE ON THE SHIP??!!"
Dimension 20 was my intro to TTRPGs and now I’m DMing my own game. Thanks Brennan
Gush away! I got dropout just for d20
I love it so much
In-credible video :)
Been playing and GMing TTRPGs for years and im a big fan of dimension 20. Enjoyed the video. The show is pretty far from the average table, the game even if its pretty different when the players are not actors and the GM does not have a production crew. But it just captures the fun and essence of TTPRGs in a great way. So far this is by far the best DnD show. Right now im GMing pathfinder 2e and im loving the system.
Thanks for posting this video. I adore D20 and its cast. I believe this is Brennan Lee Mulligan winning the 'Improv can be dramatic' bet.
I don't think I would be dming right now if I hadn't stumbled onto the 8 hour fantasy high marathon video
Same
Finally, someone talking passionate about another one of these besides Adventure zone
Finally someone talks about it
I have to say, part of the reason why d20 is the best. It's the most "on the rails" (one could uncharitably and inaccurately say the least authentic to the game) version of the actual-play genre.
There are at least a couple layers of kayfabe. But that's not a bad thing. That's a show doing its job
That show seems really fun, and yes, it does feel exactly like that. I'm sorry you never had many roleplaying experiences, and I enjoy them, since I like leading as DM for the original 0E version of D&D, where I appreciate how stripped down the rules are and where it's very easy to wing shit out. It seems like you've gotten the sights to start DM-ing too, and one of the game's Olds, Tim Kask, talks about 5 essential tips to be a DM, detailed here but I'll just recap them cos nobody wants to watch a long video with a boomer. I'm pretty sure Dimension 20 have made these plain anyway: th-cam.com/video/3LGx_WyDyYQ/w-d-xo.html
1. Always have fun. Even the DMs need to have fun for themselves, and help every person in the group crack a smile at least once every session, otherwise there is no point in playing.
2. Keep it simple, especially for new players. If you have new players you gotta streamline some things for them, and it might sometimes involve something like condensing a 4-day campaign into 4 hours, just to make that first impression. You might have to omit some rules that bog the game down and keep it fast and simple. The most you need is just the six stats, and you're good to go.
3. Fast + Simple = Involvement. Keep the players involved. If they don't get involved(since many players might be quiet or too shy or don't feel like competing), you gotta ask them "What are you doing? And what are you doing? And what are you doing?", and try to turn the attention of the table towards them. Introduce them to their characters' abilities by pointing them out to them, like "Bob the Elf managed to detect something on the corner of the northeastern wall", and everyone turns their heads to Bob and Bob also gets to learn something about what Elvish characters can do.
4. Not everything has to be killed! Reward XP based on challenge and creative problem-solving. If you just incapacitate some Ogres or make them flee, or surmount them in some way, you gain XP, arguably more bountiful than if you would through combat.
5. Know when to take hands off the steering wheel. Let your players decide where to go and what to do, and the only time you gotta put your foot down is if they're doing something where they'll obviously going to fall to their doom, like puppies running towards an electric fence.
Some other tips:
-Make descriptions short and evocative. Trigger the theatre of the mind with sights and scents and touch. Think of a term like "The most transluscent, rainbowy cave you've ever seen."
-Tim Kask usually asks his players to think of two nouns and write them on a piece of paper before every session. Then he looks at these nouns and tries to work them in the day's session through some improv.
i love this video, you really got down to the essence of why i love it
D20 is much better viewing than CR because it's shorter, more variety, easier to follow and thanks to it diverse cast their emotional beats don't seem forced
I like what you picked for Zac, however I feel near the end of Fantasy High Sophomore Year was a lot better
Every time Itry to come up with a "best Zac moment" I fail because I immediately remember Something else amazing. Zach to me is like a comedy sniper, he picks his moment and utterly destroys my sides ruthless efficiency.
@@b.c.2281 He is a comedian who has the philosophy of less is more. Like on Make Some Noise.
Yeeees D20 deserves all the love :)
Hell Yeah.
Bro I loved Will Weaton's Tabetop. A lot of those games and the casts were fantastic and I was so upset when it stopped running. I similarly have never really played any tabletop RPGs, I relate to the way you see it a lot, nice vid
I hope all the best to you playing D&D and other roleplaying games. It's one of my favorite hobbies.
Hey. Spoony is making a slow resurgence.
Thank you 👏
Ice cream? Pffffffft we eat plain yogurt here friend lol
To all viewers: SPOILER WARNINGS THROUGHOUT
I feel ya. Never played any TTRPGs. Just happened to watch Viva La Dirt leagues first and second DnD campaign back in spring 2020 and had to google for more! Of course discovered Critical Role first, consumed ALL of it by the end of 2020 :D Also watched at least half of all D20 content along side with Roll 20's one-shots and other such vids by now. Can't get enough.. still haven't got a chance to play yet thou.
If you like D20, please check out the Worlds Beyond Number podcast. You'll thank me when you see who the cast is
It's phenomenal ❤
Personally I dislike Ally’s play style because she so clearly using the game as a constant revenge fantasy. I get that everyone has their own experiences and I’m not saying you shouldn’t use those experiences but with Ally it is just so on the nose and while I understand that a lot of the players will throw in the occasional one liner it’s just hard to stay immersed in the game when one of the players is consistently bringing in their own real world problems. I want to be clear that I would say this about someone bringing in their own worldview constantly on the opposite side of the issue so if they were more pro religion. Again everyone uses the experiences they have gathered throughout their life but the lack of subtlety or diversity of character is what grinds my gears slightly.
That's what makes it fun. In any fantasy books, anything fiction will have something the author deals with in real life. Even the characters. Having a character designed around you, and you can put some of your life in a character is a good thing. Otherwise, it comes off fake
@@Dndnerd591 I agree that it’s common for a creator to use some of their own experiences but great ones do it in a way that does not take you out of the story or is not their only characteristic. I get that Ally was new here so I will lay off a little bit but looking at someone like Emily play Fig you can tell she is using some of her own personality but you can also tell that Fig is still a very different character from Emily. When it comes to Ally and Kristen that line is very very blurred. For me personally it takes me out of the game. But in the end people can play what they want.
I really think that mostly applies to the first few characters. It was their first time playing, and you do need to go through the awkward phase, and get stuff figured out