Now I’m just imagining goblin hierarchy like a corporate structure. Players run into a goblin that is the chief assistant to the manager of the “traps and other things to kill adventurers” department, Waterdeep branch
@@ToddReynolds45 And then said goblin employs them just to give that upstart in the division for rat-raising, child-abducting and general cuisine supply one cave downstream his comeuppance.
Reason #2 why we love Ginny ... Attention to detail "Certificate of Despoilment - This certificate is proudly presented to - Mite Bloodstink - Successfully laid waste to a village of innocents and gleefully cavorted amongst their remains" Sending Stone intercom ... well of course it is ..
The fear in the eyes of your players when at level 3, first bossfight of the campaign, initiative count 20, "and then he uses his lair action." Delicious.
I love how the goblin character is THE WORST, but the eye makeup and keeping your eyes makes it strangely cute. I can totally imagine this goblin doing a last resort puppy eyes "I was forced to by my corporate masters!" and when the players go "aww!" just STAB! and disappear down a hidden tunnel, collapsing the room behind her, grumbling about having to resort to such tactics and their efficiency.
While everyone is enamored by the Goblin boss, me included, I especially love a tiny detail: Pushing the "button" on the Sending Stone. That's what did it to me. Amazing. ...and the talking part of the video was great as well.
This idea pairs very well with Matt Colville's "Action Oriented Monsters" video. Using both, in tandem or at different times, could really spice up low level play. Also, love Middle Manager Mite Bloodstink. Definitely want to see more of her.
I'm running Rime of the Frostmaiden, and this is perfect timing. Players are about to go up against a significant Druid serving the Frostmaiden. I've been thinking about how to alter it from the book to make it more interesting and this is perfect!
My last bossbattle was pretty fun with lair actions. Basically: the group was fighting a massive giant-termite infestation in the ginormous sewer system. Before the fight with the King and Queen of the termites, the artificer opened floodgates in the sewers, literary drowning and washing away most of the lair. In the fight at the beginning of each round I made him do the contested roll against the queen (Int vs Cha), to determine who has power over the lair. Whenever he won he got to chose one of 3, small lair actions. If the Queen won, she chose her actions. That was a really fun tug-of-war game!
Homefield advantage is one of my favourite finds on DM's Guild! Alot of good ideas to really spice up boss encounters. Also thanks for an excellent idea for a goblin boss! My players will hate it lol.
You have done it: Found the one Goblin NPC that the party won't try to adopt 😛 All it took was corporate capitalism! (Love the video; glad to see some more love for lair actions)
@@3nertia I specified corporate capitalism not to let capitalism off the hook for its various calamities, but specifically because corporate culture is what spawns middle management.
For regular encounters, I like making Lair Actions be something that can affect everyone. For example: Everyone is in some kind of arena where traps will apper on initiative 20. The monsters can try can knock the players into them, but it works vice versa. Another example is a huge wave hits the side of the ship the battle is taking place on. Everyone on a certain side of the the ship has to make a save or get bowled over.
Agreed. I have used this book multiple times in the past several months for multiple levels and types of encounters, and even used that hag ability: my players roleplayed that they wouldn't have known and did end up attacking their party member in the confusion. It was great
In my 1e games my kobolds will hunker down in 10-individual units and launch darts at pc's. In 1e that's 3 darts per round per kobold, so 30 per round. Odds are there's a natural 20 involved (sometimes 2!!!) per round... and kobolds know how to manufacture & use poison. So yeah, not wimpy at all (for a
I like the goblin boss! a lot!! 😊 0:17 send in Mudguts 🫡 2:17 take up the war chant 👢👢 4:37 skulk around 🤫 6:57 new interns 🤭 9:37 Q3 goblin schedule 🗓️🎂
This is perfect! Over the last two sessions I've already improved my homebrew monster with your combat video so this feels like a natural next one to put into play too!
Making sure each lair action has a completely different purpose is such good advice! Gonna have to go through some my current campaign's boss statblocks for some revision
This is a great concept, and seems like it would apply well to all kinds of games. Imagine the crazy lair actions you could add to the evil cult hideout in a horror game, or for that vault you're trying to crack in a heist game, or for that supervillain mastermind your heroes are trying to bring to justice. P.S. Goblin Boss is my new favorite character. "Thank Maglubiyet it's Friday!"
This has got to be one of the best UA-cam videos I've ever seen in terms of how effectively it incorporated and promoted the sponsorship. As you promised, it is entirely possible to implement your suggestions without buying the product. But you also made a great case for why DMs would want to follow your suggestions and simultaneously gave concrete examples of how the product would be a huge help in doing so. DMsGuild should be very happy that they've gotten their money's worth.
A lower challenge rating monster with lair actions, that I haven't used yet, but I love the idea so very much: The Merrenoloth. Yes it's a Yugoloth. Basically think Charon, the Ferrymen of the Dead, and whenever they are captaining a vessel, the vessel becomes their lair. If you go lore-wise with the Yugoloth's, this could get very interesting in many ways in a more seafaring campaign, or perhaps if skyships are prevalent. A merrenoloth could be hired in some way, either by the party, or it could be hired by an enemy. It's found in Monsters of the Multiverse, but I believe that there is more lore on specifically merrenoloths if you go looking.
Lot of great info in this video. Lair encounters should be tough, using the environment to the denizens advantage. You don't especially even need a "boss" to make this work. The same is true of a lot of monsters. With Goblins I'd have lots of traps, hidden side tunnels that are too small for anyone larger than a dwarf to effectively fight within. Areas where the ceiling collapses on the PCs for 2-20 pts of damage, tipper vats of boiling water, all the while Goblins are coming out from the stone work from unexpected directions at inopportune times. During World Wars I and II, German officers were taught that minefields were only as effective as the machine-gun nests that cover them. With creatures like goblins, this is a good principal to keep in mind.
This is SSOOOOOO useful to me, being a brand new DM and having discovered a really intense passion of mine for DnD ever since I've been DMing! I don't have that much experience as a player, but I'm really getting deep into it ever since
Interesting video. Lair and epic actions have been a great addition to the game and I've had a lot of fun with them. Starting using them at a much lower level is certainly a valid ideas for making significant encounters feel more serious. My most recent recent attempt involved a wannabe arch-fae's lair that was full of plants and fungi that were producing weird hallucinogens, causing confusion and messing with line-of-sight.. I once tried using a monster that had no turn of its own, just lair and epic actions. It was a disembodied fiend heart powering a haunted underground base. It couldn't move but it was warping reality to its benefit.
Lair actions are one of the best things ever added to the game. Really useful in all sorts of situations. Great for added challenge, atmosphere, and making fights memorable.
Currently running CotND for two groups and I use a lot of the travel and downtime to fit in sidequests related to their backstories. Most of the climatic battles were big boss battles with minions (ranging from level 4 to level 8), but when I got to the last one I felt like the PCs were feeling like minion battles were played out (having done 4 already). So I switched to an action economy model, and added cool lair actions. It was really reinvigorating and fresh, as they were expecting lots of minions and instead only had a Big Bad with Legendary Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions, 2 much lower CR spellcasting enemies, and Lair actions which could stun, poison, or teleport the big bad. One PC ended up getting petrified and many were low on HP when it was all said and done. They loved it. (I did put a homebrew potion of restoration to cure the petrification in a subsequent room, so once the PC realized they weren't permanently petrified, they were okay.) Regional effects was fun to play with during PotA as well.
Recently I ran a scenario with my dnd group, and they fought this pirate captain who could turn into mist on initiative 10 and became normal at initiative 20, but she could be kicked out early by a dispel magic or counterspell, for d2 rounds, it was one of the most fun times I had dming with my friends I’ve had in a long time which was nice.
You are so good at finding new interesting content. Layer skills are so fun and useful to add to a game! Also love the background "Pillage Plunder Profit" "Certificate of Despoilment"
I love your videos, I've been binging them since last week. Your voices are awesome, and not to diminish your goblin voice, but it's very reminiscent of Huey, Dewey and Louie. "Do the goblins need training Uncle Scrouge?"
have been using kind of lair and legendary actions since my first game) the first boss was a bottle golem who would constantly shower players with shards and wine, the second one was an earth elemental who could not be killed (my elementals cannot be) and served as an obstacle to a mcguffin, rocking the earth under adventurers and flailing them around, and my third one was an art gallery mistress who would attack players with magical sculptures, paintings and such. All three had them on the verge) feel free to incorporate my ideas and share yours!
I bought the book and a few others you recommended in other videos. It's really nice that DMs Guild keeps sponsoring you so that I can use the code to get a discount on other books. They also did me the favor of refunding my purchase of a book a few months ago so that I could buy the bundle it was in and save a few bucks.
What TIMING, Ginny! I am going to be starting Lost Mine of Phandelver for my group (first time DMing anything other than a one-shot, have done a few of those in the past), gonna do it as a 4-shot, 2 sessions in June, and 2 sessions in July (so I can be done before August)... anyway, super timely!!! Appreciate you!!!
My players actually got cold feet when I had them in a cavern that belonged to Kobolds. The kobold Dragonshield squad leaders had arranged all the able bodied kobolds into phalanxes of spear walls and archery walls. As such, using the mass combat rules from the DMG it calculates a certain number of guaranteed hits based on the number of monsters targeting a player. It eliminates incoming crits, but it does mean that rows of archers can quickly turn deadly.
Noisemaking for intimidation woud be consistent for goblins and orcs, it seems to show up a lot in the stories. They used it in "The Two Towers" movie when Saruman's Uruk-Hai army formed ranks at Helms Deep, then started rhythmically pounding their spears into the ground... which, btw, wasn't scripted. The actors did it spontaneously for the lol's. 😁
Woo hoo another video already! Might want a goblin interlude with some cough drops or something sometimes though, I was watching a video about making d and d combat more exciting not that long ago, and while it can be less exciting with some battles I guess, I was thinking the opposite with different kinds of monsters, ambiance, bosses, and I like the stealth aspect ideas; hopefully I'll make it out to the ren fair this year anyway.
My wife loves your goblin skits. First one, she asks, "Was that a rifle?". So I went back and showed her. Then, every time Mite was on, she watched with interest.
A goblin-boss staged like corporate middlemanagement. That is the funniest contemptible thing that isn't actually offensive that I've ever heard of. Wait, that is an overly narrow superlative....It is funny, creative, and I like it. I really like these any-level-lair action rules. Its not just about harder/more difficult battles but also about being more thematic and engaging.
This video couldn't have come out at a better time, I just learned about pair actions and I wanted to learn how to make or incorporate them into my current campaign
Got the Batter Battles Bundle when it was available. Sure, I could modify stat blocks or create lair actions myself, but it's nice to have a resource that already did the leg work.
Less of a boss fight, but I'm working on an encounter in my campaign that can take place in the alchemy class at the local bard/mage college. The concoctions of magical potions have somehow become a living ooze with no disregard for the magic it randomly triggers and the students would like help from the PCs before a professor finds out. As a lair action, the ooze has the ability to trigger any alchemical substances in the room with unforeseeable effects making it it quite dangerous to fight in a room/"lair" absolutely filled with alchemical substances. Adhesive acids, slippery ointments, explosive liquids, transmutating runes and enchanting vapors are likely to all trigger at some point during the encounter.
something that i like to do for encounters with alot of enemies is that if enough go down and all the players are still in decent condition they'll either retreat or surrender to avoid dragging out the fight
New DM here! I needed this video. Preparing to level up my group to Lv 2, and go right into a dungeon and boss fight (Lv 1 too squishy for meaningful combat)
"Heeey, Mudguts. How's it hanging? Look, I'm gonna need those pillaging reports on my desk by Friday. Oh and if you could be sure to put the new cover sheet on them, that'd be greaaat. Good talk, Mudguts!"
I think this is why I'm enjoying Mork Borg. The fights against non-boss like creatures build their own tension. The goblins have 6 HP, which is 2 to 3 times more HP than my players have already. They have a morale so if too many of them drop, they will attempt to run away. But them running can build the tension. The goblins are cursed. Whether they hit you or not, just being attacked by a goblin passes that curse onto the player. If the players don't kill the goblin, in d6 days, the player that was attacked turns into a goblin. They lose their mind, and become a feral goblin.
Hey, great video. But I have a massive suggestion, and I hope it helps. First the side skits like with the goblin at the start of the video isn't for me, but that's okay. It really is good, and I want to see you keep doing these things. It takes a lot of time for you to get into the make up, set the scene, write the bit. You do a lot of these, and that's awesome! But, what if you had a mini series on each of these characters. This way you can have another draw for viewers, and have more to pull from for videos like this in the future. This seems especially important for the more make up heavy characters. Getting more juice from the squeeze is always great. I think it would be fun to have a series on the Goblin managing the cave as a mid level manager. Or some of your other characters doing what they do. I bet a shout out if you put up a poll to see if people would like to see something like this it would be overwhelmingly yes.
*My Paladin going into a Goblin base full of she-goblin?! I watched goblin slayer; Runaway, run for your life man* . All anime puns an references aside; this is interesting kosher setup and scenario d&d setup for friends and family.
Lair actions are usually the first thing to go when I’m stressed and running a boss fight. However, they can be an incredible way to increase tension. If you’re tuning up your own lair mechanics, it might be prudent to focus on aspects of the game OTHER than damage. Stuff like debuffs and minions can give your party other stuff to worry about besides their HP.
This was great!, but I need to formally request that Books come back when appropriate. I need to see Ginny arguing with Ginny more. I also realized that I’ve grown attached to the characters in the videos, so I also need there to be a continuous thread and increased plot development between the characters. Imagine tuning in each video to see if the characters’ delicate friendships survive! Or if the two Ginnys we’ve been shipping finally see what they’ve been searching for in each other! The possibilities are endless! You needed more to do, right
I got a package today from Die Hard Dice, and when I ordered it they said that if I left a comment saying how I heard about them and/or what I was going to use the dice for, they'd give me a free set. So I told them I heard about them from you and that I was going to use the dice for D&D, and they put a note in my package that said to say hi to you. So hi!
Seriously, I love your videos. If you ever write a book with all the characters & NPC's you've made, let us know. I'd personally buy both physical & PDF copies. 😁
I once had a ghost pirate captain who had true sight whilst his feet were on the ground of his living ship that could cast darkness and had ethereal chains trying to pull my players into dark depths.
What a great topic! Also that goblin cosplay is incredible
Thanks Bob!! the voice was hell on my throat though 😂
@@GinnyDiI can imagine that.
"It's time to escalate!" 😂
Now I’m just imagining goblin hierarchy like a corporate structure. Players run into a goblin that is the chief assistant to the manager of the “traps and other things to kill adventurers” department, Waterdeep branch
@@ToddReynolds45 And then said goblin employs them just to give that upstart in the division for rat-raising, child-abducting and general cuisine supply one cave downstream his comeuppance.
I love all the goblin boss skits. Now I want more.
I know right. Like her Dice Girls shorts, now I want Ginny to do a "Goblin Girl Boss" series...😊
@@KnightsofTuveHall
Gaslight, raid, girlboss
It'd make for a good series of shorts.
@@solsystem1342 Gaslight, gatecrash, girlboss?
The Joblin boss, you might call her.
New one-shot idea: you're all playing goblin interns doing cartoonishly evil things to try and impress your boss and move up the corporate ladder.
Reason #2 why we love Ginny ... Attention to detail
"Certificate of Despoilment - This certificate is proudly presented to - Mite Bloodstink - Successfully laid waste to a village of innocents and gleefully cavorted amongst their remains"
Sending Stone intercom ... well of course it is ..
The fear in the eyes of your players when at level 3, first bossfight of the campaign, initiative count 20, "and then he uses his lair action."
Delicious.
I love how the goblin character is THE WORST, but the eye makeup and keeping your eyes makes it strangely cute. I can totally imagine this goblin doing a last resort puppy eyes "I was forced to by my corporate masters!" and when the players go "aww!" just STAB! and disappear down a hidden tunnel, collapsing the room behind her, grumbling about having to resort to such tactics and their efficiency.
Don't forget the final words "I'll get you next tiiiiiiimmmeeee..."
Midlevel managers definitely get backstab as a free action.
@@lindafreeman7030 HA! 🤣🤣🤣
While everyone is enamored by the Goblin boss, me included, I especially love a tiny detail: Pushing the "button" on the Sending Stone. That's what did it to me. Amazing.
...and the talking part of the video was great as well.
This idea pairs very well with Matt Colville's "Action Oriented Monsters" video. Using both, in tandem or at different times, could really spice up low level play. Also, love Middle Manager Mite Bloodstink. Definitely want to see more of her.
I thought of that video as well.
I'm running Rime of the Frostmaiden, and this is perfect timing. Players are about to go up against a significant Druid serving the Frostmaiden. I've been thinking about how to alter it from the book to make it more interesting and this is perfect!
My last bossbattle was pretty fun with lair actions. Basically: the group was fighting a massive giant-termite infestation in the ginormous sewer system. Before the fight with the King and Queen of the termites, the artificer opened floodgates in the sewers, literary drowning and washing away most of the lair. In the fight at the beginning of each round I made him do the contested roll against the queen (Int vs Cha), to determine who has power over the lair. Whenever he won he got to chose one of 3, small lair actions. If the Queen won, she chose her actions. That was a really fun tug-of-war game!
This is brilliant!
Homefield advantage is one of my favourite finds on DM's Guild! Alot of good ideas to really spice up boss encounters.
Also thanks for an excellent idea for a goblin boss! My players will hate it lol.
OHMYGOD I LOVE THE GOBLIN COSPLAY
You have done it: Found the one Goblin NPC that the party won't try to adopt 😛 All it took was corporate capitalism! (Love the video; glad to see some more love for lair actions)
Yeah, they'll just apply for a job instead...
You can offer her a better position trying to run your estate from all the goblin cleaning you have been doing.
Love how everyone prepends a descriptor to 'capitalism' as if that's not just capitalism rofl
@@3nertia I specified corporate capitalism not to let capitalism off the hook for its various calamities, but specifically because corporate culture is what spawns middle management.
@@MandibleBones "Corporate culture" is just capitalism though ...
Thanks for featuring our book! Hope it enhances many a boss battle!
For regular encounters, I like making Lair Actions be something that can affect everyone. For example: Everyone is in some kind of arena where traps will apper on initiative 20. The monsters can try can knock the players into them, but it works vice versa. Another example is a huge wave hits the side of the ship the battle is taking place on. Everyone on a certain side of the the ship has to make a save or get bowled over.
Agreed. I have used this book multiple times in the past several months for multiple levels and types of encounters, and even used that hag ability: my players roleplayed that they wouldn't have known and did end up attacking their party member in the confusion. It was great
Tucker's Kobolds is a great example of how small, smart, opponents can totally terrify even high level parties 😁
Shout out to the oft-forgotten Tucker’s Kobolds from Roger Moore
Please tell me that's a printed quest. Because I heard of them from I believe ZeeBashew and I really want to experience the horror.
@@Maninawig media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/TuckersKobolds.pdf
Like the ending of The Hobbit (book, not movie) when a million Goblins decided they were fed up!
In my 1e games my kobolds will hunker down in 10-individual units and launch darts at pc's. In 1e that's 3 darts per round per kobold, so 30 per round. Odds are there's a natural 20 involved (sometimes 2!!!) per round... and kobolds know how to manufacture & use poison. So yeah, not wimpy at all (for a
I like the goblin boss! a lot!! 😊
0:17 send in Mudguts 🫡
2:17 take up the war chant 👢👢
4:37 skulk around 🤫
6:57 new interns 🤭
9:37 Q3 goblin schedule 🗓️🎂
I love that shes using a sending stone to talk to the minion 😂
@@christopherfloody5555 attention to detail, that's fantastic! 😂
This is perfect! Over the last two sessions I've already improved my homebrew monster with your combat video so this feels like a natural next one to put into play too!
Making sure each lair action has a completely different purpose is such good advice! Gonna have to go through some my current campaign's boss statblocks for some revision
This is a great concept, and seems like it would apply well to all kinds of games. Imagine the crazy lair actions you could add to the evil cult hideout in a horror game, or for that vault you're trying to crack in a heist game, or for that supervillain mastermind your heroes are trying to bring to justice. P.S. Goblin Boss is my new favorite character. "Thank Maglubiyet it's Friday!"
This has got to be one of the best UA-cam videos I've ever seen in terms of how effectively it incorporated and promoted the sponsorship. As you promised, it is entirely possible to implement your suggestions without buying the product. But you also made a great case for why DMs would want to follow your suggestions and simultaneously gave concrete examples of how the product would be a huge help in doing so. DMsGuild should be very happy that they've gotten their money's worth.
The cosplay, brilliant idea. The information and ideas ... top marks. You are amazing and beloved.
I admire how this video is visually perfected!
- Goblin boss office
Probably the best dnd tip I’ve found on UA-cam. I’m going to get a lot of value out of this
A lower challenge rating monster with lair actions, that I haven't used yet, but I love the idea so very much: The Merrenoloth. Yes it's a Yugoloth.
Basically think Charon, the Ferrymen of the Dead, and whenever they are captaining a vessel, the vessel becomes their lair.
If you go lore-wise with the Yugoloth's, this could get very interesting in many ways in a more seafaring campaign, or perhaps if skyships are prevalent. A merrenoloth could be hired in some way, either by the party, or it could be hired by an enemy.
It's found in Monsters of the Multiverse, but I believe that there is more lore on specifically merrenoloths if you go looking.
Lot of great info in this video. Lair encounters should be tough, using the environment to the denizens advantage. You don't especially even need a "boss" to make this work. The same is true of a lot of monsters. With Goblins I'd have lots of traps, hidden side tunnels that are too small for anyone larger than a dwarf to effectively fight within. Areas where the ceiling collapses on the PCs for 2-20 pts of damage, tipper vats of boiling water, all the while Goblins are coming out from the stone work from unexpected directions at inopportune times. During World Wars I and II, German officers were taught that minefields were only as effective as the machine-gun nests that cover them. With creatures like goblins, this is a good principal to keep in mind.
This is SSOOOOOO useful to me, being a brand new DM and having discovered a really intense passion of mine for DnD ever since I've been DMing!
I don't have that much experience as a player, but I'm really getting deep into it ever since
Interesting video. Lair and epic actions have been a great addition to the game and I've had a lot of fun with them. Starting using them at a much lower level is certainly a valid ideas for making significant encounters feel more serious. My most recent recent attempt involved a wannabe arch-fae's lair that was full of plants and fungi that were producing weird hallucinogens, causing confusion and messing with line-of-sight..
I once tried using a monster that had no turn of its own, just lair and epic actions. It was a disembodied fiend heart powering a haunted underground base. It couldn't move but it was warping reality to its benefit.
Lair actions are one of the best things ever added to the game. Really useful in all sorts of situations. Great for added challenge, atmosphere, and making fights memorable.
Currently running CotND for two groups and I use a lot of the travel and downtime to fit in sidequests related to their backstories. Most of the climatic battles were big boss battles with minions (ranging from level 4 to level 8), but when I got to the last one I felt like the PCs were feeling like minion battles were played out (having done 4 already). So I switched to an action economy model, and added cool lair actions. It was really reinvigorating and fresh, as they were expecting lots of minions and instead only had a Big Bad with Legendary Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions, 2 much lower CR spellcasting enemies, and Lair actions which could stun, poison, or teleport the big bad. One PC ended up getting petrified and many were low on HP when it was all said and done. They loved it. (I did put a homebrew potion of restoration to cure the petrification in a subsequent room, so once the PC realized they weren't permanently petrified, they were okay.) Regional effects was fun to play with during PotA as well.
Thanks!
Besides de content itself I like that you go the extra mile to make your videos entertaining.
The Gobboqueen cosplay is priceless :D
Great advice, and it really helps adds flavor and a distinctive feel to am encounter!
Recently I ran a scenario with my dnd group, and they fought this pirate captain who could turn into mist on initiative 10 and became normal at initiative 20, but she could be kicked out early by a dispel magic or counterspell, for d2 rounds, it was one of the most fun times I had dming with my friends I’ve had in a long time which was nice.
You've gotta be one of the best cosplayers/roleplayers out there and I'm sad that I'll never get a chance to play a game of D&D with you
Dude I suck at lair actions, this is super helpful!
You are so good at finding new interesting content. Layer skills are so fun and useful to add to a game!
Also love the background "Pillage Plunder Profit" "Certificate of Despoilment"
This is possibly the best character you´ve played so far!
Home-Field Advantage is one of my favourite supplements! I love to skim it for ideas for climactic boss fights. Highly recommended.
What timing; this gives me some ideas for the one-shot I'm going to be running for my DM!
I love your videos, I've been binging them since last week. Your voices are awesome, and not to diminish your goblin voice, but it's very reminiscent of Huey, Dewey and Louie. "Do the goblins need training Uncle Scrouge?"
have been using kind of lair and legendary actions since my first game) the first boss was a bottle golem who would constantly shower players with shards and wine, the second one was an earth elemental who could not be killed (my elementals cannot be) and served as an obstacle to a mcguffin, rocking the earth under adventurers and flailing them around, and my third one was an art gallery mistress who would attack players with magical sculptures, paintings and such. All three had them on the verge) feel free to incorporate my ideas and share yours!
I bought the book and a few others you recommended in other videos. It's really nice that DMs Guild keeps sponsoring you so that I can use the code to get a discount on other books. They also did me the favor of refunding my purchase of a book a few months ago so that I could buy the bundle it was in and save a few bucks.
What TIMING, Ginny! I am going to be starting Lost Mine of Phandelver for my group (first time DMing anything other than a one-shot, have done a few of those in the past), gonna do it as a 4-shot, 2 sessions in June, and 2 sessions in July (so I can be done before August)... anyway, super timely!!! Appreciate you!!!
This may be my favourite GD video thus far, I keep coming back to the skits, very well done. Can't wait for the inevitable crossovers
My players actually got cold feet when I had them in a cavern that belonged to Kobolds. The kobold Dragonshield squad leaders had arranged all the able bodied kobolds into phalanxes of spear walls and archery walls. As such, using the mass combat rules from the DMG it calculates a certain number of guaranteed hits based on the number of monsters targeting a player. It eliminates incoming crits, but it does mean that rows of archers can quickly turn deadly.
Thanks for the video! "There's always a boss." So true.
Noisemaking for intimidation woud be consistent for goblins and orcs, it seems to show up a lot in the stories. They used it in "The Two Towers" movie when Saruman's Uruk-Hai army formed ranks at Helms Deep, then started rhythmically pounding their spears into the ground... which, btw, wasn't scripted. The actors did it spontaneously for the lol's. 😁
Lair actions are one of my favorite tricks. This is the best
I love yoir ideas! You always inspire me! Im adding more fun and tricks to my steam ship boss fight! Thanks again
Woo hoo another video already! Might want a goblin interlude with some cough drops or something sometimes though, I was watching a video about making d and d combat more exciting not that long ago, and while it can be less exciting with some battles I guess, I was thinking the opposite with different kinds of monsters, ambiance, bosses, and I like the stealth aspect ideas; hopefully I'll make it out to the ren fair this year anyway.
This is awesome! Truly helps balance encounters
Goblin Ginny was.talkinh to a rock and not a phone and I am living for it. Such a small little gag but it's the bestm
looking forward to the goblin unionization arc
Goblin socialist party
Fantastic video! The ideas for improving bossfights are useful and fun, and every Goblin Boss section was delightful!
I love your work goblin! Looks like it must have been a ton of fun to realize that character.
My wife loves your goblin skits. First one, she asks, "Was that a rifle?". So I went back and showed her. Then, every time Mite was on, she watched with interest.
A goblin-boss staged like corporate middlemanagement. That is the funniest contemptible thing that isn't actually offensive that I've ever heard of. Wait, that is an overly narrow superlative....It is funny, creative, and I like it.
I really like these any-level-lair action rules. Its not just about harder/more difficult battles but also about being more thematic and engaging.
Goblin boss: "Scatter!"
*slow, but thundering footsteps*
*an aura of fiery glow enters the far side of the hall*
Wizard: "ahhh shit."
This video couldn't have come out at a better time, I just learned about pair actions and I wanted to learn how to make or incorporate them into my current campaign
Got the Batter Battles Bundle when it was available. Sure, I could modify stat blocks or create lair actions myself, but it's nice to have a resource that already did the leg work.
7:45
Yeah, fuck em melee martials! Them in particular, no one else. They are too OP in DnD!
"Good thing is we don't need to rely on this"
Books:"aggressively sobbing in the background"
Yay! New video!!
The minutes I heard the goblin I immediately thought to myself “her poor voice.” That had to be straining as fuck
IT WAS NOT GREAT hahaha
Loved the goblin skits! Definitely will start thinking about Lair Actions more!!
This is a great video, it really inspired me to create a good boss battle with unique lair actions.
i'd been lurking for a while, but this got me subbed. thank you for your content!
Less of a boss fight, but I'm working on an encounter in my campaign that can take place in the alchemy class at the local bard/mage college. The concoctions of magical potions have somehow become a living ooze with no disregard for the magic it randomly triggers and the students would like help from the PCs before a professor finds out. As a lair action, the ooze has the ability to trigger any alchemical substances in the room with unforeseeable effects making it it quite dangerous to fight in a room/"lair" absolutely filled with alchemical substances. Adhesive acids, slippery ointments, explosive liquids, transmutating runes and enchanting vapors are likely to all trigger at some point during the encounter.
Ah, interesting! I want to try this, even if it's just to add flavor to the field! Thank you, Ginny!
i DEMAND more goblin skits i NEED THEM !!
You are the cutest thang I've ever seen!!
I love your videos, the education, the knowledge you share.
Amazing cosplay, too.
You rock!!
something that i like to do for encounters with alot of enemies is that if enough go down and all the players are still in decent condition they'll either retreat or surrender to avoid dragging out the fight
New DM here! I needed this video. Preparing to level up my group to Lv 2, and go right into a dungeon and boss fight (Lv 1 too squishy for meaningful combat)
"Heeey, Mudguts. How's it hanging? Look, I'm gonna need those pillaging reports on my desk by Friday. Oh and if you could be sure to put the new cover sheet on them, that'd be greaaat. Good talk, Mudguts!"
brilliant content, incredibly useful. thank you!
I think this is why I'm enjoying Mork Borg. The fights against non-boss like creatures build their own tension. The goblins have 6 HP, which is 2 to 3 times more HP than my players have already. They have a morale so if too many of them drop, they will attempt to run away. But them running can build the tension. The goblins are cursed. Whether they hit you or not, just being attacked by a goblin passes that curse onto the player. If the players don't kill the goblin, in d6 days, the player that was attacked turns into a goblin. They lose their mind, and become a feral goblin.
Hey, great video. But I have a massive suggestion, and I hope it helps. First the side skits like with the goblin at the start of the video isn't for me, but that's okay. It really is good, and I want to see you keep doing these things.
It takes a lot of time for you to get into the make up, set the scene, write the bit. You do a lot of these, and that's awesome!
But, what if you had a mini series on each of these characters. This way you can have another draw for viewers, and have more to pull from for videos like this in the future. This seems especially important for the more make up heavy characters. Getting more juice from the squeeze is always great.
I think it would be fun to have a series on the Goblin managing the cave as a mid level manager. Or some of your other characters doing what they do.
I bet a shout out if you put up a poll to see if people would like to see something like this it would be overwhelmingly yes.
Oh, this was much needed!
Ginny! Holy hell! Corporate Goblin Boss shorts totally need to happen! I can't stop chuckling.😂❤👍👍😜🍻
"Nobody wants to raid anymore!" LMAO the jokes were on point.
*My Paladin going into a Goblin base full of she-goblin?! I watched goblin slayer; Runaway, run for your life man* .
All anime puns an references aside; this is interesting kosher setup and scenario d&d setup for friends and family.
Lair actions are usually the first thing to go when I’m stressed and running a boss fight. However, they can be an incredible way to increase tension.
If you’re tuning up your own lair mechanics, it might be prudent to focus on aspects of the game OTHER than damage.
Stuff like debuffs and minions can give your party other stuff to worry about besides their HP.
Almost as if she said this in the video! Hehe!
Gonna ben a DM for the first time in a few weeks. This type of content is awesome
This was great!, but I need to formally request that Books come back when appropriate. I need to see Ginny arguing with Ginny more. I also realized that I’ve grown attached to the characters in the videos, so I also need there to be a continuous thread and increased plot development between the characters. Imagine tuning in each video to see if the characters’ delicate friendships survive! Or if the two Ginnys we’ve been shipping finally see what they’ve been searching for in each other! The possibilities are endless! You needed more to do, right
Dm-ing my first game this weekend some of these definitely sound just like some tips I might need
I wish I'd seen this before I started my campaign! Great advice
I want a full goblin roleplay video now
Oh my god, corporate goblin boss is everything I didn’t know I wanted in this life
I got a package today from Die Hard Dice, and when I ordered it they said that if I left a comment saying how I heard about them and/or what I was going to use the dice for, they'd give me a free set. So I told them I heard about them from you and that I was going to use the dice for D&D, and they put a note in my package that said to say hi to you. So hi!
4:46 TMIF: "Thank Maglubiyet It's Friday"
"Certificate of Despoilment." 🤣
Seriously, I love your videos. If you ever write a book with all the characters & NPC's you've made, let us know. I'd personally buy both physical & PDF copies. 😁
Once again, very helpful video. Thanks.
Really good advice, i try giving legendary action to all my bosses but i'm majoriy still palying safe but i want to do more next adventure
I once had a ghost pirate captain who had true sight whilst his feet were on the ground of his living ship that could cast darkness and had ethereal chains trying to pull my players into dark depths.
the goblin is slowly becoming my favorite ginny di character
Now I really want to find someway to introduce an "office" of goblins to my world.