Thank you for reviewing my book! A friend linked me to this video, it was really nice to wake up to. I hope you have lots of fun with Fellowship going forward, and if you haven't seen the other Fellowship books yet, you are in for a treat - that's where I put the weird stuff.
The description in the video makes it sound like this game has a rule set built entirely around and focused on a single campaign style - i.e. recreating LOTR with a group of heroes battling the big bad to save the world. Okay, that's fine but what if I want to run something different? What if I want to do an everyman game with a group of local kids coming of age in a small village amidst a backdrop of social upheaval? What if I want to do a heist game that doesn't involve "peoples' champions?" What if I want to do a man vs nature story that doesn't have an evil overlord/BBEG? If the campaign has a predefined end (which it should) then my assumption is that there will be a new one to replace it. You can't run the same campaign with the same people over and over. So just how flexible is this game because this video makes it sound like there is very little.
That’s exactly what it was built for! If you’re looking to run a different style of campaign, play a different game. For your first example you could go with MAYBE kids on bikes. Your second example would be PERFECT for Blades in the Dark. From what I know about it, Forbidden Lands does man vs. nature really well. I like to think of it as looking for a pirate video game and playing Sid Meier’s Pirates, or Assassin’s Creed Black Flag vs. modding Skyrim with pirates - which takes way more effort with a worse result. In that same vein, you wouldn’t boot up Black Flag and then complain that it doesn’t do cyberpunk horror, you know?
Okay, thanks for the clarity. I don't agree with your analogy as TTRPGs (which rely on our imaginations) are fundamentally more adaptable than a video game (which is dependent upon pre-programming) but I wish you success with your product. It's not for me but I am sure others will enjoy it.@@tabletopbro
@@christopherbruscas9308 The three other books give rules for playing either a rebellion taking on an empire rather than a singular overlord, or the horizon mode, which is just about wandering from town to town, solving problems and then moving on. So at the very least, there's room for at least 3, pretty interesting and different campaigns in there.
Hello friends! Some of you may have noticed I don’t actually include EVERY problem with D&D in this video. Unfortunately “this fixes three issues I’ve had with RPG’s” doesn’t fit in the thumbnail🤷🏻♂️
Fellowship seems really neat. The "Finish Them" move you mentioned sounds similar to Ironsworn's End the Fight move. In Ironsworn, however, it would behoove the player to use End the Fight when the progress bar that tracks the opponent's condition is filled as much as possible so maximize the chances of success (Ironsworn has a very innovative way of handling progress that never guarantees total success when the player attempts to complete a complex task). Thanks for covering this game, Tabletop Bro.
I've been gaming off and on since 1979. I love how our hobby has grown. Back when I started playing only a few people knew what D&D was. Now we have so many games to choose from! New subscriber. ❤
I already practice a lot of these concepts. The things I do that have given me a lot of success are as follows. 1. Rarely have meaningless encounters. Make almost every fight important, even in small ways. The random table tiger attack? That was a were tiger. Random table bear trap? Make sure your player knows it has mechanics and they can take it. 2. At session zero, tell players their goal. We are playing to level 20, where you'll face a world ending threat. Around level 10, you'll fight Strahd in Curse of Strahd, and the game is over. Give them something to aim for. 3. Use something from everyone's backstory at least once and make it a twist for that player if possible. Players love seeing something about their character. Especially of its something that makes sense and even they didn't know about it. You reborn stitch monstrosity player is secretly made by the toy maker in Curse of Strahd. Stuff like that.
Very common problems, and pretty great solutions. I'll have to take a look at the "finish them" rule, sounds too easy to game. Thanks for another good video. Keep them coming!
The sandbox method has a direction when players have goals of their own. Do they decide to build a keep? Do they decide to build a kingdom? Do they decide to prosper a community? Do they decide to take down a corrupt political group? Do they want to build a guild? Do they want to serve a noble king, or dethrone an evil one? Do they want to explore the world or the multiverse? Do they want to end slavery or starvation? There are so many long term goals that can last much longer than just kill the BBEG trope. If U like letting players decide about aspects of their world, try letting them decide where the campaign is going, because any one of these goals could take years to accomplish. Player character death can also extend the life of a campaign.
I like the idea of a sandbox. And my long 5e campaign was theoretically supposed to be that. But my players never really took that initiative so I had to conjure quests
@@tabletopbro How did U run your sandbox? A balance between the two seems doable. Asking players what their characters want to accomplish in a session zero could make a difference too. A sandbox can still have quest givers & events. Conflicts where there R multiple quests, only time to commit to one, effects for each choice can work too. Maybe an NPC (good or evil) party takes a quest that they avoid. Does another party gain riches, while the PCs save communities? Do the players own goals interfere with noble quests? In nonlinear campaigns choices matter, & there R so many ways to make them matter.
Oh yeah! I am now looking even more forward to getting my copy of the game. May have to try running it sooner vs. later. Thanks for doing the things that you do to entertain us!
3:40 I have to say, that flakey player is me, but as an apology to all GMs out there, it's almost always an "it's me, not you" issue. For me, it was a Rime of the Ice Maiden game my best friend was running. He runs well, and I love my other friends in the group. BUT... we were playing on Roll20, and often, my little ones would bust in even though my partner was handling bed time and I'd get pulled away. Or dinner was running late and by the time I was free the fatigue of the day caught up. I hate being the flakey one, but my energy levels were in the gutter, and maybe if the game was super engaging rpgLSD I would have pushed myself, but honestly, even on low energy days I can make it when my in-person game requires me to get in the car and leave the house at a time and insulates me from kid-interruptions. I know online gaming is a savior for some people, and honestly I like a lot of the things a virtual table top makes possible. But for my personality, it was the online thing that frequently had me asking, "What's the point of logging in an hour or more late just to be on a screen for two hours?"
Man okay, good to know that my table’s doing pretty much everything right xD Getting my players over the finish line was a great feeling, even though I designed it to be just a four-dungeon romp to bring a god back to life
I'm working on the ultimate video title. So far I've got "Science says WOTC Aliens killed D&D with See-thru Try-on Haul Horror Story Memes... Then This Happened!" I know I'm missing a couple of things, but it's getting there. 😆It's a shame we can't just be genuine *and* successful. Like this game. It looks cool, but it doesn't have DEI boobs on the cover, and it's too old to have an over-the-top ks to draw attention to it. Good review tho. It deserves it.
One thing to note. If you are running out of a book that has a firm beginning and an end, that is considered an adventure or a module... a campaign is generally a string of adventures, doesn't necessarily have an end... even if the characters decide to retire, and have children, those kids could continue on the adventure! And yeah, if you are disappointed that your players don't love NPCs that you created... you have to realize that they are just NPCs... unless they are damsels in distress that need rescuing, or are someone that gives them great discounts on gear, it isn't likely that the PCs are going to care much about them. But I wouldn't let that discourage you from making them. Use them as contacts for the players for info, or to start up side quests. Ha, I don't know why I give DM advice, one dude I did that to got pissed off at me and killed me off... but come on, the dude was using SimCity Terrain editor to map our adventure out in real time...
Ah so lucky to play that game! To me it feels soooooooo much like a just better high fantasy dungeon world, like it’s kind of the perfect high fantasy adventure. I still like DW because it feels more old school and gimmicky tho. I just wish Fellowship was translated to my language so I could play with my non-english speaking groups.
Ok hear me out... Imagine a Maplestory RPG campaign based on the early to middle leveling experience (specially all the way up to El-Nath after Ludibrium and such) but the characters are actually invested into bringing down the evil Black Mage
First time on your channel. Suggetion link the book and it's name... it could be easier to find if someone is interested to know more about Fellowship rpg.
.....wait.... So fellowship ISNT a LotR ttrpg? That idea literally turned me off of it because im not to immersed the world versus some of my players and that puts me at a big disadvantage when doing stories in established settings.
You sound a little railroady when you complain about your players wanting to shop in town or talk to the wrong npc. Sessions like these can be great pallet clensers if you've been throwing a lot of heavy sessions at them back to back. Roll with the punches. It's ok to give the players what they want sometimes. That said, fellowship sounds really useful. I recomended checking out Burning Wheel. It's the swiss watch of rollplaying games imo
lmao, you showed them a blacksmith. All bets are off. Players love blacksmiths. If you don't have a kobold or something flirting with Steven (38, human) the blacksmith within 3 minutes, something is wrong.
Thank you for reviewing my book! A friend linked me to this video, it was really nice to wake up to. I hope you have lots of fun with Fellowship going forward, and if you haven't seen the other Fellowship books yet, you are in for a treat - that's where I put the weird stuff.
I thought about getting the bundle! But one step at a time. I’m glad you liked my video!
The description in the video makes it sound like this game has a rule set built entirely around and focused on a single campaign style - i.e. recreating LOTR with a group of heroes battling the big bad to save the world. Okay, that's fine but what if I want to run something different? What if I want to do an everyman game with a group of local kids coming of age in a small village amidst a backdrop of social upheaval? What if I want to do a heist game that doesn't involve "peoples' champions?" What if I want to do a man vs nature story that doesn't have an evil overlord/BBEG? If the campaign has a predefined end (which it should) then my assumption is that there will be a new one to replace it. You can't run the same campaign with the same people over and over. So just how flexible is this game because this video makes it sound like there is very little.
That’s exactly what it was built for! If you’re looking to run a different style of campaign, play a different game.
For your first example you could go with MAYBE kids on bikes.
Your second example would be PERFECT for Blades in the Dark.
From what I know about it, Forbidden Lands does man vs. nature really well.
I like to think of it as looking for a pirate video game and playing Sid Meier’s Pirates, or Assassin’s Creed Black Flag vs. modding Skyrim with pirates - which takes way more effort with a worse result. In that same vein, you wouldn’t boot up Black Flag and then complain that it doesn’t do cyberpunk horror, you know?
Okay, thanks for the clarity. I don't agree with your analogy as TTRPGs (which rely on our imaginations) are fundamentally more adaptable than a video game (which is dependent upon pre-programming) but I wish you success with your product. It's not for me but I am sure others will enjoy it.@@tabletopbro
@@christopherbruscas9308 The three other books give rules for playing either a rebellion taking on an empire rather than a singular overlord, or the horizon mode, which is just about wandering from town to town, solving problems and then moving on. So at the very least, there's room for at least 3, pretty interesting and different campaigns in there.
Fellowship: One of the few games where the mechanics not only dont get in the way of RP they heavily encourage it.
Hello friends! Some of you may have noticed I don’t actually include EVERY problem with D&D in this video. Unfortunately “this fixes three issues I’ve had with RPG’s” doesn’t fit in the thumbnail🤷🏻♂️
Fellowship seems really neat.
The "Finish Them" move you mentioned sounds similar to Ironsworn's End the Fight move. In Ironsworn, however, it would behoove the player to use End the Fight when the progress bar that tracks the opponent's condition is filled as much as possible so maximize the chances of success (Ironsworn has a very innovative way of handling progress that never guarantees total success when the player attempts to complete a complex task).
Thanks for covering this game, Tabletop Bro.
I've been gaming off and on since 1979. I love how our hobby has grown. Back when I started playing only a few people knew what D&D was. Now we have so many games to choose from! New subscriber. ❤
I already practice a lot of these concepts. The things I do that have given me a lot of success are as follows.
1. Rarely have meaningless encounters. Make almost every fight important, even in small ways. The random table tiger attack? That was a were tiger. Random table bear trap? Make sure your player knows it has mechanics and they can take it.
2. At session zero, tell players their goal. We are playing to level 20, where you'll face a world ending threat. Around level 10, you'll fight Strahd in Curse of Strahd, and the game is over. Give them something to aim for.
3. Use something from everyone's backstory at least once and make it a twist for that player if possible. Players love seeing something about their character. Especially of its something that makes sense and even they didn't know about it. You reborn stitch monstrosity player is secretly made by the toy maker in Curse of Strahd. Stuff like that.
Very common problems, and pretty great solutions. I'll have to take a look at the "finish them" rule, sounds too easy to game. Thanks for another good video. Keep them coming!
Even if you factor out the required fictional plausibility, it still requires two successful 2d6 rolls which I THINK is a 1 in 36 chance of success?
Bro really said “I can’t make it tonight. I have to walk my fish.” 😆
It’s hard out here in these streets
The sandbox method has a direction when players have goals of their own. Do they decide to build a keep? Do they decide to build a kingdom? Do they decide to prosper a community? Do they decide to take down a corrupt political group? Do they want to build a guild? Do they want to serve a noble king, or dethrone an evil one? Do they want to explore the world or the multiverse? Do they want to end slavery or starvation? There are so many long term goals that can last much longer than just kill the BBEG trope. If U like letting players decide about aspects of their world, try letting them decide where the campaign is going, because any one of these goals could take years to accomplish. Player character death can also extend the life of a campaign.
I like the idea of a sandbox. And my long 5e campaign was theoretically supposed to be that. But my players never really took that initiative so I had to conjure quests
@@tabletopbro How did U run your sandbox? A balance between the two seems doable. Asking players what their characters want to accomplish in a session zero could make a difference too. A sandbox can still have quest givers & events. Conflicts where there R multiple quests, only time to commit to one, effects for each choice can work too. Maybe an NPC (good or evil) party takes a quest that they avoid. Does another party gain riches, while the PCs save communities? Do the players own goals interfere with noble quests? In nonlinear campaigns choices matter, & there R so many ways to make them matter.
Oh yeah! I am now looking even more forward to getting my copy of the game. May have to try running it sooner vs. later. Thanks for doing the things that you do to entertain us!
Gotta tell me how your game goes!
Bro, ur a legend and your videos are fantastic. Thank you!!!
Thanks!
Glad you’re having fun with Fellowship!
3:40 I have to say, that flakey player is me, but as an apology to all GMs out there, it's almost always an "it's me, not you" issue. For me, it was a Rime of the Ice Maiden game my best friend was running. He runs well, and I love my other friends in the group. BUT...
we were playing on Roll20, and often, my little ones would bust in even though my partner was handling bed time and I'd get pulled away. Or dinner was running late and by the time I was free the fatigue of the day caught up. I hate being the flakey one, but my energy levels were in the gutter, and maybe if the game was super engaging rpgLSD I would have pushed myself, but honestly, even on low energy days I can make it when my in-person game requires me to get in the car and leave the house at a time and insulates me from kid-interruptions.
I know online gaming is a savior for some people, and honestly I like a lot of the things a virtual table top makes possible. But for my personality, it was the online thing that frequently had me asking, "What's the point of logging in an hour or more late just to be on a screen for two hours?"
Man okay, good to know that my table’s doing pretty much everything right xD
Getting my players over the finish line was a great feeling, even though I designed it to be just a four-dungeon romp to bring a god back to life
If everyone’s having fun you’re doing it right!
Reviving a dead god. Shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes
Another game with world building built into character generation is Beyond the Wall. Check it out
So excited to watch this!!!
Ey! Maple Story music.
That's kind of my schtick 😎
I'm working on the ultimate video title. So far I've got "Science says WOTC Aliens killed D&D with See-thru Try-on Haul Horror Story Memes... Then This Happened!" I know I'm missing a couple of things, but it's getting there. 😆It's a shame we can't just be genuine *and* successful. Like this game. It looks cool, but it doesn't have DEI boobs on the cover, and it's too old to have an over-the-top ks to draw attention to it. Good review tho. It deserves it.
I have an amazing group, we play every monday. We have for years.
Ehhhh nice! Glad you are covering this.
Someone has to🤷🏻♂️😂
For long running campaigns i just heard about session rezeroing
One thing to note. If you are running out of a book that has a firm beginning and an end, that is considered an adventure or a module... a campaign is generally a string of adventures, doesn't necessarily have an end... even if the characters decide to retire, and have children, those kids could continue on the adventure!
And yeah, if you are disappointed that your players don't love NPCs that you created... you have to realize that they are just NPCs... unless they are damsels in distress that need rescuing, or are someone that gives them great discounts on gear, it isn't likely that the PCs are going to care much about them. But I wouldn't let that discourage you from making them. Use them as contacts for the players for info, or to start up side quests.
Ha, I don't know why I give DM advice, one dude I did that to got pissed off at me and killed me off... but come on, the dude was using SimCity Terrain editor to map our adventure out in real time...
Ah so lucky to play that game! To me it feels soooooooo much like a just better high fantasy dungeon world, like it’s kind of the perfect high fantasy adventure. I still like DW because it feels more old school and gimmicky tho. I just wish Fellowship was translated to my language so I could play with my non-english speaking groups.
It definitely offers a VASTLY different experience to what I’m used to from DW. I don’t hate it though!
Been stealing glances at fellowship a lot, not just because I want to make a cool overlord evil time queen for th eplayers to overthrow.....
Isn’t that why anyone looks at Fellowship?😂
Ok hear me out... Imagine a Maplestory RPG campaign based on the early to middle leveling experience (specially all the way up to El-Nath after Ludibrium and such) but the characters are actually invested into bringing down the evil Black Mage
THAT SOUNDS SO FREAKING SICK
Looks fun. Check out heroic too, if you’re looking for a good superhero rpg.
Of course, you wanted to play a storygame instead of a roleplay game. For that purposes, yes, a PbtA is a better fit, it's more tuned in.
….wut
Finally!
🔥video, bro
Thanks m8
Nice wojack!
First time on your channel. Suggetion link the book and it's name... it could be easier to find if someone is interested to know more about Fellowship rpg.
Done.
Try Shadows of Esteren! 😁
Memorable NPCs happen during the game, not during the prep.
Learned that the hard way
.....wait....
So fellowship ISNT a LotR ttrpg? That idea literally turned me off of it because im not to immersed the world versus some of my players and that puts me at a big disadvantage when doing stories in established settings.
Correct!
You sound a little railroady when you complain about your players wanting to shop in town or talk to the wrong npc. Sessions like these can be great pallet clensers if you've been throwing a lot of heavy sessions at them back to back. Roll with the punches. It's ok to give the players what they want sometimes. That said, fellowship sounds really useful. I recomended checking out Burning Wheel. It's the swiss watch of rollplaying games imo
Hi
lmao, you showed them a blacksmith. All bets are off. Players love blacksmiths. If you don't have a kobold or something flirting with Steven (38, human) the blacksmith within 3 minutes, something is wrong.
play sword world 2.5 NOW
But I have work
NNNNOOOOWWWWWW
Were you paid for this?
Nah. Just hype
@@tabletopbro Not my sort of game but play what works for ya. I'm happy people are looking beyond 5e for their gaming needs.
I feel like your first problem was you started with D&D 5th Ed, and not something like Pathfinder 1E :P
I don’t like the crunch🤷🏻♂️