Why you should build your D&D character "wrong"
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 гру 2020
- This video was sponsored by Skillshare! The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/ginnydi12201
In this video, I give you a very spicy hot take. That's right... I want you to create a Dungeons and Dragons character that isn't optimized. (I can hear the screams or horror from here!) But "wrong" D&D characters can offer some really valuable lessons in creativity and storytelling.
► Logo animation by Rosie at Arcane Focus!
/ arcane_focus_
► Music from Epidemic Sound
► FIND ME ONLINE:
ginnydi.com
/ ginnydi
/ itsginnydi
/ itsginnydi
/ itsginnydi
This video was sponsored by Skillshare! The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/ginnydi12201
Regarding 5:50 , another dear friend has a total badass Halfling Barbarian.
Maybe you can learn Eldrich Blast on Skillshare? or is that Spellshare? One of those... hehe!
Almost all the characters i have ever played in D&D regardless of edition have been as one "Friend" put it Terminally sub optimal. this is fine. both Chris Perkins and Matt Mercer have gone on record countless times saying sub optimal characters that focus on narrative over optimisation are if anything the core of what D&D is. they both encourage people to play characters with at least one awful stat precisely for the reasons you outline in this Video Ginny. i'm going to stop now before this comment starts being way too much preaching to the converted for anyone own good.
The way that my bard chose her spells was based on one thing. How cool they would look during her performances. That meant color spray, fairy fire, thunder wave, fog cloud, minor illusion, prestidigitation, and pyrotechnics. That doesn’t mean that she only uses them for performances, but that’s her priorities
Hello there Ginny Di. I totally agree with you. You should play whatever you want, the way that you want in D&D. As long as you have FUN, just like you said. :)
The only wrong character is one who takes the fun out of the game for everyone else. play whatever you like, just dont be a arse.
hard agree
Agree but that would probably be the wrong player.
Exactly. And it works both (all) ways. Don't be the militant power-gamer in a group of people who want their unoptimized characters, don't be the incompetent in a group of power gamers, don't be the blood-splattered edgelord in a Teletubbies game, so on and so forth. Be considerate of what everyone else wants to do.
Slight edit to you. "takes the fun out of the game for *anyone*." I once had a Bothan trader in a Star Wars game I grew to hate playing. But the partly loved him and pushed me to keep him. They had fun, I didn't.
@@bossked1563 As a general rule of thumb, don't build a character who sucks at what they are supposed to be doing in the party.
Make a rogue and pour all possible points in intimidation
"YOU DONT SEE ME"
"OKAY OKAY!"
I did this to my character lol
I was never here, right? It'd be a shame if something.... Tragic happened to your family.
My room mate had a minotar rogue like this!
Had an orc do this, the guard pissed himself and couldn't remember why.
I suggest you search the story of Krod the half-orc rogue. It is absolutely hilarious.
Me: *Looks at my poorly planned characters*
Me: Y-yes this was my plan all along!
My low con sorcerer: yeah, yeah this was my creative plan and not a mistake
I sketched up a character that's just following the subclass fantasy. The nonviolent diplomacy paladin for the redemption oath. Social skills, 5 languages that make sense and a disposition towards problem solving, negotiating and trade. I plan to summon a 6 intelligence mastiff with "find steed" that I just keep as a pet and for tracking.
You know, a paladin is a knight that keeps the peace and order. I'm excited to catch criminals, listen to their problems and get them honest jobs at the sawmill the holy order of knights keeps running on their grounds. Because Paladins live in a society.
this makes me think of one of the poeple in the class where i do badmintoon he says whenever you accidantally makes a perfect move *its not accidental anymore*
@@cara3566 Pshh! Sorcerers don't need high Constitution. They already have it as a favored save, they don't necessarily rely on concentration in combat, War Caster is kinda a gimme (which, incidentally grants advantage on those concentration checks), Dragon Sorcerers have the same hit points as rogues, druids, warlocks, clerics, bards, and monks, and (most importantly) they are glass cannons. Sure, you could spend effort into patching their one weakness, or you can accept it, rely on your tank and your healer, and spend your effort doing your job -- so they can rely on you!
I just joined my first campaign and came up with a Dragonborn Barbarian/Rogue. She’s terrible at Stealth, learned Celestial so she could flirt with Aarakocras, and has Wild Magic. I play her as a shembo tank, it’s utter chaos but my party is cool with it😂
I once played a character who’s fear of messing up would cause her to close her eyes every time she tried to fire a bow and thus had to roll with disadvantage. It was a lot of fun, especially the time she really needed to make the shot to save the day and managed to do it even with her eyes closed. After that word got out about an “amazing archer who could make trick shots under pressure even with her eyes closed.” Needless to say that confidence boost meant she could keep her eyes open when firing, or at least take a peek.
this is so fun
Whoa!
Now, that is a "character arc" for the ages!
Well done!
ik this is a year old comment but that is so cool!!!!
My friend made a Eldritch Knight Gnome that his purpose is to learn the enlarge spell to became a medium size!
If his whole purpose is to get big, show him the Rune Knight subclass for fighter. It may be a better fit for the concept.
@@chrispoznich nope, in the history he wanted to be a mage and joined a class. But after some months they expelled him because he wasn't able to do magic. Then, in the middle of the adventure he unlocks his true powers
Sounds like Frieza in DBS broly
I literally did the same thing for my halfling rune knight
This comment matches your picture.
Hey thats illegal you cant be roleplaying in my roleplaying game.
Yeah I see the problem here.
*Man they really should have written a label for that*
The DnD equivalent of “no fighting in the War Room”
That sounds like the logic of game developers now
D&D is a very gatekeepable game. It has all the necessary ingredients unfortunately
It sounds like a bad idea everybody goes along with....lol
I had an unoptomized character once! He was a Kobold barbarian. He died session 1.
I'd love to play him again.
Oh, I'd love to play a campaign where the party plays as Kobolds
@@Mduenisch You need the Beer & Pretzels Role-playing game: Kobolds Ate My Baby!.
(The period is to conclude my sentence. The exclamation mark is part of the game's title.)
Say his name
Why did he die?
So make a Kobold necromancer and make it his mission to bring him back. When it succeeds you can have an emotional breakdown because you love them both
The first dnd character I ever created was a half-orc druid named Gug. She didn't speak Orcish or understand orc culture because she was adopted as an infant and raised by wood elves, and despite being huge and muscled she was an absolute flower child who just wanted to vibe in the forest lmao. So much fun, I adore her.
Too cool!
I'm imagining a "Kung Fu" (the TV show) vibe:
"Why . . . ? Do you . . . ? Hurt . . . ? Them?"
One of my friends made a character whose self-declared occupation was "party wizard" but could only cast magic missile. Turns out he was actually a monk and his magic missile was actually a staff of returning.
I think that qualifies as the right way to build a character wrong.
How did he pull that off without people noticing?
@@Spiceodog We all just thought he was really bad at his job lmao
What a freaking champ.
Would that not take away the fun of the other players tho?
@@dhyrim604 how? He not doing anything wrong
There are so many people who think D&D is “too smart for them” and I can’t help but think it’s partly due to these “optimized only” people
Probably. Totally randomized characters can be just as fun as purposefully-chosen "wrong" builds. My friend did that and got "Aang, but Dwarf".
I was worried to start playing and find a group because of this concern. There is a heck of a lot to learn! And character creation is overwhelming if you go in assuming you will bring down the group if you don’t do it ‘right’. I didn’t dive in until there was a local group specifically running a series for beginners. I’ve kept playing with the same people and it’s a blast! People are welcoming, respectful, playful, and open to new ways of doing things. It’s really great when you have a group to play with where everyone is there with a similar purpose. I’m sure there are combat-focused optimizer groups that love that style and that’s great for them. But that is not the right group for me. :)
Definitely. Before I got into DnD shows, I was convinced it was way too number crunchy for me
DnD is literally the easiest, most accessible tabletop game out there.
I think something Ginny D said here made me think. "If I wanto to play a narrative character, then maybe I shouldn't play DnD." I dont doubt people have told her that, but I do believe these people are super wrong. Guys,if you wanna play a game where people need to have super optimized builds and need to think about how to build their characters effectively, then maybe YOU shouldn't play DnD. Have you looked at Pathfinder? Icon? Lancer? Theres perfectly good wargame player-friendly rpgs out there, but you're instead toying with the "Party of 5 rogues murder god" game instead
@@DuckHunterVideos okay, this is way late but I can't let that slide.
DnD isn't even on the easiest TTRPG top list. not when EZD6, ICRPG and the like exist.
You can learn those in the time it takes to read the fighter class.
I have a wizard necromancer who I roleplay as a healer, using his power to stave off Death from his allies and bring it to his foes. The whole character is based around the balance of life and death and the "cost" of magical healing. I have things like vampiric touch, grim harvest, and life transference. When I commit to a heal it costs me HP, which as a wizard is pretty valuable!
So you use life transference?
100% how necromancers should work. Most healing spells like cure wounds and healing word should be necromancy anyway, since it’s manipulating another creature’s life force
I have a Spore Druid who is a plant after being cursed (long story), this curse also gives him the maturity of an 8 year old, and for those who’d it’s know children are psychos. So he acts like a little soft boy Druid child but he also has an extreme fascination with death and collects heads because he doesn’t care about currencies. So the party knows him as a psycho but the outside world thinks he’s adorable. He’s also a carnivore because he cares more about plant life than animal life
That's actually really cool! I've never heard of something like that. Super unique character design
I optimize within concept, and I help other players do so. I put the story first, then try to make it work mechanically. I find it a lot more fun than playing the best build for the class.
"If Eldritch Blast was necessary for a Warlock, it wouldn't be an option. It would just be a class feature."
*holds up crown* You dropped this, queen.
Meanwhile, one thing that often prevents me from playing clerics and paladins is that they absolutely *have* to impose hands and punish undead and the sort. I want options dammit!
@@aWinterCrow I mean... I dunno about Paladins, but clerics are far and away the most versatile class in the game. Name any character you want to play and there’s a subclass that can perform it.
@@brifox when you get into the meat of it, they are, but the way the base classes are flavored in the players handbook has always turned me off. They do read very similar thematically and they get the same starting toolbox, while other classes feel very different in their subclass branching.
It's hard for me to get away from that first impression.
Okay unpopular opinion, since so many class feats depend on Eldritch Blast... IT SHOULD BE A CLASS FEATURE!!
If an experienced player wants to tell their DM "I want to play a Warlock... That doesn't understand how to cast Eldritch Blast!" then that's great! (it would be like Ginny's character!) But new players shouldn't accidentally be making a Warlock without Eldritch Blast because they didn't know how integral it is to their class
@@theramendutchman Fair point, but maybe it should be the other way around, maybe class features shouldn't depend on particular spells and be more versatile instead. I find such railroading kinda boring. Sure, it may help you make your first character, but it may also make every subsequent character too samey :/
Matt Mercer: It’s ridiculous to call someone’s fun wrong.
Enthusiastic Torturer: Too true! *wipes a tear*
fun is one thing, purposely building an unviable character and decreasing their viability as they SOMEHOW level up is another
@@alexhulea2735 True but imagine the challenge, you live session to session, abusing every form of cover, every gold piece stretched to its very limit. I'd say it really depends on the character though (thinking puffin forest's abserd lol)
@@alexhulea2735 oh wow, it's like you completely missed the point of the comment. Viable is relative. You of course mean viable in the sense of the best synergy between all the character options chosen, but synergy isn't always the most creative, or the funniest, or the coolest look
If your build style is fun for you and your players, great! But who the f are you to tell us what is viable at our table?
@@alexhulea2735 ...No, those two things aren't necessarily different.
If you play for a DM (or you are the DM) that makes players count XP, be optimized, be strategic, etc., that's great! Assuming everyone's enjoying it, sounds like a success to me.
But I've met DMs that tailor the challenge to the player. The game might not be about the combat, but about the story and RPing you do along the way. Combat takes a huge backseat as encounter (social included) and milestone exp takes the forefront.
You might even have a DM that does combat encounters that are exciting and difficult for a given power level. Might take a little extra work to and experience to balance since CR may not line up as neatly, but hey! Players are still challenged.
Personally, when playing, I value playing a person as best I can. I'm no professional actor, but the thing about people is we don't get to control our starting stats. All of us just play with the hands we're dealt. A person does the best with the talents, resources, and opportunities they are granted- not min-max themselves from conception to be the best xyz in the land.
Now I'm not trying to say whatever way you play/DM is wrong! I'm a big fan of elements of virtually every style of D&D, and I typically don't go all in on unoptimized characters (usually I prefer high flavor builds with big strengths and equally big weaknesses), but it's all personal. If it doesn't work with you and your group, probably warn others who want to join, but no need to stick your nose into the way other people play.
@@elijahwilliams6977 "Personally, when playing, I value playing a person as best I can. I'm no professional actor, but the thing about people is we don't get to control our starting stats. All of us just play with the hands we're dealt. A person does the best with the talents, resources, and opportunities they are granted- not min-max themselves from conception to be the best xyz in the land. "
You play a fantasy game to give you something to aspire to, unless you are dealing with something for catharsis. So being an out of shape, bad with money, pajamas out to the whale mart, obnoxious fool is not endearing for very long...
The original comment was highlighting that some choices are wrong, but if that choice doesn't actually hurt or hinder anyone(self included!!) then there should be no issue. I would say that a person willing to hobble themselves for narrative purposes is not hindering but actually challenging themselves. Although that speaks to motive and we can't even know our own thoughts and actions at times, sooo...
I play a Half-Orc Paladin that didn't realize for the first few levels that he was a Paladin. It is still my favourite character ever. Every time we get in a fight, I love playing him as a brute fighter, going for things he isn't specialized in like grappling, throwing random stuff, headbutting people and going for unarmed combat. This certainly doesn't put out the raw amount of damage that I could be doing, it makes for far more interesting combat and roleplay. I am a DM, and urge my players to play what they think is cool, and to stop focussing on numbers and optimisation.
This is hilarious and fantastic!
I could hear the Ferengi influence oozing from Ginny's utterance of "feeeee-males!" and I'm 100% here for it!
My frail little sorcerer who has a feat in tavern brawler to reflect her time as a barmaid in a rough waterside tavern approves of this message :D
I played a dwarven bartender who has grappler and tavern brawler. He loves throwing and pinning while saying “You’re cut off, Pal!”
My sorcerer has the actor feat, which is pretty useless, but it makes sense for her backstory and forces me to think creatively about who I could pretend to be to improve a situation.
@David Bunge CHEF OP! The party never lacks housing or friends ... or pets... or....
Actor's amazing if you have access to the Change Self spell.
@David Bunge I totally know the rules, but being a master chef opens up so may role play encounters that it's a blast :)
Ginny: build your characters wrong!
Me, who played a wizard that used a set of cards against humanity instead of standard spells: you don’t need to tell me twice!
"this isnt the deck of many things i was expecting"
How did that work?
I would like to hear how that would even work.
My inspiration for the day.
you cant just say this then refuse to elaborate
This video inspired me to create a tiefling wizard named Lestat Stormebrooke. complex backstory aside he has NO damage spells (aside from hellish rebuke) but instead, entirely illusion spells that prevent enemies from hitting him. He is a wizard who is a tank who has low hp, a little known combo. He gets up in the enemies face and with his fleet of mirror images and illusions keeps the enemies eyes on him, or rather hims.
4:32 "For example, combining a race with no intelligence bonus with an intelligence-based class."
You guessed one of my favorite characters from years past! I played a half-orc wizard in a campaign, and the biases it exposed lead him to disdain physical solutions when a magical one was available. It was so fun to have him run out of spell slots in a big fight (3rd ed D&D, btw) and have to resort to his staff as a weapon . . . then get a critical hit and utterly demolish his opponent, to his own annoyance. :)
*the party:* "You did it! You deaded the guy!"
*half-orc:* "Yes. But with a stick. It lacked intellectual engagement. (sigh)
I'm currently playing a Kenku trickster cleric with an Int of 5. He's so breathtakingly stupid that he does not realise he is a cleric.
I've never had so much fun.
How can he not realize he's a cleric? That's not something that you can do without realizing it.
@@lilchristuten7568 He‘s a charlatan. He thinks he‘s running a fantastically long con. Meanwhile a number of trickster divinities are competing for his soul. His spells are somewhat accidental. Because he‘s a Kenku, he‘s mimicking what another charlatan was doing, bilking the faithful out of tithes. The medium term plan is to look into switching to warlock just as soon as he signs his little book of „scripture.“ It‘s my way of turning a set of decidedly middling ability scores - with one very low score - into something playable. The DM and the rest of the party are enjoying their „mascot bird“ very much.
I once made a Kenku Monk for a one shot and I've never laughed so much at a game of dnd
@@robertmccracken3763 kenkus are so underrated even for serious role playing.
@ I love this whole character premise so goddamn much. bless you, fellow kenku shenaniganer
Hi Ginny.
We're a bunch of 50 year old's who've been playing RPGs for forty years and still do twice a week. You play the damn game anyway you want . You're doing it right when everyone around that table is having fun. It's lovely, hearing about you discover this great hobby and hear some new ideas from you that remind me what we need to be doing with our games. Thanks for doing what you're doing.
Any time you find yourself in Blighty, you can come game with us any time :)
I played a gnome who was forced to be a garden gnome as a slave in the past. And he was a wild magic mage who basically screwed up every spell he did. I think that's what made him fun to play. The fact that he was a nervous wreck and slowly learning to be more confident and that reflecting on how his spells got less terribly destructive over time with his confidence.
Damn straight! This is how the game used to be played when there were three books and a dozen modules to pull all of your fantasy from. This is how it used to be. There weren’t 200 books and 50 years of experiences. It was real and raw the way it should be! Don’t let anyone play your game for you. If you want a broken player that’s a blast to play then by all means do it. If people complain, chalk it up to inexperience and stupidity.
If people complain you're playing wrong. Simple as that. Adjust or find a table that appreciates your playing style.
When you say it was "the way it should be" you're doing the exact same thing.
@@CarterDeLeo Your comment make no real sense to me. 35+ years ago when I was a hot blooded teenager, the internet as we know it didn’t exist. The content that you are used to, didn’t exist. UA-cam didn’t exist. The movies, tv series, etc they didn’t exist either. But it all exist now because of the games that we played then. You may not get that, I understand. I don’t understand 5e! So we can draw an impasse, and agree to disagree. As I stated above, don’t let anyone play your game for you. By all means draw from the boundless content that us old fogeys thought up, instead of coming up with the content yourself. And by all means if you don’t like the current system, build your own. Write a book, publish a novel. Go live your life. But hey, 30 years from now when d&d is in its 20th iteration, you may look back and have a similar outlook. I bet the comment jockeys won’t be nearly as kind as I am. Cheers!
@@badassfood5713 no, I'm aware UA-cam didn't exist 35 years ago. I "get" that, and also that you're being condescending. I also don't know what that had to do with you saying people should play the game however they want and not tell you the right way, but then also saying that the game as you played it is "how it should be".
Edit: my response was overly sharp, but come on, yes I know these things. I was in college when UA-cam came out.
I get that surprisingly often. Good gaming
"That sh*t is a gift!!" -Matthew Mercer (regarding really low stats)
Fav Mercer Quote ever
I believe he was talking about Grogg's Int stat at that point
If you are rolling for stats, getting 3 is 21 times less likely than getting 18
If you get it, you are chosen by the dice gods to carry it
"I have an intelligence of six. I know what I'm doing."
He said it again two or three episodes ago, I think, regarding Caduces
My next campaigns character has a 9 for charisma and 8 for strength. She is a caster who is weak, small and very socially awkward. It's based off her background as well. I love her so much too!
Damn, this kinda takes some pressure off my back. Maybe I need to find another group because I would love to roleplay more.
It's been a month, but I have an idea. It may come off as condescending, but try actually talking to the table to see what they think. If you have then find a table that suits what you want out of the game.
Then you might like to jump into my Sci-Fi universe with a home brew ruleset that enhances player agency.. would love to have you
I also have a couple 5e games going on. We don't do serious campaigns, my elderly necromancer is clinically insane, he has problems with his memory but is super charismatic. Like the other people who commented, you're welcome to join the mess that my group call a campaign (I'd have to ask, but that's never stopped me before).
@@illumANark Homebrew sci-fi with an emphasis on agency? That sounds awesome...
@@Soundwave._ if you have a discord account you could participate in the playtests
I love mixing races with not-so cliche classes they're combined with. I have a Fire Genasi Fighter-Samurai, a Half-Orc Monk, a Half-Elf Barbarian, a Changeling Artificer. It all makes sense how they got to those classes through their personality and/or backstory, and I love them all so much.
I've heard stories about player characters that are a talking slice of bread, a demon posessing an eel who swimms in a fish bowl that is carried by a robot spider that is controlled by the demon/eel via a psycic link, or a sentient sword that takes over the body of a warrior that wields it... The rules say the DM is in charge, not the rules. If the DM allows it, it is correct even if the rule book states otherwise.
Even if the rules said that a Warlock must have high CHA and Eldritch Blast, if your DM allows a Warlock with no Eldritch Blast and low CHA, you can play that.
I am looking to DM a group myself as soon as I get something set up. And about what Characters are going to be played there, I place two restrictions: One: it has to be compatible with the setting. If there's elves and swords in the setting, an elf with a sword works, while a cyborg with laser hands may not. In a different setting, that would be the other way around. The second one is that I have to be able to work with the character, meaning I have to understand who the character is, what motivates them and how to set up NPCs and enemies and story parts that will actually affect the character. Wanting to please your god is a common one, but not so much a useful one if I know little or nothing about that god, nor how much you know about that god, in that case, we're going to have a long conversation, but if your mother got abducted and you're on a quest to find her, I can place your mother somewhere in the world and let you find clues on where she might be.
Those are fantastic character ideas, and I will most definitely be stealing them.
I made a Druid who absolutely, *completely* hates the outdoors. I love Evelyn.
Ah, yes, Phyton, the 'Parking Lot Druid' god.
A druid that shunned society, and retreated to the wilderness because he had a gambling problem, and becoming one with nature sounded more appealing than getting kneecapped over debts.
Thats insane ( but awesome ), thats like making a fighter who can’t fight
@@mr.preston1632 Spider Robinson had a character that was HUGE so no one ever dared mess with him, consequently he knew very little about actual fighting.
Druid who only likes potted plants, or becomes a Druid to give them power over nature only so they can become a better lumberjack
After playing 15 years and learning so much of Ginny's advice the hard way, I'm really happy new folk starting their journey with ttrpgs, be them D&D or not, have this kind of videos to help them navigate the really confusing, and even hostile, rpg culture.
I think that, as with a lot of things, group composition is key. If you have outside-the-box people and optimizers in the same group it will cause tension, which I've seen first hand. There is no "wrong" way to play, just make sure everybody's on the same page.
Can't help but remember that there was a time in my current party where our Wizard had a greater strength score than our Barbarian, and essentially ignored magic in favour of shanking everyone with a dagger.
Our Wizard has killed more people with her dagger than casted spells, and it's brilliantly entertaining!
One of the coolest """"suboptimal""" characters that I've seen in my party is our most recent addition, a Necromancy wizard. In his backstory, his whole family were artisans who used Animate Dead and similar spells to have zombies do things like farm, clean, etc. while they pursued their various crafts (the zombies are his ancestors and therefore were actually expecting to become zombies once they died, because that's just how his family traditions are, which is also really neat). He learned to be a wizard basically *only* for the purpose of enhancing his craftsmanship, and fell into the whole "adventurer" thing totally by accident.
So his spellbook has (for a level 10 wizard) THREE spells which can actually be used to deal damage in combat: Toll the Dead, Magic Missile, and Enervation.
That's IT.
*Everything* else on his list is about flavor - he has stuff like Creation, Fabricate, Tenser's Floating Disk, Spider Climb, Telekinesis, and all sorts of spells that make perfect sense for a guy who builds boats for a living, but very little sense for a guy who fights people every day. As a result, in combat, he's usually running around and doing *really* creative stuff that I would just never think to do during a fight. He also usually has a few animated corpses around, and THEY fight to protect him and the other PCs, but a lot of the time he's doing stuff like casting Telekinesis to flip over an archmage's cauldron of Evil Liquid, preventing it from shooting out a Flameskull each turn, like it has been, and stuff like that. He was *extremely* creative both during character creation and then consistently so in every single fight his character has been a part of, and it honestly blows me away with how much of a bold, and *super* interesting choice it was and continues to be.
Playing """suboptimal""" characters is, in my mind, the actual hardest/most interesting way to play, and I think everybody should do it.
This is my kind of suboptimal; someone who is really good at SOMETHING, and really terrible at other things. That something definitely doesn't have to be combat, and can totally be something cool like your character. (P.S, Telekinesis is my favorite spell, because of all of the awesome environment stuff you can do!)
I absolutely love characters like this. Thanks for sharing!
Yo I can't express how much I LOVE this concept
@@Anvandiel I agree and my friend is a mad genius for just ambushing us with this character concept, but I also just *had* to say how much I love your username. 800/10 thank you
The only thing I consider when choosing spells for my bard is how awesome they could look in her signature violin+dance+ magic display performances . From silent image depicting legendary heroes and there feats to a color spray fairy fire thunder-RAVE PARTY! She is so fricking fun to play, and her spell list is still somewhat ok for combat by pure coincidence, sure she’s still the weakest character in the party , but do to some luck and good stat rolls, it’s just barely noticeable, well if I didn’t blow all my slots as soon as I see a potential audience that is.
I hate that this video is necessary. Who cares what/how other people are playing at their tables? Let them have fun.
I too hate that it is necessary... but I remember the days when dnd and other rpgs were 'strictly' the domain of 'nerds, geeks and dweebs, no girls allowed!' so.. for a long long time, it was way way worse.
I'm glad to see more of /everybody/ joining in to play.
EXACTLY
I too just exactly hate this video's necessarity!
How do you make people grow other than challenging them? It is not bad that people are challenge to think outside of the box other than the min/max of "winning". You also have to understand that you need a special type of DM who will make this fun and be creative. Instead of being as judgmental of other who may need this push, encourage them. So instead of commenting of "how sad" maybe we need to say what a great idea for people who need this idea or push to try something new.
@@donaldking5791 TY, saved me from saying it! we have always had a "diverse" group when it came to gender and the steriotype of the "Incel NeckBeard Gamer" is both insulting to those of us that never were that way and shoves those that are into a box they may not know how to get out of on their own. And while a % of people are jerks ( not just gamers but every group on the planet) but by alienating them your doing exactly what your complaining about. remember pre Critical Role D&D was not a "popular game" and playing it openly could get you kicked out of school when i was a kid! Did you know the federal government cassifies D&D as a "gang related activity" and as such is Not allowed in any prison? think about that for a second before you complain about the "old guard" when it comes to TTRPGs. Yes we needed a huge dose of gender equality in gameing, No doubt and im damn glad to see it happening (Props to Ginny!!!) but maybe instead of hating... Help like Ginny is by joining a less diverse group to add diversity! because TBH (I could be wrong) Kazik and eldardrakson you sound like your virtue signaling.
@@GnomeGninja I would say most of what you see is the change in society and the wide reach that this game has now. It was not popularly accept as it is today with the large fan support from Critical Roll and UA-cam channels. When I started to play D&D back in 79/80, quite honestly, there was such a small group of people who played. I tell you you though a bunch of 13 year old boys would have been jazzed to have a girl or two who played and if there were more POC who were interested, we would have taken them in because we were taught better than to be gigots
My sorcerer has the actor feat, which is pretty useless, but it makes sense for her backstory and forces me to think creatively about who or what I could pretend to be to improve a situation. It has lead to some really cool moments from scaring someone into giving us intel by pretending to be a necromancer and even luring people over to me with fake voices.
That "shouldn't be playing D&D" comment makes absolutely no sense, when they moved to 5e they put so much emphasis on it being a story telling game as well as a combat game, if you want a more rules focused game, go play pathfinder.
"I'm not saying you should make a character who's bad at everything"
My Dice Roles: Too late
At Level 11, I'm still failing DC saves because I roll 2-5 80% of the time. Optimization, stat-boosting items, and spells to boost my saves are the only thing between my character living through a game and the sound of paper ripping apart.
Halfling diviner with the luck feat bud.
Makes the die rolls more suggestions than anything lol
@@cooperton4949 the DM and your fellow players might just hate you if you just reroll everything.
Erasing the option of failure (at least to me) sounds boring as all hell. Not to mention how long your turns could take.
1? I'm a Halfling. Immune to 1s.
3? Too low. Lucky feat!
5? Fuck it. Using a divination roll
This every other combat turn might get annoying.
@@jeremypace249 Did your dice get Wheaton-cursed or something?
@@MasterPoppers It's not just my dice. I play on Fantasy Grounds now, and I missed two Save vs. Death with a "5" and a "4". (Of course, the Circle of Death was from an epic-level lich, but still.) It happens on electronic dice too!
Nothing like a Goliath barbarian who took levels in wizard just so he can be call the librabarian
😝
Sooooo using this idea sometime, LOL
@@JC_R8MEOW I built it with int and str being the two top stats and I dumped dex. Lv 5 before you multi class tho least that how I did it
@@gerardomena4250 👏
That's awesome
i love this advice!! i'm partially doing this for my first dnd character because it's a very casual campaign with a full table. they're a bard whose instrument is the washboard and whose weapon is the boomerang, but they're also a changeling and usually appear about 6 y/o. i chose the washboard and boomerang to help emphasize that they are less mature than their peers. i'm in love with them thematically, and it's led to some really funny moments for the whole table. can't agree with her advice enough!
You definitely should build them “wrong” so you can give them flaws and interesting ways to work around that
Or have it happen unintentionally.
Like with my Divine Soul Sorcerer with a god complex, and is meant to be the embodiment of greed, who has very low stats (like, +2 in one stat, and half of his scores having like three +0s).
You don't need stat flaws to have character flaws though, flaws can easily be written into a character and can even be based off their stats (e.g. high intelligence making them over confident). That's why flaws have a separate box on the sheet, they don't have to be tied to stats. I enjoy building powerful characters, why should I have to build them "wrong" to seemingly play the game "right"?
@@Okami_HD Not to mention a highly optimized character _will_ have mechanical flaws. In D&D, you don't get to be good at _everything._ The more you focus on being good at one thing, the more you'll suck at everything else.
In the words of Sam Riegel:
"What is the worst character ? I want to be the worst character...." ;)
Which is ironic, because Scanlan is probably the strongest member of Vox Machina. And Nott isn't far behind either.
Not is only second to Jester, who is a Cleric from a "useless" domain. (As I've heard it mentioned before.)
@@johnmerkl8744 I just looked at trickery domain spells and modify memory , pass without a trace. the party would be dead without it
Abserd! XD
@@johnmerkl8744 I love Jester Character, she isn't a standard cleric but boy she does good with what she wants to do :)
I made a rogue. She's a human. That means the sneak of the party is the only member who can't see in the dark... I love her so much; her story is getting so good thanks to our DM being awesome. The twist? She's not edgy! She's a shy but friendly runaway from a noble house.
what crazyness is this! :P
This actually sounds really cool, I always 'disliked' the 'edgy' rogue, i feel they've been done to death.
The party I’m DMing has two rogues. One is a halfling, one is a human. Neither has night vision. And then one time they were sneaking down a dungeon and they were like “hey let’s extinguish our torches so we can sneak better!” I had traps in that dungeon. It was...interesting. 😂
@Shinobi One haha I mean there wasn’t even any indication that there was a need for them to sneak! I think they just forgot that neither of them had dark vision lol.
@Shinobi One haha I think they’re both so experienced that they were shaking it up, otherwise they’re great rogues but they were just sharing one braincell that night 😂
I've been playing D&D since the early 1980s, through almost all of its incarnations and I can tell you that some of the greatest fun we had as a group was when we made "broken' characters on purpose and cut loose. I once had a sorcerer with an Intelligence of 5. His backstory was that he was once an aspiring magic user that had a really bad encounter with an Intellect Devourer and got cracked in the head by the tail of a White Dragon that left him a shell of his former self. I played him like "Aunt Clara" from the old TV show Bewitched - always acting on top of his game but bumbling and screwing up things badly when needed. There was no pressure to outsmart anything. The roleplay was hella fun and hilarious. Good video!
I always love your ideas about roleplaying according to stats and class, it actually makes it so much easier to roleplay that way.
"You forgot to pick offensive spells."
"Nope. Didn't forget. Don't want 'em."
I'm told this is actually an optimized (gasp!) wizard build. For keeping the party alive. Sounds like a lot of fun, too.
@@Vinemaple I was actually a bard, traveling the world in search of great stories to tell at home.
@@Catarinasunnergren that sounds like a fun bard to play
any chance you were inspired by Dandelion from the Witcher?
@@2GoatsInATrenchCoat Nope. Had yet to read Witcher at the time. Ths character was much more naive and kind hearted than Dandelion.
I tried to build a half-orc transmutation only wizard, but my table didn't like that. Took it out on character in game. So now my character has anger issues and fireball.
"Good. Good. Your hate has made you powerful." - Democratically Elected Chancellor Palpatine
I'm sorry about that backlash from your group, transmutation only is a supper dope idea.
Most of my fave spells are transmutation
my first ever dm didnt like my wizard so he gave her 3 madnesses and she never lost any of them even thought there was a short term and long term.
While I am saddened by the dickery, I applaud the RP response.
u should throw your fireballs as close to your party members (near enemies of course) as well as indoors so that everything catches fire! throw fireballs at ANY and EVERY chance especially when a party member loses a diplomacy check! and keep doing it. try to see if another character is willing to roleplay an apology. if not... try this, always go first on guard duty when everyone sleeps, and secretly tell the gm that you want to role perception with disadvantage on purpose (because you're focusing on your anger than keeping a lookout) and whenever the GM says you hear something... WHAM! FIREBALL! and try to catch fire in or near your immediate camp site ruining their sleep!
Is this woman made of sunshine? The way she carries her words just brighten my day, jeez.
I'm just getting into D&D, I've played a one shot and now I'm in my first ongoing game w/ my bf DM'ing and other friends. I am obsessed with your channel because I am STILL so nervous when it comes to playing and role playing. This video really made me so happy. I have so many ideas for my current and future characters and I've been afraid I wasn't making the right choices, but it just sounded fun. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS
I hope your D&D playing is going well!
I'm a minmaxer, I love finding the best way to do things, but the absolute best ways of building each class has already been solved a long time ago, so I find it much more fun to limit myself with a set of boundaries, and then find what the "best" character is within those boundaries. For example, Kobolds don't make the best barbarians, but I absolutely love the idea of an Ancestral Guardian Kobold who summons the ancient spirit of an ancestor (most likely his grandfather) as this gigantic ethereal dragon head made of pure draconic rage. I love the image of a small harmless looking Kobold approaching a group of people who laugh at his stature, only to be terrified when they see the dragon spirit hovering over him.
Creating perfect characters is boring. It's the minutiae of characters that make them fun. If the character is already perfect, how can they improve?
I had a kobold barbarian in my Pathfinder game who multiclassed to Oracle and then Rage Prophet (which needs both of those classes to meet its prereqs). He quit for various reasons but one of them was the Ninja/Magus/Dragon Disciple in the party outperformed him in every aspect of combat.
That said I wholly agree with the "best solution within the boundaries." I often think up a character concept and then look how to optimize that concept not necessarily for combat but for _realizing the concept_.
One of my character ideas was a conjurer halfling who _always_ would have the perfect item for the situation either at her disposal or conjure it through creation spells. I found various character options that would allow me to set aside an amount of wealth which I can then spontaneously spend for items up to a certain value, representing my character just being _that_ intuitive and well prepared.
I have yet to use this character in a game but I am eager to do so.
so you made a DND Stand?
@@carjis Oh god, you made me excited to play monk now. My stand, "another one bites the dust" has already taken effect the moment you coughed! I need nonsensicalspirit karate.
Did you just give your Kobold a Persona/Stand?
I do a similar thing but I try to minmax with unusual goals in mind. Most attacks per turn, longest range, highest vertical jump, etc.
I made a druid who could only wild shape into bugs.
She was fun
My warforged druid (after chatting with the DM) didn't wildshape, they possessed animals instead.
Thats pretty cool, stealth due to being small, and well a bug. Flight. Depending on species, deal poison damage. Maybe even ignore AC when you crawll under their armor.
Also: Could you wild shape into one bug or a swarm? Man, I'd totally play a druid who could shape into a swarm of killer bees.
@@godofzombi we checked the rules and you can only wild shape into a single creature, can't swarm unfortunately.
However, giant centipede has some terrifying damage output at low levels. We were hunting a coven of sea hags. We were level 2 and we came up with a plan.
The hag had tried to kidnap an infant and we had managed to fend her off. We sent the mother and her child to shelter at a church while we set a trap. The wizard cast minor illusion in the crib in the shape of the infant. The ranger and barbarian stood by the door in the shadows. I wild shaped into a giant centipede, holding a glass jar of smaller centipedes and hid within the illusion. When the hag reached over, I jumped up, smashed the jar of centipedes on her and and critical hit with a venomous bite.
@@yinnyari What I'm hearing is that you could've been a Transformer but you didn't.
BEAST WARS!
I could see why that would “Bug” people 😂😂😂 I’ll show myself out now
I just want to say thank you! I ran across one of your videos today and the way you explain characters in d&d has helped me tremendously. I am really new to d&d and I’m already in 3 different campaigns so its a lot to keep up with. It feels amazing to see that other girls are just as passionate about playing d&d as I am. In my group I am the only girl who plays d&d so it felt like the other guys didn’t really accept me. They don’t let me talk much and I’m not the type of person to interrupt someone else while they are talking. I just had a session last night and the dm didn’t give me a big role because i didn’t have a big backstory. Its like they just expect me to know everything they know and none of them really taught me anything. They are also not into experimenting races with different classes and when i do something unusual they tell me that its not a good idea. Its hard being the only girl because they put you into a stereotype of “you don’t know anything and you should just quit.” i’ve already had an encounter like that where one of the dm’s told another player that if i don’t start talking during session then i should just quit. I really don’t want to quit and i’m doing my best to study and understand the game but I think they don’t understand that its just a game.
Emily - they are right, you should quit. But not because you are new, or bad at D&D, or a girl. You should quit because they suck. I've been a DM for over 25 years. New players are the BEST. I love getting players who have never played D&D. I can use old tropes again, and see them through new eyes. I can have people get really excited because they defeated a goblin ambush, instead of making it look like they solved a boring math problem. Anyone who doesn't encourage a new player is missing out on some real joy. There are good DMs and groups out there. Spend the time to find one, and you will enjoy D&D so much better. Good luck!
Quitting a table that toxic isn't capitulating, it's self-preservation. Sorry your first experience was full of jerks, I hope you've had better luck in the time since that comment.
My friend and I were invited to come and play with her boyfriend's D&D group which consisted of 3 grown adult men and then her boyfriend (he fits right in with them). Anyway there's already a bit of a barrier considering we're two nerdy, artsy teenage girls (jk I'm trans but nobody knows that soooo) and they're a bunch of grown adult men who have a very innappropirate sense of humor (this doesn't particularly bother me and my friend but if they start directing it towards us (ie making innapropriate jokes about us) it will be a problem). We've only gotten together twice so far. The first time we just kinda sat in on the original group finishing up their campaign and we played like pre-made characters. The second time was us planning the campaign and character building and stuff. So my friend (who's never played before) comes up with a fun idea. She wants to play an extremely sexy elf who is a powerful badass spell caster type of class. Well apparently the rest of the group while I was busy in the other room told her she couldn't be an elf because "they're stuck up and full of themselves". I didn't know this until later when we went back to her house. She told me "I brought up that I wanted to be an elf and they said I couldn't" and I was very confused and asked why and she said "because they said they were rich high-and-mighty people and were assholes". And I flew off the handle. THAT MAKES NO SENSE! "Sorry you can't be this character because we've already pre-determined what she will act like based on our stereotypes of elves and we don't want to deal with that character. AND if you DON'T follow that stereotype then you'll be acting "untrue" to the race" is what that sounded like to me. I went on a full on rant about how she can live out her sexy high-elf dreams if she wants to and they can go screw off. That line of reasoning literally makes no sense and completely discouraged her from making her elf character until my long and heated rant. It's that type of thinking that stifles people's creativity and robs everyone of a possibly awesome and fun character.
It would be different if they were saying "hey if you want to be a sorcerer I would suggest being this race instead as it will make it easier for you since it's your first time playing" but they literally told her she COULDN'T be an elf because they think elves are bad people. Ok you tell that to Legolas you jerk. He wasn't a stuck up, selfish, classist jerk......or at least I don't think he was. It's been awhile since I've seen the movies or read the books lol. But anyway hearing that they said that to her (and after seeing the DM completely fail at understanding his obviously "has a hard time socializing and fitting in" son) I was re-inspired to make my own campaign. I'm hoping to make a space where me and my friends can play D&D and they KNOW that everyone will try their best to understand. I've never ran a D&D game before and the only one's I've been a part of were really badly DMed and the players were assholes (but that's a WHOOLLE thing for another day). So needless to say this will be a learning curve but I'm going to try my best!
Sorry this is so long but long story short: DON'T TELL PEOPLE WHAT CHARACTERS THEY CAN OR CANNOT MAKE!!! It's all about having fun and creating a fun story and real people aren't perfectly curated so why do you expect D&D characters to be?
Reading this made me smile. You should be able to play in a space that accepts you, and if there is none you absolutely should create one yourself. Thank you for being a wonderful human being and being protective of your friend. You go girl! 🌸
This response is super late but I hope you did make that campaign for your friends! Also I wish I could give those men a piece of my mind for making your friend feel bad 😤
@@rochellerodriguez6431 Still working on the campaign but it's coming along : ) Ran into some life hurdles that got in the way but things are getting better now and I'm getting back into it! Last I heard, the group had a falling out. Apparently two of the men (and at that time one of the wives had joined in so this is on her too) kept bringing each of their young kids over after the host repeatedly asked them not to. Turns out, first time the two kids were brought on the same day, they completely destroyed a bathroom, tormented the cat, and just generally made a mess. Not sure what happened after that because I wasn't invited to that meeting for some reason but no more D&D at their place anymore : / If I saw them regularly still, I'd pass on whatever you'd like to tell them but alas I haven't seen them since. Thanks for the kind words though! : )
Ironic they consider elves stuck up and full of themselves, considering that's exactly how they were behaving. I hope your campaign is going well!
Non dexterous rouge with the Lucky feat makes for many, "better lucky than good" moments.
Nice!
Variant human rogue, take Lucky at level 1, drop a +2 or even a +1 in Dex, enjoy
Rogue
@@TsarofScars mine was actually a halfling, to get the automatic refills on a Nat 1, then took lucky, when I was able to get a second feat, took sharp shooter as my first feat, and during battles hid behind one of my allies which were all medium sized.
Strength-based instead of dex-based rogues are perfectly viable in terms of power.
I’m eventually going to play one that announces all of their sneak attacks like a Shonen character.
One of my favorite characters EVER was a kobold barbarian "meh" stats and delusions of grandeur. He was so fun that I still think about bringing him back occasionally.
Mine was a bumbling sorcerer that I wrote as comic relief
Mine is a rogue/warlock that is adorable bundle of joy for the team but a menace for the enemy. Idk how but my actrobatics multiplier is +13 without any magic items
I pretty much optimized everything about my character that doesn’t go against my backstory, with one BIG EXCEPTION. The only thing I consider when choosing my spells is how awesome they would be in her performances. Color spray fairy fire thunder-RAVE PARTY!
I loved my kobold bard. He was proficient in slide whistle and kazoo.
I had a kobold stormlord of Talos. It was basically an epic level one-shot challenge to create a crazy character from an overlooked race. He became literally untouchable as he was too small to hit while flying around in a storm and throwing a returning lightning javelin.
i recently made a halfling barbarian character and was worried i’d get looked down on by pros for the poor combination - this video makes me feel a lot better about it, so thank you for making it!
Well if they're a halfling, they're probably be looked down on by a lot of people.
(I have a kobold barbar, and short and angry beings are the best imo.)
I love this idea!
One of my favorite lines from a sci-fi show involved a smaller than average being staring down a huge dude. She looked up at him like he was nothing and said something like "Yes, I'm standing in your way. That means I'm either very dumb or very dangerous. Do you really wanna find out which one?" The MOST badass of moments.
I absolutly love this tip! Recently I spent 3 days building a Half-Elf Ranger/Bard with spells and abilities based off of story instead of optimization. I was soooo excited to play her especially since playing her was going to be my first ever official session that wasn't a session 0. (It was session 95 for the group I was joining) I showed her off to a couple friends I knew were playing quite a bit. While one is more new and just mused how crazy she was built, another one told me that she wasn't optimized because I didn't focus on doing only one thing, and her skills and abilities were spread out not beneficial for the game. He compared her to a lower level rogue in his group that only focused on one thing and on average can put out more damage. That was until I gave a paragraph to show how she would use her abilities to put out just as much and a little more damage on average while protecting herself, then when things get rough and she is in a corner, she would have an escape or two to get away and heal. This would go a long with her story as for the time that the group she is joining up with she was traveling mostly on her own and having to fend for herself. So her spells and abilities would be more spread out and allow her to be a one man party.
At the end of my first session, her insane out of battle abilities that the friend "chastised" me for, ended up keeping us from getting into a fight and rooms with at a noble estate, despite the party cutting a large chandelier damaging the property, and another person stealing their stuff back, plus some. She even relaxed the guards releasing the tension.
So yeah, she is built "wrong" but she is an individual with a story, one that saw her out on her own most of her journey, and her build shows it. Also if you think outside the box and not tunnel vision in on doing just one thing, she can stand well with the rest of the party. True she won't put out much damage in a single turn, but she is hard to hit, and can whittle down the toughest of foes, IF they could find a reason, or in their heart to actually attack her.
So yeah, build a character "wrong" and have fun with them :)
Sometimes we all (or maybe just me) need a person, who says: "So do it! Pick any cupcake! You are allowed!" in similar kind of situations)
Our "flawed" "wrong" character is the only one who hasn't died in our dungeon crawl...so maybe we're the wrong ones for even trying to optimize lol
There are plenty of features from the lowest levels that allow to a degree to bypass a lot of the rng and allow for a well-structured party to escape with minimal casualties from most combats if they are being strategic and careful. Needless to say that it is a rare way of playing the game, due to it being perceived as boring by a majority of the players. Rightfully so.
@Ashley Nachbar could you tell us more?
I've been there done that, being the only survivor...
@@pilkkimies I posted more in a comment to someone else but I'll repost it here.
"Us, "Fire would be really helpful right now!"
Our wizard, "oh, right!" Pulls out a torch.
Us: 🤦♂️🤦♀️🤦
He also accidentally established in game that he doesn't actually transcribe spells, they just appear in his book and he learns them from there...so now the DM gets to pick his spells OR he can roll for them."
@@ashleyhallgrimson3696 this sounds like something I would do ngl
I love creating “wrong” characters because as I told my one player, “Characters are interesting not because of what they can do, but rather what they can’t do.” It’s been kind of frustrating because my players are all people who like to min/max and I’m just over here like, “But what are their flaws!? What can they not do!? Why are there stakes for them!?”
If they are min-maxed then there are lots of things they can't do *looks at the "min" side of the scale*
@@hikaxan That is true. My fighters don’t do the thinky bits. He just hangs out until he’s needed.
Yeah I can deal 100 damage per turn. But there ain't no way in hell I'll convince a noble to give us a loan with my -2 charisma mod...
I have a natural tendency to minmax, so I specifically counter it by making characters with weird class/race/personality combinations and block myself from any optimisations that would go against their character. I have to earn every optimisation I make, if there's no precedent for it I don't get to do it.
You could try to make stakes for them throwing non-combat encounters at them, forcing them to only talk in character, giving them exactly 6 seconds to take their turns (or a minute if you subscribe the the 1:10 rule), and min/maxing your encounter right back. Give them fully fledged player characters to fight, offer them outs in combat when the enemy gets bloodied (half hp), when the enemy is about to die, etc, and consequences for being murder-hobos. Some parties play DnD like it's an MMORPG, and that's okay. Not everyone is into role-playing. At least force them to talk in the second-person. (My character asks this character a question. etx.)
Fireball is one of the best combat spells, but my character is storm themed, and therefore has a storm themed spell list. So she uses lightning bolt often to kind of replace fireball. It's alot of fun to restrict yourself and see how you can adapt!
I can see a protest now, be all, "You would dare make a character built for role play, in a role play game? You monster!"
🧡
Here's the thing, and is why I, respectfully, disagree with this video - you can make any character, optimized or not, interesting for roleplay. But combat is a part of the game, one that people belittle and downplay the importance of all the time - it is a *pillar* of the game, equal in importance to roleplay and exploration. A game lacking a pillar is, in my experience, unsatisfying. Ginny seems to be speaking from the perspective of an extremely combat light campaign, and while its perfectly valid to enjoy those sorts of campaigns, play the game how you want, I have found that they make a lot of your decision points with your character largely irrelevant. Roleplay heavy campaigns tend to come down to "can you cast spells, especially illusion and enchantment? Are you a rogue? If not, none of the traits and features your character gets are relevant to the game, sorry." And that feels really bad if you wanna play a fighter or a monk or something. But, whats the problem with playing a character that's built "wrong" in a more traditional campaign? You are a part of a team, and if your character misses all their attacks and/or does a miniscule amount of damage, as a rogue or another class where that's the entire point, then that's also just not going to be fun. Its not generally fun to have everything make their saving throws against your spells because you thought you would be quirky and make a 12 intelligence evocation wizard. And it won't often be fun for your teammates who have to play protect-the-useless-person all combat. Generally DnD characters are built to fill a role. And by all means, make that an unconventional role, but just make sure you can fill it. And, mind you, in spite of all of this, I still won't say that it's wrong to build a character wrong, if your table is on board with it and you find it satisfying. But its equally wrong to say that building a character wrong is a) right, or b) necessary for roleplay.
@@ovbrook3057 I disagree with the entire trope, cliche, meme, whatever you wanna call it, that tries to claim if you wanna be good at fighting you have to be a complete brick at all other things.
I created a (4th edition) ardent, not monk, not fighter, not multiclass, who was just a guy looking for some way to get home.
He's just a guy, until it's combat, then on the one hand he's deeply disturbed that dead's on the list of things that can happen, and on the other hand, thinking is OVER, he's done with this shit. Combat is OVER when his people come out the other end of it.
Also his elven upbringing. Turns out he knows which end of a sword is stabby and which edge of a sword is sharp at a good solid instinctive level.
I mean, I coulda said "elf fighter" and just played this same guy. All his maneuvers would be that instinct though.
I could have said "elf barbarian" and read it out as .... um, Survival, it's a thing
I could have said "elf wizard" and made sure it's all force magic. (this one IMO is a stretch, but as RP it does work)
@@ovbrook3057 - "But combat is a part of the game..."
First things first, saying "but X is part of the game" is a meaningless argument against something else that is *ALSO* "part of the game".
Secondly, *Having a DM* balance the diverse elements of the game to accommodate player preferences, party composition, and the challenges of given modules is "part of the game" too.
Thirdly, *support characters* are a thing, *kit bag* characters are a thing, having different and varied roles in combat is a thing. Adapting and overcoming challenges in spite of one's weaknesses is a thing... not only that, but it is a central theme to the fantasy genre and ALL roleplaying games.
Finally, creating characters with good characterful flaws is absolutely true to the source material of fantasy literature and mythology that D&D is based on. Making "optimized" protagonists is decidedly NOT in-keeping with that source material. So... No. You could not be more incorrect.
Ginny is absolutely on the right track with this advice. Make the game whatever you want. Build flaws into your character. Cut against the established 'meta' all you want. Just have fun!
@@twelvefootnine You didn't read everything ovBri wrote before you replied, did you? Let's fast forward to the last part:
'And, mind you, in spite of all of this, I still won't say that it's wrong to build a character wrong, if your table is on board with it and you find it satisfying. But its equally wrong to say that building a character wrong is a) right, or b) necessary for roleplay.'
Essentially what ovBri is saying is that there is no 'one right way' to play the game: combat and roleplay are equally important and ultimately it's up to your DM and your party to decide what kind of campaign you want to play. You hurried to write a comment disagreeing with someone that you... actually agree with.
IMO you can do whatever you want - but the important thing is that you don't throw caution to the wind designing your character to be as WACKY as possible if it makes the game less fun for others - or, to put it another way, you don't get to put your own fun before the group's fun. If you've agreed to be part of a combat-focused campaign, I feel it's only polite to at least try to make a combat-effective character - vice-versa if it's a RP-focused campaign. If you don't want to play that kind of campaign you can always say 'sounds cool but sorry it ain't for me'. I don't see why we have to go around trying to force our preferred playstyle on others.
"Edgy flower princess" is a descriptor I never thought I'd hear. Nice.
Isn't that a pastel goth? :D
I’m about to play me first session in two weeks. And this was real an inspiration to me. It really helped me. Thank you Ginny.
I often actively make my spell list limited by arbitrary lines (my Druid/barbarian uses only earth based spells, my rogue/sorcerer only had spells that help with espionage, my peppermint based wizard uses mostly ice magic) and I find that incredibly fun. It means I often take spells that have more utility outside of combat which means I’m almost always able to help. Im also still often a powerhouse in combat. I also don’t tend to multi-class based on mechanics (see above rogue/sorcerer) those are my favorite games.
I have always hated the "you're doing it wrong" refrains on mechanical decisions in D&D. Let me enjoy my character.
If you and your friends are having fun, you're not doing it wrong.
At the same time, there are a myriad of different types of players who enjoy different types of play. Ginny Di seems to be more of a Roleplayer than a Powergamer, which is perfectly fine as long as everyone else is good with that kind of play.
I hate it on anything creative, like art and writing. I get learning the basics is good but fuck, even when you try your best to be accurate, shit’s never perfect. When you do creative stuff on purpose, it’s never perfect. Let creativity be fun dammit!
Heck, people think that if you build a specific class killer, then that other class is OP. They believe in a "one best build" mentality
I agree. I think a lizard folk paladin would be pretty awesome, and I don’t care of some people say they can’t do that.
I know exactly what you mean. I have a DM that I frequently play with and when I show her the roughs for my character sheet, she often tells me to change things simply because it's "not the right choice for my class" even if I have picked it for narrative reasons. :(( It's gotten to the point where she often just ends up making the character for me so it's built the way she wants it to be built. I still always mange to have fun but... I wish she'd give me more freedom ^_^"
"Hello friends... and FOES!"
You've already earned that like. 🤣
My first character lived in the Woods and was scared of technology, my friend played an artificer with a steel defender. Every time we held watch, I gave myself disadvantage, because she would be distracted by this metal construct.
If you still want to make a character “optimally” Tashas gives players the ability to assign the statistical bonuses to any stat instead of the ones that are listed. Like +2 to strength for an Elf, or -1 to Constitution for a Bugbear.
Ginny: I write for D&D, and if you're watching this so do you!
Me, crying: Please, I want to! I just need one of these "parties" I have heard so much about!
Me too!
It took me a long time too. Join a bunch of dnd discords from people like mr ripper and I looked on 'meet up' found a large rpg groups and tried a bunch of 1 shots.
@@MrBizteck that sounds like a good idea. I might have to try that.
My party consists of me... and single friend that finally failed her charisma check and agreed to play. Sooo yeah, tell me where to hunt for players
I assembled a full party (including a DM) through r/lfg in less than 2hrs (we had our Session 0 today). You can too!
Ginny Di: “You should play what you want”
Me, a lover of Purple Dragon Knight: “this woman is very wise”
Is it as bad as people say?
Banneret isn't the worst subclass out there, especially considering how strong the base fighter chassis is, personally I adore the idea of a noble knight being the party face instead of it always being a bard or sorcerer.
Hi, I am Battlerager and I would like to shake your hand.
"I love you, you love me, we're a happy fa-mi-ly"
Love is love!
You give great advice for players of any version. I have been playing for 4 decades and its great to watch your episodes. Thank you.
Ok so I just found this channel/ video series last night, but this was definitely the best intro so far lol
I knew I'd like this from the title, and loved it from the first 10 seconds. I want to give this more likes.
same
Me too.
Just going to say, Warforged Druid cause Transformers are cool.
If you go Circle of the Forged, then BEAST WARS!!!!!
In my current party of DnD we have one PC like this and I love them with all my heart.
And it's freaking useful.
That is brilliant!
@@danku1122 Indeed!
my current group has a Warforged Grave domain Cleric
I don’t understand why people hate having characters with flaws or that have uniqueness to them. It makes the collaborative story feel more incredibly unique and fun!
I recently started playing a Forest Gnome Barbarian and he has become my favorite toon to roleplay. There had been times of hilarity and also sheer idiocrity, but thats what makes it fun. Much love to everyone out there and I hope everyone is having a wonderful day
ight!
To paraphrase a sign I once saw: D&D and sex have at least one thing in common; as long as you're having fun, you're doing it right.
Slight adjustment: As long as *everyone involved* is having fun. But yeah, I agree.
@@rarazalproductions519 The pain of the english language, inclusive and exclusive sound the same.
@@rarazalproductions519 I would agree with that edit.
@@ink7761 Ironic, isn't it, at how often inclusion leads to an exclusion?
@Riley Harper it's doesn't matter what flavor of cake you get as long as you enjoy it.
Next upcoming character: Poindexter, a wizard with an average intelligence who became a wizard because his mother told him to, but he has anger issues and gets frustrated when he runs out of spells and just starts punching the enemy; becomes a multi-classed barbarian
I played a Human(veriant) Fighter in a 'Wizard Academy’ game, he did take the Magic Initiate (Wizard) feat. He was the son of a wizard rich family, that just didn’t have that spark, I did multi-class into a wizard at 3rd level.
Funny you mention this, ive been trying to optimize / build a Barbarian/Wizard for a while
Its notable that while you cannot cast or concentrate on spells, you can take actions related to spells
I.E. If you have animated undead, you can still give them orders with bonus action.
Not a lot of spells let you gain value like this while in a rage, but they do exist.
And there is Glyph of Warding as well to avoid casting/concentrating
Mostly though, its just a fun character concept
I'm happy I'm not the only one with this mind set. I almost always play my characters "wrong" because in my opinion it just gives things more character. It makes characters feel more real to me when they aren't "perfect."
In my experience, meta-gaming ruins the experience for me. Things become homogenous and cliche and one-dimensional. I don't even like multi-classing for non-story purposes because it's just another way to further min/maxing. I prefer to come up with an idea for a character, get the stats that fit that character (warts and all), trust my DM and table, and just see what happens. But I don't like reading the last page of a book first, either. The memories of stuff blowing up in my character's face are just as entertaining and enduring as taking down the big bad and "winning D&D"... sometimes more so. The characters aren't real, the stories are made up, and the DM is not my enemy. Let's just have the fun we want to have. So, abide by Weaton's Law, and repeat to yourself: "Their character is not my character, and that's okay."
"Take any cupcake. You're allowed."
Me: *takes entire tray*
I take the whole room my dude
Abserd would like to know your location
Taste the rainbow.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
**makes giant eyes while trying to fit another cupcake in**
When it’s literally a fantasy game and people still tell you what to do.
People will always try ti tell you what to do
I think its rude to tell people how to enjoy themselves, but i think its fair to criticize statements like "dnd isnt about killing monsters or optimization". A game IS its rules and how they direct play. There are 100s of great games out there that are about other things, I wish folks would break out of the fallacy that DnD is the only rpg and that all experiences can be equally found within it.
@@benjaminlabarge4899 oh for sure that’s what makes it a game but the creativity part gets patrolled way too often
@@ilenastarbreeze4978 sadly true lmao
As a dm I don't tell players what to do, I react to what they want to do. I'm all about bending rules,home brew and house rules
Never stop being you Ginny 😊.
This gave me some inspiration for a new D&D game I'm about to start. Thanks!
Woof this one hits deep. One of my favorite characters I made was a warlock with a focus on necrosis. Meaning my main damage cantrip was Chill Touch. Not Eldritch Blast. I showed up to my table and the showed my DM my sheet and he said "No Eldritch Blast? But... that's what warlocks do!"
Have fun your own way kids.
I made a Warlock (Celestial) with booming blade as the main cantrip
I'm sure that Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is driving these people nuts.
I love Tasha's since you can finally make a fun character that doesn't die in combat. Sure you'll have encounters with minmaxers but you can usually sit them down and tell them to relax for once. 5E has never been better.
Tasha's wants the MinMaxers to plan something cute and fun too.
dude I've already seen so much gnashing of teeth over Tasha's for providing "too many options". Like wtf?
FACTS!
@@ARTEMISXIX Lol as a min/maxer it isn't that I'm not relaxed or anything I am just super passionate about the game and I really want my character to mechanically fit with the way I see them in my head. Plus I'm really happy about tasha's new rules for stats and stuff because now I can see which raical traits combine really well with class abilities and stuff. Also I feel like min/maxers and power gamers get a really bad reputation. I get that there are a few vocal ones out there who want to tell other people how to play, but most of us just really enjoy the challenge of building a strong character.
DO NOT EAT THE CUPCAKE! Otherwise, you might find yourself being besties with a blue Tiefling with a gap in your memory...
yeah I don't see the problem
Did you insinuate I'm a hag?
Everyone loves Laura.
@@joshuadixon8510 Those are your words not mine..
Best moment in the whole campaign!!
Our first DND campaign, we were all learning and didn't realise we could allocate stats. So we just went with 'assign dice rolls in the order they were rolled." My Elf Wizard ended up with a 0 INT modifier but was the strongest person in the party. After all her spells failed, she smacked the first boss with her quarterstaff so hard it exploded. It made for some hilarious moments.
One time my beat friend played a chaotic evil, pixie, cleric. He was by far one of my favorite characters to ever end up in one of our campaigns
Me, who apparently builds all of my characters “wrong”: 👁👄👁
I wish I could like this comment again. Actually, I wish I could give it 10 likes! I had the exact same thought!
BAHAHHA me
Same. Most of my characters so far have been creatuvely twisted and developed with the story of the campaign. My current played character is a Barbarian (Storm Herald) and I’m going to multiclass into Warlock next level, with her former girlfriend’s Quori as her Patron. I’m viewing this as the acceptance of her death as well as a way of keeping her memory well and truly alive in the world. The table already know as players she has the Quori in her protection currently; plus she has quite a big secret when it comes to her ‘rogueish’ ways in recent sessions, which hasn’t been multiclassed into. And this is the same character who planned her own death and reincarnation without telling her best friend in game what she was truly doing, and add to this that she only Rages when strategy suits it, meaning she may go lower than 100 hp at level 12 before raging in combat.
Then a character I’ve just created and made changes to is a Bard that doesn’t perform in the traditional way. I have no instrument, no background in performing or combat as such, just a young elf forging her own path to the dismay of her noble father (backstory still kinda in progress). And for another campaign, I have a mystery-junkie Fallen Aasimar Illusion Wizard who is ‘fallen’ due to his backstory rather than alignment. They are also androgynous and are more focused on practical studies than looking at a book, meaning they are more likely to sketch a monster they come across if not in combat with it and will reject spells they deem unnecessary, such as Comprehend Languages as this kinda feels like cheating when it comes to translating a mystery message they’re trying to decode. Like, they knkw the language but only on a beginner level at this stage and no where nearly enough to translate a half-faded and ripped letter.
You are 100% correct. and as for any cries of "foul" from the "old Guard" they clearly never rolled a character 3d6 in order...
William Canavan or even better, 1d20 in order
Yep! Anyone who’s tried the Red Box knows what it’s like to play a weak, unoptimized character! 5e’s actually more power gamer friendly than older editions. The old guard is with you
As a member of the 'I've been playing a long time' demographic, it took a while to see this point, but the story is now more important than anything else, so I get it.
@@grant0013 hahahah... fistbump for redbox. I grew up on that sht.
Exactly! I miss when characters were just those rolled values, a class, and a story that evolved through play. The whole notion of planned builds still rubs me the wrong way.
I know of someone who created a paladin with -1 intelligence and is refusing to do anything to improve it becuase it's funny. It's such a nice change and allows a bit of humour in the story.
I love designing optimized character but I don’t really enjoy actually playing them
Why *wouldn't* someone want to play a Tiefling Paladin? They join the order in their rebellious teens to get away from one or two bad parents, and... lesse... resistant to fire, free thaumaturgy cantrip... (free megaphone and mood lighting!) and a rebuke. And charisma's the casting stat for a paladin.
Plus, you get out of a lot of family reunions! Win-win, really. :D (dammit, now you've given me a whole new character I want to play.)
Ha!! I was trying to reference the idea of a an infernal creature being a holy warrior (especially since so much of D&D's literature points out that Tieflings are often treated with prejudice and suspicion for their heritage), but as I hope this video made clear, I agree that it would be awesome!! I just know there are some tables where you'd get flack for the choice.
One of my best friends has a Tiefling Paladin and it's amazing to watch her play!
@@ZeldaRoseSongbook I played a Tiefling Swordcerer who was a demon hunter because she was... well... had an Adventurer's Family Life
I have a tiefling Paladin of the Crown in a game I'm playing, his best friend is a dwarf cleric that is actively hostile against ANY fiends despite my Paladin's constant "don't be racist" jives to him...and we're the parents of our crazy kids...they just adopted a baby hydra, help me.
I've got a tall, buff, minty skinned teifling paladin named Uriel. A strong moral compass who is determined to outlive her mothers toxic legacy. She's not the most social but she has a soft spot for animals
I just built a deep gnome barbarian who uses boomerangs.
COME AT ME, INTERNET.
Jamm the Giant Lizard riding Halfling Barbarian/Beatmaster Ranger is happy with this
I will not come at you, you have boomerang gnome defending you.
I think that's freaking genius, and my gardening grandma halfling beast master of carnivorous plants applauds you.
Get you a ridable Half-orc and you have yourself an adventure for the legends my friend.
Oh god, it's because they come from A LAND DOWN UNDER, I both hate and adore you.
This is why I once made a character by doing the 140+ questionnaire "Which DnD character are you?" and came out with:
Chaotic Neutral - Human Fighter (STR 11 - DEX 12 - CON 14 - INT 16 - WIS 16 - CHA 12)
I then for good measure added the background "Sage - Researcher" and gave him proficiency in Arcana to "Well, actually" any actual spell casters. Lastly, I gave him the Protection fighting style and gave him a shield and hand crossbow.
Playing this character was wild and quixotic as all hell, and great fun.
My very first d&d character was a silver dragonborn druid. It was fun to give d&d a try and ever since then, I really enjoyed it. I'm about to try and be a dm for the first time
My wife and I played a gnome barbarian and a goliath wizard. We had been switched at birth by a blind old midwife, and we genuinely thought we were a short goliath barbarian and a tall gnome wizard.
This sounds epic
@@kristieackerman904 We found out it was even possible for her, the two foot tall "goliath," to fastball special me, the eight foot tall "gnome." Not consistently, because she had to roll a natural 18 or higher, but it was possible.
DM here: Goliath wizard was actually one of the archenemies in my longest campaign, I love the burly af wizard trope.
@@CrownRock1 I may steal this concept for my campaign. It's a genius idea and absolutely hilarious. Thank you for this!
@@RandomHamsterLaughin You're welcome to it! I'm glad you like it!
I played a changeling wild magic sorcerer who couldnt change his "look" at will, but whenever their wildmagic went off, they randomly changed races.
Neat idea.
Love it👍
This may come as a shock to some people, but like non-optimized characters can actually be more realistic. Like having these gaping knowledge/personality gaps (i.e. not knowing really popular spells, being a druid who actually doesn't like animals/nature, etc) is really realistic. And it can make for a great story. "Quick! Sorcerer, use fireball!!!" "Ok so guys, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you about that..." Or "Hey, can you go see if the forest creatures know anything?" "Sure. *walks over to animals* just be cool guys. I know you can't understand me but just pretend like we're having a good conversation...." "Did you find anything out." "Uhhh no...they didn't see anything. Yeah..."