So I just played my first session DnD yesterday (as a Rogue, aspiring to become a Shadowblade) and I already noted mentally: Whatever Mattius does, don't do it!
I have always viewed assassinations as a lawful evil action, as such an act involves honoring a contract. As for the rape, over the nature of the contract at that, that is definitely something chaotic evil! Serious though - Curses exist buddy, never accept such an offer under duress!
It isn't a single act that is the problem, but repeating the act until it becomes part of your very being. However, we are talking about D&D and every single player has a different view of what the alignment table represents. What actions would push a character into another alignment are also up to personal interpenetration of the storyteller and the players themselves. The contract element of assassinations is just something I can not every put under the 'chaotic' category myself.
When it come to the contract type and the exact terms . Any one can sign a contract to do X job and get paid. Generally i find assassin would be more neutral evil or lawful evil base on the group make up / structure of the group . Usually i find neutal/lawful evil pc would be ok with contract work compare to chaotic evil pc who would not like it as much .
A contract does not lawful make. Chaotic alignments mean that you live by your own rules in defiance of those you scorn. If you are an assassin hired by the government and you kill targets you do not know only because you've been commanded, out of an actual sense of duty, you're lawful evil. You've been given license to kill. If you take a contract to kill someone you do not know, provided it doesn't go against your own tastes, you're somewhere between neutral and chaotic. If you do anything else to your target that wasn't asked of you, purely for your own enrichment, I'd call you chaotic. In my games, I treat alignments a bit differently from the "correct" version. I use alignments for the purposes of magic and divine prejudice. It's more dramatic if you've been dealt an alignment in excessive punishment. It's how your character chooses to live with their alignment that is the true test of character. Do they see the error of their ways or do they respond to the excessive punishment with denial? If your paladin has been judged to be non-lawful, I'll not take away your powers immediately, but you're on the clock. Every level you take as a paladin is now as an ex-paladin and one of your paladin, cleric or warpriest is converted to a non-divine class level to a minimum of 4 or 1 combined divine caster levels. If you don't want to play by the rules of unfair gods, you can rebel against the judgements and regain your status as lawful that way, provided you aren't actually guilty. Yes, this will regain you a lawful alignment, because you object based on the rules. But you reject the gods. That's the sort of thing I do for storytelling with alignments. It's not correct, nor fair, but its dramatic.
Having listened to all the Oceanrim stuff, from beginning to end recently. I really enjoy this campaign. I've been looking to get back into D&D for some time now, making characters and such. But I can't seem to find a group. So listening to this is bringing me to remember old memories of when I did play D&D in HS.
Pocket sand, nice. *chuckle* People often make fun of me for having the beltpouchs each with a different spices etc but when it comes up it's amazing to throw a handful of salt promptly at a giant slug/snail. *chuckle*
Hello T, question for you: I've just finished watching the D&D Stories retold series, after finding your channel a few weeks ago, and was hoping to watch the "D&D Stories" from 1-133. I notice that it starts at #32. Is there another channel I should be going to to find those (much) older videos to view, or are they lost forever? I like everything I have seen of yours so far (uneasy story moments aside) and am very much looking forward to hearing the rest.
Actually no, sorry. "D&D Stories Retold" is slowly REPLACING "D&D Stories" for legal reasons. UA-cam's legal landscape is verrrrry shifty at the moment. So I am getting rid of my old videos that hosted images, music, and other things that weren't strictly mine or part of review videos like the epic level handbook. (Redoing them with several years experience under my belt doesn't hurt either, haha) If you'd like more to listen to you can check out my audio novel "Searanox the Feared". It's here on youtube as well!
Keeping the channel alive and free from strike is way more important, not to worry. The audio book is on my list, yessir. I will be sure to go through and listen to the old stories post haste to avoid missing out. Are there any campaigns (individual games or one shots I am less concerned about) in those videos that have been removed that are not covered in the Retold episodes yet?
the permanent -2 too constitution. not sure you should have let on that it was because he was evil. you could have eluded that his ego was "crushed". altho I think a truly evil character would gain vitality from evil deeds.
Yo T, you've never talked about 4e, you should make a video talking about why you personaly like it or don't and why its such a controversial edition. I got the pdfs and quickly looked throught it and it did sound pretty bad to me, but i'm curious about your opinion on it!
4E was trying to be WoW, and was basically a short-lived blight on the hobby in which almost all the classes became homogenized. It was more of a "tabletop war game" than anything as it relied very heavily on positioning on the board, distance, damage over time, buffs and debuffs... all the sorts of things a computer would worry about-- not a group of D&D players. It was stale and rough to play properly, especially in upper levels.
Oooh, i understand more the ''it feels like playing WoW'' hate on it. What i got from looking through the pdfs is that combat looks absurdly long and classes got MMORPG roles and all looks the same.'
99% of the comments were just people correcting me with their own version of vampire lore, and it got REALLY annoying to come home from work everyday to see an inbox full of "Well ACTUALLY T, blah blah blah..." so I deleted it to save myself the headache.
As a gm i would allow this type of player conduct in my games. At least his past is catching up to him to effect him in more then one way . As a general rule as player / gm if i allow evil pc i must have a code of conduct / what acceptable between me , the players and the gm. Generally i enjoy playing evil light pc( we have a session witch is must to cover unaceptable/ acceptable thing for the game) at times . I think the player went over the line when it came to being evil witch i would never cross that line as a pc . . I a curious this event that involved surrounded the assassination job this pc current partner .Did she get more suspicious about his actual profession ?
Entirely off topic, but as a former WoW player have you heard of the recent announcement of allied races? Thought you would be interested in the Highmountain tauren which will be coming out as playable soon :D vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/wowwiki/images/3/37/BlizzCon_Legion_High_Mountain_Tauren.png/revision/latest?cb=20151107033602
Hey T. I am doing something interesting with a Paladin character in my current campaign and wanted to get your thoughts on it.I decided to make a Paladin for my current campaign. My gm wanted to avoid the lawful-stupid cliche so to avoid that issue he allowed me to make a neutral good or chaotic good Paladin. I enjoyed this idea and decided to make a Paladin of Cayden Cailean, the Lucky Drunk. In the lore it seems there are no Paladins of Cayden so I decided to make it part of my characters story that he was the first Paladin of Cayden. Cayden was tired of the other gods not taking him seriously so he is trying out the idea of Paladins. But since Cayden is chaotic good, he finds most Paladins to be stuffy and draconian in their pursuit of justice. So Cayden decided to relax the rules somewhat for his Paladins. Enter Sir Dolph Bertram, first Paladin of Cayden. We worked it out so Bertram has more freedom to pursue justice in his and Cayden's ideals. He still can't execute helpless prisoners and still has to be upright and virtuous in his deeds. But he decides on his own what is evil and what is worth fighting for. Thus he doesn't have to get in the rogues face about petty theft and he is fine with using ambush tactics. He can lie but only to protect others.(he still isn't very good at it) My first goal with the character was to make a Paladin that you would actually want to hang out with. Thus he loves drinking and fun but is also very brave and loyal. He is still very much a good guy but he doesn't have to be the killjoy that many Paladins sadly become. I wanted to get your personal thoughts on this homebrew ruling. Do you think this dilutes the concept of Paladins too much? I personally think it makes sense that different gods might have their own ideas of what their holy warriors should be. Cayden is a god of goodness but is also a drinker and a horndog. So why wouldn't he let his Paladins act in a way that fits his own ideals? If you disagree or not I would still be interested to know. You are often very swift in punishment of players that act against the ideals of their alignment and gods,so you might not like it. In any case it has been working out very well. Bertram is a joy to play and his wiggle room has allowed him to still be very much a hero while not ruining other peoples fun or turning away potential allies because of alignment restrictions. Do you think this could be a way to have the Paladin class be more popular without losing it entirely? Thanks and have a good day!
Well the thing about "lawful stupid" is that those people are honestly doing it wrong. A paladin leads by example, not by force. Also, lawful good does not mean lawful NICE. You don't have to be an upright holier-than-thou douchebag to be a paladin. You can just as easily NOT look down your nose at people that worship other gods. Paladins are fickle things, I just make sure MY players know I have all of their paladin rules in front of me and assure them that I might try a thing or two to make them fall.
Great little story! And the cosmic justice suits the situation xD I guess he may never have children or be able to "Proform" like he once did with a good pair.
Love the series, but this was always a rough episode. Forced me to quit watching a couple times. Didn't like Mattius at all. Rape is always a no go in campaigns. While I don't agree with your decision to have herself offer her body and punish him, I want nothing more than to see him suffer. I'll attempt to continue with the series this time, but this story never sits well for me.
I hate that you think he could get away with everything with absolutely no consequences. Takes all the accountability out. Being good has consequences, and so does being bad.
I've never played a tabletop rpg where sex has come into play, let alone rape. It seems to be an every other campaign occurrence for you though :/. Like the stories anyway
Sex, in stories or in real life, is often treated as something that consenting adults do to have fun while they wait for the main plot to move forward. (That's why Game of Thrones is so popular, haha!)
TtheWriter Didn't mean to come off as crass, I've been listening to your stuff back to back at work and the theme just seemed to pop up a lot (mostly due to poor character choices) I do genuinely enjoy the stories, in trying to find first ones so I can watch from the start then catch up to that season 5 playlist but they seem a little spotty starting way down on the list at 30 something. Keep up the good work.
I wouldn´t like you as a GM. Too many punishments for player who acts on their whim or commiting an evil deed. You also make too many your own rules or "story" based decisions. Sometimes I feel like you take great deal of joy from suffering of players that you "overthink". Other than that, keep uploading new stuff :D. Learned quite a lot of "What not to do as a GM". :D Keep up the good work. :)
well the player was punished for being dumb rather than evil , raping the dwarf girl a near a table of stuff she could use to kill him , and leaving his belt behind..... the GM give him all the clues like "THE BIG ASS HORN AMMOR" that would give a idea the girl knows someone very dangerous that would want take revenge , if he find out the girl was murdered
To be fair, the player kind of thought with his dick, so... :D Ok, point taken. But still a wrench right to the balls is too precise hit and -2 to constitution pernamently is quite heavy penalty. If it was a temporary penalty, it would be in my honest opinion "better". :D
Gonna jump on your DM shtuff here, because here is finally where it crossed that threshold for me. Constitution is about health. Stuff that damages his hardiness. Men don't get plus 2 con for having balls. It's not a D&D gender buff. So it's entirely arbitrary, and it smells more of a "you didn't pass my real life morality check" It's a flaw I see in you as a DM. You don't react well to evil characters performing real evil acts. Sure, you seem to be accepting of criminal acts, but I suspect that the rules will suddenly not favor someone who say, sacrificed a child on a alter to summon a demon. And you said elsewhere you are "okay with that". Fine, but also not fine. You can be arbitrary if you want to be, be the DM you are comfortable with being, but you should recognize this weakness in yourself. You set him up, and that is what makes you wrong. You signalled to him dark campaigns were ok (you wrote in a rape that HE stopped, not you, earlier here) and then tossed in an arbitrary punishment for acting on it. She could have promised him a robot follower instead with the enchanted items. Or any number of things. You had her offer herself because you knew he would take it, but HE never took the game there until you did. Punishing him for it? Wrong.
So I just played my first session DnD yesterday (as a Rogue, aspiring to become a Shadowblade) and I already noted mentally:
Whatever Mattius does, don't do it!
Royal 97 everything mattius did until the dwarf was good
A lot of masters wonder if Chaotic Neutral/Chaotic Evil campaigns are even possible. Good job there
"My CABBAGES!" is the greatest line of all time.
Yes. :D
“My legs”
I have always viewed assassinations as a lawful evil action, as such an act involves honoring a contract.
As for the rape, over the nature of the contract at that, that is definitely something chaotic evil!
Serious though - Curses exist buddy, never accept such an offer under duress!
it could really go under any alignment depending on the circumstances and person performing it
It isn't a single act that is the problem, but repeating the act until it becomes part of your very being.
However, we are talking about D&D and every single player has a different view of what the alignment table represents. What actions would push a character into another alignment are also up to personal interpenetration of the storyteller and the players themselves. The contract element of assassinations is just something I can not every put under the 'chaotic' category myself.
i do agree that contract killing seems more neutral or lawful evil than chaotic evil
When it come to the contract type and the exact terms . Any one can sign a contract to do X job and get paid. Generally i find assassin would be more neutral evil or lawful evil base on the group make up / structure of the group . Usually i find neutal/lawful evil pc would be ok with contract work compare to chaotic evil pc who would not like it as much .
A contract does not lawful make. Chaotic alignments mean that you live by your own rules in defiance of those you scorn.
If you are an assassin hired by the government and you kill targets you do not know only because you've been commanded, out of an actual sense of duty, you're lawful evil. You've been given license to kill.
If you take a contract to kill someone you do not know, provided it doesn't go against your own tastes, you're somewhere between neutral and chaotic.
If you do anything else to your target that wasn't asked of you, purely for your own enrichment, I'd call you chaotic. In my games, I treat alignments a bit differently from the "correct" version. I use alignments for the purposes of magic and divine prejudice. It's more dramatic if you've been dealt an alignment in excessive punishment.
It's how your character chooses to live with their alignment that is the true test of character. Do they see the error of their ways or do they respond to the excessive punishment with denial?
If your paladin has been judged to be non-lawful, I'll not take away your powers immediately, but you're on the clock. Every level you take as a paladin is now as an ex-paladin and one of your paladin, cleric or warpriest is converted to a non-divine class level to a minimum of 4 or 1 combined divine caster levels.
If you don't want to play by the rules of unfair gods, you can rebel against the judgements and regain your status as lawful that way, provided you aren't actually guilty. Yes, this will regain you a lawful alignment, because you object based on the rules. But you reject the gods.
That's the sort of thing I do for storytelling with alignments. It's not correct, nor fair, but its dramatic.
Was guard one of these armour things? (Guard from loggington)
Hooray for more of this awesome story.
More to come soon!
Minotaur shows up in town looking you.A) RunB) Get the Town guardC) Stab him and kite him around until he dies
YOU! DEAD!
That sounds so familiar.
You porbably heard Noah Antwiler say it during his vampire LARP videos, as a lady paladin was chasing a friend of his (who was a vampire).
Oh yeah, you're right. Thanks. :D
Having listened to all the Oceanrim stuff, from beginning to end recently. I really enjoy this campaign. I've been looking to get back into D&D for some time now, making characters and such. But I can't seem to find a group. So listening to this is bringing me to remember old memories of when I did play D&D in HS.
I dunno. It kinda says something about the DM that puts the option of rape in the story too.
My Rouge was the smallest wood elf ever.
That'd be me if I were assigned to this contract
Pocket sand, nice. *chuckle*
People often make fun of me for having the beltpouchs each with a different spices etc but when it comes up it's amazing to throw a handful of salt promptly at a giant slug/snail. *chuckle*
I love this story
Thanks!
looking back on this story, if you knew he was like this then why present to him these options?
Permanent stat loss that's B's. Bias
Hello T, question for you:
I've just finished watching the D&D Stories retold series, after finding your channel a few weeks ago, and was hoping to watch the "D&D Stories" from 1-133. I notice that it starts at #32. Is there another channel I should be going to to find those (much) older videos to view, or are they lost forever?
I like everything I have seen of yours so far (uneasy story moments aside) and am very much looking forward to hearing the rest.
Actually no, sorry. "D&D Stories Retold" is slowly REPLACING "D&D Stories" for legal reasons. UA-cam's legal landscape is verrrrry shifty at the moment. So I am getting rid of my old videos that hosted images, music, and other things that weren't strictly mine or part of review videos like the epic level handbook. (Redoing them with several years experience under my belt doesn't hurt either, haha)
If you'd like more to listen to you can check out my audio novel "Searanox the Feared". It's here on youtube as well!
Keeping the channel alive and free from strike is way more important, not to worry. The audio book is on my list, yessir. I will be sure to go through and listen to the old stories post haste to avoid missing out.
Are there any campaigns (individual games or one shots I am less concerned about) in those videos that have been removed that are not covered in the Retold episodes yet?
Anything that is still on youtube from D&D Stories is not in D&D Stories Retod yet. Retold is slowly replacing the original.
the permanent -2 too constitution. not sure you should have let on that it was because he was evil. you could have eluded that his ego was "crushed". altho I think a truly evil character would gain vitality from evil deeds.
perfect timing!
as usual!
Would say this scenario would go well with world of darkness.
Never played that, isn't that a vampire setting?
It can be a lot of things. Vampire, Werewolves, Mages, Fae, etc... They have books for many concepts. You interested?
Sounds like he's playing the character right lol...
Lol. That poor minotaur
So close yet so far.
Yo T, you've never talked about 4e, you should make a video talking about why you personaly like it or don't and why its such a controversial edition. I got the pdfs and quickly looked throught it and it did sound pretty bad to me, but i'm curious about your opinion on it!
4E was trying to be WoW, and was basically a short-lived blight on the hobby in which almost all the classes became homogenized. It was more of a "tabletop war game" than anything as it relied very heavily on positioning on the board, distance, damage over time, buffs and debuffs... all the sorts of things a computer would worry about-- not a group of D&D players. It was stale and rough to play properly, especially in upper levels.
Oooh, i understand more the ''it feels like playing WoW'' hate on it. What i got from looking through the pdfs is that combat looks absurdly long and classes got MMORPG roles and all looks the same.'
What happened to the Vampires 101 video? I wanted to rewatch it for the 100th time and it was removed.
99% of the comments were just people correcting me with their own version of vampire lore, and it got REALLY annoying to come home from work everyday to see an inbox full of "Well ACTUALLY T, blah blah blah..." so I deleted it to save myself the headache.
Understandable, have a good day.
Nooooo! I finished all the tells stories
As a gm i would allow this type of player conduct in my games. At least his past is catching up to him to effect him in more then one way . As a general rule as player / gm if i allow evil pc i must have a code of conduct / what acceptable between me , the players and the gm. Generally i enjoy playing evil light pc( we have a session witch is must to cover unaceptable/ acceptable thing for the game) at times . I think the player went over the line when it came to being evil witch i would never cross that line as a pc . . I a curious this event that involved surrounded the assassination job this pc current partner .Did she get more suspicious about his actual profession ?
Entirely off topic, but as a former WoW player have you heard of the recent announcement of allied races?
Thought you would be interested in the Highmountain tauren which will be coming out as playable soon :D
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/wowwiki/images/3/37/BlizzCon_Legion_High_Mountain_Tauren.png/revision/latest?cb=20151107033602
I'm actually very interested to try WoW Classic.
Hey T. I am doing something interesting with a Paladin character in my current campaign and wanted to get your thoughts on it.I decided to make a Paladin for my current campaign. My gm wanted to avoid the lawful-stupid cliche so to avoid that issue he allowed me to make a neutral good or chaotic good Paladin. I enjoyed this idea and decided to make a Paladin of Cayden Cailean, the Lucky Drunk. In the lore it seems there are no Paladins of Cayden so I decided to make it part of my characters story that he was the first Paladin of Cayden. Cayden was tired of the other gods not taking him seriously so he is trying out the idea of Paladins. But since Cayden is chaotic good, he finds most Paladins to be stuffy and draconian in their pursuit of justice. So Cayden decided to relax the rules somewhat for his Paladins. Enter Sir Dolph Bertram, first Paladin of Cayden. We worked it out so Bertram has more freedom to pursue justice in his and Cayden's ideals. He still can't execute helpless prisoners and still has to be upright and virtuous in his deeds. But he decides on his own what is evil and what is worth fighting for. Thus he doesn't have to get in the rogues face about petty theft and he is fine with using ambush tactics. He can lie but only to protect others.(he still isn't very good at it) My first goal with the character was to make a Paladin that you would actually want to hang out with. Thus he loves drinking and fun but is also very brave and loyal. He is still very much a good guy but he doesn't have to be the killjoy that many Paladins sadly become. I wanted to get your personal thoughts on this homebrew ruling. Do you think this dilutes the concept of Paladins too much? I personally think it makes sense that different gods might have their own ideas of what their holy warriors should be. Cayden is a god of goodness but is also a drinker and a horndog. So why wouldn't he let his Paladins act in a way that fits his own ideals? If you disagree or not I would still be interested to know. You are often very swift in punishment of players that act against the ideals of their alignment and gods,so you might not like it. In any case it has been working out very well. Bertram is a joy to play and his wiggle room has allowed him to still be very much a hero while not ruining other peoples fun or turning away potential allies because of alignment restrictions. Do you think this could be a way to have the Paladin class be more popular without losing it entirely? Thanks and have a good day!
Well the thing about "lawful stupid" is that those people are honestly doing it wrong. A paladin leads by example, not by force. Also, lawful good does not mean lawful NICE. You don't have to be an upright holier-than-thou douchebag to be a paladin. You can just as easily NOT look down your nose at people that worship other gods.
Paladins are fickle things, I just make sure MY players know I have all of their paladin rules in front of me and assure them that I might try a thing or two to make them fall.
I would be a horrible gm
Nice new intro.
Thank you! "Crowne Prince" is an excellent animator.
Great little story! And the cosmic justice suits the situation xD I guess he may never have children or be able to "Proform" like he once did with a good pair.
In the later parts we learn at least one of them is working. His performance we don't learn about.
Love the series, but this was always a rough episode. Forced me to quit watching a couple times. Didn't like Mattius at all. Rape is always a no go in campaigns. While I don't agree with your decision to have herself offer her body and punish him, I want nothing more than to see him suffer.
I'll attempt to continue with the series this time, but this story never sits well for me.
Good. If it did sit well with you I would worry.
sigh dammit Mattius
Hey T, have you played any lately?
I have not, no. My GM works at a packaging service and they are swamped for the holidays so I have no one to play with. :(
TtheWriter , Yeah, me neither, though I've been itching to play in an Undermountain campaign.
Dammit. I like to listen to your stories on acid or Molly and damn that pixel girl is hot af
Jesus christ! Think of the children.
I was gonna go to sleep then I saw a dwarf lady in panties and I was like fuck it I will stay up late
Gotta love those pixel undies. :D
I hate that you punished him repeatedly for his ethical choices, too moralistic. Took all the flavour out.
I hate that you think he could get away with everything with absolutely no consequences. Takes all the accountability out. Being good has consequences, and so does being bad.
I've never played a tabletop rpg where sex has come into play, let alone rape. It seems to be an every other campaign occurrence for you though :/. Like the stories anyway
Sex, in stories or in real life, is often treated as something that consenting adults do to have fun while they wait for the main plot to move forward. (That's why Game of Thrones is so popular, haha!)
TtheWriter Didn't mean to come off as crass, I've been listening to your stuff back to back at work and the theme just seemed to pop up a lot (mostly due to poor character choices) I do genuinely enjoy the stories, in trying to find first ones so I can watch from the start then catch up to that season 5 playlist but they seem a little spotty starting way down on the list at 30 something. Keep up the good work.
I wouldn´t like you as a GM. Too many punishments for player who acts on their whim or commiting an evil deed. You also make too many your own rules or "story" based decisions. Sometimes I feel like you take great deal of joy from suffering of players that you "overthink". Other than that, keep uploading new stuff :D. Learned quite a lot of "What not to do as a GM". :D Keep up the good work. :)
I'm okay with that. :D
And I shall! :D
well the player was punished for being dumb rather than evil , raping the dwarf girl a near a table of stuff she could use to kill him , and leaving his belt behind.....
the GM give him all the clues like "THE BIG ASS HORN AMMOR" that would give a idea the girl knows someone very dangerous that would want take revenge , if he find out the girl was murdered
To be fair, the player kind of thought with his dick, so... :D Ok, point taken. But still a wrench right to the balls is too precise hit and -2 to constitution pernamently is quite heavy penalty. If it was a temporary penalty, it would be in my honest opinion "better". :D
Gonna jump on your DM shtuff here, because here is finally where it crossed that threshold for me.
Constitution is about health. Stuff that damages his hardiness. Men don't get plus 2 con for having balls. It's not a D&D gender buff. So it's entirely arbitrary, and it smells more of a "you didn't pass my real life morality check"
It's a flaw I see in you as a DM. You don't react well to evil characters performing real evil acts. Sure, you seem to be accepting of criminal acts, but I suspect that the rules will suddenly not favor someone who say, sacrificed a child on a alter to summon a demon.
And you said elsewhere you are "okay with that". Fine, but also not fine.
You can be arbitrary if you want to be, be the DM you are comfortable with being, but you should recognize this weakness in yourself. You set him up, and that is what makes you wrong. You signalled to him dark campaigns were ok (you wrote in a rape that HE stopped, not you, earlier here) and then tossed in an arbitrary punishment for acting on it.
She could have promised him a robot follower instead with the enchanted items. Or any number of things. You had her offer herself because you knew he would take it, but HE never took the game there until you did. Punishing him for it? Wrong.