Im a huge fan of this book. Very usable. Very readable. And, like skerples other work, it's a great teaching tools. Earlier this year I picked up EN Publishing's Level Up Monster Menagerie which, like this, is stuffed with info and actually useful charts and lists, but aimed directly at 5e players. I hope this trend in monster book design continues.
Fantastic - I'm really happy to hear EN Publishing is still putting out quality products. I bought a few 3E era supplements from them but I haven't kept up with their publishing for a while. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I love using random encounters to trigger atmosphere. I rolled up an earthquake a few sessions back and it’s become linked to an ancient inter-dimensional god finding his way into the world.
YES! I love this kind of thing because it forces you as a DM to figure out a way to incorporate the roll into the world, and then figure out a way to make it relevant to the campaign. That kind of thing usually ends up being much more creative and fun than something I would've just made up on my own.
Yes! I love that work random encounters, weather etc as well! Do you use a particular chart for things like earthquakes or have you created a mixed encounters/event table yourself?
The menu entries are a lot of fun! There aren't included for every monster (obviously they aren't included for the "People" chapter) but you can use them as inspiration for other monsters/creatures and create your own tables!
I really appreciate that you shared how you've used this to improve your game and also included the intro section to explain WHY someone might use this book. The style of game this book supports (basically OSR style) is generally not very well understood by the general D&D audience, so I think it's highly valuable to include the reason why. Both valuable for people new to this style, but also good for us OSR-fans to remind us that the way we do things isn't universal and also giving us language to explain ourselves to others in the D&D community.
I LOVE random tables when they're done well, meaning they're useful and either broad enough yet evocative to inspire, or specific and thorough enough to include things I wouldn't have thought of. My favorites are the Tome of Adventure Design (mostly for prep) and the D30 Companion / Sandbox.
I totally agree with this! I love making random tables and I share quite a few on my blog and also on social media (mainly Twitter and Instagram). I, too, really like the Tome of Adventure Design, as you can see here: ua-cam.com/video/HQXcFPIpiFc/v-deo.htmlsi=gmhshpRXl39S431L I need to check out that D30 Companion.
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for watching, and for letting me know. I also appreciate you watching all the way through to the end of the bonus content. Cheers!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it definitely could be. While some of the mechanics (of which there are *very* few) are more skewed to a class-and-level system, it really could be used for any kind of fantasy adventure game including D6 or D100 types.
I've been on the fence about this one. This is the most complete review I've seen for it, and you sold me on it. Seems like an amazing resource. I'm running a warhammer game right now and I think this could be very useful. Bonus content. I love Islay scotch. It's like drinking a burning barn and I'm here for it.
I definitely think there's a lot in here you could use in a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game (as you've probably seen, I did play that system way back in the late 1980s and I have one of the early rulebooks for it). My recollection is that Warhammer is a bit more "weird fantasy" than some of the more classic Tolkien-esque fantasy of D&D, so you might need to adjust some of your rolls accordingly (or just pick the ones that are more relevant to your setting). But other than there, there are almost no mechanics in here that you'd need to fiddle with to make it work. And thanks for watching the bonus content! I'm glad you enjoy that part, and it's nice to meet someone else who enjoys Islay scotch. Sláinte!
@daddyrolleda1 I'm trying to cleave a bit more closely to early warhammer lore, and early warhammer was basically just a parody of Tolkein + Moorcockian weirdness. I love Ardbeg. They have a small batch single malt called Wee Beastie, it's one of my favorites and comes at a very reasonable price.
@@nicklarocco4178 Oh very cool! I'm pretty unfamiliar with very early Warhammer stuff. Glad to hear this book will be useful for your game! And I have heard of Wee Beastie but I've not had it. I will seek it out now based on your recommendation!
I'm glad to hear that! Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Also, now I want to make spaghetti for dinner and watch "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"!
Thank you so much for saying that! I appreciate it! And I'll look to add more reviews in the future! In a recent poll I did, viewers seemed overwhelming in favor of more D&D History Videos, much less interested in my Campaign Prep videos, and even less interested in reviews. But some folks wanted all 3! In any event, more reviews to come!
Wow! This looks better than I thought and I only watched up to the inside front cover bit 😅 Those tables look extremely well picked and written. I'd love that at the table! Edit: Random encounters can be tricky in new school games like D&D 3rd-5th ed because it's often fights, those take too long and on top are dependent on 5 ft grid maps so players get to use their character abilities as intended. I've had some fun with random weather for example but not so much monsters. One of the main reasons I went back to old school D&D.
Yes, those inside front covers are so creative and evocative they could almost have been sold on their own as just a little pamphlet! And I know what you mean... in newer editions of the game, most encounters are assumed to be combats, and most gamers (and DMs) approach them that way. And yes, as you said, it's one of the reasons I prefer older editions now! You don't *have* to fight in newer editions, but using battle mats and grids and figures (virtual or physical) to assist with tactical maneuvers and positioning really lead themselves to the idea that "random monster = combat."
Nice book with lots of great ideas. No need to roll just find an appropriate one and use it for your encounter or roll and see what you get. Mentioning the Doppelganger reminded me of when my character got knocked out and the DM hands me a note telling me that I'm a Doppelganger and I have to steer the players to a certain area and try to kill them at the "appropriate moment". That was really fun for me but my buddies wanted to kill me afterwards.
Ha! I think that sounds like a lot of fun! My group now, I think, would fully appreciate something like that, but yeah, back in the day, I might have been a little miffed! But that does sound like a really fun campaign!
I do the same thing for weather now. Except I usually roll for random weather on this special d10 I found on Amazon. I do the same beginning of notes strategy for any other important thing I might forget to do. I always capitalize every letter and underline. I also try to keep my session notes all on a single page.
This is all fantastic! I'm not sure if you've seen my campaign prep videos but I show some of my notes taking stages while I'm brainstorming for the sessions and then how I translate that to a 2-page spread in a larger DM notebook that I can use to run my sessions. These days, sometimes my 2-page spread ends up being a bit longer but that's because I'm increasing the size of the type to make it easier for my old eyes to read quickly. I try not to have page flipping but it's a balance between that and type that's too small for me to make out easily at a distance!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your support! And yes, my next video *should* be a campaign prep video. I've already started working on my notes for it. Stay tuned!
Final comments 😁 I really shouldn't but I think I can't help getting at least the pdf for now. I'm really grateful for your thorough presentation because it's very clear how valuable the content is. And yeah, I really don't like Laphroaig 😆 I think my wife enjoys it. I have one use for it and it is for flambéing steak, especially entrecote. Highly recommended!
I'm so glad to hear it, and also that you found the review educational and informative enough to make a decision like this. I will definitely try your steak trick! I also keep a small atomizer at hand at my bar, filled with Laphroaig and I sometimes use it to do a quick spray across the top of a Manhattan, or to spritz the inside of a chilled nick-and-nora glass before pouring in a Martini to give it a bit of a smoky overtone. Thanks again! I enjoy chatting with you in the comments.
I appreciate that! It is a really fun book. I know you're mostly focused on your writing these days, but if you ever do start running a campaign in Forestera, this could be a good resource, and it's possible it could even act as writing prompts if you need such a thing!
@@daddyrolleda1 My brothers sister loves playing D&D, but has only played 5e, so she's hoping to start a campaign with me and a few of my friends. I told her that would be great, as I'd like to at least learn 5e, since I've never once played any version of WotC D&D.
@@Lightmane Oh, very cool! Of the WotC versions, I think you'd like 5E the best as, mechanically, it is closer to the earlier editions than either 3E or 4E. It was designed very specifically with an eye toward incorporating the best parts of all the editions but also being compatible. I use 5E stuff in m B/X game all the time. I just sometimes have to adjust the power level. But if you do 5E without the feats (which is completely within the rules; most people don't realize feats are *Optional* then it start to get closer to earlier editions).
@@daddyrolleda1 yeah, I've heard how ridiculous those feats can get. My nephew plays, and his 2nd level fighter is just absurd. He could very easily kill a 1e 5th level fighter. WotC, imo, just doesn't understand what D&D was really all about, and why it became so popular. Heck, I'm sure they think that they're the ones that made it popular. Of course they did, but they had a little help with marketing. Big Bang Theory being one of them. If Gary had made better decisions, I'm pretty sure that he'd still own the game, and TSR would be as well known as WotC, if not more so. Well, his family would still own it, that is : )
Ha! I like Ardbeg! Truth to be told, I like most Scotch - it just kind of depends on my mood. But they can be pretty polarizing for folks who don't like that kind of flavor. One of my very good friends, who is my "cocktail buddy" has decided that he just really doesn't like *any* Scotch, whether blended or single malt.
Generic world map reminds me of middle earth which then prompts this thought; have you ever encountered the the ICE publising middle earth role playing books?
Yes indeed. I never played the system but recall the ads in Dragon Magazine and in the early 2000's I played in a 3E game in which the DM used a lot of his old MERP books to build the setting and story, so I was exposed to them that way from a player's perspective.
I am a huge fan of random tables: the problem? I enjoy them a bit too much. I am not talking in-game, I use them less than I would like but I find it hard to give too much narrative control over to pure chance (well... Not entirely pure chance if you build your table right)... But I mean that I just like rolling on them and thinking "Man, that'd be a cool encounter!" So, I think I am going to have to be a "Roll everything before the session," type GM if I want to use them more effectively. Also there are just some things I don't want to roll at the table because it is tedious like I know of a really good random weather table in one of my books... But you need to determine your weather baseline, the elevation above or below sea level, the season, the biome/region: Then with this you roll your temperature variation, percipitation if any (and there are 8 tables of percipitation types), wind strength, and cloud cover... Then there are natural disasters like Wildfires that have a 10% chance of creating 1d6 firenados. Well, okay, the natural disasters are not *on* the regular weather tables... But they are caused by extreme weather in certain areas, like a thunderstorm over a desert creating a Haboob or a thunderstorm over a forest having a chance to create a wildfire (it is mostly thunder storms) but the rules are fun regardless. But I also like to really build off of rolls on tables with somewhat vague results... So it isn't just the complexity that would hold me back. Like I have this one project which is supposed to be a general use Hexcrawl or maybe to be used with a sandbox generator later but for instance: I roll on my Encounters Table getting an 8 and thus Ruins, roll Ruins getting a Campsite, and roll a Ruin modifier getting Overgrown (Vines, shrubs, and moss have taken over this place). And so it is pretty open to how I can make that look, what's in their, etc. And both the encounter and the Ruins modifier had a Roll 2 option... So I could have got Ruins and Pilgrims, with a ruined Tower (Wizard's), modified by Contains Treasure (Treasure was left behind or hidden here) and Inhabited (Monsters), and Inhabited by Ogres (no slaves). So pilgrims (which I have yet to make a table for) located in or around a Ruined Wizard's tower which contains treasure and an Ogre. Now one could argue that perhaps that isn't so vague... But there is still a lot about the Wizard's tower I do not know, I also do not know what the treasure is or why the pilgrims are there... Where is this tower? Etc. There's a lot in that scene... Given not every roll will have two Roll 2s in it, so it is quite forced. Okay, not a good example of not complex... But even with a monster roll, unless you are in a dungeon you want to think about why the monster is there, what is the terrain... And so on and so such. Which, I guess that could be "automated" by tables like I did with my "ruin generator" where it gives you "On a hill" but then "Dense shrubbery (Difficult terrain)" and you need to decide how you set THAT up... But I will get to that when I get to that. I think if you are going to take anything from this rambling mess it is that first sentence there: I am a huge fan of random tables.
I really want a copy. I saw it going for 60 bucks ( book , pdf). I like this kind of immersion. And consider if a pc hasn't seen or heard of these creatures, how would they perceive them?
Ha! That was kind of my point... that's *not* the way to use random tables, but so many people think that's all a random encounter is! Thanks for watching and commenting!
The game described at 8:40 or so sounds like a horrible railroad. I know it's what some people look for (namely, almost all of the 5e tables at my bi-weekly rpg gathering), but it is way not my style of play. Edit - 20:10 - Not having dinosaurs in your game? Sounds awful, gotta have a Jurassic Park Island somewhere!
I agree - we played the first time and "finished" the campaign (this was for a high-level D&D 3.5/Pathfinder 1E game) because the guy was a long-time player but first-time D&D, and he was really excited. He later decided to run a follow-up campaign and it died after two sessions because in the second session we didn't do what he wanted us to do after we'd told him multiple times we didn't want to do that. He had a what I presume was a BBEG, a young girl who commanded a lot of power, trying to give us a mission we had no interest in following. We'd told him at the previous session multiple times as a group we didn't want to do that, so we'd given him fair warning. The players spent the next few weeks in between games corresponding about how we were going to coordinate our attacks on this girl. I was playing a Cavalier and had min/maxed my character, something I NEVER do, by doing things like improved critical and a bunch of other stacked feats and class abilities, so at the second session when the DM wouldn't let go of us needing to agree to do this mission that we thought made no sense, We won Initiative and I charged her which normally does something like triple damage anyway, but rolled and confirmed a critical, and then with my Cavalier abilities, magical weapon, STR bonus and my horse's STR bonus which I got to add, I did something like +300 hp damage on one hit [side note: another reason I don't play 3.5/Pathfinder any more]. The Fighter player had very slyly positioned himself so he was within reach of her before combat started so he got a full attack and did even more damage. So after two people had gone, she'd lost something like ~600 HP. The other PCs positioned themselves for Round 2 but didn't do anything. The DM was so angry and said he couldn't believe we'd attacked the girl, then said she pointed a finger at my Cohort [I had the Leadership Feat] and he died instantly. I said, "She is still up after taking more than 600 points of damage? Also, if that's Finger of Death, I get a Saving Throw." And he said, "No. No save. He's dead. Now do you agree to go?" He never did tell us what "spell" it was and I suspect it wasn't anything other than him just being angry with us. So we said, "No, we're not going on this mission, and killing our allies isn't a way to incentivize us." And that was the end of that campaign. He was very angry because he'd spent a ton of time writing it, but he'd also sold it to us as a "sandbox" after we'd commented on his previous game. It was at this point we realized he didn't know what a sandbox was.
@@daddyrolleda1 Ouch, that sounds rough. 3.5/PF are very broken at high level. Sounds like his DMPC person was someone he didn't want killed, as a Great Wyrm dragon has less than 600hp and killing off your Cohort without a save was him lashing out. If your story is that important, just write a novel. Especially after selling it as "a sandbox".
Yowch, that sounds painful. Sad to see it. It's always a big problem if you rely too heavily on the players doing a specific action, unless it's something they'll obviously want to do (even then, you need a backup plan!). This is a problem I've noticed with many of the modules, adventures, and systems that I actually like from a flavour and lore-perspective, such as Deadlands. Practically every major villain's description in the Deadlands books includes some variant of "don't let your players kill this guy because we need him for our metaplot, if you allow him to die make sure to replace him with someone else who can serve the same role". My favourite(?) example of this in action comes from the Deadlands Classic module "Dead Presidents", which is cool, but unbelievably railroady, on top of being brutally difficult. Let me explain: The NPCs must meet with Robert E Lee early on in the module, because otherwise they can't learn that Jefferson Davis has been replaced by a monster doppelganger (the module's main villain, as well as one of the biggest villains of the setting as a whole). Lee then MUST be assassinated by NPC henchmen, because attending Lee's funeral during the final act is literally the only reason in the entire world why the doppelganger would ever leave his impregnable Death Fortress. Halfway through the module, the players get attacked by the villain's elite corps of Badass Black-Coat-Wearing Zombie Henchmen, and the module literally says something along the lines of "the players must lose this fight. The enemies break out any tool, weapon, or dirty trick necessary, up to and including swarming them with a completely unfair number of elite enemies who they can't escape from or hide from." The party is then kidnapped and taken to an evil Torture Prison where the DM is instructed to sow paranoia and mistrust among the group by implying that one player has ratted out the others. They're then given a chance to formulate their own escape plan, but if they don't, they get one scripted chance to escape their execution by firing squad via a giant NPC Zeppelin that interrupts said execution. If they don't take it, they die. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else from a module that involves taking out a major player in the metaplot of a setting that's heavily invested in metaplot.@@daddyrolleda1
Watching the shaky book is quite immersive. I feel like I've shared half that bottle with you. Strip out all the (rather pointless - Annie Mountain? Alice Tidepool?) tables for names and the book would probably be half the size.
Ha! Yeah, the book is quite heavy, as the paper is very thick so even though it's "only" 330 pages, it's just really heavy and a few times I was trying to hold it with one hand while using my other to point to something in the book. Plus, I wont lie - I sometimes get a little nervous while recording because I want to make sure I'm doing a good job. Hence the shaking! I'll try to hold it steadier in the future! I am terrible at coming up with names on the fly, but as a result I tend to just create my own name tables that are specific to the region of the world the PCs are in. So, I, too, would most likely not use many of the names in this book. But I'm sure for others, it could be helpful. Thank you for watching and commenting!
You are being too generous to the game master you describe around minute nine. That is the epitome of railroading and would very much not be okay with me, especially if it was not communicated prior to play. A novel and a campaign are not one in the same. If they want to write a novel then self-publish it, if they want to run a game then their needs to be degree of choice and player agency.
It's difficult because I have known this person for nearly 40 years and I still see him pretty regularly, including in a game someone else runs that we both play in. He was my best friend in high school and best man at my wedding. So... I try to cut a little slack. He was new to DM'ing, and he cut his teeth playing Dragonlance modules, which are all about railroading. It wasn't my style of game, but at the end of the day, I got to hang out with my best friend and a bunch of other cool folks I enjoy spending time with, and roleplay killing some monsters and such. Things could be worse.
This so reminds me of old d&d stuff were they pack every page with as much stuff as possible its great
I agree! And thank you for watching and commenting!
Im a huge fan of this book. Very usable. Very readable. And, like skerples other work, it's a great teaching tools.
Earlier this year I picked up EN Publishing's Level Up Monster Menagerie which, like this, is stuffed with info and actually useful charts and lists, but aimed directly at 5e players.
I hope this trend in monster book design continues.
Fantastic - I'm really happy to hear EN Publishing is still putting out quality products. I bought a few 3E era supplements from them but I haven't kept up with their publishing for a while.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
17:41 In addition, use the first and last names interchangeably. Any first name may go with nearly any last name, thus giving thousands of names.
Exactly!
I love using random encounters to trigger atmosphere. I rolled up an earthquake a few sessions back and it’s become linked to an ancient inter-dimensional god finding his way into the world.
YES! I love this kind of thing because it forces you as a DM to figure out a way to incorporate the roll into the world, and then figure out a way to make it relevant to the campaign. That kind of thing usually ends up being much more creative and fun than something I would've just made up on my own.
Yes! I love that work random encounters, weather etc as well! Do you use a particular chart for things like earthquakes or have you created a mixed encounters/event table yourself?
I think those menu entries sold me. Now my wildest Delicious in Dungeon dreams will be a reality.
The menu entries are a lot of fun! There aren't included for every monster (obviously they aren't included for the "People" chapter) but you can use them as inspiration for other monsters/creatures and create your own tables!
I really appreciate that you shared how you've used this to improve your game and also included the intro section to explain WHY someone might use this book. The style of game this book supports (basically OSR style) is generally not very well understood by the general D&D audience, so I think it's highly valuable to include the reason why. Both valuable for people new to this style, but also good for us OSR-fans to remind us that the way we do things isn't universal and also giving us language to explain ourselves to others in the D&D community.
Thanks for the video! Sounds intertesting!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it!
I LOVE random tables when they're done well, meaning they're useful and either broad enough yet evocative to inspire, or specific and thorough enough to include things I wouldn't have thought of. My favorites are the Tome of Adventure Design (mostly for prep) and the D30 Companion / Sandbox.
I totally agree with this! I love making random tables and I share quite a few on my blog and also on social media (mainly Twitter and Instagram).
I, too, really like the Tome of Adventure Design, as you can see here: ua-cam.com/video/HQXcFPIpiFc/v-deo.htmlsi=gmhshpRXl39S431L
I need to check out that D30 Companion.
Thanks for letting us know about the Monster Overhaul!
You are very welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Yes! You are absolutely correct... the wyrmling loves the alternate beholder rays. Cannonball and Sauce are his favorites!
I was hoping you would see that! Thank you for watching and I'm glad the Wyrmling liked that part. It seemed right up his alley!
These videos are SOOOOOOOOOO good. And I just have to add: Your bonus content is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY! 😁
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for watching, and for letting me know. I also appreciate you watching all the way through to the end of the bonus content. Cheers!
I just bought this - can't wait until Christmas...
Are you holding onto it to give to yourself as a gift?
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks for the peek inside. This has been on my shopping list for a little bit, now I will likely purchase this next payday.
I am glad to have helped you figure out how to spend your paycheck! Cheers and happy gaming!
Very interesting review. This book seems like it could add to ANY fantasy campaign. Thank you sir.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it definitely could be. While some of the mechanics (of which there are *very* few) are more skewed to a class-and-level system, it really could be used for any kind of fantasy adventure game including D6 or D100 types.
I've been on the fence about this one. This is the most complete review I've seen for it, and you sold me on it. Seems like an amazing resource. I'm running a warhammer game right now and I think this could be very useful.
Bonus content. I love Islay scotch. It's like drinking a burning barn and I'm here for it.
Lagavulin. Yum.
I definitely think there's a lot in here you could use in a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game (as you've probably seen, I did play that system way back in the late 1980s and I have one of the early rulebooks for it). My recollection is that Warhammer is a bit more "weird fantasy" than some of the more classic Tolkien-esque fantasy of D&D, so you might need to adjust some of your rolls accordingly (or just pick the ones that are more relevant to your setting). But other than there, there are almost no mechanics in here that you'd need to fiddle with to make it work.
And thanks for watching the bonus content! I'm glad you enjoy that part, and it's nice to meet someone else who enjoys Islay scotch. Sláinte!
Yes! Lagavulin is another favorite of mine after a friend turned me onto it a few years ago.
@daddyrolleda1 I'm trying to cleave a bit more closely to early warhammer lore, and early warhammer was basically just a parody of Tolkein + Moorcockian weirdness.
I love Ardbeg. They have a small batch single malt called Wee Beastie, it's one of my favorites and comes at a very reasonable price.
@@nicklarocco4178 Oh very cool! I'm pretty unfamiliar with very early Warhammer stuff. Glad to hear this book will be useful for your game!
And I have heard of Wee Beastie but I've not had it. I will seek it out now based on your recommendation!
I really like this book. Thank you for sharing!
I'm glad to hear that! Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
Also, now I want to make spaghetti for dinner and watch "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"!
for weather, i have my campaigns set in the "mid west america" for reference and i keep an almanac at hand and just use that to determine weather.
That is perfect! I'm always a fan of using real-world things like this to make a world more consistent and immersive.
Bought it while I was still halfway through the video lol. Seems like an amazing book.
Would love more reviews in the future.
Thank you so much for saying that! I appreciate it! And I'll look to add more reviews in the future! In a recent poll I did, viewers seemed overwhelming in favor of more D&D History Videos, much less interested in my Campaign Prep videos, and even less interested in reviews. But some folks wanted all 3! In any event, more reviews to come!
Wow! This looks better than I thought and I only watched up to the inside front cover bit 😅 Those tables look extremely well picked and written. I'd love that at the table!
Edit: Random encounters can be tricky in new school games like D&D 3rd-5th ed because it's often fights, those take too long and on top are dependent on 5 ft grid maps so players get to use their character abilities as intended. I've had some fun with random weather for example but not so much monsters. One of the main reasons I went back to old school D&D.
Yes, those inside front covers are so creative and evocative they could almost have been sold on their own as just a little pamphlet!
And I know what you mean... in newer editions of the game, most encounters are assumed to be combats, and most gamers (and DMs) approach them that way. And yes, as you said, it's one of the reasons I prefer older editions now! You don't *have* to fight in newer editions, but using battle mats and grids and figures (virtual or physical) to assist with tactical maneuvers and positioning really lead themselves to the idea that "random monster = combat."
@@daddyrolleda1 Yup. Plus players tend to really want to use their character powers which are mostly for combat and on top the lack of fear.
Looks so cool! Thanks for reviewing
It is a ton of fun and I figured I could use some of my increased viewership and subscribers to help get it some more notice!
Nice! Didn't heard of it before. I need to order a copy (insert "shut up and take my money meme" here...)
It's such a great book! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Nice book with lots of great ideas. No need to roll just find an appropriate one and use it for your encounter or roll and see what you get.
Mentioning the Doppelganger reminded me of when my character got knocked out and the DM hands me a note telling me that I'm a Doppelganger and I have to steer the players to a certain area and try to kill them at the "appropriate moment". That was really fun for me but my buddies wanted to kill me afterwards.
Ha! I think that sounds like a lot of fun! My group now, I think, would fully appreciate something like that, but yeah, back in the day, I might have been a little miffed! But that does sound like a really fun campaign!
Thanks for the share!!
Glad you liked it! One of my favorite OSR books ever!
Love the map.
It is a lot of fun. I remember seeing that map posted on Twitter awhile ago and thought it was hilarious, but didn't realize it was part of this book!
I do the same thing for weather now. Except I usually roll for random weather on this special d10 I found on Amazon. I do the same beginning of notes strategy for any other important thing I might forget to do. I always capitalize every letter and underline. I also try to keep my session notes all on a single page.
This is all fantastic! I'm not sure if you've seen my campaign prep videos but I show some of my notes taking stages while I'm brainstorming for the sessions and then how I translate that to a 2-page spread in a larger DM notebook that I can use to run my sessions. These days, sometimes my 2-page spread ends up being a bit longer but that's because I'm increasing the size of the type to make it easier for my old eyes to read quickly. I try not to have page flipping but it's a balance between that and type that's too small for me to make out easily at a distance!
I like this reviews. Very entertaining and to the point. Whould you continue your campaign video series?
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your support!
And yes, my next video *should* be a campaign prep video. I've already started working on my notes for it. Stay tuned!
Final comments 😁 I really shouldn't but I think I can't help getting at least the pdf for now. I'm really grateful for your thorough presentation because it's very clear how valuable the content is.
And yeah, I really don't like Laphroaig 😆 I think my wife enjoys it. I have one use for it and it is for flambéing steak, especially entrecote. Highly recommended!
I'm so glad to hear it, and also that you found the review educational and informative enough to make a decision like this.
I will definitely try your steak trick! I also keep a small atomizer at hand at my bar, filled with Laphroaig and I sometimes use it to do a quick spray across the top of a Manhattan, or to spritz the inside of a chilled nick-and-nora glass before pouring in a Martini to give it a bit of a smoky overtone.
Thanks again! I enjoy chatting with you in the comments.
@@daddyrolleda1 Oh wow! I've never heard of am atomizer before. I'm certainly curious about that now.
And yes, I'm enjoying these exchanges very much!
Looks like a great book. I'll try to watch all this later today or tomorrow. Looks really cool though, as I skimmed through it : )
I appreciate that! It is a really fun book. I know you're mostly focused on your writing these days, but if you ever do start running a campaign in Forestera, this could be a good resource, and it's possible it could even act as writing prompts if you need such a thing!
@@daddyrolleda1 My brothers sister loves playing D&D, but has only played 5e, so she's hoping to start a campaign with me and a few of my friends. I told her that would be great, as I'd like to at least learn 5e, since I've never once played any version of WotC D&D.
@@Lightmane Oh, very cool! Of the WotC versions, I think you'd like 5E the best as, mechanically, it is closer to the earlier editions than either 3E or 4E. It was designed very specifically with an eye toward incorporating the best parts of all the editions but also being compatible. I use 5E stuff in m B/X game all the time. I just sometimes have to adjust the power level. But if you do 5E without the feats (which is completely within the rules; most people don't realize feats are *Optional* then it start to get closer to earlier editions).
@@daddyrolleda1 yeah, I've heard how ridiculous those feats can get. My nephew plays, and his 2nd level fighter is just absurd. He could very easily kill a 1e 5th level fighter. WotC, imo, just doesn't understand what D&D was really all about, and why it became so popular. Heck, I'm sure they think that they're the ones that made it popular. Of course they did, but they had a little help with marketing. Big Bang Theory being one of them. If Gary had made better decisions, I'm pretty sure that he'd still own the game, and TSR would be as well known as WotC, if not more so. Well, his family would still own it, that is : )
I didn’t know Blue Note Reimagined existed. I want to check that out!
Thanks for watching to the end! You'll also be happy to know there's a sequel, Blue Note Re:imagined II!
I need to get this!
It is such a great book! I'm glad you agree. And thank you for watching and commenting!
The Questing Beast is on a different channel. 😁
Ha! Questing Beast was one of the first TTRPG channels I found on UA-cam! I still like it!
I keep a bottle of Ardbeg 10 open. My wife says it tastes like barbecued cough syrup.😂
Ha! I like Ardbeg! Truth to be told, I like most Scotch - it just kind of depends on my mood. But they can be pretty polarizing for folks who don't like that kind of flavor. One of my very good friends, who is my "cocktail buddy" has decided that he just really doesn't like *any* Scotch, whether blended or single malt.
Generic world map reminds me of middle earth which then prompts this thought; have you ever encountered the the ICE publising middle earth role playing books?
Ice stood for iron crown enterprises
Yes indeed. I never played the system but recall the ads in Dragon Magazine and in the early 2000's I played in a 3E game in which the DM used a lot of his old MERP books to build the setting and story, so I was exposed to them that way from a player's perspective.
I am a huge fan of random tables: the problem? I enjoy them a bit too much.
I am not talking in-game, I use them less than I would like but I find it hard to give too much narrative control over to pure chance (well... Not entirely pure chance if you build your table right)... But I mean that I just like rolling on them and thinking "Man, that'd be a cool encounter!"
So, I think I am going to have to be a "Roll everything before the session," type GM if I want to use them more effectively. Also there are just some things I don't want to roll at the table because it is tedious like I know of a really good random weather table in one of my books... But you need to determine your weather baseline, the elevation above or below sea level, the season, the biome/region: Then with this you roll your temperature variation, percipitation if any (and there are 8 tables of percipitation types), wind strength, and cloud cover... Then there are natural disasters like Wildfires that have a 10% chance of creating 1d6 firenados. Well, okay, the natural disasters are not *on* the regular weather tables... But they are caused by extreme weather in certain areas, like a thunderstorm over a desert creating a Haboob or a thunderstorm over a forest having a chance to create a wildfire (it is mostly thunder storms) but the rules are fun regardless.
But I also like to really build off of rolls on tables with somewhat vague results... So it isn't just the complexity that would hold me back. Like I have this one project which is supposed to be a general use Hexcrawl or maybe to be used with a sandbox generator later but for instance: I roll on my Encounters Table getting an 8 and thus Ruins, roll Ruins getting a Campsite, and roll a Ruin modifier getting Overgrown (Vines, shrubs, and moss have taken over this place). And so it is pretty open to how I can make that look, what's in their, etc.
And both the encounter and the Ruins modifier had a Roll 2 option... So I could have got Ruins and Pilgrims, with a ruined Tower (Wizard's), modified by Contains Treasure (Treasure was left behind or hidden here) and Inhabited (Monsters), and Inhabited by Ogres (no slaves). So pilgrims (which I have yet to make a table for) located in or around a Ruined Wizard's tower which contains treasure and an Ogre. Now one could argue that perhaps that isn't so vague... But there is still a lot about the Wizard's tower I do not know, I also do not know what the treasure is or why the pilgrims are there... Where is this tower? Etc. There's a lot in that scene... Given not every roll will have two Roll 2s in it, so it is quite forced.
Okay, not a good example of not complex... But even with a monster roll, unless you are in a dungeon you want to think about why the monster is there, what is the terrain... And so on and so such. Which, I guess that could be "automated" by tables like I did with my "ruin generator" where it gives you "On a hill" but then "Dense shrubbery (Difficult terrain)" and you need to decide how you set THAT up... But I will get to that when I get to that.
I think if you are going to take anything from this rambling mess it is that first sentence there: I am a huge fan of random tables.
I really want a copy. I saw it going for 60 bucks ( book , pdf). I like this kind of immersion. And consider if a pc hasn't seen or heard of these creatures, how would they perceive them?
10:17 I want to know where you're at where there's a kobalt then a skeleton that a dragon 🙂.
Ha! That was kind of my point... that's *not* the way to use random tables, but so many people think that's all a random encounter is!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
The game described at 8:40 or so sounds like a horrible railroad. I know it's what some people look for (namely, almost all of the 5e tables at my bi-weekly rpg gathering), but it is way not my style of play.
Edit - 20:10 - Not having dinosaurs in your game? Sounds awful, gotta have a Jurassic Park Island somewhere!
I agree - we played the first time and "finished" the campaign (this was for a high-level D&D 3.5/Pathfinder 1E game) because the guy was a long-time player but first-time D&D, and he was really excited. He later decided to run a follow-up campaign and it died after two sessions because in the second session we didn't do what he wanted us to do after we'd told him multiple times we didn't want to do that.
He had a what I presume was a BBEG, a young girl who commanded a lot of power, trying to give us a mission we had no interest in following. We'd told him at the previous session multiple times as a group we didn't want to do that, so we'd given him fair warning.
The players spent the next few weeks in between games corresponding about how we were going to coordinate our attacks on this girl. I was playing a Cavalier and had min/maxed my character, something I NEVER do, by doing things like improved critical and a bunch of other stacked feats and class abilities, so at the second session when the DM wouldn't let go of us needing to agree to do this mission that we thought made no sense,
We won Initiative and I charged her which normally does something like triple damage anyway, but rolled and confirmed a critical, and then with my Cavalier abilities, magical weapon, STR bonus and my horse's STR bonus which I got to add, I did something like +300 hp damage on one hit [side note: another reason I don't play 3.5/Pathfinder any more].
The Fighter player had very slyly positioned himself so he was within reach of her before combat started so he got a full attack and did even more damage. So after two people had gone, she'd lost something like ~600 HP. The other PCs positioned themselves for Round 2 but didn't do anything.
The DM was so angry and said he couldn't believe we'd attacked the girl, then said she pointed a finger at my Cohort [I had the Leadership Feat] and he died instantly. I said, "She is still up after taking more than 600 points of damage? Also, if that's Finger of Death, I get a Saving Throw." And he said, "No. No save. He's dead. Now do you agree to go?" He never did tell us what "spell" it was and I suspect it wasn't anything other than him just being angry with us. So we said, "No, we're not going on this mission, and killing our allies isn't a way to incentivize us."
And that was the end of that campaign. He was very angry because he'd spent a ton of time writing it, but he'd also sold it to us as a "sandbox" after we'd commented on his previous game. It was at this point we realized he didn't know what a sandbox was.
@@daddyrolleda1 Ouch, that sounds rough. 3.5/PF are very broken at high level. Sounds like his DMPC person was someone he didn't want killed, as a Great Wyrm dragon has less than 600hp and killing off your Cohort without a save was him lashing out.
If your story is that important, just write a novel. Especially after selling it as "a sandbox".
Yowch, that sounds painful. Sad to see it. It's always a big problem if you rely too heavily on the players doing a specific action, unless it's something they'll obviously want to do (even then, you need a backup plan!). This is a problem I've noticed with many of the modules, adventures, and systems that I actually like from a flavour and lore-perspective, such as Deadlands. Practically every major villain's description in the Deadlands books includes some variant of "don't let your players kill this guy because we need him for our metaplot, if you allow him to die make sure to replace him with someone else who can serve the same role". My favourite(?) example of this in action comes from the Deadlands Classic module "Dead Presidents", which is cool, but unbelievably railroady, on top of being brutally difficult. Let me explain:
The NPCs must meet with Robert E Lee early on in the module, because otherwise they can't learn that Jefferson Davis has been replaced by a monster doppelganger (the module's main villain, as well as one of the biggest villains of the setting as a whole). Lee then MUST be assassinated by NPC henchmen, because attending Lee's funeral during the final act is literally the only reason in the entire world why the doppelganger would ever leave his impregnable Death Fortress. Halfway through the module, the players get attacked by the villain's elite corps of Badass Black-Coat-Wearing Zombie Henchmen, and the module literally says something along the lines of "the players must lose this fight. The enemies break out any tool, weapon, or dirty trick necessary, up to and including swarming them with a completely unfair number of elite enemies who they can't escape from or hide from." The party is then kidnapped and taken to an evil Torture Prison where the DM is instructed to sow paranoia and mistrust among the group by implying that one player has ratted out the others. They're then given a chance to formulate their own escape plan, but if they don't, they get one scripted chance to escape their execution by firing squad via a giant NPC Zeppelin that interrupts said execution. If they don't take it, they die. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else from a module that involves taking out a major player in the metaplot of a setting that's heavily invested in metaplot.@@daddyrolleda1
is it the BESTiary?
I'll show myself out.
I'd pay to see your act!
@@daddyrolleda1 You'd be the first... wokka wokka.
Watching the shaky book is quite immersive. I feel like I've shared half that bottle with you. Strip out all the (rather pointless - Annie Mountain? Alice Tidepool?) tables for names and the book would probably be half the size.
Ha! Yeah, the book is quite heavy, as the paper is very thick so even though it's "only" 330 pages, it's just really heavy and a few times I was trying to hold it with one hand while using my other to point to something in the book. Plus, I wont lie - I sometimes get a little nervous while recording because I want to make sure I'm doing a good job. Hence the shaking! I'll try to hold it steadier in the future!
I am terrible at coming up with names on the fly, but as a result I tend to just create my own name tables that are specific to the region of the world the PCs are in. So, I, too, would most likely not use many of the names in this book. But I'm sure for others, it could be helpful.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Nope. Dagger heart no contest. D&D is already the Q tips / Kleenex of RPGs it would have to compete against all the editions, not just 5e.
You are being too generous to the game master you describe around minute nine. That is the epitome of railroading and would very much not be okay with me, especially if it was not communicated prior to play. A novel and a campaign are not one in the same. If they want to write a novel then self-publish it, if they want to run a game then their needs to be degree of choice and player agency.
It's difficult because I have known this person for nearly 40 years and I still see him pretty regularly, including in a game someone else runs that we both play in. He was my best friend in high school and best man at my wedding. So... I try to cut a little slack. He was new to DM'ing, and he cut his teeth playing Dragonlance modules, which are all about railroading. It wasn't my style of game, but at the end of the day, I got to hang out with my best friend and a bunch of other cool folks I enjoy spending time with, and roleplay killing some monsters and such. Things could be worse.
@@daddyrolleda1 That's fair; we all need to learn somehow and if people managed to have fun, then no harm done. Sounds like you're good friend.