Jesus Christ is lord. Please take your salvation seriously. At least read three books of the Bible. It is important. Please read the first book of each testament and one you chose yourself. As you do practice forgiveness. It is literally important. Please.
They were willing to let him disregard the spontaneous creation of ghosts, Grant even gave him an out. But Brennan, despite being utterly mortified was 100% up for honouring the nat 20, because he's just that good of a DM.
Don't give players a roll if you're not willing to accept the consequences. If Brennan was gonna take Grant's out, he shouldn't have allowed Rekha to roll in the first place! So it really wasn't an option imho.
@@digitalanalogue5155 what grant described, tbf, would have been an acceptable critical success. Being able to empirically prove the lack of an existence of ghosts is something that is nearly impossible to do. And a critical success shouldn’t mean you do what you set out to do as much as it should mean you get the best possible outcome, which is how Brennan has interpreted nat 20s before
@Arran Winmai First of all, thank you for the picture of a well dressed bug man rifling through legal documents lol. Second, I don’t actually think the religion check was for investigating the room. I know that’s what rehka asked for, but any time a roll like that is asked for, it needs at least two rolls to complete. The first roll to find the person you’re looking for (usually with an investigate check, this time with a religion check cause it’s a ghost) and the second check a persuasion check to get them to do what you want (and sometimes a third investigate check to see if they can find it). To Brennan’s credit, that is how he ended up handing this encounter. First check was just to see if there was a ghost, and then he fully did not give rekha the option for a persuasion check which is why she didn’t actually get what she asked for.
@@digitalanalogue5155 I dunno. If players ask to do something, ALWAYS let them roll. But if the thing they are asking to do is impossible or far outside their abilities, let them fail. Even with a nat20 you can fail at tasks.
The look of realization on Brennan's face at the nat20 is so precious. He is like "now I need to make ghosts real" but also pride for his friends abilities.
My favorite nat 20 Fabian moment was him basically using Gilear's face as a springboard because it's almost immediately contrasted by a nat 1 attempt to do the same thing again that ends up breaking Gilear's neck and crushing his windpipe.
Or as epic as Applebees rolling a nat 20 to be brought back to life, create her own deity, bring back aguefort, and stop time for 12 hours so everyoe could recover.
The thing that gets me laughing so hard at this whole moment is Ally’s utter shock that Rekha actually got a nat 20, as if they momentarily forgot that their words are basically divine intervention when it comes to rolling nat 20s 🤣
Brennan Lee Mulligan is by far one of the most elaborate and experienced DMs in ALL of DnD. He is a master and savant of many, many skills such as; acting, writing, storytelling, voice acting, etc. and despite all the bullshit his players do, which we love, he somehow keeps the story in track. Then Rekha Shankar, a relatively new dnd player, wrecks all of his shit with a single dice roll. This truly encapsulates what DnD is all about.
"Never make your players roll for something you are not okay with them failing." Also kinda applies to "Never make them roll for something you are not okay with them succeeding." Brennan took the punches that shook the very foundations of the world he had built and he fucking rolled with 'em.
brennan is literally quoted as stating "he never wants to say no" his whole philosophy is that he redirects what they want to do into something that works.
for people who haven't watched, this nat 20 not as not genre shattering as it first seems. Brennan is a genius and found a way to work it all in. Trust.
@apickling adding to the spoilers. Ghosts aren't real but he made it seem like they did by being an amazing story teller. He had the option of going ghosts are real and changing everything. But he gave what the players wanted but also gently guiding them back onto the back.
Further spoilers There were already projection devices that had given the appearance of ghosts being real earlier in the story, which is part of the reason it was on Rekha's mind. I don't think there was supposed to be one in the seance room until this roll, however. Brennan explained in an Adventuring Party that he had to shift some stuff around to make this work. What Rekha really got here was some information on Connor McCabbage (the specific "ghost" that was seen, who actually ended up being alive and imprisoned elsewhere in the house) that she wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or that the party would have had to find in a different location. That and a priceless reaction from Brennan.
Maybe they cut a lot of Brennan just sitting there thinking, and they might have with the way he delivers “I am ready to honor this nat 20,” but if not it only took him about 3 minutes to figure out how to let Rekha see a ghost in a way that still managed to perfectly fit into the world he had created and advance the plot of the mystery. Super impressive.
I had a player who was targeted by an ancient evil spirit out to possess their body in order to leave their crypt. The player then pulled out a Bear trap and put it over their head. They then said "I will let go unless you surrender" It was then I realized I had no response to the Player threatening Suicide and they had just nullified my BBEG of that chapter. I had to privately ask the player about their character's level of seriousness and "It's what my character would do (😑) they love their friends more than anything" I had a five minute freakout while the players laughed at me. Long story short they negotiated and my player now has a spiritual Venom inside them which qualifies them for a Warlock Multiclass.
The true and unadulterate horor in Brennan's eyes. The moment ally said "It's gonna be a Nat 20" he should've cut it off. ALLY. IS. A PARAGON. A MESSIAH OF THE DICE GODS
@@gabriellaboufaycal9669 "Emily is one of the greatest DnD players in the world, endlessly creative, so fun to play with. She was also sent from Hell to kill me."
It truly is the genius of Brennan’s storytelling exemplified in that he literally just says “There is someone behind-“ and everyone on the Zoom call gasps and panics as if they are inside a horror game and a specter just appeared behind Rekha.
I've rewatched this scene multiple times. You can see their jaws drop -- Grant in particular -- the moment he starts setting the mood for Conor's "ghostly" appearance. Despite admitting that the nat 20 "ruined" him, he got them all back with a hail mary he pulled straight out of his ass.
I want everyone to appreciate that not only did Rekha put Brennan in this situation, but Brennan put himself in this situation. As the DM, it is completely reasonable for him to say, "No, that's not something that's possible." He could tell her she couldn't attempt it, or he could even tell her she could, but that a nat 20 wouldn't do anything because ghosts aren't real, but maybe she realizes something important related to it. Both of those are super reasonable. But Brennan is deeply committed to letting the players shape the game, and to letting a nat 20 achieve your wildest dreams, because these are the things that he believes are fun. And while most games might get completely taken off the rails by that, Brennan's so talented that he can manage it all. It's deeply, deeply impressive.
A good DM puts his foot down and says "No" to player shenanigans that outright ruin his world. A _great_ DM takes those players' shenanigans and uses it to fuel their worldbuilding further. Brennan has always been the latter. You do crazy shit in his campaign, he'll put you up to it and force you to improvise your way out of it. Just look at Emily and "Hilda Hilda", or Murph and the "Røëmænce Partnær"
i know and it’s not even like he felt pressure for that because she prefaced it with “i know this is dumb and probably won’t work” but he went with it anyway because it was fun
Even when he has to put his foot down he's very gentle about it, too. When Rekha asked if she could "dominoes" a bunch of enemies in The Seven, Brennan started his negative off with, "With all the love in my heart..."
My DM still hasn't learned that she puts herself into a lot of situations. For instance, our group got our dm to roll to see if an NPC was a simp for my character. She rolled a nat 20
Every season has one of these moments that break Brennan. Every one. "I will _become_ the boatman." "Can I use Swirlwarden?" "I eat the Everything Bagel." I'm sure there are moments from Fantasy High and FH Sophomore year, but the exact moments escape me right now. Also I still have like 5 or 6 episodes left in Sophomore year, but I stand by my claim. The true hallmark of what makes a good DM is how you handle the moments when a PC breaks you. 😅
Brennan said in an adventuring party that this was probably the most world breaking nat 20 he’s ever had in a game. This is the one that f*cked him the hardest and he only went with it because they were going to take a few days off from filming so he could figure out how to make this work.
ACOC had the Intrepid Heroes constantly breaking Brennan. Murph alone had at least _two,_ counting the aforementioned use of Swirlwarden for teleportation shenanigans. Another favorite is "I cast Knock."
Yup. He uses that bought time of her describing to get it all Refined™ and Picturesque™ in his beautiful Brennan Style, and then goes full tilt into this scene. Well done for a man who was utterly ruined moments ago.
Knowing "the trick" only makes me appreciate this moment all the more. The way Brennan rolled with the punches. Also, for once Ally isn't the biggest chaos goblin in a campaign - Rekha threw some HUGE curve balls this season and I loved it.
@@handouras1930 Spoilers That Brennan isn't changing anything really. He isn't inventing the mirrors wholecloth - they already exist, because Cottonbottom appeared at the docks. He had all that worked out already. But he's throwing them a bone from MUCH later in the story, and doing it in a way that seems supernatural but isn't, to reward the natural 20 without breaking the world. It's artful.
Ally saying "Watch you nat20 on this" transferred their amazing narrative nat20s to Rekha. I just hope they got it back in time for Starstruck Odyssey.
Truly brilliant. Brennan found a solution to the most game ruining Nat20 imaginable in a way that fully honors the goal of the role, moves the gameplay along but also leaves the players with almost more questions than answers.
Bad tabletop players think it's about the player characters vs the DM Good tapletop players think it's about the player characters and the DM working together Great tabletop players know it's about the players vs their DM and rocking their shit so hard they have to uproot their whole world for your shenanigans.
And then their dm styling on them hardcore by giving them what they want but in a totally different way than they expected, keeping true to the story itself without truly changing anything :) Brennan is too OP to be ruined by a nat 20
I wouldnt even say that its player vs DM, its more instead of just "working together", pushing themselves and everyone around them to be better. No versus here, just a step above of just "working together". Create together.
I continuously learn things from watching Brennan DM. The players feel like they've cheated the system. He lets them have their space to celebrate, then eases back into the atmosphere..props to Daisy for an incredible prompt, too.
I like the bit where ally says "the crit could just be you learning that ghosts don't exist" and then grant very insightfully chimes in with exactly what ally just said seconds before
With every day, I grow closer to that subscription. It gnaws at the edges of my conscience. "More," it says, "More Brennan Lee Mulligan. More Dimension 20. More." I may need it to retain my fleeting sanity. I love Dimension 20 so much
Dimension 20 alone makes it worth it but Game Changer and Um Actually are also really good. It has a whole bunch of other content too. It's the only streaming service I have, 10/10 totally recommend!
Brennan could have made the “ghost” a mysterious wind or a some word clue a la Agatha Christie or something but he is honoring the Nat 20; bravo Brennan!
The funny thing is, he didn't _have to._ By the rules, Nat 20s are only "critical successes" in combat rolls. However, just like any other DM he's houseruled Nat 20s to also apply to skill checks, just because, let's be honest, it's more fun that way. That's what he's honoring here: the fun he promised his players.
@@romxxii I hear what you're saying, about it being more fun, but I feel like a 20 shouldn't rewrite the history and cosmology of the world. A critical success should be the best possible outcome of the attempt. A player asking for his character to find a McDonald's in a fantasy game set at the dawn of time rolling a 20 should not spawn an entire fast food chain, it should help him locate another source of food, or perhaps give him the idea to grind meat into patties. I'm weirdly disappointed that Brennan allowed this, even considering the story it lead to
@@certainlynotapineapple664 I never watched the series but from what I have found in comments, is that a supernatural ghost isn't what that was, it was within the bounds of his world, just they got information earlier than originally planned
I've seen no other comments about this, but one of my favorite things about this scene in retrospect is that Brennan saw a nat 20 roll that fully and completely clashed with the world he had built and found a way to make it work in the world still because he had already set up the "ghost" of the Cottonbottom being a thing. Brennan just decided in that moment to make it so there happened to be a lever in the tower that would have sent this projection to the seance room. It's one of the best DM moments on Dimension 20 in my opinion because he doesn't take the easy way out nor does he go against what is true in his world.
Can I just say Rekha was excellent in this campaign. She was on top of shit. You can tell these are a cast of improv actors and WRITERS by trade. I love how they all try to pitch in on making sense of the Nat20, they don't just let Brennan elucidate by himself, they all share the responsibility of telling the story which is so refreshing to see in a campaign.
Brendad Lee Momigan, _THAT_ is how to honor your own world building AND honor a Nat 20. One of my favorite scenes from Of Mice and Murder. I cannot wait for the next season to start! The interviews with your "author" were hilarious.
Brennan is a better person than me. Had I been running a specifically non-supernatural world, that suddenly had ghosts made real in such a moment, I would have leaned into it way to hard and turned this murder mystery into The Grudge meets Pickman's Model, after all if ghosts are real who says all the horrible monstrosities and aberrations I love utilizing aren't real as well. Edit: For example suddenly the murderer behind the mystery is actually a powerful Great Old Ones warlock who committed the murder as a beginning to a dark ritual to bring forth his patron into the natural world.
Seeing everyone’s reaction as the ghost disappears is so damn delicious. It reminds me of when Baron is about to snap Riz’s neck and each of the PC’s has a small freak out, totally enraptured by what’s happening
My favorite season by far. I love whodunnits. This is actually the series that got me hooked on Dropout. Never regretted or looked back on that decision ❤️🎉
Mice and Murder spoilers below the break: . . . . Okay so this move on Brennan's part is absolute genius on SO MANY LEVELS. In this moment, the players and the audience thought that he was being forced to make ghosts real in the Mice and Murder universe. But that would understandably break the story! And you can see his mind racing while the players are cracking jokes after this nat 20: -Okay so I already know that Cottonbottom is alive, and his ghost on the dock was actually a projection. We need to see another ghost in this moment. -I already know that Cottonbottom has kidnapped Conor McCabbage, faked his death, and is holding him captive in the tower so he can bring him back later and convince everyone he's a necromancer or whatever. And I've dropped a clue to this with Mrs. McCabbage's line in the first episode about hearing Conor's voice on the wind! -AND ALSO, it's a trope in these mystery stories that sometimes events occur that TRULY SEEM supernatural, and the detective has to spend the whole story unraveling what's actually happening. This has already happened in miniature; Sylvester saw Cottonbottom's ghost out by the dock. It seemed supernatural, but Sylvester is sure there has to be a rational explanation. -OKAY OKAY so how do we weave all that together and also give Rekha a satisfying payoff for this nat 20? -Simple! DAISY SEES A PROJECTION OF CONOR MCCABBAGE that very convincingly looks like a ghost! And he's not able to fully explain himself because he's addled and disoriented after so many months of captivity. Everyone still thinks he's dead at this point, so he's obviously the most satisfying character to see as a ghost! In an Adventuring Party, Brennan said that this minute-long pause was him shuffling things around and re-writing a good 20% of the season. But the genius of this moment is that he didn't actually change that much! He just had to add another projection location besides the docks. And it's a location that kinda makes sense! The seance room would be a great place to project ghosts if the need arose, to fool/bamboozle/manipulate Lucretia's wealthy superstitious friends! Anyways, I can't get over how cool this moment is. Also Rekha has a delightfully upsetting scatological fixation this season for some reason that you notice A LOT rewatching it, leading to a glorious payoff in episode 10. Okay I'm done.
I rember being actually kinda mad Brennan decided to honor that nat20. I was mad he's actually going to put a supernatural being into a story which entire premise is 'everything can be explained rationally', and as a GM I wouldn't let my players completely derail the tone of the story if it wasn't decided to be a comedy set up for chaos. Well, I was bamboozled too and the way Brennan resolved this Nat20 was so clever. A master GM.
but thats whats so fun about brennan as a gm, and what makes him *so* good. he wants to honour the creativity of his guild members, and make it to where their actions influence every part of the plotline, even if he DOES have to do a few minutes of rethinking or reorganizing. A campaign run by brennan would be amazing to be a part of; the party members torture the dm as much as he tortures them. i currently have my own homebrew in play and i do my best to respect party member's wishes as much as i possibly can, while making it as realistically fun and hard for them. i know prim and proper dnd rules are made from structure; but sometimes that influx of creativity, adoration of wonder and bewilderment are things you prefer over things making "technical," sense. something that makes me so happy with this group is how they constantly congratulate me on giving them the space to explore their creativity, all while giving structure to the plot in even the smallest amount of details that forage the more "spontaneous," moments into making sense. they've absolutely fallen in love with npcs, towns, conceptualizations of magick to the point that they can't stop talking about it. Heck, just from a recent mission their party went on; one of them developed a mother-son relationship with an elderly guard who cooed at them like a baby. The people in this story create it, and i think its unfair to limit them when yes, i technically "make," the rules of the game; but they're the ones who bring it to life in a way i never could by myself. i root for my party's downfall as much as i root for their achievements! i have two rules as a dm; never let people roll in instances you wouldn't want them to fail, and never let them roll in instances you'd want them to succeed. Drawing those lines for stories is important, even though if sometimes it can feel cruel to you as a storymaker. If you're willing to kill off your party members characters, you should be as willing to rewrite plotpoints when a nasty 20 comes your way! (in my games at least! there is no true way to dm and everyone has their preference!)
@@espaespa I think all needs balance, and as a GM I don't always like to take the stance of me vs the party. Bending rules for the scene and allowing changes to honor amazing ideas of the players is what I obviously do, but a GM has to keep the world together, and sometimes honoring every whim in the literal way is not good for the story - just as here, Brennan didn't actually change the premise to make ghosts real and help the players. He shifted gears of his own creation!
You can tell that in that silence brennan immediately was frantically thinking up a plot, picking characters, motivations, revelations, and how to stitch it in to the rest of the campaign. S tier dm for such speedy creativity.
Everything about this is excellent role-playing of real sceptics. Very impressive. Especially Reika's last line, limiting the conclusion to just 'ghosts are real'.
Brennan is an incredible story teller, and despite the easy escape of, "yep you're now 100% sure ghosts don't exist" he took the potentially story breaking situation and made something super interesting with it. God damn
I am happy that they rolled with it while still acknowledging that really Brennan asking for a Religion check could have been "I tell you what information about the world as is that you won't be changing with a single roll you come to conclude". Which is absolutely legitimate, as DM you are ultimately the last guard of what is real in-setting. But no; instead Brennan accepts that his request was understood as "can I roll for ghosts", so this is what it is and the player is allowed to change the world with a roll of the dice.
There have been many a time when a Nat 20 has absolutely f*cked Brennan up. It happened twice in the season so far, but nothing has truly stunned and shook the man this hard before. Not to mention, this all happens within the first 10 minutes of this episode.
Man I love Brennan. What a creative, capacious mind and a truly lovely soul. After watching many hours of Dimension 20, who can deny that he is a wonderful man and a very special friend for anyone to be lucky enough to have.
I remember in our campaign how our Drider materialized Rats on a ship out of nowhere because of the Nat20 Perception roll she pulled off. There were no rats on that ship. There were afterwards doe.
Brennan going from "I am Ruined" to delivering the spookiest plot twist in all of Dimension 20 is just Delicious.
Never goad Brennan. You think you're just joking, before you know it he's given you a Römænce Pärtner threatening to drag you to its stark fæther
@@romxxii That shit was spooky asf
@@romxxii or a pirate named Chungle-down Bim threatens to shit in your mouth
@@corndog4848 *HE SAID HE WAS GONNA SHIT IN MY MOOOUUUUTH*
Jesus Christ is lord. Please take your salvation seriously. At least read three books of the Bible. It is important. Please read the first book of each testament and one you chose yourself. As you do practice forgiveness. It is literally important. Please.
They were willing to let him disregard the spontaneous creation of ghosts, Grant even gave him an out. But Brennan, despite being utterly mortified was 100% up for honouring the nat 20, because he's just that good of a DM.
Don't give players a roll if you're not willing to accept the consequences. If Brennan was gonna take Grant's out, he shouldn't have allowed Rekha to roll in the first place! So it really wasn't an option imho.
@Arran Winmai but it was still an. Dnd is a fun game and it is a story that Brennan is telling, you know.
@@digitalanalogue5155 what grant described, tbf, would have been an acceptable critical success. Being able to empirically prove the lack of an existence of ghosts is something that is nearly impossible to do. And a critical success shouldn’t mean you do what you set out to do as much as it should mean you get the best possible outcome, which is how Brennan has interpreted nat 20s before
@Arran Winmai First of all, thank you for the picture of a well dressed bug man rifling through legal documents lol. Second, I don’t actually think the religion check was for investigating the room. I know that’s what rehka asked for, but any time a roll like that is asked for, it needs at least two rolls to complete. The first roll to find the person you’re looking for (usually with an investigate check, this time with a religion check cause it’s a ghost) and the second check a persuasion check to get them to do what you want (and sometimes a third investigate check to see if they can find it).
To Brennan’s credit, that is how he ended up handing this encounter. First check was just to see if there was a ghost, and then he fully did not give rekha the option for a persuasion check which is why she didn’t actually get what she asked for.
@@digitalanalogue5155 I dunno. If players ask to do something, ALWAYS let them roll. But if the thing they are asking to do is impossible or far outside their abilities, let them fail. Even with a nat20 you can fail at tasks.
The look of realization on Brennan's face at the nat20 is so precious. He is like "now I need to make ghosts real" but also pride for his friends abilities.
Ah, yes, the ability to hit a button and generate a random number from 1 to 20. So proud!
@@VioletTheGeek I'm sorry if I mistranslated, I was talking about their creativity in problem-solving.
@@delarkaBCN he actually had to rewrite a good portion of the narrative based off this one roll.
He made the shocked Pikachu face in real life, and I will live off the joy it brought me for years to come.
Brennan really just went ° - °
This was as epic as Fabian SeaCaster hitting the counter Nat 20 to Brennan’s Nat 20 to escape the game trap.
There was one that surpassed even that Nat 20.
There are. Several nat 20s that are even better than that, pretty much all of them from Ally Beardsley
My favorite nat 20 Fabian moment was him basically using Gilear's face as a springboard because it's almost immediately contrasted by a nat 1 attempt to do the same thing again that ends up breaking Gilear's neck and crushing his windpipe.
Or as epic as Applebees rolling a nat 20 to be brought back to life, create her own deity, bring back aguefort, and stop time for 12 hours so everyoe could recover.
@@szymon709 that's the one.
FYI from “you have a full 30 seconds before brennan recovers from his stunned silence,” it was, in fact, a full 40 seconds.
It's not Brendan 😂
@@kshitijkumar4081 you got me there bud
The thing that gets me laughing so hard at this whole moment is Ally’s utter shock that Rekha actually got a nat 20, as if they momentarily forgot that their words are basically divine intervention when it comes to rolling nat 20s 🤣
My thoughts exactly, Ally spoke this into existence. Bless them
Doesn't that make it a supernatural 20?
@@blarg2429 not enough love for that man but I loved it
Ally made Brennan question that magic was real once, the fact that they can do it on blessing alone is not so far-fetched
If you've been keeping up with Fantasy High: Junior year, this comment is now _so_ much funnier
Brennan Lee Mulligan is by far one of the most elaborate and experienced DMs in ALL of DnD. He is a master and savant of many, many skills such as; acting, writing, storytelling, voice acting, etc. and despite all the bullshit his players do, which we love, he somehow keeps the story in track. Then Rekha Shankar, a relatively new dnd player, wrecks all of his shit with a single dice roll. This truly encapsulates what DnD is all about.
In a campaign with Rekha and Ally, Rehka out chaoticing Ally is a work of art
yes
@@Lucifersfursona Indeed
@@Lucifersfursona especially with Ally called-shotting the nat 20
@@Lucifersfursona especially with Ally called-shotting the nat 20
"Never make your players roll for something you are not okay with them failing." Also kinda applies to "Never make them roll for something you are not okay with them succeeding."
Brennan took the punches that shook the very foundations of the world he had built and he fucking rolled with 'em.
Honestly I've heard it said as succeeding more often
brennan is literally quoted as stating "he never wants to say no" his whole philosophy is that he redirects what they want to do into something that works.
I doubt the player was ready to succeed. Even she didn’t know what she’d really do if it worked.
Brennan leaning into that, “That’ll never happen.”
@@Dari300ra it’s about improv “yes and”
for people who haven't watched, this nat 20 not as not genre shattering as it first seems. Brennan is a genius and found a way to work it all in. Trust.
I’m not able to watch the series, what DM magic did he work up?
Edit: unless it was only the stuff that happened in the video
@apickling adding to the spoilers.
Ghosts aren't real but he made it seem like they did by being an amazing story teller. He had the option of going ghosts are real and changing everything. But he gave what the players wanted but also gently guiding them back onto the back.
Further spoilers
There were already projection devices that had given the appearance of ghosts being real earlier in the story, which is part of the reason it was on Rekha's mind. I don't think there was supposed to be one in the seance room until this roll, however. Brennan explained in an Adventuring Party that he had to shift some stuff around to make this work. What Rekha really got here was some information on Connor McCabbage (the specific "ghost" that was seen, who actually ended up being alive and imprisoned elsewhere in the house) that she wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or that the party would have had to find in a different location. That and a priceless reaction from Brennan.
I thought so! Especially since he was trapped it seemed sus.
@CNaxStrz the trapped part was he revealed the mouse guy way earlier than he thought it would happen
Maybe they cut a lot of Brennan just sitting there thinking, and they might have with the way he delivers “I am ready to honor this nat 20,” but if not it only took him about 3 minutes to figure out how to let Rekha see a ghost in a way that still managed to perfectly fit into the world he had created and advance the plot of the mystery. Super impressive.
If you watched D20 Live AKA Fantasy High Sophomore Year, dude really thinks fast on his feet.
@@romxxii Probably the #3 best skill for a DM.
I had a player who was targeted by an ancient evil spirit out to possess their body in order to leave their crypt.
The player then pulled out a Bear trap and put it over their head.
They then said "I will let go unless you surrender"
It was then I realized I had no response to the Player threatening Suicide and they had just nullified my BBEG of that chapter.
I had to privately ask the player about their character's level of seriousness and "It's what my character would do (😑) they love their friends more than anything"
I had a five minute freakout while the players laughed at me.
Long story short they negotiated and my player now has a spiritual Venom inside them which qualifies them for a Warlock Multiclass.
@@GamerGrovyle Dope! That's a very cool result to that encounter, nice work.
@@GamerGrovyle that is beautiful.
The true and unadulterate horor in Brennan's eyes. The moment ally said "It's gonna be a Nat 20" he should've cut it off. ALLY. IS. A PARAGON. A MESSIAH OF THE DICE GODS
Ally is a real ass warlock and unintentionally cast Bend Luck to get that nat 20
Apollo just straight up hucking the dodgeball of prophecy at them
My god, if Rekha and Emily were at a table together, the universe would implode with shennanigans.
I think you mean Brennanigans
Is it bad that I really, R E A L L Y wanna see that happen?
subjecting brennan to that would be a complete nightmare for him, and i desperately want to see that happen.
@@gabriellaboufaycal9669 "Emily is one of the greatest DnD players in the world, endlessly creative, so fun to play with. She was also sent from Hell to kill me."
Imagine: Rekha, Emily, and Ally. Rolling nat 20's on every situation and ruining Brennan's plans.
It truly is the genius of Brennan’s storytelling exemplified in that he literally just says “There is someone behind-“ and everyone on the Zoom call gasps and panics as if they are inside a horror game and a specter just appeared behind Rekha.
I've rewatched this scene multiple times. You can see their jaws drop -- Grant in particular -- the moment he starts setting the mood for Conor's "ghostly" appearance. Despite admitting that the nat 20 "ruined" him, he got them all back with a hail mary he pulled straight out of his ass.
I think sometimes people forget that these people are professional performers, being paid to put on a show
I want everyone to appreciate that not only did Rekha put Brennan in this situation, but Brennan put himself in this situation.
As the DM, it is completely reasonable for him to say, "No, that's not something that's possible." He could tell her she couldn't attempt it, or he could even tell her she could, but that a nat 20 wouldn't do anything because ghosts aren't real, but maybe she realizes something important related to it. Both of those are super reasonable.
But Brennan is deeply committed to letting the players shape the game, and to letting a nat 20 achieve your wildest dreams, because these are the things that he believes are fun. And while most games might get completely taken off the rails by that, Brennan's so talented that he can manage it all. It's deeply, deeply impressive.
A good DM puts his foot down and says "No" to player shenanigans that outright ruin his world.
A _great_ DM takes those players' shenanigans and uses it to fuel their worldbuilding further.
Brennan has always been the latter. You do crazy shit in his campaign, he'll put you up to it and force you to improvise your way out of it. Just look at Emily and "Hilda Hilda", or Murph and the "Røëmænce Partnær"
@@romxxii or Lou and Chungle-down Bim
i know and it’s not even like he felt pressure for that because she prefaced it with “i know this is dumb and probably won’t work” but he went with it anyway because it was fun
Even when he has to put his foot down he's very gentle about it, too. When Rekha asked if she could "dominoes" a bunch of enemies in The Seven, Brennan started his negative off with, "With all the love in my heart..."
My DM still hasn't learned that she puts herself into a lot of situations. For instance, our group got our dm to roll to see if an NPC was a simp for my character.
She rolled a nat 20
Every season has one of these moments that break Brennan. Every one.
"I will _become_ the boatman."
"Can I use Swirlwarden?"
"I eat the Everything Bagel."
I'm sure there are moments from Fantasy High and FH Sophomore year, but the exact moments escape me right now. Also I still have like 5 or 6 episodes left in Sophomore year, but I stand by my claim. The true hallmark of what makes a good DM is how you handle the moments when a PC breaks you. 😅
“I cast banishment on Null” *rolls nat20*
"If I roll nat 20 can I be alive?" - Ally
Brennan said in an adventuring party that this was probably the most world breaking nat 20 he’s ever had in a game. This is the one that f*cked him the hardest and he only went with it because they were going to take a few days off from filming so he could figure out how to make this work.
ACOC had the Intrepid Heroes constantly breaking Brennan. Murph alone had at least _two,_ counting the aforementioned use of Swirlwarden for teleportation shenanigans. Another favorite is "I cast Knock."
@@romxxii I LOVE the “I cast Knock” moment it’s soooo badass
The captions @6:13 have ended me: "Brennan beatboxing enigmatically." Truly a phrase I'd never expected to read in my lifetime.
You can literally see him figure out what he’s going to do right before rekha starts discussing Daisy’s motivation, it’s wild
Yup. He uses that bought time of her describing to get it all Refined™ and Picturesque™ in his beautiful Brennan Style, and then goes full tilt into this scene. Well done for a man who was utterly ruined moments ago.
Knowing "the trick" only makes me appreciate this moment all the more. The way Brennan rolled with the punches. Also, for once Ally isn't the biggest chaos goblin in a campaign - Rekha threw some HUGE curve balls this season and I loved it.
Pretty sure most of them were shits
@@dirkstrider4820 right into Brennan's mouth
Whats "the trick"?
@@handouras1930 Spoilers
That Brennan isn't changing anything really. He isn't inventing the mirrors wholecloth - they already exist, because Cottonbottom appeared at the docks. He had all that worked out already. But he's throwing them a bone from MUCH later in the story, and doing it in a way that seems supernatural but isn't, to reward the natural 20 without breaking the world. It's artful.
@@Morhek Thanks for the in-depth reply! How are ghosts not supernatural tho?
Ally saying "Watch you nat20 on this" transferred their amazing narrative nat20s to Rekha. I just hope they got it back in time for Starstruck Odyssey.
Truly brilliant. Brennan found a solution to the most game ruining Nat20 imaginable in a way that fully honors the goal of the role, moves the gameplay along but also leaves the players with almost more questions than answers.
Bad tabletop players think it's about the player characters vs the DM
Good tapletop players think it's about the player characters and the DM working together
Great tabletop players know it's about the players vs their DM and rocking their shit so hard they have to uproot their whole world for your shenanigans.
And then their dm styling on them hardcore by giving them what they want but in a totally different way than they expected, keeping true to the story itself without truly changing anything :) Brennan is too OP to be ruined by a nat 20
@@taytay1597 for sure for sure. It's a versus match, not a one punch knockout.
I wouldnt even say that its player vs DM, its more instead of just "working together", pushing themselves and everyone around them to be better. No versus here, just a step above of just "working together". Create together.
I continuously learn things from watching Brennan DM. The players feel like they've cheated the system. He lets them have their space to celebrate, then eases back into the atmosphere..props to Daisy for an incredible prompt, too.
That “There’s someone behind!” is such an incredible cliffhanger and my man had ZERO time to come up with that. He’s incredible, I love him
This scene is the poster child for "Never call for a roll unless you're prepared for it to go very right and very wrong."
I like the bit where ally says "the crit could just be you learning that ghosts don't exist" and then grant very insightfully chimes in with exactly what ally just said seconds before
With every day, I grow closer to that subscription. It gnaws at the edges of my conscience. "More," it says, "More Brennan Lee Mulligan. More Dimension 20. More." I may need it to retain my fleeting sanity.
I love Dimension 20 so much
DO IT
Dimension 20 alone makes it worth it but Game Changer and Um Actually are also really good. It has a whole bunch of other content too. It's the only streaming service I have, 10/10 totally recommend!
it's very worth it (had for ~7 months)
the subscription is 100% worth it
One of us.
One of us.
ONE OF US.
2:43 Brennen "no nat 20 has ever been more untimely... this is the end of my life" Lee Mulligan was not prepared for Blimey
I don't know if you heard me. Blimey.
Brennan could have made the “ghost” a mysterious wind or a some word clue a la Agatha Christie or something but he is honoring the Nat 20; bravo Brennan!
but he did make it a clue, go watch the series ;)
The funny thing is, he didn't _have to._ By the rules, Nat 20s are only "critical successes" in combat rolls. However, just like any other DM he's houseruled Nat 20s to also apply to skill checks, just because, let's be honest, it's more fun that way. That's what he's honoring here: the fun he promised his players.
@@firealliancenx I just meant that he didn’t have to create a sentient ghost for the clue to be there.
@@romxxii I hear what you're saying, about it being more fun, but I feel like a 20 shouldn't rewrite the history and cosmology of the world. A critical success should be the best possible outcome of the attempt. A player asking for his character to find a McDonald's in a fantasy game set at the dawn of time rolling a 20 should not spawn an entire fast food chain, it should help him locate another source of food, or perhaps give him the idea to grind meat into patties. I'm weirdly disappointed that Brennan allowed this, even considering the story it lead to
@@certainlynotapineapple664 I never watched the series but from what I have found in comments, is that a supernatural ghost isn't what that was, it was within the bounds of his world, just they got information earlier than originally planned
I've seen no other comments about this, but one of my favorite things about this scene in retrospect is that Brennan saw a nat 20 roll that fully and completely clashed with the world he had built and found a way to make it work in the world still because he had already set up the "ghost" of the Cottonbottom being a thing. Brennan just decided in that moment to make it so there happened to be a lever in the tower that would have sent this projection to the seance room. It's one of the best DM moments on Dimension 20 in my opinion because he doesn't take the easy way out nor does he go against what is true in his world.
Brennan actually masterfully works this out in his brain. Such an amazing DM 👏
This is why Brennan is the best, the phrase "honor this Nat 20" says everything about how seriously he takes this game
Can I just say Rekha was excellent in this campaign. She was on top of shit. You can tell these are a cast of improv actors and WRITERS by trade. I love how they all try to pitch in on making sense of the Nat20, they don't just let Brennan elucidate by himself, they all share the responsibility of telling the story which is so refreshing to see in a campaign.
I love how many times nat 20’s screw Brennan over such as when Ally nat 20’d punching Null, an inter-dimensional
Demon.
Pete shark bops a conceptual entity and other stories
the look on her face when brennan said he was going to honor the roll is what dnd is all about. thats why he is one of the best DMs there is
Brendad Lee Momigan,
_THAT_ is how to honor your own world building AND honor a Nat 20.
One of my favorite scenes from Of Mice and Murder.
I cannot wait for the next season to start! The interviews with your "author" were hilarious.
The music had no business being this good
it’s incredible how brennan managed to twist this into the plot line so well
5:50 that moment of everyone going from “This is gonna be good” to “THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD!!” is absolutely perfect
They're having such a great amount of fun
Brennan is a better person than me. Had I been running a specifically non-supernatural world, that suddenly had ghosts made real in such a moment, I would have leaned into it way to hard and turned this murder mystery into The Grudge meets Pickman's Model, after all if ghosts are real who says all the horrible monstrosities and aberrations I love utilizing aren't real as well.
Edit: For example suddenly the murderer behind the mystery is actually a powerful Great Old Ones warlock who committed the murder as a beginning to a dark ritual to bring forth his patron into the natural world.
Rekha gets dnd in a way like nobody else
The music and sound effects add SO much to this scene. Fantastic work.
what is the song if i may ask?
wait it sounds a lot like the music from car boys when they fall in the worm hole. ima do some digging
Seeing everyone’s reaction as the ghost disappears is so damn delicious. It reminds me of when Baron is about to snap Riz’s neck and each of the PC’s has a small freak out, totally enraptured by what’s happening
Watching this season was an actual fever dream and I wish I could experience it for the first time again
There's never any shenanigans that Rekha does that doesn't elicit just raw awesome
My favorite season by far. I love whodunnits.
This is actually the series that got me hooked on Dropout. Never regretted or looked back on that decision ❤️🎉
I appreciate how the cast is buying Brennan time to figure it out.
This is the kind of moment where the DM for a private campaign would very suddenly have to go to the bathroom
Mice and Murder spoilers below the break:
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Okay so this move on Brennan's part is absolute genius on SO MANY LEVELS. In this moment, the players and the audience thought that he was being forced to make ghosts real in the Mice and Murder universe. But that would understandably break the story! And you can see his mind racing while the players are cracking jokes after this nat 20:
-Okay so I already know that Cottonbottom is alive, and his ghost on the dock was actually a projection. We need to see another ghost in this moment.
-I already know that Cottonbottom has kidnapped Conor McCabbage, faked his death, and is holding him captive in the tower so he can bring him back later and convince everyone he's a necromancer or whatever. And I've dropped a clue to this with Mrs. McCabbage's line in the first episode about hearing Conor's voice on the wind!
-AND ALSO, it's a trope in these mystery stories that sometimes events occur that TRULY SEEM supernatural, and the detective has to spend the whole story unraveling what's actually happening. This has already happened in miniature; Sylvester saw Cottonbottom's ghost out by the dock. It seemed supernatural, but Sylvester is sure there has to be a rational explanation.
-OKAY OKAY so how do we weave all that together and also give Rekha a satisfying payoff for this nat 20?
-Simple! DAISY SEES A PROJECTION OF CONOR MCCABBAGE that very convincingly looks like a ghost! And he's not able to fully explain himself because he's addled and disoriented after so many months of captivity. Everyone still thinks he's dead at this point, so he's obviously the most satisfying character to see as a ghost!
In an Adventuring Party, Brennan said that this minute-long pause was him shuffling things around and re-writing a good 20% of the season. But the genius of this moment is that he didn't actually change that much! He just had to add another projection location besides the docks. And it's a location that kinda makes sense! The seance room would be a great place to project ghosts if the need arose, to fool/bamboozle/manipulate Lucretia's wealthy superstitious friends!
Anyways, I can't get over how cool this moment is. Also Rekha has a delightfully upsetting scatological fixation this season for some reason that you notice A LOT rewatching it, leading to a glorious payoff in episode 10. Okay I'm done.
Yo thanks for explaining this!! This makes it so much better
so he scooby-doo'd the shit out of it
This moment was truly LEGENDARY. Rehka is amazing and hilarious.
I love this because it encapsulates the whole “Yes, and” attitude you need for good improv
I rember being actually kinda mad Brennan decided to honor that nat20. I was mad he's actually going to put a supernatural being into a story which entire premise is 'everything can be explained rationally', and as a GM I wouldn't let my players completely derail the tone of the story if it wasn't decided to be a comedy set up for chaos.
Well, I was bamboozled too and the way Brennan resolved this Nat20 was so clever. A master GM.
but thats whats so fun about brennan as a gm, and what makes him *so* good. he wants to honour the creativity of his guild members, and make it to where their actions influence every part of the plotline, even if he DOES have to do a few minutes of rethinking or reorganizing. A campaign run by brennan would be amazing to be a part of; the party members torture the dm as much as he tortures them.
i currently have my own homebrew in play and i do my best to respect party member's wishes as much as i possibly can, while making it as realistically fun and hard for them. i know prim and proper dnd rules are made from structure; but sometimes that influx of creativity, adoration of wonder and bewilderment are things you prefer over things making "technical," sense. something that makes me so happy with this group is how they constantly congratulate me on giving them the space to explore their creativity, all while giving structure to the plot in even the smallest amount of details that forage the more "spontaneous," moments into making sense. they've absolutely fallen in love with npcs, towns, conceptualizations of magick to the point that they can't stop talking about it. Heck, just from a recent mission their party went on; one of them developed a mother-son relationship with an elderly guard who cooed at them like a baby. The people in this story create it, and i think its unfair to limit them when yes, i technically "make," the rules of the game; but they're the ones who bring it to life in a way i never could by myself.
i root for my party's downfall as much as i root for their achievements! i have two rules as a dm; never let people roll in instances you wouldn't want them to fail, and never let them roll in instances you'd want them to succeed. Drawing those lines for stories is important, even though if sometimes it can feel cruel to you as a storymaker. If you're willing to kill off your party members characters, you should be as willing to rewrite plotpoints when a nasty 20 comes your way! (in my games at least! there is no true way to dm and everyone has their preference!)
@@espaespa I think all needs balance, and as a GM I don't always like to take the stance of me vs the party. Bending rules for the scene and allowing changes to honor amazing ideas of the players is what I obviously do, but a GM has to keep the world together, and sometimes honoring every whim in the literal way is not good for the story - just as here, Brennan didn't actually change the premise to make ghosts real and help the players. He shifted gears of his own creation!
You can tell that in that silence brennan immediately was frantically thinking up a plot, picking characters, motivations, revelations, and how to stitch it in to the rest of the campaign. S tier dm for such speedy creativity.
Everything about this is excellent role-playing of real sceptics. Very impressive. Especially Reika's last line, limiting the conclusion to just 'ghosts are real'.
I love Brennan. His ability to adapt is unparalleled. I would love to play a game with him
This was just a mystery campaign, but with a role of the dice, it became a supernatural mystery! 🎲
Brennan is an incredible story teller, and despite the easy escape of, "yep you're now 100% sure ghosts don't exist" he took the potentially story breaking situation and made something super interesting with it. God damn
Watching their faces when Brennan starts the sound effect for the wind is fantastic they are truly amazed and so am I
plot twist after plot twist after plot twist this seeason was....INSANE ROLL. INSANE SCENE. INSANE TURN OF EVENTS. JUST INSANITY IN ALL REGARDS
I love seeing Brennan’s brain break because this ruins so much of the mystery 🤣
I’m just so impressed with how _fast_ he can do it, rewriting plot points in my own work takes so much research and time and sometimes drugs
@@Lucifersfursona He is great at rolling with the punches!
It’s amazing how easily Brennan improvised this. Props to him ngl
Brennan just playing every possible scenario in his mind is just amazing
I am happy that they rolled with it while still acknowledging that really Brennan asking for a Religion check could have been "I tell you what information about the world as is that you won't be changing with a single roll you come to conclude". Which is absolutely legitimate, as DM you are ultimately the last guard of what is real in-setting. But no; instead Brennan accepts that his request was understood as "can I roll for ghosts", so this is what it is and the player is allowed to change the world with a roll of the dice.
There have been many a time when a Nat 20 has absolutely f*cked Brennan up. It happened twice in the season so far, but nothing has truly stunned and shook the man this hard before. Not to mention, this all happens within the first 10 minutes of this episode.
I love Sam's indignant "Don't help him." Absolutely right, Sam, this is Brennan's hole, at absolute most you should toss him a shovel.
As a dm I have felt the same shocked and stupid silence Brennan felt but goddammit did he handle it amazingly
Love that plot/outcome bending rolls have been from newer players lol (Ally with the FH finale and this one come to mind)
This is the first clip I'm seeing of this and it is SO funny out of context, but I feel like it'd be even funnier in context.
You can literally see the life exit B's eyes as the cogs jam up in his head
This is legitimately the funniest thing that's ever happened on D20. The first time I saw it I fucking cried.
The sound work to go along with Brennan is so impressive
If you go to 1:36 and slow the video down, you get to watch Brennan's face move into shock and then... something else.
I can't wait until Starstruck comes out in a few days. So excited.
One of the best moments in D20 history, equal only New York God summoning roll from Lou at the end of season 2
All of Rehka’s absolutely wild choices maaaade this season 😹😹😹😹
I really loved this season.
Loved this season. Ally hadn't much to do because it wasn't a combat-heavy story, but I really enjoyed it.
0:38
And with those words, Ally gifted the power of rolling Nat 20s at the most opportune times to Rekha
Every day, Brennan dies inside a little more
I haven't seen any of Brennan's DMing before now and... god. I got chills starting at about 5:50. Absolutely incredible, I really need to watch more
Rekha is who you call to be the game chaos gremlin when Emily is busy that being said at some point i'd LOVE to see a game with both of them
I really love Ralph's Priest the Bard. He was a really hilarious but bad at being a priest.
So cool to see the acrylic mountain thing I helped make!
Man I love Brennan. What a creative, capacious mind and a truly lovely soul. After watching many hours of Dimension 20, who can deny that he is a wonderful man and a very special friend for anyone to be lucky enough to have.
I remember in our campaign how our Drider materialized Rats on a ship out of nowhere because of the Nat20 Perception roll she pulled off. There were no rats on that ship. There were afterwards doe.
This campaign has not gotten enough credit. Loved this one.
Never let anyone roll anything you're not prepared for them to crit on! 😂
Which was better foreshadowing? Ally saying “watch you nat 20 on this” or Rekha saying “I am positively shitting myself?”
"This is the end of my life"
Not a problem apparently.
vicar ian's religious crisis is also just absolutely bomb hahaha
Tbh this setting is aesthetically easy to tilt into eldrich horror
Owls have impeccable hearing.
Bird Facts.
A heartfelt thank you to whoever did the ccs
The minute ally says "watch you nat 20 on this" they gave their blessing for the dice gods to make it happen 😂
Nat 20's coming at the worst time for the DM is my favorite.
Except at my table where I nat 20 my players every session and oops they die.
Take it and twist it for a plot moment. I love it
I really hope there is another season with this table.
This series was great and I think it’s a really good jumping off point for people interested in the concept of a ttrpg, but lack any knowledge
Welp, gonna go binge whatever this is now
The closed captions: (Brennan beatboxes enigmatically) is my new favourite thing xD
mice and murder was so good!!!!
Rehka and Emily need to be in a season together. They are both so chaotic