Campaign Diary #15
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- We missed two sessions! So this recap is loooong.
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Matt mentions people binge watching his videos. I feel acknowledged at last
Edit: Also, it's good to see that Colville passion back. At least to me it seemed like the stream and group complications afterward really took a toll. It's heavy stuff, I imagine.
Binge watch at x1.5 for extra binge
Binge watching is awesome. And I don't get sick of Matt's face... That's a glorious beard.
same
I’m binging these videos 6 years later 😂
Holy crap, T.J.'s imaginings of what a Dwarven Wedding would be like are awesome!
"How can you guys watch my face for hours?" (Paraphrased). I dunno. You're very animated and your facial expressions are fun. Also, I don't always watch you straight on. Sometimes I leave you on the background while I do other things.
😊
100% throw on a playlist while I do other stuff
proud binge-watcher of your videos, Matt
All 100+ Running the Game videos watched in the last two weeks. Currently on this diary.
"Players will get rekt by the dragon breath of death doom, but HEY check out the module thickness!"
Love ya matt.
Thinking of ways to give the Shadow Dragon some more actions to take a few that comes to mind are:
- Raising undead gnomes (zombies), mainly as distractions.
- Wing attack.
- Tail attack.
I'd also consider various lair actions like:
*Darkness:*
"Magical darkness spreads from a point the dragon chooses within 60 feet of it, filling a 15-foot-radius sphere until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. If any of the effect's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled."
*Controlled collapse:*
Part of the ceiling collapses above one creature that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone and buried. The buried target is restrained and unable to breathe or stand up. A creature can take an action to make a DC 10 Strength check, ending the buried state on a success.
*Big stomp:*
A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
*EAT SHROOMS, INSECT!:*
The dragon tears a big piece out of a giant mushroom and throws a dragon-sized fistful of mushroom matter at the ground within 30 feet of it, splattering mushroom chunks (no damage, just messy) and releasing a cloud of spores. Anyone caught within 10 feet of the impact must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The poisoned target is starts tripping balls and remains incapacitated while it hallucinates. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the hallucination effect on itself on a success.
*Devoured by shadow*:
One creature the dragon can see within 120 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished to a demiplane of pure darkness, that the dragon has conjured into being. To escape, the creature must use its action to make a Charisma check contested by the dragon's. If the creature wins, it escapes the demiplane. Otherwise, the effect ends on initiative count 20 on the next round. When the effect ends, the creature reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that one is occupied.
Values and DC's probably need some tweaking, since I have no idea what level your players are, but that's some of what I'd consider throwing at the players.
Also, yes, the dragon obviously isn't immune to the spore cloud (dragons wanna get high too, right? Why else take over a forest of mushrooms? :P)
If they are like normal dragons they have wing and tail attacks
What I like to do is have dragons get cleric spells
These are interesting. I'm gonna steal 'em :D
I had a DM who helped another player lie to the rest of us for an entire campaign. The player was a changeling affiliated with the winter court of the fey, but never left the form of a tiefling for the entire time he was with the party. It was a pretty cool reveal when we found out (though there were some suspicions as he never used the tiefling racial power).
So I think perhaps the only way to have player characters influence other player characters is to make sure it stays private, not informing the other player that they have been manipulated.
But then again, maybe I'm just also a player like you who enjoys being on the receiving end of something like that.
I agree; if the DM outs the player, then deception will never work. I don't get involved if someone wants to claim to be good and then proceeds to murder kittens; it's up to the group to be paying attention.
Is this foreshadowing, may I formally consider this comment foreshadowing?
Be careful not to give your players a bottle of endless air.
I bet he went to Ilvermorny.
Yeah mushrooms don't convert CO2 into oxygen. They also don't grow to the size of a redwood and they certainly don't uproot themselves, form a raiding party, and go pick fights with random murderous hobos that wander into their neighborhood. Suspension of disbelief exists for a reason.
Dude what is this a joke
Ro Vharn yes it most certainly is
Yeah mushroom trees convert CO2 into O2. It takes in the ambient magical energies and strips out the carbon to build itself. Man that's alchemy 101. Where'd you learn Thaumatergy Blackmoor?
I don't find suspension of disbelief necessary, all you need is a bit of creativity. All of those things could be possible, simply invent parameters which fit inside the rules of the world which would explain why things end up the way they did. I suppose thats the main difference between fantasy and sci-fi. Fantasy is willing to throw its hands up in the air and say "just dont think about it", whereas sci-fi employs thorough solutions to ensure that things could make sense, likely focusing less on the drama of the main storyline because of it
Also pretty sure there was a time where mushrooms did grow as tall as redwoods, back before wood was invented. Mushrooms may not photosynthesize themselves but they have been known to hook up with algae or bacteria that do, and form stuff like lichens. Also theres that sea slug that literally just eats algae and then uses the chloroplasts to photosynthesize, and since mushrooms already feed off decaying plant matter, its not entirely unreasonable that they might learn to salvage chloroplasts and implant them in their own cells. Uprooting and walking around is a bigger *step*, especially since the body of the life form isnt the mushroom but the mycelial net underneath, but in theory it could be an advanced defense tactic, the mycelium produces what are a kind of immune cell that is a full mushroom body that can physically attack things. Certain single mushroom cells have been shown to be able to solve 2d mazes better than A*, so the potential for intelligence is there. Personally I think its a lot of fun to look into the details of how a world works, I'd rather come up with a fun explanation than just hand wave it and say "just imagine you believed in it"
Someone didn't watch the video long enough!
With the Portable Hole, the DMG says "A breathing creature within a closed portable hole can survive for up to 10 minutes, after which time it begins to suffocate."
So, if you're stuffing five people into the portable hole, they have 2 minutes before they all begin to suffocate.
That is correct.
Matthew Colville Sorry, it sounded like the entire party was staying in the portable hole for the entire 10 minutes. Which should have resulted in them suffocating to death, or bursting out of the rogue's pocket gasping for breath.
@@leonielson7138 Also the hole is only 6 feet by 10 feet... so 5 characters can't really fit in there with all their gear...
I mean, if the rules as written are truly what you transcribed, they say nothing about the time decreasing when you put more characters in. Common sense told you that, but common sense isn't in the DMG. Thats not to say one shouldnt use common sense when interpreting the rules, but simply to point out that rules as written are often more strict than our intrepretation machine brains can parse with precise literality
What a pleasant thing to wake up to! Keep it up sir Colville, you do great work here.
21:51 :p
You know...
Hey Matt ^^ I don't know if you know this already, and I kind of hope you don't... The name of the world you play in, if it is written as 'Orden', then it translates to "arranged correctly" or "orderly" in norwegian.
The funny thing is that we use it in a phrase like this "Is everything 'In Orden'?" which is a way of asking if everything is good or OK :D
I kinda of want to use this in my norwegian based D&D sessions, but I already made up my own name - Apharym :)
That's awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
Matthew Colville I know that these videos are now three years old, but have you ever considered warping time when in the World Below? Example: coming back up after 10 days in the World Below only to find that 30 minutes or 6 days or 2 months have passed. With each visit being a different time span in the world above.
This is a concept I picked up from the writer Joe Abercrombie and shows a disconnect from one place and another. “Things really get strange when you come out before you went in.”
@@inomad1313 thats actually already a concept in dnd I think the Feywild does something like that
@@fallenhero3654 You are correct. The Feywild can/does warp time.
Is the Invincible Overlord starting a religion to himself?
In fact, there is Evidence that the invincible overlord is starting a religion to himself!
but I thought that there is Evidence that the invincible overlord is starting a religion to himself!
In fact, there is Evidence that the invincible overlord is starting a religion to himself!
And in fact, there is Evidence that the invincible overlord is starting a religion to himself!
Can you believe it guys?
This is mind-blowing even.
loving the diaries it gives me ideas for my dnd campain and pitfalls. truly usefull. keep it going
me too
I'm so excited- I found my old Night Below set, and everything is intact- I apparently made copies of the handouts, as all of the originals are still untouched. I really want to run this soon!
My first session ever in D&D
and I was the DM 😎
we had a good time .. and it's all because of you 👍
Yay! The system works! Tell your players it'll be their turn to run soon!
+Matthew Colville
one of the player is the smartest man I've ever met .. so I gave him puzzles to feed his ego
one of the NPC challenge him in game of chess but he lost .. the other player want to intimidate the NPC , but he -the first player- stops him .. saying he won fair
in this moment I knew they were into the game
sorry about my English
Matt mentions Pinna... I happily point at my Strongholds& Followers book giggling...
I've never understood why a player would have a problem with another player having a secret, and using rolls to determine if your character believes a deception (or any other skill check like that). Players don't usually have a problem being told, "You believe the NPC" after making a bad insight check.
I can understand not allowing a player to be a wang rod, constantly stealing from other players with slight of hand, etc. But if I were the player who was fooled, I would be overjoyed to give the other player that fun of having a secret and being super convincing/charismatic/what-have-you. I love that stuff.
I really can't imagine wanting to play with someone who gets upset by one incident of that kind of thing during the introduction of another player character. It's such a minor thing to get worked up about. Sounds like a really unpleasant person. Obviously, it would be a problem if it becomes something that happens more frequently.
Matt: You talked about taking bits of Night Below and Out of the Abyss and combining it with your own material. I’d like a video on just that process. I think that’s one of the most important skills of a GM.
Dwellers of the Forbidden City is my adventure that I feel is fertile ground. I have used it a couple times as a center of activity for adventure.
Goddamn, I love Matt's setting so freaking much and I want to play in it sooooooooooooo fucking bad T^T
“Just hit 30k subscribers”. Now at ten times that. 311k. Congrats Matt. Love your stuff.
In a D&D campaign I was a player of, my sorcerer was awarded a portable hole... long story short, we found a portal to present day. In that I was able to store in the hole a nemisis class aircraft carrier, a couple M1A1 Abrams and some other modern day stuff, once we got back to our fantasy world, well, it was auto win for the PC party. The DM allowed it, and it was a blast. However we eventually ran out of ammunition and fuel for the things. Later on after running out of resources to utilized the stuff, the DM allowed use to tear it all down and use the metal to create a huge fortress. My Sorcerer/Spellfire Wielder now is a huge antogonist NPC in his world now that lives in a giant steel fortress. Makes for some interesting challenges.
We binge watch your content because you have one of those voices that works really well to listen to while doing other stuff. I almost wish that it had take me another 6 months to find your channel so you had more of a backlog of content. You have already helped my dnd games btw thank you.
Huh, I find the reaction to the bard's deception strange. That's probably because I got into playing Vampire the Masquerade heavily in college and that game was heavily based on deception, politics and alliances between players and NPCs alike. Both myself and my former gaming group would have jumped on the deception and rolled with it with relish! Also: disclaimer, I worked in theatre for 15 years and had very theatrically inclined friends. Not that Graves reaction is wrong, I'm just surprised at how different players react to stimuli depending on their backgrounds. That's one of the hardest things I have had to deal with in incorporating new players into our game. Most of our new players are older adults who have no history with RPGs - very much a different frame of mind than theatrically trained college kids.
Love all your videos! My current group that have been running for 2 years now switched system from Pathfinder to D&D 5e, the GM wanting to be a player in this new campaign, making me the new DM! Had my first session yesterday as a GM and it went really great, we all had fun. All your videos have helped me mentally prepare for what I could expect, thank you for making these.
Man, I gotta say I love these videos. I often find myself nitpicking moments for some reason, but honestly, I'm running a heavily altered Night Below and these videos are a godsend for ideas. I was trying to figure out how to get the shadow dragon worked in and all I could come up with is "prove your friends of the deep gnomes by helping us with this thing." Which I could just hear my players balking at. Having it linked to something eroding or threatening the gnomes' safety is way better motivation.
I've had that PvP deception problem that you meanioned often, my solution, I don't direct the roll to the player more I have them roll a deception like a reputation to see if their lie has been sais enough by enough people so justifying one of the other players hearing... It seems simple but it takes away the idea of the player directly lying to another player and them feeling taken by it... It like hearing a rumor lol good stuff.
I think a roll-off between the players in question would validate the deception. An opposing history or insight check would let the other players feel involved in their character's fate. Yeah the bard rolled a natural 20, but the other player's roll could have acted as a narrative tool as to how/why they were deceived. A really low insight roll? Maybe you bought the bard's lie because he was very handsome. A high history roll? Maybe that player has seen or read the play but the name of the playwright escapes them. PvP interactions can be great as long as you don't remove agency.
Fantastic recap, as always!
I really like how you involved your players in fleshing out the world (i.e. dwarven wedding).
There is nothing better than binge watching things while procrastinating writing a paper :D
As always, a fantastic Diary! I love listening to these. I only found your channel a month or so ago and I've already binged all your videos. I even started my own D&D group from your inspiration.
Miss these videos. Going back and re-watching them.
Oh man! Ran Night Below back in the summer of '98. Converted the first book and about half of the second to palladium fantasy 2e. Then D&D 3e came out, converted the rest to that. Took us about 4 years to finish it. Great memories with my brother and many friends.
I personally would have given the Shadow Dragon lair actions appropriate to the type of dragon it was before it became a Shadow Dragon.
As for the difference between Phil and Anna, I like the system between the players where if one player tries to deceive or such another player, the other player can make an insight check to see how well their player believes it. It can also help, if you trust your gamers not to use it to metagame, you can let them in on the deception to be aware what's going on, so it can be more a case of them playing along, like what could have happened during the introduction to Graves(?) Warlock.
Hey Matt, I sent a friend of mine who was interested in learning about D&D to your channel, and now he is hooked on the game less than 24 hours later. Thanks for the help!
I can't wait until next paycheck until I can buy your books, because seriously, I love your storytelling.
I think I've grown accustomed to playing with very experienced "atypical" players. My old groups loves that character to character interaction, playing along with each others deceptions, or even the GMs deceptions. They love enriching the story and the mutual entertainment, knowing and fully trusting that everyone there is there to make sure everyone has a good time.
Now I have a new group of young and inexperienced players and I think I have to be more perceptive to that. So thank you for a reminder of that and to start building that trust and comfort with each other.
33:45 We dont do it a lot also, we usually use "manipulative" skills with one limited I was surprised how my friends did hate the idea of these skills used on them. We limiter intimidate/persuasion/bargain/charm and this includes witch emotional or bard emotional and wizard emotional magics that the final decision is the players.
Its cool because this can give reason to characters to do things for the party and not be n th way for like moral reasons.
My dark paladin friend asked as we all wanted to "not desecrate" our light priests "Arel" thumb that we just saved from monsters, and my half elf archaeologist used persuasion the dark paladin not to do an ungodly act (give her a reason not to). If he would do and he was motivated to by "personality" my half elf would side with him, our wizard would run away and my friends priest and Shadow Hunter would turn on us :D thanks to persuasion we did not kill tachometer out of dumb aliment. (that we willingly chose in our character creation)
I’m not starring at your face I’m listening to that gloriously modified voice of yours. Lol
That’s funny that people need an explanation for a species of mushroom that converts CO2 to O2 when myconids are sentient
I binge watched running the game then the campaign diary and now i'm going to be running my first campaign session this Thursday.
I think it's a little harsh to say one should never ever allow PvP skill checks. There's a lot of examples of them working, but they need to be utilized correctly. Basically the most important thing is that the check isn't malicious and no one perceives it as malicious. It needs to be something that enhances the story. I think you are right that it works better with the more actory types.
Crit Role is one example of PvP checks often working well. On a similar note, look at Titansgrave, DM'd by Wil Wheaton who is a big proponent of players having secrets from each other. This can really enhance the story and the play experience, I've felt, and as such I'm sad that it didn't work out for you guys.
I do think a mistake was made by telling Phil outright that he was being deceived. This leaves a sour taste in his mouth where he starts to consciously look for ways to beat the deception. I think it's better to allow the players to discover it naturally like their characters. The reveal "You figured it out!" has a very different, much more positive connotation to it, I think. The way you used it, at the point where Phil the player found out about the deception, his character was the dummy. But if he finds out about it when the in-character realization happens, then he is not the dummy anymore, instead he becomes the one that figured it out.
@Matthew Colville the other thing to remember about a portable hole is that it has 10 minutes worth of air for "a breathing creature", meaning if you have more people in there it will consume that air faster.
I think the best and easiest way to ake dragon's cooler is to give them thematically appropriate spells spells like a Sorceror, the older the Dragon the higher the sorceror level. For a Shadow Dragon: Cantrip:Chill touch, L1: disguise self, expeditious retreat, fog cloud, thunderwave, L2: darkness, mirror image, see invisibility, spider climb, L3: blink, fear, gaseous form, L4: confusion, greater invisibility.
Dragons of all kinds can be very dynamic encounter when you consider their attacks in conjunction with their moves. Players should have a difficult time getting into melee with a flying, teleporting, breath-weapon-armed Shadow Dragon. If it starts in a shadow, breathes from that shadow, then teleports to a distant shadow...it becomes more of a problem than a "pass without trace multi-class rogue/monk." It could then choose to do strafing runs as it flies by, slashing with claws or breathing again...only to disappear into a shadow like a portal and reappearing elsewhere.
There's a reason dragons are in the title of the game. They're badasses.
True, it's what dungeon world taught me you can't just walk upto a dragon and hit it with sword!
Unfortunately most GMs play their monsters as static bags of hit points.
And on top of that, not only do you have the dynamic of the dragon itself doing things, you also get lair actions to spice things up. :)
TheMrVengeance Something else of note: Dragons can be spell casters. Dragons can be liches. Dragons can be everything you need them to be to create whatever challenge you want.
The limitations placed on these creatures isn't there by the game or the stat block.
It's placed there by the DM.
I'm a BIG fan of Matt, but on this outlook I am VEHEMENTLY opposed.
Speaking of which, not sure if you'd know this, but is the thing where dragons have a humanoid form specifically a (world of) warcraft lore thing, or is it a more generic fantasy trope?
I actually haven't encountered it outside of the warcraft-verse myself, is why I was wondering.
I'm actually not a big fan of Matt's DM-style, I _am_ a fan of these Running the Game/Campaign Diary behind-the-scene insights into being a DM though. But after seeing some of the streams where he actually DM's, it's just not my jam.
I'm a much bigger fan of the other famous DM called Matt. ;) I feel like Mercer is a lot more free/"loose" with the way things work, I mean, from the very basics already since they're playing a Pathfinder/DnD hybrid. But if you've been following Critical Role recently, you've seen exactly how amazingly interesting and creative and _threatening_ dragon encounters can be.
Two points - According to the RAW, older Metallic dragons can shape-shift. You could be standing next to an ancient Gold dragon and never know it.
At my table, though, all dragons can do it - some earlier than others. I write a weekly article for Nerdarchy.com called "Out of The Box Encounters" wherein I have a young adult Copper dragon trapped in her shape-shifted body. It's up to the players to discover why. (#35 Girl with the Dragon SNAFU).
I think everyone has their own take on how, why, or if dragons have this ability.
With regard to Matt Mercer: Mr. Mercer is one of the best DMs in the game and has a very solid understanding of both the rules as well as how to write his own balanced content. I've downloaded both his Gunslinger and Blood Hunter rules and they're very solid. He and Chris Perkins are tough to beat.
Critical Role, though... I cannot stand to watch. That's made me a pariah. I'm just not a fan of several very dramatic players desperately trying to hog the spotlight, especially when half the players fail to even know the rules after several years of play. My daughter just turned 14 and has a better grasp in only a year.
Matt Colville has some very specific opinions on Dragons, Paladins and some races that I also find archaic and too narrow of focus, but that's his choice of flavor. That's well within his purview. That said, Mr. Colville's grasp of the INTENT of the game is legendary. His intuition, experience and understanding of the player/DM dynamic is not only inspiring, but is only now receiving it's due notice.
If I had the chance to sit at one of the three tables (Mercer, Perkins or Colville), I'd take Colville hands down. He's very welcoming and genuine. THEN Perkins (because he's frikkin hilarious and incredibly creative), then Mercer. I don't need funny voices or to have my moves described dramatically - I can do that for myself.
To each their own.
When I play I have a great DM who understands story, is open to new takes on races, classes, politics and such. He's a better DM than I am. I may know the rules better, but his ability to weave longer stories leaves me in the dust. He's passionate about DMing and loves to tell epic stories. He is a scion of story-over-all and still has the ability after years to surprise the whole table.
My own DM style is very high energy. I never sit, I can do voices, and can improv and entire session without prep. I'll reskin, change, and invent on the fly. I'm an artist by trade so I can create visuals verbally with little effort. The downside is that this style is very taxing, and I don't write as many notes as I should. I used to DM tournament play, so notes weren't as important as delivering the story and testing the players limits and creativity. I'm not as patient as the other two and that has it's issues.
And we BOTH had a DM we admire who was very challenging and made us struggle for every scrap, but he had the ultimate pokerface and was never rattled when things went south. He had the patience of a statue and would play the very long game without ever tilting his hand. We would still, to this day, jump at the chance to roll dice at any table where he DMed
Three different styles and three different DMs who all spawned from the same table.
Re: staring at your face for a whole series: I think the difference is that you don't normally look at your own face when you have a conversation. It feels more like a discussion for the viewer.
Unless, if you're narcissistic and have a mirror...
Also, I'm happy I still have a 4e monster manual. Sounds like the abilities will be nice and spicy for shaking things up.
*that moment when Matt says exactly what I’m doing at the beginning of the video*
Well done, sir. Well done.
That portable hole nerf is a great idea! I'm totally going to be using this next time I give my players one
One way to make the players feel in danger without making them lose levels is to introduce effects that reduce their maximum HP until a short rest or a greater restoration spell is used. Then try to let them know of the instant death section on page 197 of the PHB. This is a good way to make higher level characters feel like lower levels without taking away their actual level.
I agree. such an effect is especially threatening against such a large and powerful foe.
How about using exhaustion?
Levels of exhaustion would be interesting.
Hi Matt, I've been watching your videos for a while now and I've just started DMing with brand new players a few weeks ago. There have been a few problems but it's going a trillion times better with your advice. Keep up the great work.
4 years too late, but I watched the livestreams and rewatched these videos.
I have to say I feel bad for Gertz. I know he really wanted to play his Mul character and after half a dozen sessions he had to make a completely new character, but I hope he enjoyed his character reguardless.
you are probably the most entertaining story teller ever, really inspiring me try D&D, especially because I have a vivid imagination that I didnt really explore due to a no existant childhood. haha
Yo, Matt! I am one of the dozens of people who have binge-watched your videos since finding out about your channel two weeks ago! I just wanted to say thanks for doing this, and I'm glad you're having fun with it, because we sure are having fun listening and learning from your experience and tips. You approach the game with a ton of true knowledge, practical pointers, and a real heart for the players that ultimately results in the enjoyment of everyone at the table. Inspirational, man.
Also... Can't wait for your two books to arrive!
I binge watch these while I paint (And really like the long videos because of that :)
My table does allow contested Deception vs. Insight/History/Whatever checks between players, but we're a very Actor/Storyteller-heavy table, and we discussed that that's how we run things in our session zero. [We're also a table that allows PvP more than I think a lot of tables do because we're particularly Storyteller-heavy, so we like the narrative drama of it all.] I can see how a different player type or a table with more tactically focused characters might not enjoy that kind of gameplay.
one thing that usually lets PvP work out okay for us is that usually the character being deceived/stolen from/whatever asks for the roll from the other player -- essentially both parties have to agree to play out a PvP encounter. If one player doesn't want to participate, then it simply does not happen.
Adding a "crippling" effect, like fallout's limb damage, to creature attacks which used to generate level loss would be cool. Like the shadow dragon breaths on you and if you fail your save you suffer 1 or 2 crippled limb effects - legs halve your movement, arms reduce strength, head takes 2 turns to complete spell castings, etc. etc.
Great call integrating the dragon into the story. Book 2 is a grind so anything to give all those massive combats significance and make it all the more interesting and fun. That encounter with the dragon was absolutely brutal in 2e. Level draining breath weapon, magic resistance up there around 75%, spells, multiple attacks.
Here is how I can binge watch, because I can both watch or just listen, if I listen it’s almost like an audio book and I can imagine everything better when just listening.
Also this is magic, so when people freak out about magic mushrooms making oxygen from carbon dioxide instead of the other way around.
I could listen to you talk about D&D all day, even though I prefer other games these days.
Also I love the Night Below. My players took one look at the fungus caverns and noped right on out of there.
in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft they mention a entity called the "bag man" which traverses extradimensional spaces. if a party is always sticking themselves into their hole that could be an interesting way to create drama out of it. some horrific Thing begins preying upon them while they are vulnerable and squeezed into the hole
I just looked up a night below on amazon.....I had a heart palpitation shed a tear then sadly closed the window.$$$$$
Hey Matt! Just wanted to let you know that I've been binge-watching your videos over the last couple days, and I've really learned a lot about GMing, even though I've been running games for a couple years now. You've really reinvigorated my enthusiasm for running D&D, thanks so much! I'm also super excited to buy and read your books as soon as my next paycheck comes through :)
Listen to your campaign diaries makes me so grateful for the players I have now.
Depends on the party in terms of allowing players to use their skills on one another. As you said, if you have more role-playing or acting oriented players, it makes life more interesting and increases interaction among the players.
We just finished an awesome campaign in which the party had an idealistic but naive paladin and a fairly enterprising bard. Whenever the bard was trying to deceive or coerce this paladin, the two would do an opposed check. The paladin almost always lost, to the point that, by the end of the campaign, it was a running joke that the paladin thought this bard was actually a convert to his religion and was trying to live more piously. The players both loved this dynamic and used it for some entertaining role-playing
Great way to start a Monday.
I find that things like deception and the like are best done through RP. I've had players use their skills on each other, but they are typically aware that something is being used, and frequently what skill it is. The fact that they know ahead of time, and therefore have to buy in, combined with the fact that I let them make opposing checks means that everyone is aware of, and consenting to the drama of the moment, even if they don't know what it is yet.
i also have been getting great ideas for improving my DM'ing capabilities thank you matthew
I do it by minimizing chrome and opening up paint tool sai to draw while listening to you talk.
I know others have probably said this by now, but most cool solo monsters in 5e have Legendary Actions, to let it have some bonus stuff it can do (on other players turns, even!) and make them more interesting. I use legendary actions for my big boss fights all the time and it's awesome. It can change the battle round to round in minor or extreme ways depending on what you're going for.
"Excellent craftsmanship" really made me laugh out loud.
I too am a binge watcher. Discovered your channel after you appearance on Geek & Sundry's DM tips and ahve been binge watching it as time permits ever since.
Giving credit where credit's due, the dwarvish wedding ceremony idea of buying each other from the other's family is from The Truth by Terry Pratchett.
However, a lot of the rest of the stuff sounds original.
Matt, thank you for doing what you do and helping me adjust myself. I'm now running a campaign for my campus and I've got 7 other people(with others still asking to join). And I plan on getting the kinks all worked out.
30k already...wow.
Hey Matt that was a perfectly fine use of player vs player skill but next time don't just outrightly tell the other player they've been fooled. You should of let the lie organically unravel itself at a later time. Next time just pass a note or resolve the effect to the player in private.
Awesome set of videos Matt... I DMd NB back in the day, and we didn't get past the second book, the players lost interest. I LOVE how you've made it your own.
Usually I play this in the background while drawing or something, but when I do watch actively, I find your animated expressions and speech very easy to watch. Must be pro-DM prestige class feature! Currently watching/listening while preparing to DM myself - your videos have helped a lot for confidence building and making the task seem not so intimidating. Many points you've said about story-telling - like not revealing the man behind the curtain - have really made me evaluate how I conduct myself as a DM. I've tweaked my style considerably since the last time I've done it, I think, hopefully for the better. I'll find out soon!
The 13th Warrior!!!! My favorite movie to put me in the RPG mood!
"Wax on. Wax off."
I understood that reference!
This is the best thumbnail
This was a beautiful episode, I'm glad you went back to just playing even though it was a bunch of fun watching you all play. This is far more stream lined and cohesive as a thought process and a game it seems. Great work.
"Take that Away From Them" aka Nerfing the item.
I have not played D&D since around 1990, but a quick check of online references says...
The standard interpretation (from 2.5 onward) of the hole is:
Air enters the hole when it is open. As long as it is open it has an incoming air supply, when closed it has a limited amount of air since it's an interdimensional space pocket.
Never put a bag of holding or near one or they cause a astral rift and self destruct losing everything into the astral plane.
The problem is not the Nerf but originally allowing them to use it that way in the first place. Players want consistency in how mechanics work, and letting them not suffocate the entire party the first time (or have them end up weak, unconscious etc.) was the mistake. You can hide one person in the hole for maybe a half hour, but not tote around the entire party.
Using the item to sneak past opponents isn't "avoiding content" it's avoiding combat, something that should be encouraged as the game is not the combat, the game is the story and the choices the players make that take the story where it goes. Overcoming obstacles doesn't always have to be combat, it can be done many ways.
Personally, I've never found allowing skill checks against other players to be a major problem, but on the other hand I've only really seen it used in one fairly benign way, which is to hint at backstories that the PC is guarded about by having them call for sense motive rolls (of whatever the system calls them) to get a sense that that the character might not be giving the full story. I have played several characters who either have shameful or unpleasant events in their backstory or else had dangerous secrets that they don't want to share, and I find that offering my party mates rolls to get a sense of that is a great way to foreshadow.
Maybe the shadow dragon's breath could temporarily reduce levels. That way the fight can still death spiral, but after a long/short rest they recover the levels. Or possibly healing restores a level per so many hit points recovered
MM p.86 lists a variant rule for Dragon as Innate Spellcasters to add additional variety.
Love your videos Matt. I always learn new techniques from every video. Also, finished Priest and am halfway through Thief. Really enjoying them so far. Worth a buy IMO.
Our joke in my circle is you're our lord and savior as we're gearing up for our first campaign. Love your videos and so happy to be caught up as I've binged for two weeks to finish your running the game series lol.
As someone who binge watched everything you've uploaded last week i would love some mini content to get me through the week lol (5 minute video on a weekday where you plop a discussion idea or show off some cool DnD tools).
Honestly you seem brilliant and I've already found ways to integrate a fair bit of the content you have shared into my campaign. Also as someone who is constantly told to slow down it is nice to hear someone who talks at the same pace as me. Thanks for all your awesome work, keep it up! :D
Really looking forward to the end of my university year when I can some recreational reading and start reading my copy of Priest.
Matt, I love your content! It has helped a ton with our DMing! I never knew that splitting up is a thing you could do. You sir have my thanks for all this content!
I think I might make portable holes in my setting have 10 minutes of air, but it then has to be set on a vertical surface for a long rest to replenish the 10 minutes.
About air in the portable hole, maybe there can be a compromise? Say if the players are traveling or doing nothing for a day, they can spend a day blowing fresh air into the portable hole, and each day they spend doing this recharges one minute of air in the hole.
I think a portable hole with a replensihable air supply would be a useful tool for a ferry or something.
the air can get replenished if the shoot gust of wind into it or if they can place it vertically and I think it is a full round action to unroll it.
They tried that and it didn't work.
As for deception, i am not as experienced at many on d+d (having been a dm for only about a year now) but, one way i have done it, is make the lying up to the player, and not the character. For example, in my first campaign, there was a sorcerer who rolled with the party, who secretly had an agenda to bring all of them to her evil master for some unknown purpose. Of course, this meant she had to nearly constantly lie about her backstory, but the way i did it i think avoids the conflict that this can often cause, the liar does not roll for it, it is the other players i leave to ask to roll insight, to try and catch them in a lie (at which point i roll a deception check on their behalf, behind the screen) i think this works better because in ways it is more realistic, most people would not be always expecting someone to be lying to them, so they would only be paying enough attention, when they already have reason to believe that they are lying to them in some way. (by the way, the sorcerer did end up sucseeding in her deception, and led the party into a disadvantaged situation against the BBEG of the campaign, which they defeated (although losing one party member) that sorcerer is now a recurring villain of my campaign, still somewhat controlled by the same player (although she does have a normal party member too currently)
Hi Matt, Congrats on your channel success! I'm one of those people who bench watch them while I on the mmo grind. Although I don't think I'll get to play D&D anytime soon, I really enjoy your videos, I think you are a great story teller and you definitely make it sound very interesting and fun. Keep up the good work and good luck.
Fireball down the hall. Sounds like throwing the Holy hand grenade of Antioch then BOOM!
so... what im hearing is theyt dont like it that a dice can be rolled to change the mind of or persuade another character..... i personally would bring that up next time they make a persuasion check
I think it’s more “I don’t want my character to be manipulated by another PC just because they have a stupid deception bonus.”
Glad to hear your first session went so well... and great backstory for the wizard!
I would love to see. How you manage Naval Combat and players getting their own ship and/or fleet. I have a group that wants to get a war boat and maybe become their own form of pirate mercenaries.