Design

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[Music]

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hello and welcome to another episode of

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thinking critically a d discussion my

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name is danilo a d d guy and i like all

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kinds of games and the crunchy mechanics

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that make him tick

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today i'm joined by my first guest from

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outside the uk kareem aka fifa dream

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studios thank you ever so much for

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coming on can you tell us a little bit

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about yourself

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well it's it's my pleasure to be here i

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am an adventure writer i am a twitch

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streamer

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and

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playing

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dnd

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running d

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it's a a newer hobby of mine i picked it

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up around three years ago

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when i was in university some of my

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friends

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were asking around hey does anybody want

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to play d d and i said you know what i'd

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like to try it i had played

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gurps before

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but that was my first time playing d d

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i

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spent about a year and a half as a a

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die-hard min maxer

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before before i saw the light of other

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ways of play

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and since that time i've been writing my

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own adventures for publishing and for

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running just for my friends and i've

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been having a blast

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ah awesome that's uh yeah really good

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introduction i i probably got into it

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maybe slightly later than

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if i was looking at myself from a third

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party maybe later than i would have

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anticipated but i'm very glad i have and

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i do have quite an obsessive personality

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and when i

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like something i'm really

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all in no holds barred and dnd is no

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different

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you mentioned there about you've played

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gerps before and you started with a die

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hard min max personality and i think it

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can be the case for a lot of players

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when they first come to d d

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say

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okay let me try and optimize my

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character optimizing is maybe the the

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less cynical way of saying a min max so

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in terms of

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do you think that

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there's any elements of the design of

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dnd maybe 5e for the sake of argument

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that

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encourages

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min maxing or optimization over role

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play

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i think so what's interesting to me is

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that my experiences with gerps were just

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messing around having fun with my

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friends honestly when i was playing

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gurps

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to be honest i didn't even know the

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rules i i showed up i was told a premise

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hey do you want to

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be a character in some crazy wacky world

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with magic i was like hey can i be davey

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jones yep you can be the evie jones

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perfect great and then i fell in love

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with that character

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when i went over to d

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my friend who introduced it to me he

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said you know it it's very important

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that you make a character in advance

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because that takes a bit of time we're

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going to sit down we're going to make a

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character we're gonna read from the

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player's handbook i said okay wonderful

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so i started making my character with

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him and we were reading over the

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player's handbook and i think what

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influenced me

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is that well one

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he spent a fair bit of time talking

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about about combat but i think also

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there is

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a very

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big part of the player's handbook that

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deals with combat and if you're reading

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that before you play

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then

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i think it forms an impression that

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combat is

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maybe the the pinnacle of dnd like good

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combat is a good d and d and if you're

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good at combat you're good at dnd

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hmm yeah and likewise for spells

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actually a large percentage of the the

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players handbook is dedicated to spells

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as you'd expect there's a lot of them

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and they need a lot of words and stuff

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around them so it's kind of a given but

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still exactly as you say if you approach

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it from well hey there's a lot of spells

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and an awful lot of gritty mechanics

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around combat here i have to assume

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that's important let me build my

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character with that as the first step

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and then when you actually

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start playing in session one and the dm

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says what drink do you want at the bar

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oh uh i don't know the drink that makes

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me hit someone harder

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so i can see how that's yeah it could be

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quite a common

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pitfall and i've seen it in the game i'm

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running right now which has a lot of

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first timers predominantly first timers

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predominantly of those

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have zero experience with anything

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anywhere near this

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and a lot of their characters are a mix

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of optimized some more than others or

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just kind of this

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middle ground of

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ambiguity for lack of a better term

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around what they wanted to focus on so i

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guess we could say in in that regard

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perhaps the php is somewhat lacking in

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in how it's designed potentially there's

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a there's a lot of good standout points

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but i'm certainly think there's

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room for improvement but it's

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it's a

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i mean i don't envy the the writers and

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designers let me put it like that it's a

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it's an uphill battle right and it's not

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to say that the players handbook and the

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dungeon masters guide don't have

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wonderful things to to learn by by

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reading them regarding topics that

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aren't combat it's just i think by

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volume you know if if people are reading

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in they they're just sort of skimming it

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they see combat now you know they pay

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attention to that and there's only a

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small passage

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on role-playing or whatnot so you maybe

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don't pay as close attention to it

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for sure yeah they're intimidating reads

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certainly for those that have come from

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well you know gone are the days where

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even video games had manuals i mean i

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remember vividly getting the train home

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with my world of warcraft 200 page a5

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manual i'm reading that on the train and

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that those days are long behind us now

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so the moment you rock up to play

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another game and go oh by the way

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there's 300 pages of a4 here plus maybe

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a further 600 if you fancy it it's like

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whoa okay here steady on what's i just

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want to i don't know some dice

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would you mind explaining a little bit

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more about gerps because to be honest

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i'm not very familiar but i think it

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might be quite useful exercise

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well it's

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unfortunately it's been a long time

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since i've played gurps so my my memory

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on it is a bit vague

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but uh gurp stands for the generic

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universal robling system

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it's not a d20 based system it's a d6

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based system so you have to roll a

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certain number of dice uh depending on

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your

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character sheet the more

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proficient you are at something the more

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dice you have and then rolling the five

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or six is considered a success

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and you need a certain number of

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successes

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that's the general mechanical framework

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i know that there are a variety of other

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modules for gurps in other settings

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there's a star wars gurps

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source book for you to run star wars

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adventures in the within the gurps

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framework so in that sense it's a bit

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more open and flexible

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but my actual exposure to the rules was

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very limited i just wanted to play davey

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jones

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sure sure yeah you had you had an idea

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and you wanted to run with it which is

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which is great i'm pretty sure i've

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played either you know at gurps itself

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for a very

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similar system of that okay if you're

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rubbish at something you you can only

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roll one and if you're great at

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something you can roll five therefore

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you've pretty much got it in the bag the

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simplicity speaks for itself

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one thing i wanted to

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talk about was

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obviously we've already talked about the

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players handbook a little bit and one

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thing i really wanted to stress and one

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thing i stress to my

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my players and my my friends is that

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the language used in terms of

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it's an element of design just the same

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way the art is an element of design that

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the words that they've picked are

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pretty well done i have to say

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it's dense but it's consistent which is

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very important so something i tell my

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players and my friends is you've got big

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and you've got little a big a is the

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action

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and then little a is for action with a

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lowercase a at the beginning and that is

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a huge differentiation in the rules such

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a subtle change in is it an uppercase a

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or is it a lowercase a but it means such

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a huge difference and when i

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spotted that and then you see everywhere

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you see little a means this and capital

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a means that

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i was actually fair play that's actually

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a really

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good job of being exceptionally

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consistent to something that's kind of

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hard to spot and also likewise with the

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spells so this is something i've

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butted heads with

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my players on a number of occasions when

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they've said

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i want to use spell x but i want to use

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it in this way

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and that is really tough

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for me to say

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no because i know in my heart of hearts

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that spell isn't it they don't intend

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for it to be used in that way the

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wording is is the designer's intent for

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that spell is

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really clear

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in the wording

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so i'm always like oh man

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i really want to commend you on your

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ingenuity here player but

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if i let you do that with that spell

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then suddenly i have to let someone else

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do something else with some other spell

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and then suddenly

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every spell is every other spell so that

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was

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that was that was quite interesting an

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example in a recent game was

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a player had burning hands and they were

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faced with a locked chest pretty mundane

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nothing exotic

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wizard in this case and they had not

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packed in their book in the morning

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knock

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which is the spell to unlock

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something at the flick of your wrist

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so he said let me use burning hands but

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because i'm a wizard

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i want to change the spell so it can be

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used like a blowtorch

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and we spent a good

283
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,959
five minutes me trying to explain to him

284
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,920
just

285
00:09:52,959 --> 00:09:57,279
no because there's a spell for that and

286
00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,720
it's it's not on me that you haven't

287
00:09:57,279 --> 00:10:00,720
packed that that's on you but he didn't

288
00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,240
see it that way he just saw it as i'm a

289
00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,959
genius wizard so why on earth can't i

290
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,160
change my spell to do this and

291
00:10:04,959 --> 00:10:07,920
i think he he was a little bit

292
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,320
frustrated

293
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,760
but i can't fault the design of the book

294
00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,760
for that because

295
00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,360
the book is really on point so i don't

296
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:18,320
know if you've had any any thoughts on

297
00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,839
that any experiences around you know how

298
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,000
people have interpreted the book or the

299
00:10:19,839 --> 00:10:25,120
language used within

300
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:28,160
i i would agree with you i do think that

301
00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,120
the language in the book is well done i

302
00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,760
think

303
00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:34,000
with any linguistic endeavor there's

304
00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,800
always room for interpretation i think

305
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,720
that

306
00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,959
point is is really

307
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:42,000
personified when you look at the people

308
00:10:38,959 --> 00:10:44,560
who are tweeting at uh jeremy crawford

309
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:47,040
you know one one particular example

310
00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:48,480
regarding actions that you mentioned

311
00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,200
that sticks out to me

312
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,120
is i remember that in one of the sage

313
00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,200
advice tweets that i believe made it

314
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,120
into the compendium as well

315
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,200
when it comes to the incapacitated

316
00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,040
condition or or any condition that says

317
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,399
you can't take actions

318
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,640
there is a word

319
00:11:02,399 --> 00:11:06,000
with a capital a called action but

320
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,399
that's not the only thing you're not

321
00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,320
allowed to do when you can't take

322
00:11:08,399 --> 00:11:13,519
actions lowercase you also can't take

323
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:15,920
reactions or bonus actions

324
00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:18,800
so i i see where they're coming from and

325
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:20,240
i'm glad the clarification exists

326
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,079
when it comes to

327
00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:24,640
spells

328
00:11:22,079 --> 00:11:27,040
the natural instinct is for people

329
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,560
to try and get as much value

330
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,399
as you can out of your spell and

331
00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:31,680
understandably so

332
00:11:30,399 --> 00:11:33,200
the challenge

333
00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:34,240
that i think you've touched on is is

334
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,480
that

335
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:39,440
spells are supposed to do what what they

336
00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,839
say if you step out of that you start to

337
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,800
invalidate other

338
00:11:40,839 --> 00:11:44,160
options now

339
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,880
if you're

340
00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,120
not too concerned about a mechanically

341
00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,200
balanced game then you know go for it if

342
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,200
you want to play d d to you know be

343
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:56,800
silly and get into all kinds of crazy

344
00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:59,279
situations and and just keep it flowing

345
00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,279
there's no problem with doing that sure

346
00:11:59,279 --> 00:12:03,680
if you want to try and keep things

347
00:12:01,279 --> 00:12:05,680
balanced stick to the the spirit of the

348
00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:08,079
rules which in of itself is an attempt

349
00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:10,639
to make everybody

350
00:12:08,079 --> 00:12:12,000
feel useful if the wizard is going

351
00:12:10,639 --> 00:12:13,680
around

352
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,440
casting spells and doing all kinds of

353
00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:17,279
things that step out of the bounds of

354
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,519
the spells that they've chosen it starts

355
00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:20,560
to step on other characters toes as well

356
00:12:19,519 --> 00:12:22,160
you know what if somebody else had

357
00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:24,240
prepared the spell knock you know that

358
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,040
would that would have been their time to

359
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,040
shine

360
00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,279
exactly and hands up yeah that's my own

361
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,839
personal kind of analytical nature

362
00:12:29,279 --> 00:12:33,120
taking over me there to say

363
00:12:31,839 --> 00:12:35,279
you know the spells should be used the

364
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,440
way they should be used but i i do agree

365
00:12:35,279 --> 00:12:39,440
that absolutely if you just want a goofy

366
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,600
adventure which i'm

367
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:44,320
guilty of myself in the past then yeah

368
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,760
for sure just just just go ahead

369
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,760
but absolutely especially with new

370
00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,839
players i really wanted to set an

371
00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,480
expectation it's for a longer campaign

372
00:12:49,839 --> 00:12:54,720
as well and it's it's it can be a bit of

373
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,920
a give them an inch and they'll take a

374
00:12:54,720 --> 00:13:00,160
mile and i was trying to avoid that but

375
00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:02,399
on the the other side of the coin

376
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,720
i had another player who was

377
00:13:02,399 --> 00:13:06,560
just by his own personality almost

378
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,839
rather than for any kind of material

379
00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,440
gain

380
00:13:07,839 --> 00:13:12,000
was just trying to be better in every

381
00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,760
element of his character

382
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,360
in that he was like okay but

383
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,720
i'm a blood hunter

384
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:22,240
barbarian multi-class so absolutely

385
00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,240
bonkers in the martial arts as a front

386
00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,600
line tank he's he's laughing all the way

387
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,040
to the bank

388
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,200
and he's happy with not casting spells

389
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,200
that's fine but he said i have a problem

390
00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:34,079
with with creatures that fly

391
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:36,160
so he started to devise a plan to say

392
00:13:34,079 --> 00:13:37,760
let me build some kind of hook shot a

393
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,600
rope with a hook on the end that i can

394
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,639
throw out and pull flyers down to the

395
00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,480
ground

396
00:13:40,639 --> 00:13:44,160
so that's a that's a dope idea and i'm

397
00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,839
totally behind it but i have to set your

398
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,360
expectation to say

399
00:13:45,839 --> 00:13:49,360
it won't be trivial

400
00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,199
to do because

401
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,360
the rogue who's got

402
00:13:51,199 --> 00:13:55,199
901 daggers that he likes throwing at

403
00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,639
flying creatures he's just going to be

404
00:13:55,199 --> 00:13:58,079
kicking the dust

405
00:13:56,639 --> 00:13:59,920
while you just pull them down to ground

406
00:13:58,079 --> 00:14:01,040
and just wamp them for 20 points of

407
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,959
damage

408
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:05,199
so it's exactly that that's certainly

409
00:14:02,959 --> 00:14:07,040
how i play in that i want it

410
00:14:05,199 --> 00:14:08,959
i kind of want everybody to have at

411
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,720
least a little bit of a time

412
00:14:08,959 --> 00:14:12,399
to shine

413
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,160
and i said to him like you can't be good

414
00:14:12,399 --> 00:14:16,560
at everything sorry

415
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,079
because in real life

416
00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,440
not one person is good at absolutely

417
00:14:18,079 --> 00:14:20,560
everything

418
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,240
if they are

419
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,839
they're so few and far between they

420
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,000
become legend

421
00:14:23,839 --> 00:14:26,959
if i may comment uh on that particular

422
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,959
example

423
00:14:26,959 --> 00:14:30,480
please it's

424
00:14:28,959 --> 00:14:33,199
it's actually quite interesting

425
00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,839
uh a proposition there are barbarians

426
00:14:33,199 --> 00:14:38,399
who can fly essentially you know there

427
00:14:35,839 --> 00:14:39,279
are barbarians who they can jump and as

428
00:14:38,399 --> 00:14:40,240
far

429
00:14:39,279 --> 00:14:41,680
as long

430
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,839
until the end of their turn they're

431
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,760
flying you know you want to jump 50 feet

432
00:14:43,839 --> 00:14:47,120
get up 50 feet attack people and then

433
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,839
fall to the ground

434
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,639
so

435
00:14:47,839 --> 00:14:54,560
maybe this person has chosen the wrong

436
00:14:50,639 --> 00:14:56,800
barbarian subclass option maybe

437
00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,880
you want to not punish them for their

438
00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,959
for their barbarian subclass choice and

439
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:04,320
you say okay sure you can have a

440
00:15:00,959 --> 00:15:06,480
grappling rope but it's one action to

441
00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,320
grapple them and then

442
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,680
pull them down and then on your next

443
00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,079
turn you might be able to attack and in

444
00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,760
the meantime maybe the rogue can deal

445
00:15:12,079 --> 00:15:16,160
massive sneak attack damage to other

446
00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:18,000
flyers or even the same one

447
00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,399
yeah there are lots of ways of going

448
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:23,519
about it and and balancing it

449
00:15:20,399 --> 00:15:25,040
balancing your players

450
00:15:23,519 --> 00:15:28,000
experiences

451
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:30,000
is it's tough uh it's something that you

452
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,519
know dm's have to

453
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,399
learn to

454
00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:36,240
apply their own judgment towards

455
00:15:34,399 --> 00:15:37,199
every set of players is different has

456
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,040
their own

457
00:15:37,199 --> 00:15:40,639
preconceptions and

458
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,680
obviously only gets

459
00:15:40,639 --> 00:15:46,480
exacerbated when you have a mixture of

460
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:48,240
mechanical players and goofy players and

461
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,000
then you'll you're in for a wild ride

462
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,639
then to say the least

463
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,680
so talking of that's a good segue there

464
00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:55,600
to

465
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:58,160
homebrew because as far as i'm aware

466
00:15:55,600 --> 00:16:00,240
that kind of weird manual hook shot was

467
00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,079
relatively homebrew

468
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,440
so my question to you would be and

469
00:16:02,079 --> 00:16:05,519
you'll

470
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,079
have a lot more experience than i do

471
00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:11,360
how does one start to homebrew anything

472
00:16:08,079 --> 00:16:13,279
do you start big could you start small

473
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,920
you know that's that's a that's a good

474
00:16:13,279 --> 00:16:17,120
question i think the the quick answer is

475
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,120
to just start

476
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,720
you know yeah when it comes to to

477
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,120
homebrew

478
00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:26,880
i started off by

479
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:29,680
running my own setting my own adventure

480
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:31,920
designing my own combat encounters but

481
00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,839
based off of mechanics that exist

482
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,560
already and that were rules as written

483
00:16:33,839 --> 00:16:38,560
so for example all the monsters that i

484
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,360
used were from the monster manual or

485
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,240
from another official source

486
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,959
any

487
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:47,519
items or mechanics or anything that the

488
00:16:44,959 --> 00:16:48,560
players could do

489
00:16:47,519 --> 00:16:50,480
it was from you know the player's

490
00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,759
handbook or another source book

491
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,839
the story

492
00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:56,480
the adventure elements

493
00:16:53,839 --> 00:16:59,519
the design of the environment the world

494
00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:02,320
the setting that was me and i think that

495
00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:05,760
that's the way that i would

496
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:07,679
advocate for people to start if they're

497
00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,520
concerned about

498
00:17:07,679 --> 00:17:11,760
game balance because i was concerned

499
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,959
about game balance and the wizards of

500
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,799
the coast they're professional game

501
00:17:12,959 --> 00:17:17,280
designers they sure they have years of

502
00:17:14,799 --> 00:17:20,799
experience they had lots of play testing

503
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:23,039
and they understand game balance already

504
00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:24,319
better than you do probably if you're

505
00:17:23,039 --> 00:17:25,679
just starting out homebrewing for the

506
00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:28,240
first time if you're concerned about

507
00:17:25,679 --> 00:17:30,880
balance stick to the rules as written

508
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,720
until you understand them and understand

509
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,320
how they're balanced and then you can

510
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,240
start tinkering with them

511
00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,679
my plan is to make minor adjustments and

512
00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,600
then every

513
00:17:37,679 --> 00:17:41,039
step you know that i feel comfortable

514
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,160
i'm going to make larger and larger

515
00:17:41,039 --> 00:17:44,320
adjustments

516
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:46,320
if you don't care about

517
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,240
game balance which i'm not trying to

518
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,160
trying to slam or anything like that

519
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,960
then i think you have a bit more liberty

520
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,320
to

521
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:56,080
go crazy but i think with design

522
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,679
and i i come from a chemical engineering

523
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,280
background so

524
00:17:57,679 --> 00:18:01,760
design is very much

525
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,679
what was taught to us

526
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:06,080
you have to understand

527
00:18:03,679 --> 00:18:07,760
what they call the problem space

528
00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,960
the context of whatever you're trying to

529
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:13,280
design and in dnd the context is your

530
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,039
audience your players or if you're

531
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,960
publishing adventures then you're trying

532
00:18:15,039 --> 00:18:18,080
to publish to a very broad you know

533
00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,600
generic

534
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,880
d audience

535
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,880
and so

536
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,799
you have to consider to yourself what

537
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,559
kind of game do i want to run what kind

538
00:18:24,799 --> 00:18:28,320
of game am i going to have fun running

539
00:18:26,559 --> 00:18:30,400
and what kind of game do my players want

540
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,880
to to experience

541
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,320
i think that going for

542
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:37,360
a game that

543
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:39,520
cares about game balance is a safer play

544
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:41,840
i think you know you're saying i trust

545
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,120
in the wizards of the coast's judgment

546
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,640
yeah

547
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:48,480
i agree and that's exactly what i did i

548
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:51,919
for some reason had a

549
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:53,919
desire to step away from the published

550
00:18:51,919 --> 00:18:55,039
adventures and i couldn't tell you now

551
00:18:53,919 --> 00:18:56,559
why that is

552
00:18:55,039 --> 00:18:58,160
maybe if i'm being completely frank with

553
00:18:56,559 --> 00:18:59,919
myself it's

554
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,679
arrogance that i wanted to i wanted to

555
00:18:59,919 --> 00:19:04,080
do my own thing

556
00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:07,039
and my own thing would be more fun

557
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,880
very much exactly the same i said

558
00:19:07,039 --> 00:19:10,400
let me start throwing things down let me

559
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:13,840
start throwing some ideas down some

560
00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:15,919
concepts some some broad brushstrokes of

561
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,760
this is the bad guy this is the good guy

562
00:19:15,919 --> 00:19:19,679
here's a couple of heavy points that i

563
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,559
want to hit along the way in this world

564
00:19:19,679 --> 00:19:23,679
and

565
00:19:20,559 --> 00:19:24,880
hit up fantasy name generator get some

566
00:19:23,679 --> 00:19:26,480
cities and

567
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:29,039
continent names down

568
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:31,280
and bish bash bosh i've got

569
00:19:29,039 --> 00:19:33,200
something a world

570
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,840
from personal experience

571
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,760
that was a lot that was a lot probably

572
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:41,440
more than

573
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:42,960
i'd anticipated but from a learning

574
00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,240
experience

575
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,400
it's huge

576
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,120
absolutely huge learning experience if i

577
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,400
was to restart a campaign now it would

578
00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:53,760
be

579
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:56,960
quite drastically different in terms of

580
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:58,320
how i approached the the story

581
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,880
in terms of

582
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:03,360
the rules again i am

583
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:06,799
as you as you previously realized a very

584
00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:09,200
mechanical person analytical person

585
00:20:06,799 --> 00:20:10,640
very true to the what was the phrase you

586
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,919
use the intent of the rules or something

587
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,799
like that it's the

588
00:20:11,919 --> 00:20:16,720
i'm very much a big fan of that and

589
00:20:14,799 --> 00:20:19,120
that they put that in there for a reason

590
00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,640
and they know better than i do so i'm to

591
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,799
defer to their

592
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,159
wisdom the wisdom of the wizards which

593
00:20:22,799 --> 00:20:26,480
which sounds like it sounds like a great

594
00:20:24,159 --> 00:20:27,520
module title um trademark trademark that

595
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,360
one i've got

596
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,480
got the time

597
00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,640
if i'm being brutally honest the

598
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:35,919
homebrew that i personally do is a a

599
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,640
story and the world that the story goes

600
00:20:35,919 --> 00:20:37,840
in

601
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,400
which is very

602
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:44,080
narrative rather than very mechanical

603
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:46,480
the only mechanical homebrew i do is

604
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,640
ad hoc it's on the fly it's reactive

605
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,679
rather than proactive so what i mean by

606
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,280
that is

607
00:20:49,679 --> 00:20:53,919
my character's uh

608
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:56,159
cake walking this fight and it's i can i

609
00:20:53,919 --> 00:20:57,840
tell at the time whether that's good or

610
00:20:56,159 --> 00:20:59,200
bad so if the players are happy that

611
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,720
they're stomping all over these enemies

612
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,640
then i'm going to let it happen because

613
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,320
that's the fun let them have fun let

614
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,200
them stomp over enemies that's fine

615
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:08,880
but if it's a big climatic fight and

616
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,400
they've rolled very well

617
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,320
then my

618
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,480
dynamic reactive homebrew in that

619
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,720
instance is okay let me pump up

620
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,559
let me pump up his hp let me let him hit

621
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,320
a little bit harder for the next few

622
00:21:18,559 --> 00:21:23,039
times which is a form of homebrew i

623
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,480
suppose if it was by the book it

624
00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:26,640
it would just be

625
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,159
a bit of a damp squib and it would end

626
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,520
and that would be the end of the end of

627
00:21:28,159 --> 00:21:31,760
the fight but

628
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,600
i hadn't really thought about it

629
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,679
in that way if i'm being brutally honest

630
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,200
i always thought it was just me

631
00:21:35,679 --> 00:21:39,200
trying to pick up the spinning plate

632
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:42,240
that i dropped but now i think about it

633
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,919
it is it is a form of homebrew yeah yeah

634
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,559
you're you're absolutely right it is a

635
00:21:43,919 --> 00:21:48,640
form of homebrew for me the first time i

636
00:21:46,559 --> 00:21:50,799
i ran an adventure

637
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,400
is very different from

638
00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:53,760
the one i'm running right now for my

639
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,400
friends and it's it's quite funny

640
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,760
because i'm actually running in name the

641
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,200
same adventure

642
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,159
the same setting

643
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,080
but

644
00:22:00,159 --> 00:22:04,000
i have learned a lot since the first

645
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,120
time i dm and there's a lot that has

646
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,080
changed

647
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:09,200
i

648
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,080
feel pretty comfortable now

649
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,679
with

650
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,080
designing

651
00:22:11,679 --> 00:22:16,400
combat encounters around

652
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,159
the wizards of the coast existing

653
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,840
frameworks i i

654
00:22:18,159 --> 00:22:22,559
i have my own

655
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,600
thoughts on magic items and and how they

656
00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:25,120
affect

657
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:27,200
game balance

658
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:29,200
and

659
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,280
now that i have this understanding

660
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,440
i feel comfortable

661
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,799
home brewing my own

662
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:37,120
magic items and this is actually

663
00:22:34,799 --> 00:22:39,600
something i'm planning on doing

664
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:42,559
tomorrow actually

665
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,919
i i might make some content regarding

666
00:22:42,559 --> 00:22:46,880
this but

667
00:22:43,919 --> 00:22:49,039
my view on magic items is that

668
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:52,320
obviously players want magic items and

669
00:22:49,039 --> 00:22:55,679
for me as a dm balancing combat around

670
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:57,280
players that have magic items is

671
00:22:55,679 --> 00:22:59,200
more of a challenge

672
00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,440
than if than if they don't have magic

673
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,440
items um

674
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,520
so that that's why i gravitated towards

675
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,960
a low magic setting for the first

676
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,320
adventure that i'm running if i'm being

677
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,520
honest a bit of a bit of a selfish

678
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,320
choice

679
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,080
but

680
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,480
but completely understandable selfish

681
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,200
but understandable well thank you

682
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,480
but now that i i feel more comfortable

683
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,440
with it

684
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,640
i think there's room in d

685
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,799
for

686
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:27,039
minor buffs

687
00:23:24,799 --> 00:23:30,000
in the form of magic and and though they

688
00:23:27,039 --> 00:23:32,960
already exist if you look at at how the

689
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,039
dmg talks about rewarding item rewarding

690
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,960
players consumables are considered less

691
00:23:35,039 --> 00:23:38,320
powerful than

692
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,240
magic armor for example and

693
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,240
understandably so

694
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:45,600
i think there is

695
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:48,240
more room or there is room for more in

696
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:50,799
between you know um something that's not

697
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:53,360
quite as one shot as a potion but not

698
00:23:50,799 --> 00:23:55,200
quite as forever as an armor that lets

699
00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,440
you fly right

700
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,279
yeah i guess what inspired me to do this

701
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,320
is in baldur's gate descendant to

702
00:23:59,279 --> 00:24:01,600
avernus

703
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,320
it talks about

704
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:06,000
different charms that archdevils can

705
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,840
give you if you make deals with them and

706
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:11,440
that got me thinking well

707
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:14,640
why just arch devils indeed why not

708
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:16,240
introduce that kind of technology into

709
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:19,200
the setting that i want to run and and

710
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:21,440
this i think is really it plays into the

711
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,799
setting if you have a lot of magic items

712
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,880
around then players will start to to

713
00:24:24,799 --> 00:24:28,720
associate you know that high magic

714
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,400
feeling with your adventure and if your

715
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,039
players are looting lots and lots of

716
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,320
magic items and nobody else in the world

717
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:35,679
seems to have magic items they're going

718
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,200
to be a lot more powerful than everybody

719
00:24:35,679 --> 00:24:40,640
else and if you're fine with that that

720
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:42,159
makes sense but to me something just

721
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,480
grates in the back of my mind well why

722
00:24:42,159 --> 00:24:48,720
don't other people have it yeah i agree

723
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:50,000
and that's exactly bugs me as well and

724
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,840
my players are probably seeing me it's

725
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,600
very stingy

726
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,080
perhaps rightly so i've probably built

727
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,159
up a maybe misaligned expectation of

728
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,679
this being a world of whimsy and and

729
00:24:58,159 --> 00:25:01,200
magic but then

730
00:24:59,679 --> 00:25:03,360
why haven't i got my plus one longsword

731
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,279
yet down low i'm sorry

732
00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:07,919
but it is very much that

733
00:25:05,279 --> 00:25:10,159
if it was easy everybody would do it

734
00:25:07,919 --> 00:25:11,039
and it clearly everybody isn't doing it

735
00:25:10,159 --> 00:25:14,080
because

736
00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:15,919
there's loads of monsters around so

737
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,679
so it can't be that easy that's why you

738
00:25:15,919 --> 00:25:19,679
guys are here

739
00:25:17,679 --> 00:25:22,159
that balance for me is is tricky and

740
00:25:19,679 --> 00:25:23,279
when i'm one i still struggle with and i

741
00:25:22,159 --> 00:25:26,000
must admit

742
00:25:23,279 --> 00:25:29,600
i've not homebrewed any magic items from

743
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:31,360
the ground up all i've been brave enough

744
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,120
to try so far

745
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,120
is taking one that already exists and

746
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:37,200
putting my own spinning it maybe adding

747
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:39,760
something and then taking something away

748
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,760
and i think that is actually

749
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,760
how i would recommend going about

750
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,679
homebrew for the first time this is

751
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,000
something that in engineering we call

752
00:25:45,679 --> 00:25:49,200
benchmarking and it's it's something

753
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,679
that i

754
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,919
really i'm a huge fan of i don't like to

755
00:25:51,679 --> 00:25:55,919
trust my own judgment until i feel like

756
00:25:53,919 --> 00:25:58,000
it's been substantiated with you know

757
00:25:55,919 --> 00:26:00,480
results so if you want to make you know

758
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,559
your own magic item take one that exists

759
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,520
take a little spin in fact what i want

760
00:26:02,559 --> 00:26:05,600
to

761
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,279
design and and i might i might end up

762
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,840
publishing it on dm's guild i might just

763
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:11,279
keep it for myself

764
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:14,080
um but um

765
00:26:11,279 --> 00:26:17,360
our performance enhancing drugs

766
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:19,440
for dna you know i i had an idea because

767
00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:23,039
the world that i wanted to

768
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:24,960
run is a gritty world a dark fantasy

769
00:26:23,039 --> 00:26:25,919
kind of world and

770
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,960
i think

771
00:26:25,919 --> 00:26:31,520
having performance enhancing drugs is

772
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,840
really builds that atmosphere for sure

773
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,200
and a lot of people be included the

774
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,600
first thing you think about are magic

775
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,640
items for fighters magic items for

776
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,600
wizards

777
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:44,080
but i thought what if there were

778
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:46,720
performance-enhancing drugs for monks

779
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:48,960
things that allowed them to expand their

780
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,000
key abilities

781
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:54,480
there are trade-offs withdrawal symptoms

782
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,000
downsides to using them that's this kind

783
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,679
of thing that i want to get into you

784
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,159
know in the future

785
00:26:57,679 --> 00:27:02,400
yeah that reminds me that games like

786
00:27:00,159 --> 00:27:06,480
fallout has

787
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:09,120
a drug addiction side to it that i think

788
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,120
is a bit not half baked but maybe

789
00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:13,600
three quarters baked in that the payoffs

790
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:16,480
aren't particularly bad

791
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,320
i think that designing a really good

792
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,480
performance enhancing drug scheme would

793
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,640
be a very challenging

794
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,799
but because of that really quite

795
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,600
interesting to get to that nitty gritty

796
00:27:24,799 --> 00:27:27,520
of

797
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,919
you know how much is a key point worth

798
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,159
versus how much of this can he inject

799
00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:34,399
before it's game over is

800
00:27:32,159 --> 00:27:36,399
really quite an exciting

801
00:27:34,399 --> 00:27:38,159
concept to approach i'll be yeah

802
00:27:36,399 --> 00:27:40,159
interesting to you uh to see what the

803
00:27:38,159 --> 00:27:41,600
output of that is to see what kind of

804
00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:42,480
form it takes

805
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,840
you're absolutely right when you

806
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,440
mentioned

807
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:48,399
approaching magic items from what does

808
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,600
the wizard in my party want and when i'm

809
00:27:48,399 --> 00:27:51,799
designing

810
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,840
my campaign it feels a little bit

811
00:27:51,799 --> 00:27:57,360
defeatist i'm not sure is the right word

812
00:27:53,840 --> 00:28:00,080
a little bit pandering to just say

813
00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:01,919
let me put in this dungeon loot that my

814
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:04,000
players would want because it feels a

815
00:28:01,919 --> 00:28:04,880
bit disingenuous i have to say

816
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,520
that

817
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:10,000
why would this dragon's loot have

818
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,840
a plus one long sword for the fighter

819
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,679
and a

820
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,520
one magic missiles for sake of argument

821
00:28:13,679 --> 00:28:16,480
for someone else when why wouldn't it

822
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,080
have

823
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,200
something for a monk which isn't in my

824
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,520
party

825
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,360
and where's the line there between i

826
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:26,320
want to keep it fun for my players but i

827
00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:28,080
want to keep the world congruous

828
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,360
kind of the suspension of disbelief oh

829
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,720
of course we open this dragon's hoard

830
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,720
and of course there's those boots that

831
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,320
i've been asking the dm for for five

832
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,399
months

833
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,240
yeah i know sorry but

834
00:28:36,399 --> 00:28:40,799
i didn't know how else to give you them

835
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:43,279
so that's something i struggle with and

836
00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:45,679
hands up is probably why i've been maybe

837
00:28:43,279 --> 00:28:48,640
more stingy than i have because i always

838
00:28:45,679 --> 00:28:50,480
wait for the perfect moment to use an

839
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,000
analogy it'd be like playing overwatch

840
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,120
and never using your alt because you're

841
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,039
waiting for

842
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:58,480
the sex bomb and it just never comes

843
00:28:57,039 --> 00:29:00,799
yeah so i don't know how you've

844
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,080
approached that problem of loot

845
00:29:00,799 --> 00:29:03,840
allocation i suppose you might be

846
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,000
digressing somewhat but it's a really

847
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,600
juicy topic well

848
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,320
i started off my adventure you know

849
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:14,000
before i ran the first session i said

850
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:15,840
this is going to be a low magic setting

851
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,960
so if you are expecting lots of magic

852
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:21,279
items you're not going to get it that's

853
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,240
that saved me and and my players a lot

854
00:29:21,279 --> 00:29:24,960
of

855
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,559
disappointment i think yes but aside

856
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,200
from that

857
00:29:26,559 --> 00:29:30,480
there is definitely you know a school of

858
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,880
thought that

859
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:36,559
giving your players what they want

860
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:39,520
versus you know random tables or what

861
00:29:36,559 --> 00:29:41,039
would make sense for that monster

862
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,200
you don't necessarily have to give your

863
00:29:41,039 --> 00:29:44,559
players what they want sometimes they

864
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,919
you know they're like oh yes this is

865
00:29:44,559 --> 00:29:48,000
going to make me a lot better at

866
00:29:45,919 --> 00:29:50,080
fighting and this is what i want

867
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,159
sometimes the magic item

868
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:55,279
will open up avenues for your character

869
00:29:52,159 --> 00:29:58,399
that you weren't expecting or

870
00:29:55,279 --> 00:29:59,200
might produce interesting conflict and

871
00:29:58,399 --> 00:30:01,279
so

872
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,039
at least for me i don't think to myself

873
00:30:01,279 --> 00:30:05,279
i need to give my players what they want

874
00:30:03,039 --> 00:30:07,760
or i need to design the magic items for

875
00:30:05,279 --> 00:30:11,279
them in my particular case

876
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:14,320
i have or i plan to design magic items

877
00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:17,200
for certain characters because they have

878
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:20,480
sponsors so for example my monk is part

879
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:21,600
of a monastic tradition and as part of

880
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,440
their training as part of their

881
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,120
assignments

882
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,440
this is a shadow monk so this is not

883
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:29,919
your typical you know do do gooder monk

884
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:32,880
this is a bit of a shadowy organization

885
00:30:29,919 --> 00:30:35,120
they might supply my mug with

886
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,799
performance enhancing drugs

887
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,919
for sake of argument you might say yeah

888
00:30:36,799 --> 00:30:39,919
yeah

889
00:30:37,919 --> 00:30:41,600
so in that sense they have a sponsor and

890
00:30:39,919 --> 00:30:43,679
that sponsor will give them things to

891
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:46,000
make them better at what they want to do

892
00:30:43,679 --> 00:30:47,440
that's one way of weaving in magic items

893
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,960
that are tailored towards your character

894
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,279
but at the same time there's absolutely

895
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,960
nothing wrong i think with random magic

896
00:30:51,279 --> 00:30:54,399
items you know

897
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,080
yeah it makes sense both ways and i'm

898
00:30:54,399 --> 00:30:57,840
really i really think that's a really

899
00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:01,039
elegant solution and one i'm kicking

900
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:03,679
myself for not having introduced myself

901
00:31:01,039 --> 00:31:05,919
my my guys have made friends with some

902
00:31:03,679 --> 00:31:06,799
pretty powerful people on both sides of

903
00:31:05,919 --> 00:31:09,200
the

904
00:31:06,799 --> 00:31:10,640
the moral metronome so

905
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,399
there's no reason why they wouldn't be

906
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,399
like okay here's something that will

907
00:31:12,399 --> 00:31:17,039
help you out which is the perfect

908
00:31:14,399 --> 00:31:18,640
solution to my question earlier of i

909
00:31:17,039 --> 00:31:21,039
want to give them something i like but i

910
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,159
don't want it to be contrived so yeah at

911
00:31:21,039 --> 00:31:26,180
the very least i've learned something

912
00:31:22,159 --> 00:31:32,119
from today so i'm super stoked

913
00:31:26,180 --> 00:31:32,119
[Music]

914
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:43,039
one thing that we're approaching now is

915
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,799
we've talked a bit about the

916
00:31:43,039 --> 00:31:46,960
kind of mechanical design and i think we

917
00:31:44,799 --> 00:31:48,240
i want to touch on that again later on

918
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,000
but we're kind of working our way

919
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,080
towards now is

920
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,559
narrative design

921
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,559
so what makes a good campaign

922
00:31:54,559 --> 00:31:59,039
is my question to you

923
00:31:56,559 --> 00:32:00,480
as nice and big and vague as as a

924
00:31:59,039 --> 00:32:01,360
question can be

925
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,600
well

926
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:05,440
it is a tough question

927
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,559
conventional wisdom

928
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,440
says

929
00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:12,880
your story is good

930
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:15,679
if it revolves around your players

931
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:18,000
right now it is true it is good you know

932
00:32:15,679 --> 00:32:19,360
people want their in their actions to

933
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,720
have impact on the world they want to

934
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,039
feel like they matter

935
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:25,200
how you go about doing that

936
00:32:23,039 --> 00:32:28,399
you know if you have your own ideas

937
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,840
about the world or about plot ideas

938
00:32:28,399 --> 00:32:32,720
is a challenge

939
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:35,840
my system is i have

940
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,600
moments in my head and i i know that

941
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,960
some of my players might might listen to

942
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,320
this podcast so i don't want to give

943
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,120
anything away

944
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,799
about the future of my campaign but one

945
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,760
thing that's already happened in my

946
00:32:44,799 --> 00:32:48,000
campaign

947
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:50,799
is they fought a demon

948
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:55,200
in the basement of a church

949
00:32:50,799 --> 00:32:57,600
and that entire encounter came from this

950
00:32:55,200 --> 00:33:00,880
i don't know a vision a fever dream if

951
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:02,880
you will that i that i had of a corpse

952
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,200
being possessed and this the room is

953
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,279
full of these of corpses that are that

954
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,960
are swaying and there's a gem on the

955
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:12,080
wall and it is powering everything and

956
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:14,399
it's a terrible terrible dark desperate

957
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:16,880
affair

958
00:33:14,399 --> 00:33:18,880
i took this moment and i said okay how

959
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,039
do i turn that into a combat encounter

960
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,960
so i looked up demons because i had an

961
00:33:21,039 --> 00:33:25,120
idea that you know maybe i'd like a

962
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,960
demon to be involved and i built that

963
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,640
combat encounter around there and i

964
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,360
thought to myself well why does that

965
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:34,240
creature exist how did it get there

966
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,760
from that encounter i developed a

967
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,279
faction

968
00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,360
okay and and that faction is going to

969
00:33:37,279 --> 00:33:41,440
have its own goals right and and i try

970
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,760
to keep it vague

971
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:45,679
because the the second part

972
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,440
is integrating it with your players

973
00:33:45,679 --> 00:33:48,159
character backstories

974
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,279
so

975
00:33:48,159 --> 00:33:53,919
one aspect of my campaign is a bit of a

976
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:58,080
political conflict between powerful

977
00:33:53,919 --> 00:33:59,600
parties and my monk for example their

978
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,399
monastery

979
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:05,279
is all about ingratiating themselves

980
00:34:02,399 --> 00:34:07,360
with powerful people they do espionage

981
00:34:05,279 --> 00:34:09,200
for them they do espionage on them you

982
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,440
know for their own purposes in addition

983
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,919
to helping you know nobles achieve their

984
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:16,159
own goals while it's not directly

985
00:34:13,919 --> 00:34:17,520
related to to that combat encounter that

986
00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:20,079
i mentioned

987
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:22,720
there are other combat encounters there

988
00:34:20,079 --> 00:34:25,119
are other social encounters that i had

989
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:28,720
envisioned for certain factions and i

990
00:34:25,119 --> 00:34:30,560
start to tie that into the monastery's

991
00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:32,960
goals you know how do the monasteries

992
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,480
goals affect the plot points that i had

993
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,440
already in my head

994
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:39,919
and to try to do that for every

995
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:42,320
character's backstory as much as

996
00:34:39,919 --> 00:34:43,280
possible if they're among their monastic

997
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,639
tradition

998
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:49,760
their rivals their allies how can we tie

999
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:53,280
those in to existing factions within the

1000
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:54,960
world existing events and players are

1001
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:57,280
very inventive they'll come up with

1002
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,480
richly detailed backstories if you let

1003
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,760
them if they want to if they have

1004
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,760
interest they'll come up with

1005
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:04,480
interesting rivals and interesting

1006
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:06,480
allies you take those ideas and you work

1007
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:08,640
with them while they're developing their

1008
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,800
characters so i i don't like to have

1009
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:14,079
people come to the table with set in

1010
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,760
stone character ideas that are that's it

1011
00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:17,599
they're never gonna change i like to

1012
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:20,160
work with them during the character

1013
00:35:17,599 --> 00:35:22,560
creation process to integrate it every

1014
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:26,079
step of the way into whatever i have

1015
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:28,079
that way the adventure is very much tied

1016
00:35:26,079 --> 00:35:30,960
to the character's

1017
00:35:28,079 --> 00:35:32,079
goals what the characters care about and

1018
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,839
so

1019
00:35:32,079 --> 00:35:36,320
they want to change those things they

1020
00:35:33,839 --> 00:35:37,280
want to impact it

1021
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,440
and that's

1022
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,440
the crux and as soon as you let them

1023
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,440
impact it as soon as you let them change

1024
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,880
things let them succeed let your

1025
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,599
villains and other

1026
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:50,160
npcs react to what they're doing change

1027
00:35:47,599 --> 00:35:52,320
their plans to focus on what what the

1028
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:54,160
players are doing i think that's that's

1029
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,160
the key to an enjoyable campaign for

1030
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,200
your players and hopefully also for

1031
00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:00,240
yourself

1032
00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:02,400
um yeah that's really good advice there

1033
00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:04,000
and really well put i have to say

1034
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,680
that particular example you gave the

1035
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,359
demon fight underneath the church and

1036
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,839
then you kind of built up from there

1037
00:36:07,359 --> 00:36:11,680
it's a kind of bottom-up design approach

1038
00:36:09,839 --> 00:36:13,119
i suppose rather than a top-down and i

1039
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,640
must admit that's one that i also take

1040
00:36:13,119 --> 00:36:16,480
as a bottom-up of

1041
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,560
here's a cool idea now let me think

1042
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,000
about what that means one level up and

1043
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,160
now let me think about what that means

1044
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,960
the next level up and so on and so on

1045
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,040
and then

1046
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:27,359
that's quite easy well easy's not the

1047
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:29,440
right word it enables you to be able to

1048
00:36:27,359 --> 00:36:31,839
stitch it in to the higher levels if

1049
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:34,560
you've got a agnostic

1050
00:36:31,839 --> 00:36:36,560
core of a an encounter but then you can

1051
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,520
stitch that in where it makes sense and

1052
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,280
where it's

1053
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:41,760
most enjoyable

1054
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,760
what i probably didn't do as well as

1055
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,280
yourself is maybe

1056
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,720
i offered to work with

1057
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,400
my players

1058
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:50,160
but they were all as i said most of them

1059
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,400
were very new

1060
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,760
so even something like

1061
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,680
we're going to do a low magic or a high

1062
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,720
magic would mean very little to them

1063
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,000
because they've got no frame of

1064
00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,440
reference

1065
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,440
i've asked them a number of times i

1066
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,880
think about think about like you've all

1067
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,200
got family

1068
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,760
right who are they simple question

1069
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:10,640
because then i can lean on that and

1070
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:13,440
bring it in and have that impact

1071
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:15,040
the the fate of the universe

1072
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:17,200
but i think my players may be slightly

1073
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:18,800
less forthcoming in that maybe slightly

1074
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,240
intimidated by

1075
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,920
whoa it was

1076
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,040
it was tricky enough to come up with

1077
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,880
this

1078
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,079
person let alone you're asking me to

1079
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,119
come up with

1080
00:37:26,079 --> 00:37:30,400
three four five more so

1081
00:37:29,119 --> 00:37:32,800
it depends on the players saying there's

1082
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:35,119
a bit of a balancing act there and

1083
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:38,000
the level of work you have to do as a dm

1084
00:37:35,119 --> 00:37:41,040
might shift or the nature of that work

1085
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,560
changes depending on the player's intent

1086
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,640
i guess what i'm trying to say is how

1087
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:46,000
you design the campaign changes based on

1088
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,599
the players you have at the table which

1089
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,520
now i've said it plainly

1090
00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:51,040
is completely obvious

1091
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,680
and i feel like an idiot for having to

1092
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:55,839
say it but that's just

1093
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:57,680
where my thoughts have have bought me

1094
00:37:55,839 --> 00:37:59,760
yeah the the realization that you've

1095
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:02,320
made is is a true one

1096
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:04,960
and it sounds obvious but when people

1097
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,320
actually hear that advice implementing

1098
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,520
it from

1099
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,200
okay

1100
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,119
designing for my players

1101
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,400
great how you actually go about doing

1102
00:38:11,119 --> 00:38:14,640
that is is

1103
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:17,119
a bit more challenging

1104
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,480
i'm again a bit reactive in this

1105
00:38:17,119 --> 00:38:21,040
instance so i've

1106
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:23,839
i've had a couple of chapters or arcs

1107
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,599
which were divorced from any particular

1108
00:38:23,839 --> 00:38:27,280
background which i've started the

1109
00:38:25,599 --> 00:38:28,880
process of writing them up to eventually

1110
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,240
be released but

1111
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,160
damn my

1112
00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:33,359
analytical perfectionism whether it

1113
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:35,920
actually ever get done or not i don't

1114
00:38:33,359 --> 00:38:37,680
know but uh because there's no hard ties

1115
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,280
to any character's backstories but a

1116
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,960
number of them do

1117
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,800
and i i did make that as quite a high

1118
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:45,040
priority to be like no no please do give

1119
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,960
me something because i want to make a

1120
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:49,119
thing out of it because i'm fully

1121
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:51,920
committed to that idea of it being a

1122
00:38:49,119 --> 00:38:54,160
bigger payoff basically down the line

1123
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:56,800
that oh hey that's

1124
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:58,480
that's something that i put in the story

1125
00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,800
from the player's perspective yeah i

1126
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:02,960
know him because i wrote that on a piece

1127
00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,880
of paper and sent it to my dm two years

1128
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:07,359
ago

1129
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,040
and one thing to note is that as a

1130
00:39:07,359 --> 00:39:10,320
player if you're new

1131
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,079
well first of all

1132
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,680
the character sheet gives you a few

1133
00:39:12,079 --> 00:39:15,359
things to work with it suggests that you

1134
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:18,240
have a backstory it suggests that you

1135
00:39:15,359 --> 00:39:20,160
have a rival and an ally and honestly

1136
00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:21,760
whatever else you'd like to add in it's

1137
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,880
between you and your dm

1138
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:25,760
however

1139
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,839
you don't have to add it in

1140
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,599
all at the beginning

1141
00:39:27,839 --> 00:39:31,520
the earlier you add it in the easier for

1142
00:39:29,599 --> 00:39:34,240
the dm for sure

1143
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:36,560
more time to plan and whatnot but

1144
00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:39,200
if you are comfortable with it if your

1145
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:41,760
dm is comfortable with it then you can

1146
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:44,480
add it in as you go along and and that

1147
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:46,880
in some ways makes things easier because

1148
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:49,359
you look at the existing plot elements

1149
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,720
and you say well wouldn't it be nice if

1150
00:39:49,359 --> 00:39:52,880
i had a brother who worked in the

1151
00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:54,000
thieves guild you know and then

1152
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,480
just like that

1153
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,599
you have the dm's existing world you say

1154
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,800
you know i want a part of it i want a

1155
00:39:57,599 --> 00:40:00,320
piece of that

1156
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,240
yeah that's something i might bring up

1157
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:03,440
with my players to say nothing's

1158
00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:05,599
precious

1159
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:08,079
the world is here for you and me

1160
00:40:05,599 --> 00:40:09,760
so make use of it don't feel like you

1161
00:40:08,079 --> 00:40:12,319
guys are having to design your own

1162
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:14,160
microcosm universes just to appease me

1163
00:40:12,319 --> 00:40:15,520
the whole point is that

1164
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,520
you're in the world

1165
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:20,240
i have to say they're talking of design

1166
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:22,480
and i've ragged on it before is the

1167
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:24,079
character sheet is again

1168
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,200
quite intimidating and although it does

1169
00:40:24,079 --> 00:40:28,000
have

1170
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:29,520
ideals bonds traits and flaws which is

1171
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,000
something i stress to

1172
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,920
every new starter i say hey

1173
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:37,119
forget the numbers for a second quite

1174
00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:38,640
there prominently on the first page is

1175
00:40:37,119 --> 00:40:40,640
what don't you like

1176
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,839
nothing to do with numbers nothing to do

1177
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,400
with dice

1178
00:40:41,839 --> 00:40:46,160
just what does your dude not like

1179
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,200
what does your dude strive to make

1180
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:49,440
better

1181
00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:51,599
so that is good and there is i think on

1182
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:53,280
the second page a bit about allies and

1183
00:40:51,599 --> 00:40:54,800
enemies but in terms of

1184
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,280
i think you have to be of a certain

1185
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:59,040
mindset to come to the choice of these

1186
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,960
things yourself

1187
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:03,599
and if you're not then you can be

1188
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,440
lacking when it comes to yeah but my

1189
00:41:03,599 --> 00:41:06,400
brother in the feeds guild well i don't

1190
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,160
know

1191
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:09,680
that thought never even

1192
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,760
never even crossed my mind that it might

1193
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,920
not even ever cross my mind

1194
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:16,640
during the whole course of the campaign

1195
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,440
unless the dm says something

1196
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,640
but

1197
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,240
there's limits to what you can put on a

1198
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:22,000
piece of paper and i can't put every tom

1199
00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:23,680
dick and harry to say

1200
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,760
you know who's your uncle who's your

1201
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:27,599
auntie who's your uncle's brother and

1202
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,960
right it would get ridiculous sadly

1203
00:41:27,599 --> 00:41:30,560
there was a tragic fire and they all

1204
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,079
died

1205
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,599
yeah exactly that's the they get out of

1206
00:41:32,079 --> 00:41:35,200
jail free card

1207
00:41:33,599 --> 00:41:36,560
that's a tricky one but a very

1208
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:39,359
interesting from a

1209
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:41,119
thought experiment point of view to say

1210
00:41:39,359 --> 00:41:41,920
you know it'd be good to see data sets

1211
00:41:41,119 --> 00:41:43,839
of

1212
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:46,160
how many times did new players tie in

1213
00:41:43,839 --> 00:41:49,119
their family to their backstory versus

1214
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:50,880
experienced players in their backstories

1215
00:41:49,119 --> 00:41:52,560
how much did they talk about

1216
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:55,440
relationships and

1217
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:57,200
familial ties rather than just

1218
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:59,599
vengeance go

1219
00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:02,079
session one

1220
00:41:59,599 --> 00:42:03,680
well my view is that ideals and

1221
00:42:02,079 --> 00:42:06,079
personality traits flaws and bonds

1222
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:08,319
that's about your person internally and

1223
00:42:06,079 --> 00:42:10,400
your allies and your rivals that's about

1224
00:42:08,319 --> 00:42:12,000
their relationship to the world outside

1225
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,359
and i think one reason that players

1226
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,359
don't necessarily think of that

1227
00:42:13,359 --> 00:42:17,440
immediately is because they don't know

1228
00:42:15,359 --> 00:42:19,440
what the world outside looks like

1229
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:21,359
and so that's where the dm can help them

1230
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:23,359
by saying this is what the world is like

1231
00:42:21,359 --> 00:42:25,440
there is a monarchy and there's you know

1232
00:42:23,359 --> 00:42:27,520
there's a king in their nobles and they

1233
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:30,640
have this effect on the world and there

1234
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:32,800
are merchants who are very powerful and

1235
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:34,000
this is how they affect daily life there

1236
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,920
are thieves skills and they're this and

1237
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,280
there are that and to sort of give them

1238
00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:40,000
ideas

1239
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:41,920
to say okay well my character had a

1240
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,800
nasty run-in with one of those guilds

1241
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,280
and that's

1242
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:47,200
rival right there yeah i completely

1243
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,920
agree and in the same breath i'm gonna

1244
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,319
say

1245
00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:53,119
i'm intimidated by really well thought

1246
00:42:50,319 --> 00:42:54,800
out backstories

1247
00:42:53,119 --> 00:42:57,920
because one of my players gave me like a

1248
00:42:54,800 --> 00:43:00,160
page and my immediate thought wrongly

1249
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:02,000
was not this is great it was oh god i

1250
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,520
really hope i can do it justice

1251
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,359
which is which i guess ultimately is a

1252
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,800
good thing because you feel like you

1253
00:43:05,359 --> 00:43:08,240
know they've put the effort in and that

1254
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:10,240
they deserve to have the enjoyment of

1255
00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:13,359
the effort they've put in and ultimately

1256
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:14,880
everybody wins in that situation

1257
00:43:13,359 --> 00:43:16,880
so we've talked

1258
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:18,000
a little bit man i could talk all night

1259
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,000
about

1260
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,040
higher level narrative

1261
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,359
design

1262
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:25,119
if we bring it down a level and let's

1263
00:43:23,359 --> 00:43:29,200
talk about a really

1264
00:43:25,119 --> 00:43:32,000
interesting topic of villains or

1265
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:33,200
let's use a softer term of antagonists

1266
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:36,000
so

1267
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:38,079
again we're talking more soft design i

1268
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,599
suppose rather than hard design i'm sure

1269
00:43:38,079 --> 00:43:40,960
there's probably more correct terms for

1270
00:43:39,599 --> 00:43:44,560
that but that's what i'm going to stick

1271
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:47,440
with so how would you design

1272
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:50,000
a good antagonist well

1273
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:52,720
disclaimer i will say that i think

1274
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:54,640
designing npcs is

1275
00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:56,880
not my strong suit

1276
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:59,599
as a dm it's something that i'm still

1277
00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,440
learning to do so then there's your

1278
00:43:59,599 --> 00:44:03,920
disclaimer right there

1279
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,599
there there is guidance in the dmg on

1280
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:07,200
designing a good villain

1281
00:44:05,599 --> 00:44:09,599
which i can't recall off the top of my

1282
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:12,960
head so that should go to show you

1283
00:44:09,599 --> 00:44:15,440
my familiarity with with npc design but

1284
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:18,480
my philosophy is

1285
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,599
they have goals right that's

1286
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:21,680
i mean

1287
00:44:19,599 --> 00:44:23,920
it kind of sounds silly to say it but

1288
00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:25,680
they have goals and they

1289
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,960
want to achieve them

1290
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,920
i think what

1291
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:32,560
some people fall into the trap of doing

1292
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:33,760
is trying to account for player actions

1293
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:36,240
what if they do this you know what is

1294
00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:37,920
the how is the villain going to respond

1295
00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:40,000
the best way i think to have a

1296
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:42,079
compelling villain is to understand

1297
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:44,240
their goals and what they're willing to

1298
00:44:42,079 --> 00:44:46,400
do to achieve them right

1299
00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:47,280
so if your villain

1300
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,440
is

1301
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:51,920
a powerful merchant

1302
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:53,520
maybe they'll extort people maybe

1303
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:56,720
they'll send

1304
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:58,240
thugs to beat people up if they've been

1305
00:44:56,720 --> 00:45:00,800
trash talking

1306
00:44:58,240 --> 00:45:02,400
their institution but they have a

1307
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:04,560
constrained

1308
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:06,800
sphere of influence

1309
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,640
there are safe spaces you know outside

1310
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:11,680
of the city or outside of their sphere

1311
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:13,520
of influence where the players can leave

1312
00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:14,560
and and and be safe from the villain

1313
00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,280
schemes

1314
00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:20,640
the more you constrain their sphere of

1315
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:22,800
influence the less important

1316
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:24,800
uh villain they are which is fine you

1317
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:26,880
don't need to have big bads all the time

1318
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,240
that's a really good way to approach

1319
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,440
that topic of

1320
00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:32,319
they have

1321
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:34,400
an objective that should be impacted by

1322
00:45:32,319 --> 00:45:36,400
the player actions but not the objective

1323
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,599
should be divorced of the players in a

1324
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:39,839
way if you know what i mean the player

1325
00:45:37,599 --> 00:45:41,440
characters so they should be trying to

1326
00:45:39,839 --> 00:45:43,760
achieve goal a

1327
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:46,079
the antagonists and the player

1328
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,280
characters might be attempting to

1329
00:45:46,079 --> 00:45:48,240
achieve goal

1330
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:50,319
b

1331
00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:52,319
and it just so happens that they happen

1332
00:45:50,319 --> 00:45:54,880
to be on opposite sides of

1333
00:45:52,319 --> 00:45:56,480
of the of the result

1334
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:58,640
i played it

1335
00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,599
safe and certainly have

1336
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:01,920
a

1337
00:45:59,599 --> 00:46:03,920
big bad whose

1338
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:06,079
plans and and likewise i don't give too

1339
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:09,040
much away but whose plans are very much

1340
00:46:06,079 --> 00:46:09,040
big and bad

1341
00:46:09,599 --> 00:46:14,319
but dotted throughout uh in each chapter

1342
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:16,319
and arc there'll be some kind of

1343
00:46:14,319 --> 00:46:19,040
antagonistic nature

1344
00:46:16,319 --> 00:46:20,160
one thing i feel i've done myself out of

1345
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:23,040
is

1346
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:24,720
a local antagonist or a local villain so

1347
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:26,400
someone like

1348
00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:27,520
the head of the merchant's guild as you

1349
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,280
said so

1350
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:32,560
someone who's like on their doorstep but

1351
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:34,400
untouchable in a way and not just some

1352
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:37,440
giga-powerful being

1353
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:40,079
that is untouchable by their power level

1354
00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:41,920
what i would personally really like to

1355
00:46:40,079 --> 00:46:44,319
explore a little bit further is an

1356
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:46,640
antagonist that's untouchable for

1357
00:46:44,319 --> 00:46:47,920
political reasons yeah or for social

1358
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,520
reasons

1359
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:51,200
which sounds very interesting and

1360
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:53,839
something i want to explore a little bit

1361
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:56,240
more on absolutely and and i think that

1362
00:46:53,839 --> 00:46:58,960
that ties into what i was gonna say next

1363
00:46:56,240 --> 00:47:00,880
which is that your villain

1364
00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:03,599
should really

1365
00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:06,160
complement the genre of the adventure

1366
00:47:03,599 --> 00:47:08,000
that you're playing if you're playing a

1367
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:10,160
dungeon crawler and you have a super

1368
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:12,319
politically connected diplomat who is

1369
00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:13,680
the villain you know maybe doesn't fit

1370
00:47:12,319 --> 00:47:16,079
as well as

1371
00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:18,400
a devious wizard or beholder that's put

1372
00:47:16,079 --> 00:47:20,880
in a whole bunch of whole kinds of traps

1373
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:24,640
and and whatnot yeah for me yeah my

1374
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:27,520
adventure is a bit more of a there is an

1375
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:30,000
aspect of politics to it and intrigue

1376
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:32,079
that i'm trying to develop and it is a

1377
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:34,640
dark fantasy and what that means to me

1378
00:47:32,079 --> 00:47:36,880
is that i never will not never but i

1379
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:40,480
rarely want my players to feel like

1380
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:42,319
heroes i want them to feel like people

1381
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:43,119
in a world with other people

1382
00:47:42,319 --> 00:47:45,040
and

1383
00:47:43,119 --> 00:47:47,680
so the kind of enemy that you would have

1384
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:49,920
in a heroic fantasy adventure somebody

1385
00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:54,720
who is pure evil maybe they they don't

1386
00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:56,319
fit within a more political adventure so

1387
00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:59,520
i have as

1388
00:47:56,319 --> 00:48:02,480
a replacement for clear villains i have

1389
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:05,520
a number of people who have

1390
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:06,720
goals and they are sometimes in direct

1391
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,880
opposition

1392
00:48:06,720 --> 00:48:11,200
sometimes they are in slightly different

1393
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,400
directions trying to achieve similar

1394
00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:14,319
outcomes

1395
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,480
and so for the players it's a matter of

1396
00:48:14,319 --> 00:48:19,040
choosing which of these

1397
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:21,440
factions which of these npcs do i agree

1398
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:23,680
with and do i disagree with and what am

1399
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:24,960
i willing to do about my disagreement

1400
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:26,400
with them you know because they they

1401
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:28,160
have goals if the players don't do

1402
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,839
anything they have a game plan they're

1403
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:32,000
going to execute that game plan yeah and

1404
00:48:29,839 --> 00:48:33,760
you'd want your villains to be able to

1405
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:35,599
succeed in what they're doing if they

1406
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:37,280
don't have any opposition right and so

1407
00:48:35,599 --> 00:48:38,880
now it's up to the players to say do i

1408
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:42,720
want to stop this what am i willing to

1409
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:44,559
do the status quo is the villains win

1410
00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:46,800
right and you need something there to

1411
00:48:44,559 --> 00:48:49,440
shake that up and that's something

1412
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:51,760
it's the players right in in my kind of

1413
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:53,839
newbie player guide i put together

1414
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:55,599
really high up i say

1415
00:48:53,839 --> 00:48:57,839
this world i've made is is living and

1416
00:48:55,599 --> 00:48:59,760
breathing and if

1417
00:48:57,839 --> 00:49:01,440
the player characters want a long rest

1418
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:03,040
every two seconds because they take a

1419
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:05,200
point of damage

1420
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:07,280
that's bad because the enemies aren't

1421
00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:09,680
long rusting they're still doing their

1422
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:12,000
trade deals they're still

1423
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:14,079
going to fancy balls and schmoozing with

1424
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:17,040
the other politicians they're still

1425
00:49:14,079 --> 00:49:19,839
installing traps in their dungeons while

1426
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:21,920
you're sitting at an inn for 24 hours

1427
00:49:19,839 --> 00:49:23,680
yeah that's something that you can't get

1428
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:26,000
from video games so i think it's a

1429
00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:28,160
really good thing to leverage quite

1430
00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:29,760
heavily in dnd in my opinion because you

1431
00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:32,640
just can't get it anywhere else the

1432
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:34,800
internet is replete with memes of

1433
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:38,800
you come back to do the side quest from

1434
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:40,240
level one and you're like a walking god

1435
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,520
and the side quest was just can you go

1436
00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:42,640
and pick some apples from the tree

1437
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:43,920
please

1438
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:46,319
and it's like well yeah because you've

1439
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:47,680
left that poor old lady for two decades

1440
00:49:46,319 --> 00:49:49,280
while you went and

1441
00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:51,839
battled in space

1442
00:49:49,280 --> 00:49:54,640
so that that is very you know

1443
00:49:51,839 --> 00:49:58,160
incongruous so i think if that was

1444
00:49:54,640 --> 00:50:00,640
in my game i would very very much relish

1445
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:02,880
them going back and the old lady having

1446
00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:04,319
passed away and her daughter's there

1447
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:05,760
being like who the hell are you guys i

1448
00:50:04,319 --> 00:50:07,280
don't want any apples

1449
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:08,160
why have you come why have you come back

1450
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,160
here

1451
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:13,319
and bought a retinue of 2000 soldiers

1452
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:13,319
with you

1453
00:50:13,359 --> 00:50:18,559
yeah it reminds me of uh

1454
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:20,480
fable i think fable ii maybe i i played

1455
00:50:18,559 --> 00:50:22,000
where you have to go on this mission in

1456
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:23,839
a prison and you end up staying there

1457
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:27,280
for several years and

1458
00:50:23,839 --> 00:50:29,520
my character got married and um

1459
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:32,400
to to to an npc and then right right

1460
00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:34,720
afterwards they went off to this prison

1461
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:36,880
um and they come back like 10 years

1462
00:50:34,720 --> 00:50:39,200
later and they have a child

1463
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:42,079
and i was shocked

1464
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:43,920
i was like what

1465
00:50:42,079 --> 00:50:45,119
that's a pleasant surprise to come back

1466
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:46,720
to you

1467
00:50:45,119 --> 00:50:48,319
yeah and they were like you know 10 year

1468
00:50:46,720 --> 00:50:50,079
old child that are like i don't know who

1469
00:50:48,319 --> 00:50:52,480
you are dude i don't like you like on

1470
00:50:50,079 --> 00:50:54,000
pcs you know they like you or they don't

1471
00:50:52,480 --> 00:50:56,720
like you they you know depending on your

1472
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:58,640
actions and you come back to this child

1473
00:50:56,720 --> 00:51:00,000
who as far as the game is concerned

1474
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:01,760
feels indifferently towards you because

1475
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:03,359
you've never interacted with them and

1476
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:05,599
yet they're your child and it was such a

1477
00:51:03,359 --> 00:51:08,240
shock to me

1478
00:51:05,599 --> 00:51:10,000
but um for sure but i think that this

1479
00:51:08,240 --> 00:51:10,880
idea of playing with time

1480
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:14,960
is

1481
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:17,119
an opportunity to give a bit more

1482
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:18,240
love to an aspect of the game that i

1483
00:51:17,119 --> 00:51:19,839
think is

1484
00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:22,640
overlooked

1485
00:51:19,839 --> 00:51:25,280
in the player's handbook overlooked in

1486
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:26,640
designing adventures in general which is

1487
00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:29,200
exploration

1488
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:30,880
it's one of the three pillars of dnd and

1489
00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:33,599
yet i feel like there is the least

1490
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:36,319
amount of guidance on this topic but one

1491
00:51:33,599 --> 00:51:38,160
aspect of exploration is traveling

1492
00:51:36,319 --> 00:51:40,160
across the wilderness for example or

1493
00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:42,079
from one location to another and that

1494
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:44,240
takes time the better you are at

1495
00:51:42,079 --> 00:51:46,559
exploring the less time it takes which

1496
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:49,599
means the less time you give your

1497
00:51:46,559 --> 00:51:52,720
enemies your antagonists to build up

1498
00:51:49,599 --> 00:51:54,240
their plans so that's one way that

1499
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:55,839
you know it's something i feel maybe a

1500
00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:58,240
little bit passionately about that you

1501
00:51:55,839 --> 00:52:00,720
know make exploration matter you know um

1502
00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:03,839
and that's one way you can do it is by

1503
00:52:00,720 --> 00:52:05,760
how much time you your players save

1504
00:52:03,839 --> 00:52:07,680
i've been thinking too small on that

1505
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:10,319
scale and literally just been basing it

1506
00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:12,800
on i've not quite been counting

1507
00:52:10,319 --> 00:52:14,720
unnecessary long rests but

1508
00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:15,920
if the players waste time then i'm

1509
00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:17,520
keeping track and they're back in my

1510
00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:18,480
head okay they've wasted a couple days

1511
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,480
there

1512
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:22,160
messing around but absolutely i need to

1513
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:23,680
factor that in of

1514
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:25,280
are they good at exploring are they not

1515
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:26,800
good at exploring because that's going

1516
00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:29,200
to be weeks they're

1517
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:31,520
added on unnecessarily to the calendar

1518
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:33,440
of the bad guys so i'm talking about

1519
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:36,559
guys i'm gonna you have to humor me

1520
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:39,359
while i gush because i recently finished

1521
00:52:36,559 --> 00:52:41,680
avatar the last airbender about 15 years

1522
00:52:39,359 --> 00:52:43,359
late to the party i appreciate funny

1523
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:45,680
enough me too

1524
00:52:43,359 --> 00:52:47,920
oh wow okay what a coincidence yeah i i

1525
00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:50,480
thought it was great even as a 32 year

1526
00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:52,800
old man this is fantastic and and uh

1527
00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:54,559
zuko as a villain

1528
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:57,200
to start with is

1529
00:52:54,559 --> 00:52:58,960
great a fantastic character

1530
00:52:57,200 --> 00:53:01,040
it just got me thinking i saw i saw a

1531
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:02,640
question on twitter earlier

1532
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:05,200
that was

1533
00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:07,920
what should my alignment be in d d if my

1534
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:10,880
characters is really good but they hate

1535
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:12,960
it because they find it exhausting

1536
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:14,880
my response to that was

1537
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:16,720
the two are divorced if you're doing

1538
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:18,240
good things then you then you are good

1539
00:53:16,720 --> 00:53:20,559
aligned and if you're doing bad things

1540
00:53:18,240 --> 00:53:23,119
and you're the bad aligned in the same

1541
00:53:20,559 --> 00:53:24,480
way that in in season one zuko is

1542
00:53:23,119 --> 00:53:26,079
antagonistic

1543
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:28,640
he's the bad guy

1544
00:53:26,079 --> 00:53:30,559
you know no airs or is about it but then

1545
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:32,400
later on you find out it's for genuine

1546
00:53:30,559 --> 00:53:34,640
reasons shall we say without spoiling it

1547
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:36,960
too much just in case

1548
00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:39,280
and and the line he says later on in the

1549
00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:40,559
later season is why am i so bad at being

1550
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:42,640
good

1551
00:53:40,559 --> 00:53:44,000
and i i as soon as i heard that line i

1552
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,680
was like man i love that line i gotta

1553
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,839
use that somewhere because it just

1554
00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:49,200
really made me think of that's just

1555
00:53:47,839 --> 00:53:51,359
fantastic

1556
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:53,920
villain design in my head and

1557
00:53:51,359 --> 00:53:56,319
his his character arc and his

1558
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:58,480
the reasons for doing things i was just

1559
00:53:56,319 --> 00:54:00,079
thinking i gotta

1560
00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:02,079
i gotta fold that in

1561
00:54:00,079 --> 00:54:04,000
somewhere somehow

1562
00:54:02,079 --> 00:54:05,440
with that mentality of

1563
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:06,559
either they're bad

1564
00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:09,200
but

1565
00:54:06,559 --> 00:54:10,880
you know why are they bad and

1566
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:13,119
why are they doing bad things and maybe

1567
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:14,079
it's for good reasons or maybe it's a

1568
00:54:13,119 --> 00:54:15,839
case of

1569
00:54:14,079 --> 00:54:18,480
well from my perspective the jedi are

1570
00:54:15,839 --> 00:54:19,359
evil kind of anakin skywalker kind of

1571
00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:21,200
thing

1572
00:54:19,359 --> 00:54:23,359
um because obviously he's at that point

1573
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:24,400
super committed to his

1574
00:54:23,359 --> 00:54:26,640
way of thinking

1575
00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:28,559
so i know i've just been rambling on and

1576
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:29,839
gushing about it but i

1577
00:54:28,559 --> 00:54:31,119
just wanted to add any thoughts about

1578
00:54:29,839 --> 00:54:33,359
doing those

1579
00:54:31,119 --> 00:54:35,040
more intricate villain design well i

1580
00:54:33,359 --> 00:54:37,119
mean i think alignment is a is a

1581
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:38,960
conversation in itself it's a hefty

1582
00:54:37,119 --> 00:54:40,880
topic lots of people have lots of strong

1583
00:54:38,960 --> 00:54:42,960
feelings mine is

1584
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:46,079
relatively straightforward i think that

1585
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:48,960
your alignment reflects your actions

1586
00:54:46,079 --> 00:54:50,799
yeah exactly yeah when people

1587
00:54:48,960 --> 00:54:52,240
say like oh you know i don't like doing

1588
00:54:50,799 --> 00:54:54,319
good stuff but they do a bunch of good

1589
00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:57,359
things that's that's a good alignment to

1590
00:54:54,319 --> 00:54:59,440
me from a dm's perspective it really

1591
00:54:57,359 --> 00:55:02,000
should inform what kind of actions they

1592
00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:04,319
take right like a lawful

1593
00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:05,359
evil person has certain rules that they

1594
00:55:04,319 --> 00:55:07,599
live by

1595
00:55:05,359 --> 00:55:09,359
and if they were chaotic they might not

1596
00:55:07,599 --> 00:55:12,720
respect those rules right

1597
00:55:09,359 --> 00:55:15,760
in terms of doing good things while not

1598
00:55:12,720 --> 00:55:17,440
wanting to do it i think that alignment

1599
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:20,000
is something that that can change yeah

1600
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:21,040
for sure even people who in the real

1601
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:22,880
world

1602
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:23,680
they do things that they don't want to

1603
00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:25,920
do

1604
00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:28,480
if you do them long enough you start to

1605
00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:31,119
internalize it you start to incorporate

1606
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:34,720
it unintentionally and so that is

1607
00:55:31,119 --> 00:55:36,640
how somebody's alignment can change irl

1608
00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:38,000
and there's there's no

1609
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:39,599
reason to me

1610
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:42,240
that somebody's character would not be

1611
00:55:39,599 --> 00:55:44,799
able to to change in the same way

1612
00:55:42,240 --> 00:55:46,640
yeah i completely agree i gotta say i'm

1613
00:55:44,799 --> 00:55:48,960
a little bit

1614
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:50,240
not against but i'm quite aware that the

1615
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:52,480
alignment system is maybe a bit of a

1616
00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:54,880
hangover from earlier editions when it

1617
00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:57,040
was a bit of a bigger deal

1618
00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:59,040
as a framework i think it works

1619
00:55:57,040 --> 00:56:01,839
as guidance to think of

1620
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:04,079
what kind of dude do i want to play

1621
00:56:01,839 --> 00:56:06,160
it works but maybe it shouldn't

1622
00:56:04,079 --> 00:56:08,000
necessarily be on the top of the front

1623
00:56:06,160 --> 00:56:09,760
page would be my

1624
00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:12,559
humble opinion for whatever it's worth

1625
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:14,640
especially not in fifth edition for sure

1626
00:56:12,559 --> 00:56:16,559
it's one of the basic tools that you

1627
00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:18,240
have for you know understanding how to

1628
00:56:16,559 --> 00:56:20,079
role play your character i think it's

1629
00:56:18,240 --> 00:56:21,359
like the first thing that people look at

1630
00:56:20,079 --> 00:56:23,520
and i think that once you get to a

1631
00:56:21,359 --> 00:56:25,119
certain comfort with role play maybe you

1632
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:26,400
don't care about alignment anymore and

1633
00:56:25,119 --> 00:56:28,799
that's fine

1634
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:30,480
yeah i agree maybe i'm

1635
00:56:28,799 --> 00:56:32,400
naive and

1636
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:33,520
self-centered in a way and just think

1637
00:56:32,400 --> 00:56:35,599
everybody

1638
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:37,200
can think the way i think and i

1639
00:56:35,599 --> 00:56:38,400
certainly think don't worry about

1640
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,520
alignment just

1641
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:41,280
what would your character do in that

1642
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:43,599
situation and for me

1643
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:46,000
the answer to that question comes pretty

1644
00:56:43,599 --> 00:56:47,520
easily and i you know the more i play

1645
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:49,280
the more i realize that

1646
00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:51,520
the answer to that question does not

1647
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:54,480
come easily to a lot of people and

1648
00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:56,559
that's a way that the alignment can help

1649
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:59,200
did you have any particular topic you

1650
00:56:56,559 --> 00:57:01,520
you wanted to talk about i think we've

1651
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:04,640
covered most of it i i think that and

1652
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:07,440
i've said this before that combat

1653
00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:11,200
gets the most love the most pages

1654
00:57:07,440 --> 00:57:14,240
in the phb and so for a dm

1655
00:57:11,200 --> 00:57:16,880
designing social encounters

1656
00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:19,760
and exploration encounters

1657
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:22,880
is a bit harder to do right off the bat

1658
00:57:19,760 --> 00:57:25,839
i myself have been trying to work on a

1659
00:57:22,880 --> 00:57:27,839
social encounter system right there is

1660
00:57:25,839 --> 00:57:30,240
guidance in in the dungeon master's

1661
00:57:27,839 --> 00:57:31,680
guide but it's very

1662
00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:35,839
simple

1663
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:36,640
npcs are hostile indifferent or friendly

1664
00:57:35,839 --> 00:57:39,599
and

1665
00:57:36,640 --> 00:57:41,760
you decide how they start the players

1666
00:57:39,599 --> 00:57:44,319
have the opportunity to make persuasion

1667
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:46,319
check and then you can shift them you

1668
00:57:44,319 --> 00:57:49,520
know one way or the other on a success

1669
00:57:46,319 --> 00:57:50,880
and if you fail maybe it slides down

1670
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:53,680
that is

1671
00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:55,680
fine for smaller scale

1672
00:57:53,680 --> 00:57:56,799
encounters but there are

1673
00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:58,720
moments

1674
00:57:56,799 --> 00:58:00,000
in in dnd

1675
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:00,960
where

1676
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:02,720
talking

1677
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:04,880
is everything

1678
00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:07,760
talking could result

1679
00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:09,440
in convincing a king not to invade

1680
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:11,440
another country

1681
00:58:09,440 --> 00:58:14,160
so if you

1682
00:58:11,440 --> 00:58:16,319
roll well once to me it just doesn't

1683
00:58:14,160 --> 00:58:18,240
seem like it's fair you know to oh you

1684
00:58:16,319 --> 00:58:20,160
know what i don't need to invade anymore

1685
00:58:18,240 --> 00:58:22,240
you persuaded me once you know

1686
00:58:20,160 --> 00:58:24,400
there's a lot of factors going on and

1687
00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:27,359
i'm trying to develop a system that

1688
00:58:24,400 --> 00:58:29,200
allows for different outcomes and has a

1689
00:58:27,359 --> 00:58:31,839
bit of a structure you know based on

1690
00:58:29,200 --> 00:58:34,400
three successes is that you succeed

1691
00:58:31,839 --> 00:58:36,960
three failures you failed

1692
00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:38,400
it's possible on the last role or based

1693
00:58:36,960 --> 00:58:40,079
on your other roles that you end up in a

1694
00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:42,960
sort of middle ground still working out

1695
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:45,599
the fine details but um yeah it's quite

1696
00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:47,040
binary the basic system of

1697
00:58:45,599 --> 00:58:48,559
a yes or no

1698
00:58:47,040 --> 00:58:50,960
okay let's go

1699
00:58:48,559 --> 00:58:53,040
i think that's one reason i've

1700
00:58:50,960 --> 00:58:54,480
issued it to a certain extent and again

1701
00:58:53,040 --> 00:58:56,960
just take it

1702
00:58:54,480 --> 00:58:58,079
at face value i just make a gut call at

1703
00:58:56,960 --> 00:58:59,760
the table

1704
00:58:58,079 --> 00:59:02,079
how that's going to affect the embassy

1705
00:58:59,760 --> 00:59:05,280
and how the npc is going to

1706
00:59:02,079 --> 00:59:07,680
respond to the players i'm

1707
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:09,680
quite lucky that my players are very

1708
00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:11,839
forthcoming with their

1709
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:14,480
mannerisms and how they interact with

1710
00:59:11,839 --> 00:59:15,520
npcs there's it's very much like do this

1711
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:17,440
now

1712
00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:19,040
and it makes it very easy for an npc to

1713
00:59:17,440 --> 00:59:19,839
be like

1714
00:59:19,040 --> 00:59:20,960
no

1715
00:59:19,839 --> 00:59:22,160
you guys are

1716
00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:24,400
bad

1717
00:59:22,160 --> 00:59:26,400
that's not i don't have to do too many

1718
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:28,480
layers of abstraction there it's a very

1719
00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:30,960
short leap for me

1720
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:33,200
but i absolutely agree that i everything

1721
00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:36,480
that is in combat is very difficult for

1722
00:59:33,200 --> 00:59:39,040
new dms trying to design them

1723
00:59:36,480 --> 00:59:41,599
i know that if i had to design every npc

1724
00:59:39,040 --> 00:59:43,520
encounter with how it is in the book of

1725
00:59:41,599 --> 00:59:45,440
okay well this shopkeeper is going to

1726
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:47,359
start at a level one and if they say

1727
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:49,839
this then it's at a level two but then

1728
00:59:47,359 --> 00:59:51,680
if they say this it goes to level zero

1729
00:59:49,839 --> 00:59:54,160
i'd just be pulling my hair out at the

1730
00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:56,319
end this is bonkers i can't

1731
00:59:54,160 --> 00:59:57,520
i'd just rather have no npcs

1732
00:59:56,319 --> 00:59:59,440
at this point

1733
00:59:57,520 --> 01:00:00,799
so that's probably what drove me to just

1734
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:02,880
you know solid i'm just going to wing it

1735
01:00:00,799 --> 01:00:05,119
on the night and i think that's worked

1736
01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:06,559
out quite well for me and obviously

1737
01:00:05,119 --> 01:00:08,480
means i have to do less

1738
01:00:06,559 --> 01:00:10,559
upfront design

1739
01:00:08,480 --> 01:00:12,480
but it's a very back-loaded thing of

1740
01:00:10,559 --> 01:00:14,880
you've got to do it on the night i guess

1741
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:16,160
it's a toss-up between

1742
01:00:14,880 --> 01:00:18,880
front loading or back loading your

1743
01:00:16,160 --> 01:00:21,040
design i think maybe the simplest way to

1744
01:00:18,880 --> 01:00:22,799
do it is to decide you know what it's

1745
01:00:21,040 --> 01:00:24,559
going to take three rolls or three

1746
01:00:22,799 --> 01:00:28,079
successful roles

1747
01:00:24,559 --> 01:00:29,359
and each role is for a specific subpart

1748
01:00:28,079 --> 01:00:31,839
so for example

1749
01:00:29,359 --> 01:00:34,960
king invading another country

1750
01:00:31,839 --> 01:00:37,200
maybe the first role is um on tactics

1751
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:38,160
your feelings on a broader level towards

1752
01:00:37,200 --> 01:00:40,000
the other

1753
01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:42,319
the other country if you can convince

1754
01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:43,760
them that they're not just a bunch of

1755
01:00:42,319 --> 01:00:46,160
bloodthirsty

1756
01:00:43,760 --> 01:00:48,079
savages then you know you can start to

1757
01:00:46,160 --> 01:00:50,400
open up lines of communication between

1758
01:00:48,079 --> 01:00:51,920
the two and so if you fail the other two

1759
01:00:50,400 --> 01:00:54,559
roles they might still invade but now

1760
01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:57,040
they're more likely to actually have

1761
01:00:54,559 --> 01:00:58,559
peace talks um and take prisoners rather

1762
01:00:57,040 --> 01:01:01,040
than right you know kill them in the

1763
01:00:58,559 --> 01:01:02,720
battlefield and that goes right right

1764
01:01:01,040 --> 01:01:05,200
second rule might be

1765
01:01:02,720 --> 01:01:08,319
is military conflict needed at all

1766
01:01:05,200 --> 01:01:10,000
and so if you succeed no invasion if you

1767
01:01:08,319 --> 01:01:12,319
fail the third one there might still be

1768
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:14,079
hostilities and maybe subterfuge and

1769
01:01:12,319 --> 01:01:15,359
then working against each other in in

1770
01:01:14,079 --> 01:01:17,119
subtler ways

1771
01:01:15,359 --> 01:01:18,640
but at least you've avoided bloodshed

1772
01:01:17,119 --> 01:01:21,280
you know and if you fail while they're

1773
01:01:18,640 --> 01:01:23,200
getting they're getting invaded

1774
01:01:21,280 --> 01:01:25,520
the third one might be just you know on

1775
01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:26,640
the future of interactions with the

1776
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:28,880
other kingdom

1777
01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:30,240
if you've succeeded on the first two

1778
01:01:28,880 --> 01:01:32,319
and you succeed on the third one you

1779
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:34,319
know what it's time to extend an olive

1780
01:01:32,319 --> 01:01:36,839
branch and maybe start working on a

1781
01:01:34,319 --> 01:01:39,040
partnership or at least a mutual

1782
01:01:36,839 --> 01:01:43,119
coexistence so in that sense you sort of

1783
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:43,119
break it into a three-part system

1784
01:01:43,599 --> 01:01:47,359
yeah that seems obviously a lot more

1785
01:01:45,040 --> 01:01:49,680
logical but again a bit of front-loaded

1786
01:01:47,359 --> 01:01:52,079
design philosophy but for those big

1787
01:01:49,680 --> 01:01:54,160
encounters absolutely required there's

1788
01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:55,760
no way i'd wing that and canner on the

1789
01:01:54,160 --> 01:01:58,000
fly because

1790
01:01:55,760 --> 01:01:59,520
i'll just be sweating buckets

1791
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:00,960
hoping that the next word that leaves my

1792
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:03,119
mouth isn't the one that's going to kick

1793
01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:05,520
me in the ass later on when my players

1794
01:02:03,119 --> 01:02:07,200
remind me that i said it and i go

1795
01:02:05,520 --> 01:02:09,920
oh god yeah i did say that he wouldn't

1796
01:02:07,200 --> 01:02:12,720
invade but the rest of my story was

1797
01:02:09,920 --> 01:02:15,680
predicated on that invasion oh well

1798
01:02:12,720 --> 01:02:15,680
well done down low here

1799
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:22,400
yeah okay so i think we're pretty much

1800
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:24,400
at time um and

1801
01:02:22,400 --> 01:02:26,559
which is a bit frustrating because this

1802
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:28,960
has been a really good talk and we've

1803
01:02:26,559 --> 01:02:29,920
touched on a number of different topics

1804
01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:31,200
and

1805
01:02:29,920 --> 01:02:32,559
i'd like to have another session at some

1806
01:02:31,200 --> 01:02:34,319
point in the future where we'll deep

1807
01:02:32,559 --> 01:02:35,520
dive a couple of them a bit more into

1808
01:02:34,319 --> 01:02:37,520
the crunchy

1809
01:02:35,520 --> 01:02:40,160
number crunching side of designing

1810
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:41,920
monsters and certainly designing combat

1811
01:02:40,160 --> 01:02:43,760
encounters we've said quite a lot about

1812
01:02:41,920 --> 01:02:46,160
how they're a big deal but haven't gone

1813
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:48,480
to too much detail and again that's

1814
01:02:46,160 --> 01:02:50,640
quite a point of contention for myself

1815
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:52,960
so if you'd be so kind i'd think about

1816
01:02:50,640 --> 01:02:55,280
having a you want again in the future oh

1817
01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:56,559
i would i mean i would love to i had so

1818
01:02:55,280 --> 01:02:59,280
much fun doing this i would love to do

1819
01:02:56,559 --> 01:03:01,119
ah awesome well thank you so much for

1820
01:02:59,280 --> 01:03:04,000
joining uh is there anything you'd like

1821
01:03:01,119 --> 01:03:06,880
to plug did you have the opportunity

1822
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:09,039
well yes i would love to if anybody

1823
01:03:06,880 --> 01:03:10,720
listening has enjoyed the things that i

1824
01:03:09,039 --> 01:03:12,720
say and you want to

1825
01:03:10,720 --> 01:03:14,559
hear more or ask me questions or talk

1826
01:03:12,720 --> 01:03:17,440
about d d with me i love talking about d

1827
01:03:14,559 --> 01:03:19,599
d you can follow me on twitter at

1828
01:03:17,440 --> 01:03:21,760
studios underscore fever

1829
01:03:19,599 --> 01:03:24,240
i also have a youtube channel where i

1830
01:03:21,760 --> 01:03:25,760
talk about the adventures that i publish

1831
01:03:24,240 --> 01:03:26,480
and i'm going to be starting to make a

1832
01:03:25,760 --> 01:03:29,440
few

1833
01:03:26,480 --> 01:03:31,119
design related content what i have

1834
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:33,200
planned is creating a new status

1835
01:03:31,119 --> 01:03:35,680
condition how do you go about doing that

1836
01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:38,319
i'm looking forward to doing that and

1837
01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:40,079
of course i also stream on twitch and i

1838
01:03:38,319 --> 01:03:41,280
love talking to people on twitch if you

1839
01:03:40,079 --> 01:03:43,200
want to hang out if you want to talk

1840
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:44,960
about dnd that's another avenue

1841
01:03:43,200 --> 01:03:47,440
available to you and i'd love to love to

1842
01:03:44,960 --> 01:03:49,039
talk to you oh boy you are a glutton for

1843
01:03:47,440 --> 01:03:51,280
punishment trying to design your own

1844
01:03:49,039 --> 01:03:53,280
status effect i'll leave that one

1845
01:03:51,280 --> 01:03:55,280
very much up to you

1846
01:03:53,280 --> 01:03:56,799
go into those murky waters

1847
01:03:55,280 --> 01:03:58,640
for everyone at home if you have any

1848
01:03:56,799 --> 01:04:00,079
other thoughts or comments for myself on

1849
01:03:58,640 --> 01:04:02,480
what we've discussed today you please

1850
01:04:00,079 --> 01:04:04,720
drop me a tweet at down low underscore d

1851
01:04:02,480 --> 01:04:06,860
d otherwise thank you all for listening

1852
01:04:04,720 --> 01:04:12,010
and good night

1853
01:04:06,860 --> 01:04:12,010
[Music]