Macro
This episode I talk about all the big things with Nathan Briggs, my DM from our Dungeons, Dice, and Dudes actual-play podcast. We discuss how Dungeons & Dragons has changed over the years, from "nerds in the basement" to prime-time, multimillion dollar productions, and what that means for the hobby. The second half is all about prepping and planning at a high level, away from all the muck of combat encounters and fudging dice rolls.
- 02:39 - D&D in popular culture and the effect of Critical Role
- 23:53 - D&D as a hobby
- 33:57 - Macro world/story building
- 57:00 - Planning a long-form campaign
Find Nathan on:
- Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheBriggzy)
- Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/thebriggsy)
- Dungeons, Dice and Dudes (https://linktr.ee/DDandD)
Find me on:
- Twitter @Danilo_DnD (https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD)
- Instagram thinking_critically_dnd (https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/)
- Facebook ThinkingCriticallyDnD (https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD)
Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod
Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod
Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod
1
00:00:12,890 --> 00:00:16,659
[Music]
2
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,039
hello and welcome to another episode of
3
00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:26,240
thinking critically a d d discussion my
4
00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:27,920
name is danilo a d d savant and i like
5
00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:30,400
all kinds of games and the crunchy
6
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,960
mechanics that make him tick
7
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:36,000
you can find me on twitter at down low
8
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:39,520
underscore dnd and on instagram and
9
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,399
facebook at thinking critically dnd
10
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:45,360
today in quite possibly the most
11
00:00:42,399 --> 00:00:48,079
audacious crossover event of 2020 i'm
12
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:51,120
joined by nathan briggs the dm of our
13
00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:52,960
dungeons dyson dudes actual play podcast
14
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,239
nathan can you tell us a little bit
15
00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,039
about yourself
16
00:00:54,239 --> 00:01:00,960
yeah sure thing so i am a
17
00:00:57,039 --> 00:01:02,000
a content creator and i have uh been
18
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,239
playing
19
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:08,560
uh dnd i looked it up specifically for
20
00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:11,360
this since august 2018 and then about
21
00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,200
three months later i ran my first one
22
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:16,560
shot and then so i've been
23
00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,840
dming a campaign uh i think it was i
24
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,400
think it was the beginning of this year
25
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,759
or just like december of last year and
26
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,840
so far
27
00:01:21,759 --> 00:01:27,840
it's seemingly going well
28
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:30,079
so if you're talking about dungeons
29
00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,759
dudes it's going very well yeah yeah
30
00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:33,600
it's um
31
00:01:31,759 --> 00:01:35,680
it's a fun time
32
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,439
most of the time when i'm not killing
33
00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,520
everybody
34
00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:41,280
i think considering we've had two or
35
00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,560
three guests that are dropping in and
36
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,079
out i think that's done rather
37
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,119
seamlessly so
38
00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:50,479
uh yeah it's going rather well okay so
39
00:01:47,119 --> 00:01:51,600
thank you for that the topic of today is
40
00:01:50,479 --> 00:01:52,479
macro
41
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,439
so
42
00:01:52,479 --> 00:01:57,280
nathan what does the word macro mean to
43
00:01:55,439 --> 00:01:59,040
you well i mean
44
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,560
apparently not the same as what it means
45
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,640
to anybody else on the internet because
46
00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,560
when i tried to look up like ah possible
47
00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,640
talking points for like macro subjects
48
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:10,239
it was all just like macro keys for
49
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:13,360
roll20 so it's like that doesn't help
50
00:02:10,239 --> 00:02:16,640
but for me personally macro is just the
51
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:18,000
bigger picture stuff the the story of a
52
00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:21,120
subject or
53
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,120
d as a whole it's um it's kind of
54
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,040
instead of getting into
55
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,879
character details and things like that
56
00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:29,120
who is that character
57
00:02:26,879 --> 00:02:30,640
on like a wider scale sort of thing it's
58
00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,400
just really kind of pulling back that
59
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:37,120
lens and looking at everything overall
60
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:39,519
so if we start with about as macro as
61
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,360
you can get then all the way outside of
62
00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:43,519
the table outside of
63
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,120
the dms outside of the players we can go
64
00:02:43,519 --> 00:02:47,040
all the way up to
65
00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:50,560
the bigger picture of
66
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,360
d d in society right you know it's place
67
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,040
in
68
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,519
popular culture
69
00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,040
which is about as high up as you can get
70
00:02:55,519 --> 00:02:58,959
what do you you know what do you think
71
00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,959
about that you know where where it sits
72
00:02:58,959 --> 00:03:03,920
in popular culture you know whether it's
73
00:03:00,959 --> 00:03:05,920
a force for good those kind of things
74
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:07,360
yeah well i mean to be completely honest
75
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:10,319
when like when
76
00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:13,200
rob who has been on your podcast who ran
77
00:03:10,319 --> 00:03:14,640
our other campaign which is how we first
78
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,599
met
79
00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,599
i did kind of
80
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,040
for lack of a better term kind of rolled
81
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,920
my eyes because i was like oh d and d
82
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,640
like
83
00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,239
oh whatever sure thing i guess because
84
00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,000
he literally was just like hey
85
00:03:26,239 --> 00:03:30,319
i played with my friends i kind of want
86
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,400
to get something to continue going here
87
00:03:30,319 --> 00:03:34,159
in southampton and so i was like cool
88
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,120
i'll do one session with you as like a
89
00:03:34,159 --> 00:03:37,760
favor
90
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,920
and then i'll bounce because
91
00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,000
that [ __ ] sounds lame even though i love
92
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,879
our videos look at you now nathan look
93
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,680
at you
94
00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:48,159
eating those words like so much money
95
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,680
has been poured into dnd
96
00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:51,680
but because
97
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,519
i wanted to be at least somewhat
98
00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,680
adequate it i was like okay well let me
99
00:03:53,519 --> 00:03:58,480
do the research so that i think the
100
00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:01,120
first thing that i watched was um
101
00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,120
dan harmon's quest
102
00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,640
to kind of get an idea of how to play
103
00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,239
and i was like okay well this is just
104
00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,480
basically it's a bunch of comedians they
105
00:04:06,239 --> 00:04:09,599
get together they are playing d d but
106
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,280
they're not really telling you anything
107
00:04:09,599 --> 00:04:13,280
about it and
108
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,959
then as i'm sure
109
00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,479
happens with a lot of people i then
110
00:04:14,959 --> 00:04:18,400
found critical role and that's when i
111
00:04:16,479 --> 00:04:20,959
really kind of found out that
112
00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,240
like the true scope of what d and d can
113
00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:25,199
be
114
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:27,520
so for for most people especially before
115
00:04:25,199 --> 00:04:30,080
stranger things i think you'd probably
116
00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:33,040
look at or hear the indian you think oh
117
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,320
uh sweaty guys in like a basement with a
118
00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,280
neck beard
119
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,240
with like
120
00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:40,560
dorito cheese on their fingers
121
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:44,479
being really weird and creepy unless i
122
00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:46,400
mean you've seen community or yes it
123
00:04:44,479 --> 00:04:48,080
crowd both of those do like a really
124
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,440
good job of portraying it
125
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,520
um
126
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,800
is that some kind of sex thing far from
127
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,240
it
128
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:58,000
it's quite the opposite
129
00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,080
but as i say it wasn't until critical
130
00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,639
role where i was like oh man this this
131
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,199
thing is like amazing it's a form of
132
00:05:02,639 --> 00:05:07,039
storytelling it's a form of like
133
00:05:05,199 --> 00:05:09,440
acting it's
134
00:05:07,039 --> 00:05:11,680
improv class it's
135
00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:15,120
it's therapy for people it's like it's
136
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:17,120
so many things and it's just amazing
137
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,800
whenever i talk about it i get super
138
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,880
passionate about it because of how much
139
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:24,479
it can encapsulate
140
00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:26,400
yeah i think it'll be a good discussion
141
00:05:24,479 --> 00:05:28,240
because you are
142
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,680
as you've just said like quite a huge
143
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:35,360
fan of that particular podcast i am
144
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:37,280
not quite so much i've watched maybe 60
145
00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:40,800
of season one
146
00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:42,960
and i enjoyed it when i had the time to
147
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,560
enjoy it i think i watched the first
148
00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:48,000
maybe one episode of campaign two and
149
00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,039
i get what i'm trying to do and i get
150
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000
that it's a
151
00:05:49,039 --> 00:05:51,360
you know
152
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,000
it's good yeah
153
00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,360
to keep it simple however
154
00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,800
there are a couple of things the most
155
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,880
simplest of which is
156
00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,600
it's a time sync right i i don't really
157
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:03,919
have three hours a week to watch
158
00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,479
somebody else play personally without
159
00:06:03,919 --> 00:06:08,400
even being background noise there's a
160
00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:10,560
there's a podcast my only podcast i
161
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,919
listen to which is the dnd podcast and
162
00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,039
you know those episodes are usually one
163
00:06:11,919 --> 00:06:15,199
to two hours
164
00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:16,880
and even that i find myself
165
00:06:15,199 --> 00:06:19,440
uh [ __ ]
166
00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,199
who's that npc
167
00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,400
and then i'm already drawn out a little
168
00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:23,919
bit so i think
169
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,080
it asks
170
00:06:23,919 --> 00:06:26,960
quite a lot of the listeners i have to
171
00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,080
say
172
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,360
critical role is asking a lot and
173
00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,880
you know you could you could lay that
174
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,800
comparison to say something like lord of
175
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,680
the rings which asks you to sit down for
176
00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:40,800
three hours times by three and has all
177
00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,479
sorts of fluff and law to it
178
00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,080
and you know people don't get on with a
179
00:06:42,479 --> 00:06:45,520
lot of the rings for the same reason of
180
00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,160
that oh god i really don't want to watch
181
00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,759
a three-hour film
182
00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,360
and imagine watching a three-hour film
183
00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:54,080
every week for
184
00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:56,319
three years uh is
185
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,039
there's definitely people that do that
186
00:06:56,319 --> 00:07:00,960
oh for sure yeah uh the other thing i
187
00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:03,680
wanted to say
188
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,199
is that i feel that
189
00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:08,000
i don't think it's a good place to start
190
00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:10,479
because it sets wrong expectations so i
191
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,919
like that you had you already had a pool
192
00:07:10,479 --> 00:07:13,120
maybe of you know two or three other
193
00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:14,800
examples before you started with
194
00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,840
critical roles yeah
195
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:20,160
a couple of the players in my game which
196
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,080
which are brand spanking newbies such as
197
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,080
yourself from in the past
198
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,840
obviously all roads lead to critical
199
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,840
role now but you can't really google
200
00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:30,000
deal yeah yeah absolutely seeing
201
00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,319
something related to it so they are like
202
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,720
oh okay this looks popular i have no
203
00:07:32,319 --> 00:07:36,319
idea of how popular it is but i'll give
204
00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,319
it a listen you know like if someone
205
00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:39,440
googled video games and it was league of
206
00:07:38,319 --> 00:07:41,360
legends was probably the first thing
207
00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,680
that pops up they'd go oh this is this
208
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,280
is a video game and in in
209
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,039
that company and matt's defense they've
210
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,479
said before like
211
00:07:47,039 --> 00:07:50,160
every game is different every table's
212
00:07:48,479 --> 00:07:51,360
different don't use us as a standard
213
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,440
because yeah
214
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,680
your dm is his own dm and so on and so
215
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,840
on but if you watch an episode you're
216
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,280
not getting that layer of advice
217
00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,160
especially to newbies who don't even
218
00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,160
know
219
00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,240
that games are different yeah yeah i
220
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,080
mean obviously they haven't intended it
221
00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:09,280
to be this way but when you have set
222
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:12,479
yourself up as being the biggest
223
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,400
example of d d on the internet
224
00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:16,080
there's gonna be comparisons that people
225
00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,240
draw and there's it's always gonna be
226
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,240
the first port of call for new people
227
00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,639
because all you have to do is type in d
228
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,479
and d and it's pretty much
229
00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:25,759
critical role that pops up
230
00:08:24,479 --> 00:08:28,000
and obviously i don't want this to kind
231
00:08:25,759 --> 00:08:29,440
of devolve into just us talking about
232
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,199
correct role because
233
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,880
that's not what this is about but it's
234
00:08:31,199 --> 00:08:34,640
always a good touch point and i feel
235
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:37,039
like what will probably end up happening
236
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,760
for a lot of people is for me
237
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,800
i started off loving it because
238
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,039
i
239
00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:45,760
somehow have found a way to watch the
240
00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:48,000
first campaign twice and
241
00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:50,800
wow keep up to date with this one
242
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,120
but i have now gotten to a point where
243
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:56,000
i am now watching it for the story
244
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:59,519
because of how well that world is
245
00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:02,560
crafted and the overarching storylines
246
00:08:59,519 --> 00:09:04,800
i'm no longer watching it for the fights
247
00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:07,760
or the gameplay mechanics because it is
248
00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,839
done differently to how i would do it
249
00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,279
and so i found myself being a lot more
250
00:09:09,839 --> 00:09:12,720
critical of it
251
00:09:11,279 --> 00:09:14,320
on the pun
252
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,399
but it's it's still a really good
253
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,000
example of storytelling which i mean for
254
00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:19,920
a lot of people i think that's kind of
255
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,279
why you listen to a d d podcast because
256
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,680
you listen to
257
00:09:21,279 --> 00:09:25,440
the the storytelling that people kind of
258
00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:26,959
you know improvising their characters
259
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,720
and and the rp
260
00:09:26,959 --> 00:09:30,240
more than anything else for the most
261
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,080
part i'm sure there's outliers that are
262
00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,880
like no i really just want to listen to
263
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,800
them
264
00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,720
because i really like them as people
265
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,480
which is always the way yeah but yeah
266
00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,760
yeah no i mean if if there was any
267
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,880
episode of this podcast that we were
268
00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,240
going to talk about critical role it's
269
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,720
going to be this year because of its
270
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,480
ubiquity in popular culture it's the
271
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,000
golden child right it's the classic
272
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:50,240
success story rags to riches kind of
273
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,640
thing so you can't fault it for for that
274
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:55,440
yeah yeah it's specifically going from a
275
00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,920
homebrew campaign as everybody does and
276
00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,839
then kind of being jettisoned into the
277
00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,959
the stratosphere of being
278
00:09:59,839 --> 00:10:02,320
just
279
00:10:00,959 --> 00:10:04,959
amazing
280
00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,600
this is how you do d and d which is
281
00:10:04,959 --> 00:10:09,519
unhealthy yeah but it's gonna happen
282
00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,200
yeah and then when my obviously my new
283
00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:13,040
players are like oh i've watched this
284
00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,360
thing called critical role and i'm like
285
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,519
man you don't appreciate the weight of
286
00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,040
those words that you yeah i've just i
287
00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:20,880
just found this thing online this little
288
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,000
thing that you know i don't know if
289
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,600
you've heard of it down the line yeah
290
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,600
yeah
291
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,399
i have um
292
00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:31,120
and then you know i can't help but
293
00:10:28,399 --> 00:10:33,120
wince a little and think yeah man
294
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,640
they're going to be disappointed
295
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,720
well i mean it's
296
00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,079
it's unfortunate but i mean
297
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,360
they've come out multiple times and
298
00:10:38,079 --> 00:10:40,640
saying you know
299
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,800
as you've already pointed out you know
300
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:45,120
this isn't this is how we run our games
301
00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,560
like this is me as a dm you know respect
302
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,800
your own dm your game is going to be
303
00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:50,800
different i think i'm quite lucky as a
304
00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,160
dm that i am
305
00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,360
the fan
306
00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,839
in my
307
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,040
campaign my players
308
00:10:55,839 --> 00:10:59,440
you know some of them have watched a
309
00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:02,000
couple of episodes but nobody's
310
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,920
nobody's invested as much time as me so
311
00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,600
if there were any kind of expectations
312
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,680
that's coming from myself that's kind of
313
00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:10,079
something that i'm putting on to me
314
00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:13,120
in terms of okay well
315
00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:15,279
matt mercer will pull a story fred from
316
00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,440
like episode five and pull it out at
317
00:11:15,279 --> 00:11:18,959
like episode 100
318
00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,880
and so for me that's something that i
319
00:11:18,959 --> 00:11:23,040
like that's a really good form of
320
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,959
storytelling that kind of helps
321
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,800
kind of reward people that have invested
322
00:11:24,959 --> 00:11:28,959
in their story yeah that's something
323
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,959
that i want to be able to utilize in my
324
00:11:28,959 --> 00:11:33,200
campaigns nobody else is coming to the
325
00:11:30,959 --> 00:11:35,200
table being like oh god this
326
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,200
this uh goblin that's friends with my
327
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,760
sister better come back up at some point
328
00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,839
later down the road
329
00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,600
but if i can do that then again that's
330
00:11:41,839 --> 00:11:45,040
uh that's something i'd like to be able
331
00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,079
to do
332
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,200
i think we can we'll talk about
333
00:11:46,079 --> 00:11:50,639
long-form campaigns uh a bit later on
334
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,920
because i've got some thoughts on that
335
00:11:50,639 --> 00:11:54,560
as well and that's probably one thing
336
00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,440
we'll agree on quite heavily
337
00:11:54,560 --> 00:12:00,240
i'm lucky in that i was quick to jump on
338
00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,160
those expectations and say yeah you know
339
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,320
by all means watch that but let me tell
340
00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,600
you that ain't how they all are that is
341
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,000
literally like
342
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,760
the best in the world that's like seeing
343
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,200
you know maserati drive around the track
344
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,399
and being like oh okay all cars are like
345
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,839
that cool i'll just pop down to the
346
00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:15,120
local ford dealership
347
00:12:13,839 --> 00:12:16,880
well what do you mean it can't do naught
348
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,600
to 60 in half a second oh you're talking
349
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,800
about cars mate you've lost me now
350
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,160
well that that's where you've reached my
351
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,839
limit of carnival
352
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,090
maserati and forward there we go we're
353
00:12:23,839 --> 00:12:26,639
done
354
00:12:24,090 --> 00:12:28,240
[Laughter]
355
00:12:26,639 --> 00:12:31,120
naughty 60 in half a second might be
356
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,440
completely impossible so
357
00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,680
i've probably shown my ignorance to all
358
00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,079
the car fans are gonna like just descend
359
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,839
on this episode
360
00:12:38,079 --> 00:12:41,040
what's this guy talking about
361
00:12:39,839 --> 00:12:42,800
oh that's cool so i've managed to piss
362
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,040
off critical role fans and car fans
363
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,920
within the first half hour dope cool
364
00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,920
you're doing well mate
365
00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:53,040
well on that on that wave
366
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,800
another thing i've i've alluded to in a
367
00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:57,279
couple of episodes in
368
00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:59,600
offhand comments and i wanted to get
369
00:12:57,279 --> 00:13:01,920
your thoughts on it so
370
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,639
when i started this journey i started
371
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,120
with
372
00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:08,720
twitter as my social network platform of
373
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,839
choice and i don't know whether it's
374
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,720
inherent with twitter's user base or not
375
00:13:11,839 --> 00:13:15,200
but
376
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,880
i got the impression with d
377
00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,880
that it's this
378
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,680
almost sacrosanct
379
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,839
thing
380
00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:24,959
and that no
381
00:13:21,839 --> 00:13:26,560
ill will can be put towards it so as you
382
00:13:24,959 --> 00:13:28,639
said back in the past
383
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:31,120
it had a very negative perception it was
384
00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:32,880
this you know satanic nerd thing that
385
00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,279
only losers did
386
00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,800
which is which is funny because in uh an
387
00:13:35,279 --> 00:13:38,000
earlier episode with ian when he talked
388
00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,160
about his experience playing you know
389
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,760
second edition way back when he met he
390
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,360
was like man this was great we had six
391
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,639
weeks off summer holidays and me and my
392
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,920
friends would just play
393
00:13:44,639 --> 00:13:48,000
for like a week
394
00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,760
straight and it was dope and it was fun
395
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,360
and we had loads of fun contrast that
396
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,920
with a negative perception at the time
397
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:57,360
it's a weird juxtaposition but anyway so
398
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,399
now it's it's transferred from that into
399
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,560
i
400
00:13:58,399 --> 00:14:02,560
i know i just find it weird i have a
401
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,320
personal kind of weird dissonance
402
00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:06,480
between all the horror stories and all
403
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,600
the questions you read online of you
404
00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,680
know especially on reddit where people
405
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,839
are like this is garbage or
406
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,440
oh my player punched me
407
00:14:11,839 --> 00:14:16,240
how do i deal with that at the table
408
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,440
yeah and it's like [ __ ]
409
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,880
punching back i'll call the police i
410
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,399
don't know why you talking about this in
411
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,160
a d context
412
00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:23,519
like you get
413
00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,880
so many of these questions but the
414
00:14:23,519 --> 00:14:26,800
moment
415
00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,279
you know i feel scared to say
416
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,279
to somebody like that's not very good or
417
00:14:29,279 --> 00:14:34,399
yeah maybe you should do it this other
418
00:14:31,279 --> 00:14:36,639
way or it just feels so defensive i
419
00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:38,240
don't know if you've got any thoughts or
420
00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:41,040
knowledge on that from your experience
421
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:43,360
yeah i mean as a twitch streamer i kind
422
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,839
of feel like i need to be fairly present
423
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:48,639
on social media but a hundred percent if
424
00:14:45,839 --> 00:14:51,279
i'm ever writing a tweet as an example
425
00:14:48,639 --> 00:14:54,240
yesterday i wrote a tweet that was
426
00:14:51,279 --> 00:14:57,040
pretty critical against an ability that
427
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:59,519
a grave cleric can use which is like
428
00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,199
sentinel death door which is essentially
429
00:14:59,519 --> 00:15:03,600
an ability where if you're within a
430
00:15:01,199 --> 00:15:04,880
certain range you can cancel a natural
431
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,160
20.
432
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,320
and
433
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,639
even right whilst writing it i was like
434
00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,720
oh man i'm probably going to get so much
435
00:15:10,639 --> 00:15:15,199
grief for this and i think it's just
436
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,160
because where d and d
437
00:15:15,199 --> 00:15:20,000
means so much in so many different ways
438
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,320
to so many people
439
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,639
it's very much defended by a lot of
440
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:27,680
people regardless of the manner in which
441
00:15:24,639 --> 00:15:29,839
you are coming to kind of criticizing it
442
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,360
be it a valid point or not people are
443
00:15:29,839 --> 00:15:32,880
kind of blinded by that because of how
444
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,120
much it means to them
445
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:37,759
it's hard for them to
446
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,519
to say or to think of it as like okay
447
00:15:37,759 --> 00:15:41,360
well this person is just they have a
448
00:15:39,519 --> 00:15:43,759
point of view that is maybe different to
449
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,600
mine they just see it as an attack on
450
00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:47,360
something that has quite possibly helped
451
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,920
them deal with some sort of
452
00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,680
personal trauma or or has kind of helped
453
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,440
them come out of their shell
454
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,360
and you know i'm sure there's fans out
455
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:58,399
there that don't that aren't like that
456
00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:00,800
but as a whole on twitter it is quite
457
00:15:58,399 --> 00:16:03,120
difficult to say anything negative about
458
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:06,079
d d and i completely understand why i
459
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:08,399
mean as as long as you know that you
460
00:16:06,079 --> 00:16:09,920
have positive intentions that you're not
461
00:16:08,399 --> 00:16:12,160
just trying to be
462
00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,780
are we allowed to curse on here uh well
463
00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,110
both of us already have right
464
00:16:13,780 --> 00:16:16,399
[Music]
465
00:16:14,110 --> 00:16:18,240
[Laughter]
466
00:16:16,399 --> 00:16:20,079
as long as you you understand you're not
467
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,720
like trying to be an [ __ ] or just
468
00:16:20,079 --> 00:16:24,320
being argumentative then it doesn't
469
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,040
matter if people come after you because
470
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,800
there's
471
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,560
there's probably going to be at least a
472
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:32,079
small portion of people like
473
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,079
i mean he's got a point no right
474
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,600
so i went to a sam harris talk many
475
00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,279
moons ago and
476
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,959
one thing he said before
477
00:16:39,279 --> 00:16:43,519
you know imagine the worst possible
478
00:16:40,959 --> 00:16:45,360
state a human being can be in and you've
479
00:16:43,519 --> 00:16:47,120
set a precedent there and then imagine
480
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,959
the utopian state a human being could be
481
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,480
in and you've got the best and worst and
482
00:16:48,959 --> 00:16:52,160
humanity should always be trying to push
483
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,399
from left to right and the same can be
484
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,639
applied to everything and here's this
485
00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:58,000
weird duality again in that i think
486
00:16:56,639 --> 00:17:00,560
pretty much everybody agrees that
487
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,800
critical role taken at face value is in
488
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,559
quotes the best yeah right not
489
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,640
everyone's liking but all things
490
00:17:04,559 --> 00:17:09,360
considered it's a really good exemplar
491
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,679
of a successful dnd campaign
492
00:17:09,360 --> 00:17:13,760
which therefore implies
493
00:17:11,679 --> 00:17:16,160
that there are less good and there are
494
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,039
less successful campaigns yeah so just
495
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:21,039
just by just by its fandom alone
496
00:17:19,039 --> 00:17:22,559
we should be seeing that hey no like my
497
00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:24,400
game sucks or
498
00:17:22,559 --> 00:17:26,160
this is bad or i should be able to
499
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,799
criticize somebody's game for being a
500
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,720
bit garbage in in this area but then the
501
00:17:28,799 --> 00:17:32,240
moment you want to have those thoughts
502
00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:33,840
and the moment you want to be the
503
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,280
contrarian
504
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,720
it feels like
505
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,919
everybody's game's their own you can't
506
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,400
you can't talk about their game because
507
00:17:37,919 --> 00:17:42,320
you don't know about it well okay yeah
508
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,240
all right but their game isn't critical
509
00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,080
role so
510
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,559
and it just seems like there's no people
511
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,320
can't make the leap there between oh
512
00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:52,000
yeah i know my gamers in critical role
513
00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,960
so therefore there's stuff i could do to
514
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,799
improve
515
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,880
yeah absolutely i mean there's
516
00:17:54,799 --> 00:17:58,799
we're talking about d d but i think
517
00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,559
that's the same with a lot of forms of
518
00:17:58,799 --> 00:18:03,840
entertainment that have a fandom there's
519
00:18:00,559 --> 00:18:06,240
always that staunch loyalty that forces
520
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,919
you to be like no you can't say anything
521
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,880
or bad about it
522
00:18:07,919 --> 00:18:11,440
and
523
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:13,280
in terms of critical role like
524
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:17,039
even matt mercer has like come out and
525
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:19,919
said you know just because your dm
526
00:18:17,039 --> 00:18:21,679
doesn't do let's say voices that well
527
00:18:19,919 --> 00:18:22,880
that's not the end of the world sure
528
00:18:21,679 --> 00:18:26,080
that's something that maybe he might
529
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,679
want to work on in in future sessions
530
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,480
but that doesn't necessarily mean that
531
00:18:27,679 --> 00:18:29,520
it's
532
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,480
[ __ ]
533
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,240
now
534
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,160
if you turn up to a session and your
535
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,280
dm's like um
536
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,240
uh i guess like you
537
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,000
uh
538
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,760
you speak to some guy
539
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,120
uh yeah he might have some stuff i'm not
540
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,799
entirely sure like if he doesn't know
541
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,400
anything that he's doing doesn't know
542
00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:48,240
any of the rules or anything like that
543
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,160
then yeah you can absolutely say yep
544
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,000
that was a [ __ ] session
545
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,400
that's not you being mean but that's
546
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,679
just objectively there are certain or at
547
00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,520
least i believe there are certain
548
00:18:55,679 --> 00:19:00,400
fundamentals that you should
549
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,679
be fairly decent at to have like a good
550
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,200
session
551
00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:04,799
now that's not to say that there aren't
552
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,400
people again there's always going to be
553
00:19:04,799 --> 00:19:08,400
those outlier situations where some
554
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,240
people just literally rock up and just
555
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,559
say hey [ __ ] it let's just let's see
556
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,400
what happens but then is that is that
557
00:19:12,559 --> 00:19:16,640
necessarily like a
558
00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:20,080
a d and d session is that a true
559
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,840
representation of what d and d means
560
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,600
a typically
561
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,120
you know who knows
562
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,880
yeah i think i posted about it on
563
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:29,200
facebook i made a tweet myself uh
564
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,960
earlier on the week that said
565
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,720
you know there are better games and
566
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,760
there are worse games
567
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,120
let's all agree that any given game
568
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,280
might be
569
00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:40,640
crap yeah right and the example i've
570
00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,960
given before is
571
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,200
when i turned up to one and it was very
572
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,280
clearly wish fulfillment for the two
573
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:50,000
joint co-op dms that would have just
574
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,840
been happy to play the pair yes forever
575
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,520
and that that was clearly like great for
576
00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,840
those two people
577
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:58,000
but pretty garbage for everybody yeah
578
00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,200
absolutely i had a session that i ran a
579
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,720
one-shot
580
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,919
i think it may have been the second one
581
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,679
i'd ever done
582
00:20:01,919 --> 00:20:05,520
and that was touching on something that
583
00:20:03,679 --> 00:20:06,559
you had spoken about on a previous
584
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,240
podcast
585
00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:10,720
i think it was like a level 18 or a
586
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,960
level 20 one shot i think you were a
587
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,720
part of it it was the like holy wars of
588
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,000
uh zanec or something yeah i think it's
589
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,480
the one we talked about with simon yeah
590
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,320
and the i mean i'm sure that the people
591
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,400
that have played before probably enjoyed
592
00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,919
it in like oh man this is awesome
593
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,760
there's like a big war it's like oh
594
00:20:23,919 --> 00:20:26,640
there's there's holy entities and stuff
595
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,120
like that
596
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,960
but there was someone that was playing
597
00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:33,360
who had never played before
598
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,840
and i just got tunnel visioned on the
599
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:37,919
majority and so for him
600
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,919
first time playing d d going straight in
601
00:20:37,919 --> 00:20:41,440
at like a level 20 character
602
00:20:39,919 --> 00:20:43,520
he probably didn't know what the [ __ ] he
603
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,280
was going to do anytime and it was
604
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,520
definitely like in the moment i was like
605
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:49,039
oh he only ever seems to be attacking he
606
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,799
doesn't really seem to be doing anything
607
00:20:49,039 --> 00:20:52,320
else and it was until afterwards i was
608
00:20:50,799 --> 00:20:53,840
like oh yeah that's because that was
609
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,200
like the only thing that he really knew
610
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:58,159
that he could do
611
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,520
so for him that was like a [ __ ] session
612
00:20:58,159 --> 00:21:00,559
but to the others they probably really
613
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:01,600
enjoyed it and there's always going to
614
00:21:00,559 --> 00:21:03,039
be
615
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,799
it's always just going to be a bit of a
616
00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:06,480
balance really
617
00:21:04,799 --> 00:21:09,039
i think we can put a bow in it and
618
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:11,280
basically say that you know overall
619
00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:13,440
the perception of dnd is
620
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,919
way more positive and obviously it's way
621
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,760
more pervasive in popular culture yeah
622
00:21:15,919 --> 00:21:19,840
what that brings with it is the baggage
623
00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,440
of criticism essentially when there's
624
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,880
only a couple of dudes across the
625
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,480
country playing it in their basement no
626
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,039
one cares and no one criticizes but then
627
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,720
once you open the door then you get
628
00:21:27,039 --> 00:21:31,200
arrogant idiots like me making podcasts
629
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,559
about it well i mean
630
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,080
this sort of thing it's not the first
631
00:21:32,559 --> 00:21:36,159
time that this sort of thing happened it
632
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,520
happened with marvel and dc for the
633
00:21:36,159 --> 00:21:40,000
longest time that was just people that
634
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,840
read comics that was their area and then
635
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,679
they started making you know cinematic
636
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,679
universes about it and all of a sudden
637
00:21:43,679 --> 00:21:48,640
everybody has a podcast about
638
00:21:45,679 --> 00:21:50,320
the mcu or dc comics yeah that's a
639
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,799
really good parallel actually
640
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,640
one that hadn't hit me before but it's
641
00:21:52,799 --> 00:21:57,919
probably a very similar curve on the
642
00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,679
graph yeah of you know that exponential
643
00:21:57,919 --> 00:22:01,600
curve that probably happened in a very
644
00:21:59,679 --> 00:22:03,200
similar time period as well of basically
645
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,400
the past decade yeah absolutely i mean
646
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,320
it's only because someone else pointed
647
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,240
it out to me but like it was literally
648
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:11,039
it went from if you read those sort of
649
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:13,280
things you were a nerd
650
00:22:11,039 --> 00:22:15,600
and now you've got jocks walking around
651
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,360
with captain america t-shirts on
652
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,600
it's like it's and it's the same thing
653
00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:21,600
that's happening with with dnd less so
654
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,360
with with the jock element
655
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:26,480
but yeah the amount of times that i've
656
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:28,000
mentioned that i run a d d campaign and
657
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,320
i just get random people that are like
658
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,640
oh well i've always wanted to to do that
659
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,720
or i've heard of that any chance you
660
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,440
could run a one shot of muy it's just
661
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:39,120
slowly becoming like just normal it's
662
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,480
just a normal thing to do there's still
663
00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:43,120
a little bit of
664
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,799
of hesitation around it but
665
00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,960
yeah there is a little bit there it's
666
00:22:44,799 --> 00:22:49,640
not quite there yet as three of my
667
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:52,240
closest friends staunchly
668
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:54,480
close-mindedly won't play even even
669
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:57,120
though i i kind of already half set up
670
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:59,520
caricature classes for them just to do
671
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,640
this some goofy like this is a taste of
672
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,559
what i do
673
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,559
spend all my life doing yeah and also
674
00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:06,240
when i told my mum i was like hey mum
675
00:23:04,559 --> 00:23:07,679
i'm doing this this podcast thing and
676
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,760
she's like well firstly what's a podcast
677
00:23:07,679 --> 00:23:11,280
down low okay well
678
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,440
let me here
679
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,679
let me build that bridge first
680
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,120
it's about d and she was like oh
681
00:23:15,679 --> 00:23:19,440
but who's
682
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:21,039
gonna listen and then i had to have that
683
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,039
discussion and was like well hey
684
00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:25,200
actually it's a lot more popular than
685
00:23:23,039 --> 00:23:27,520
you might realize thanks for the swift
686
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:30,720
uh gut punch there let me uh
687
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:32,799
let me bounce back from that
688
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,320
she's like but but okay well you know
689
00:23:32,799 --> 00:23:35,840
you might not have a big audience well
690
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,159
actually i'm hoping that there should be
691
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,640
an audience because it's now like the
692
00:23:38,159 --> 00:23:43,360
giga popular much more so than it used
693
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:45,120
to be yeah so talking of
694
00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:47,120
and it's a good segue so we mentioned
695
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:49,200
there like marvel and their rise to
696
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,720
popularity happened at some other time
697
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,880
and one thing i wanted to talk about
698
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:55,360
briefly is
699
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,760
d d is a hobby
700
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:59,679
so you know as a thing people do in
701
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,279
their spare time which again is very
702
00:23:59,679 --> 00:24:03,679
kind of high level you know even talking
703
00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:05,919
about dice rolls at this point yeah so a
704
00:24:03,679 --> 00:24:07,840
couple of thoughts i had around that
705
00:24:05,919 --> 00:24:10,320
were that again i keep coming back to
706
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,559
this weird duality of pros of the hobby
707
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,960
it can be free
708
00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:17,520
yeah so a couple of players in my game
709
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,520
have again staunchly been like i do not
710
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,360
want to spend any money on this endeavor
711
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,360
right excellent everything they've built
712
00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:25,679
is straight out of the srd
713
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,400
so it's it's literally like a wood elf
714
00:24:25,679 --> 00:24:30,240
rogue assassin okay so he can he can
715
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,600
just fire up a free account on beyond
716
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,880
doesn't have to buy a single thing you
717
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,480
know he borrowed other people's dice at
718
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,880
the table and he's like okay that's fine
719
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,400
and he's having a super fun time yeah
720
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,279
but he's like oh i don't if i don't have
721
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:43,600
to i i won't you know money's tight 2020
722
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:47,200
so on and so on all the usual stuff and
723
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:49,210
then on the other hand people like me
724
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,559
it can also be very not free
725
00:24:49,210 --> 00:24:53,600
[Laughter]
726
00:24:52,559 --> 00:24:55,360
uh
727
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,480
so yeah i just thought that was you know
728
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:58,320
because i was trying to compare it to
729
00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,640
other hobbies and they're the one that
730
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,880
hits me maybe i'm most familiar with is
731
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:05,600
like warhammer and 40k yeah
732
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:08,080
which the the barrier to entry there
733
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,720
is a lot higher
734
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,840
it is absolutely not free to say the
735
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,960
least
736
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,679
well any
737
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:18,880
hobby that you get into
738
00:25:15,679 --> 00:25:20,320
can be as expensive or as inexpensive as
739
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,640
you want to make it
740
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,320
not flexing but i go to the gym
741
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,400
i could literally just
742
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,120
work out at home if i wanted to and then
743
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,960
that would be it that's me working out
744
00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:32,480
staying fair all that sort of stuff but
745
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:35,279
i choose
746
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:38,320
to pay for a gym membership i choose to
747
00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:41,279
pay for protein powder i choose to
748
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:43,520
pay for extra stuff that to me
749
00:25:41,279 --> 00:25:46,080
makes the experience more enjoyable
750
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:48,400
now it's the same for d d you can you
751
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:50,320
can do it as those two players are which
752
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,000
there's nothing wrong with that it's
753
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,760
absolutely fine they're still probably
754
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:56,240
getting the same
755
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,200
enjoyment as someone like me who has
756
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,919
dropped
757
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,559
x amount of money on dice x amount of
758
00:25:59,919 --> 00:26:06,080
money on source books bloody all sorts
759
00:26:02,559 --> 00:26:08,559
of stuff like i've paid like 130 pounds
760
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:11,440
for a wooden dice tray so that i can
761
00:26:08,559 --> 00:26:14,080
roll my dice into it why the [ __ ] do i
762
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,919
need that i don't but it feels good when
763
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,159
i rolled ice in it
764
00:26:15,919 --> 00:26:19,520
and i must say it looks very nice damn
765
00:26:18,159 --> 00:26:22,080
right it does
766
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,760
but it's
767
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,840
whenever like people talk about how much
768
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,120
money you've spent on d d or even like
769
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,880
warhammer it's like
770
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:30,000
at the end of the day if it makes you
771
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,919
feel happy
772
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,840
if you enjoy it if that's something that
773
00:26:31,919 --> 00:26:35,679
brings you happiness in your life who
774
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,120
cares how much money you spend on it
775
00:26:35,679 --> 00:26:39,360
really like
776
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:40,400
it's probably more expensive
777
00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:42,320
well i mean it's definitely more
778
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,720
expensive if you are a dm because
779
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,039
there's there's so many more peripherals
780
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:50,240
that you have to pick up as part of that
781
00:26:47,039 --> 00:26:51,679
for me anyway compared to
782
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,279
i was about to say compared to some
783
00:26:51,679 --> 00:26:55,520
other hobbies but
784
00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:56,799
most hobbies are just there for kind of
785
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,039
socializing
786
00:26:56,799 --> 00:27:01,279
and kind of improving something about
787
00:26:59,039 --> 00:27:04,000
yourself because you gain a skill out of
788
00:27:01,279 --> 00:27:06,799
it and that's exactly the same with
789
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,880
dungeons and dragons like it is you
790
00:27:06,799 --> 00:27:10,159
meeting up with like a group of friends
791
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,640
you sit there
792
00:27:10,159 --> 00:27:14,559
you laugh you joke for a few hours you
793
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,880
eat [ __ ] food typically not if your
794
00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:20,000
body's a temple of course oh i mean
795
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,900
my body is no longer a temple if it if
796
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:25,120
it was it has been ransacked and defiled
797
00:27:22,900 --> 00:27:28,159
[Laughter]
798
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,159
that's just december
799
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:33,120
yeah i mean it's weird when december
800
00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:33,120
becomes every month of the year
801
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,399
um
802
00:27:34,799 --> 00:27:37,760
but and this is the the part that i
803
00:27:36,399 --> 00:27:40,000
really harp on about whenever i'm
804
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:42,559
talking to new people about d and d or
805
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,279
from ever trying to pseudo convert them
806
00:27:42,559 --> 00:27:47,600
to playing it with d d the skills that
807
00:27:45,279 --> 00:27:48,559
you're getting are your interpersonal
808
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,000
skills
809
00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:52,720
improvisation
810
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,039
accent work acting
811
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,799
storytelling writing
812
00:27:55,039 --> 00:27:59,919
there's so many skills that you can get
813
00:27:56,799 --> 00:28:02,399
from it it's just such a great hobby
814
00:27:59,919 --> 00:28:04,000
there's so many benefits to it and yeah
815
00:28:02,399 --> 00:28:06,559
if you want to drop a
816
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,640
100 pounds on a set of dice that just
817
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:10,960
shine and say
818
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,960
yahtzee when you roll natural 20 then be
819
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:15,919
my guest
820
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:18,480
i i bought a really nice set of metal
821
00:28:15,919 --> 00:28:19,760
dice like chromatic dragon metal dice
822
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,080
and because
823
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,520
of the way i am and i'm an idiot and i
824
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,679
do this in other areas of my life
825
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,840
they're just too nice to use so they
826
00:28:25,679 --> 00:28:29,440
just end up not being used
827
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,960
which is i couldn't think of a bigger
828
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,880
waste of money but
829
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,840
they feel really nice and shiny as hell
830
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,799
so
831
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,520
well
832
00:28:34,799 --> 00:28:39,600
there's also the the other element of it
833
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:42,080
where if those dice start rolling
834
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,760
natural ones all the time i mean
835
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,600
your hands are tied you have to get new
836
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,080
ones there's there's nothing you can do
837
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,760
about it
838
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,520
like when when you know websites and
839
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,080
companies would do you know three for
840
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:56,159
two on dice and stuff i know i'll often
841
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,240
i'm getting better but i'll often be
842
00:28:56,159 --> 00:28:59,760
like okay i've got them in my cart and
843
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,000
then i'm hovering over the buy button
844
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,000
i'm like no come on you don't
845
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,360
why why because i just not get used
846
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,799
because
847
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,200
you roll off four dice a session
848
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:10,799
sometimes so yeah and it's it's just a
849
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:13,919
d20 so you don't even need all the other
850
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:17,360
stuff well when the world isn't falling
851
00:29:13,919 --> 00:29:19,279
apart i mean the uh the justification is
852
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,039
like okay well i mean maybe i won't use
853
00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:22,320
them but if i've got players that have
854
00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:23,679
forgotten their dice then i can just
855
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:27,279
lend it to them
856
00:29:23,679 --> 00:29:30,320
sure that makes sense
857
00:29:27,279 --> 00:29:33,440
uh so yeah i used to play
858
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,880
40k when i was a lot younger in my
859
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,600
college days
860
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,039
and
861
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,279
that that was probably my closest kind
862
00:29:37,039 --> 00:29:42,000
of like nerd hobby to use a bit of a
863
00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:43,600
crappy analogy but it's quite an easy
864
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,000
comparison to make for me but yeah that
865
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,760
was i don't know a completely different
866
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,720
experience it might have changed now in
867
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:52,559
the preceding 15 years but um
868
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,000
something something must be different
869
00:29:52,559 --> 00:29:56,960
right because although warhammer is a
870
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,960
lot more popular it's not quite
871
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,760
say critical role popular shall we say
872
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,200
yeah so it's uh an interesting thought
873
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,799
piece there on
874
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,960
why i guess
875
00:30:04,799 --> 00:30:09,760
and i think you know warhammer is just
876
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:12,799
more niche yeah yeah i mean i i can't
877
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,960
really speak to it too much because i i
878
00:30:12,799 --> 00:30:17,039
don't have too much experience with it
879
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,159
but the the same basic premise seems to
880
00:30:17,039 --> 00:30:20,080
be there and
881
00:30:18,159 --> 00:30:21,679
in relation to d d because i've walked
882
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,399
past a warhammer store and i've seen
883
00:30:21,679 --> 00:30:24,640
like
884
00:30:22,399 --> 00:30:26,799
a group of like 10 people laughing
885
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,760
having fun i have no idea what they're
886
00:30:26,799 --> 00:30:30,080
doing
887
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,080
but it seems very reminiscent replace
888
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:35,200
that table in between in the middle of
889
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:37,840
them with all the miniatures on it with
890
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,760
a table with some pieces of paper and
891
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,320
some dice and you've got basically the
892
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,200
same setup but because i don't know
893
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,279
how
894
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,279
warhammer works um
895
00:30:45,279 --> 00:30:48,720
with d and d it's storytelling and
896
00:30:47,279 --> 00:30:51,279
that's
897
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,120
if you if you break down most of society
898
00:30:51,279 --> 00:30:54,960
down to like one of the fundamental
899
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:57,200
things that it needs it's telling
900
00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:00,000
stories like we've been doing that as a
901
00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:02,799
human race for so many years now it's
902
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:05,600
just kind of ingrained into our very
903
00:31:02,799 --> 00:31:07,440
nature if something happens to you you
904
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:10,159
then go to someone else and you tell it
905
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:12,000
to them as a story one of the main
906
00:31:10,159 --> 00:31:13,519
pastimes that people tend to do is go to
907
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,960
the cinemas to watch films because they
908
00:31:13,519 --> 00:31:17,039
want to hear
909
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,720
strange exciting stories that they
910
00:31:17,039 --> 00:31:21,120
themselves wouldn't live and so i think
911
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,000
that's maybe why d and d is a bit more
912
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,720
kind of
913
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:27,679
being pushed into the spotlight
914
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,919
yeah all r is to convey a message
915
00:31:27,679 --> 00:31:31,440
essentially and that probably ties in
916
00:31:29,919 --> 00:31:33,600
quite nicely with
917
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:35,679
what ian was saying about how
918
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,360
the second edition and earlier editions
919
00:31:35,679 --> 00:31:38,960
especially when you're younger and all
920
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,000
those people have now grown up into
921
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,120
adults
922
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,760
it was
923
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:45,360
a bit more adversarial it was
924
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,640
a bit like funnily enough warhammer
925
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,399
which is
926
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,399
is combat right it's one person against
927
00:31:48,399 --> 00:31:52,240
another person one side wins once and
928
00:31:50,399 --> 00:31:54,640
loses and that's how the indie used to
929
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,320
be played by the the younger
930
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,440
predominantly male
931
00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,159
demographic
932
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:02,399
and back when the rules were a lot more
933
00:32:00,159 --> 00:32:03,840
mathematically based rather than five
934
00:32:02,399 --> 00:32:05,840
chapters on building a world kind of
935
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,600
thing but since dna has moved away from
936
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,519
that or kind of focused more on the
937
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:12,480
softer elements of it and as the
938
00:32:09,519 --> 00:32:15,279
demographic has broadened vastly
939
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:17,360
it's widened that yeah that audience and
940
00:32:15,279 --> 00:32:19,840
has become more of a storytelling you
941
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:22,000
know a medium to send a message to tell
942
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,559
it to tell a story as you said which is
943
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,640
quite nice again it's a weird parallel
944
00:32:24,559 --> 00:32:28,240
to roll this kind of rags to riches
945
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,080
thing of just the hobby yeah that alone
946
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,240
of critical role which is quite nice
947
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:34,399
yeah absolutely i mean like
948
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,799
if you look at the bulk of critical
949
00:32:34,399 --> 00:32:41,360
roles like catalog i'd say
950
00:32:36,799 --> 00:32:42,480
probably like 60 70 of it is just rp
951
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,799
and
952
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:47,360
exposition and kind of interacting with
953
00:32:44,799 --> 00:32:48,480
each other and then that smaller part is
954
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,960
the actual
955
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:53,200
call it's them versus the dm yeah which
956
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:55,760
i would say probably arguably is the
957
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:58,159
part that maybe people don't
958
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,519
cherish as much if i was the hazard
959
00:32:58,159 --> 00:33:01,919
against
960
00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:03,200
uh yeah no i'm inclined to agree but
961
00:33:01,919 --> 00:33:05,600
it's one of the bits that i like
962
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,760
personally is that you know the 60 as
963
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,200
you mentioned and then yes you know
964
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,120
technically there should be some sort of
965
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,960
balance between the three pillars but
966
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,960
personally for me and i've said it 100
967
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,880
times before is that you can't really
968
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,240
get it anywhere else or not as
969
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,480
accessible anywhere else yes there's
970
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,159
other tabletop rpgs which are gonna do a
971
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,080
very similar thing but we're talking a
972
00:33:22,159 --> 00:33:26,080
macro so let's lift it up another level
973
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:28,080
and take it out of dnd and into just
974
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,919
tabletop rpgs is that you can't get that
975
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:33,039
stuff anywhere else yeah so
976
00:33:29,919 --> 00:33:34,799
i like to emphasize that pillar more
977
00:33:33,039 --> 00:33:37,519
because when you go home and play a
978
00:33:34,799 --> 00:33:39,200
video game that pillar is shrunk down to
979
00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:41,360
like 10
980
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:44,360
so you can make up for it in tabletop
981
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,360
rpgs
982
00:33:45,820 --> 00:33:49,160
[Music]
983
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,080
so the first half we've kind of talked
984
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,679
about it meta in a way we've talked
985
00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,000
about it as a
986
00:33:57,679 --> 00:34:02,960
as a hobby yeah as a thing people can do
987
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:05,440
and there's a thing people enjoy
988
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,880
let's step to the side and let's bring
989
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:08,079
it back to
990
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,599
the game
991
00:34:08,079 --> 00:34:12,879
of specifically dnd 5e and the macro
992
00:34:11,599 --> 00:34:14,879
of
993
00:34:12,879 --> 00:34:16,079
running a game yeah so we've talked
994
00:34:14,879 --> 00:34:18,159
about the macro the hobby now let's talk
995
00:34:16,079 --> 00:34:19,280
about the macro of a game a session a
996
00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:21,119
campaign
997
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,000
so i think we both mentioned earlier on
998
00:34:21,119 --> 00:34:25,200
about
999
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,639
long form campaigns as i call them yes
1000
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,440
versus
1001
00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:32,399
short form or one shots which in my
1002
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:35,280
experience are rarely one shots
1003
00:34:32,399 --> 00:34:37,440
so i am probably very similar to you in
1004
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:40,240
that my imagination is
1005
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:42,000
runs wild and very very very quickly
1006
00:34:40,240 --> 00:34:44,639
does not fit into
1007
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:47,760
one two three four five sessions because
1008
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:50,000
i've built this whole thing up and the
1009
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,520
other thing that is becoming even more
1010
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,359
apparent is
1011
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,119
the game i actually ran
1012
00:34:53,359 --> 00:34:56,159
last night
1013
00:34:55,119 --> 00:34:58,160
is
1014
00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,160
as mentioned it's quite a short you know
1015
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,839
five to ten sessions maybe it's actually
1016
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,480
probably going to be longer but there's
1017
00:35:01,839 --> 00:35:04,960
a
1018
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:07,040
well i would consider a
1019
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,400
simple dungeon in it i tried to hit all
1020
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,839
three pillars so there's a bit of a
1021
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,680
dungeon crawl in it at one point that's
1022
00:35:09,839 --> 00:35:12,960
literally in kind of like abandoned
1023
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,640
mines
1024
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,880
and i would consider it relatively
1025
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:18,960
simple right there's no
1026
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,720
loop backs there's no
1027
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,480
you know fog gates there's no
1028
00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:24,720
pull this lever another lift gives you a
1029
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:27,280
shortcut yeah it's not designed like a
1030
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:28,720
dark souls level it's very
1031
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:30,480
quite linear there are a couple of
1032
00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:32,320
branching paths but it's
1033
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:34,720
it's literally like a classic room one
1034
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,480
room two room three room for room five
1035
00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,920
yeah and there are things to do in those
1036
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:40,480
rooms you could you could put it on a
1037
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:42,720
ruler essentially even still the first
1038
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:45,359
floor of that dungeon has taken
1039
00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:48,320
two sessions in of itself
1040
00:35:45,359 --> 00:35:49,599
so i have no idea how
1041
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,040
in fact i do have a bit of an idea
1042
00:35:49,599 --> 00:35:52,880
because i've looked in the past a couple
1043
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:55,280
you know advent published you know home
1044
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,880
brew yeah one shots and the dungeons
1045
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:58,960
typically they don't actually have
1046
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,160
dungeons what they have is
1047
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,320
a building
1048
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,000
a mages tower that might have a ground
1049
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:07,440
floor and a first floor
1050
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,680
and that's pretty much it which i find
1051
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:12,000
kind of funny that the game is called
1052
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,920
dungeons and dragons and one of the more
1053
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:16,560
popular ways to play doesn't have any
1054
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,560
dungeons in it
1055
00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:22,400
yeah let's get rid of that uh
1056
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:26,079
that rather large chunk of d d
1057
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:27,760
yeah it's a weird one i mean most of my
1058
00:36:26,079 --> 00:36:29,280
one shots that i've run
1059
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,000
i've kind of
1060
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:34,000
cheated in the sense that whilst it
1061
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,920
works as a
1062
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,599
a one-off session
1063
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,640
i've managed to
1064
00:36:37,599 --> 00:36:40,400
set it
1065
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:42,400
in the world of my
1066
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:45,119
campaign so that i can
1067
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:47,119
play on that that area a little bit more
1068
00:36:45,119 --> 00:36:49,280
if it is somewhere that i particularly
1069
00:36:47,119 --> 00:36:51,839
enjoyed but similar to what you were
1070
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:53,359
just talking about the only
1071
00:36:51,839 --> 00:36:57,599
one shot that i can think of that was
1072
00:36:53,359 --> 00:36:58,640
truly just a a one shot was
1073
00:36:57,599 --> 00:37:01,760
something that i
1074
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,640
did i think i had an hour's prep time
1075
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:05,119
and
1076
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:07,200
it was just two people
1077
00:37:05,119 --> 00:37:08,800
part of like uh
1078
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,839
invading force
1079
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,440
a patrol had gone out to an area but it
1080
00:37:11,839 --> 00:37:14,800
had gone quiet and they didn't hear
1081
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:17,040
anything from them
1082
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,800
and so they had to go and investigate it
1083
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,599
and so they literally just investigated
1084
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:24,079
a small clearing with a few tents one
1085
00:37:21,599 --> 00:37:26,160
kind of fairly dilapidated building and
1086
00:37:24,079 --> 00:37:27,680
then that was pretty much it and they
1087
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,960
went in they found that everybody had
1088
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,720
been killed
1089
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,480
they killed what was there
1090
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,160
and then they had to make their way back
1091
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,079
and that was it and that literally took
1092
00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:38,320
like four hours
1093
00:37:36,079 --> 00:37:40,000
but for me running it whilst it was fun
1094
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,920
because there was like a horror element
1095
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,800
to it and there was atmosphere it felt
1096
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:47,200
kind of i guess hollow
1097
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,800
whereas like going into a dungeon
1098
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,880
there's so much fun that can be had with
1099
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:52,079
that i feel like that's one of them well
1100
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:53,920
i mean it's like half the reason that
1101
00:37:52,079 --> 00:37:56,560
you play dungeons and dragons
1102
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,920
so yeah i struggle with one shots yeah
1103
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,520
so that's probably why we've both
1104
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,839
gravitated towards
1105
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,880
long form campaigns which ties in
1106
00:38:01,839 --> 00:38:04,640
beautifully what you're saying earlier
1107
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:07,040
on about let me bring in that goblin
1108
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,400
from 50 sessions ago
1109
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,720
i maintain a list of i call it the
1110
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:13,440
credits of the npcs that the characters
1111
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:15,040
have met because hey i know their crap
1112
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:16,400
are taking notes and b there's an awful
1113
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,400
lot of them so they're likely to forget
1114
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,920
them so when they come back and they go
1115
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,720
down low who the hell is this and go
1116
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,880
well actually you met this person in uh
1117
00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:26,640
session 34. yeah
1118
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,960
my thought process there if you know
1119
00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,320
this first floor of that dungeon taking
1120
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,280
well actually probably take about three
1121
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:36,240
sessions in total what amounts to
1122
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:38,800
three rooms so succession of room is the
1123
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:42,560
velocity is the same for the long form
1124
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:44,000
campaigns and we are currently at 49
1125
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:47,680
sessions
1126
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:49,359
and the players have done were about to
1127
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,520
nearing the end of
1128
00:38:49,359 --> 00:38:54,160
kind of chapter three
1129
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,839
right out of potentially
1130
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,359
seven
1131
00:38:55,839 --> 00:39:00,160
damn
1132
00:38:57,359 --> 00:39:01,760
yeah so my original estimation was i
1133
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,800
think the first campaign of critical
1134
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,280
role was
1135
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:08,079
like 100 oh no how many episodes in the
1136
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:10,640
first well so the the first campaign is
1137
00:39:08,079 --> 00:39:14,800
115 episodes but they started when they
1138
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:16,560
were like level 12 level 11. oh wow okay
1139
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:19,119
my my podcast that i listened to not
1140
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:22,160
another dnd podcast their first campaign
1141
00:39:19,119 --> 00:39:24,000
was i think 101 in the end if you if you
1142
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,920
include the epilogue something like that
1143
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,440
so my headcanon was always like we
1144
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,320
should be done if we keep up this
1145
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:32,240
cadence by about 100 sessions in yeah
1146
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,240
which i guess is still technically
1147
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:35,920
possible depending on you know
1148
00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:37,680
how much the players stick around yeah
1149
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:39,119
but that number's a little bit scary now
1150
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,920
i say it out loud
1151
00:39:39,119 --> 00:39:42,480
now
1152
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:44,000
for a number of reasons one
1153
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,280
[ __ ] that's a lot more content i gotta
1154
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,440
do
1155
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:49,119
b am i going to meet that deadline
1156
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,800
basically or am i gonna have to you know
1157
00:39:49,119 --> 00:39:52,400
is my budget used up and i'm gonna hit a
1158
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,520
hundred sessions and be like oh sorry
1159
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,920
boss i need
1160
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,520
i need another 50 sessions to to really
1161
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:58,960
see this through yeah
1162
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,599
so learning experience to me is trying
1163
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,359
to gauge player interest and we're all
1164
00:40:01,599 --> 00:40:05,520
at a place in our life luckily where
1165
00:40:03,359 --> 00:40:07,280
things are relatively stable which might
1166
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,800
be surprising given yeah given every
1167
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,560
year
1168
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,319
but luckily enough
1169
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:13,680
very very fortunate to find ourselves in
1170
00:40:12,319 --> 00:40:16,400
a relatively stable position so i'm
1171
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:18,560
hoping that the long-form campaign can
1172
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,920
play out for us now i don't expect you
1173
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:23,280
to go into too much detail about
1174
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,040
dungeons campaign nor do i want you to
1175
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,040
because that would spoil the fun yep but
1176
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:30,640
from what i understand it's again quite
1177
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:32,960
a long burn quite a long form yeah so
1178
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:35,359
so i've done one shots
1179
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:37,119
enjoyed it and
1180
00:40:35,359 --> 00:40:39,200
through the process of doing that and as
1181
00:40:37,119 --> 00:40:41,200
i said kind of creating these towns
1182
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:44,000
cities places
1183
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,640
had started envisioning a world where
1184
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,800
these cities would exist so the first
1185
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:50,319
one shot that i ran battle for
1186
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,640
stonehaven
1187
00:40:50,319 --> 00:40:55,359
that is a place where i think
1188
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,960
either your character or tim's character
1189
00:40:55,359 --> 00:40:59,440
is actually from i think it's your
1190
00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:01,200
character and so once that started
1191
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:04,480
happening and it kind of got things
1192
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:06,800
percolating in the uh neil brain box and
1193
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,240
so i started kind of coming up with just
1194
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,520
the world
1195
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:12,480
and as soon as i started doing that i
1196
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:15,119
was like okay if i run this campaign
1197
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:16,319
one it's gonna be long and two it's
1198
00:41:15,119 --> 00:41:19,680
gonna be
1199
00:41:16,319 --> 00:41:22,560
more focused on story because it'd be a
1200
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:25,359
podcast it was always going to be for a
1201
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:28,000
podcast but with the caveat of you know
1202
00:41:25,359 --> 00:41:30,079
if that starts interfering with our
1203
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:32,480
enjoyment of the game then
1204
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:34,000
been that off and so it massively helped
1205
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,839
by setting those expectations with
1206
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,839
everybody else first of being like just
1207
00:41:35,839 --> 00:41:40,880
so you know by getting involved with
1208
00:41:37,839 --> 00:41:43,200
this you are making a commitment for a
1209
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:44,319
year possibly two years
1210
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:47,359
and
1211
00:41:44,319 --> 00:41:48,720
luckily everybody is dead keen with that
1212
00:41:47,359 --> 00:41:49,839
and
1213
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,440
it's going
1214
00:41:49,839 --> 00:41:52,240
well so far
1215
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,720
but
1216
00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:56,079
similar to i think what maybe some some
1217
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:58,160
people have mentioned on this podcast
1218
00:41:56,079 --> 00:42:00,000
before i had an idea of where it was
1219
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:02,400
going to begin almost immediately i knew
1220
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,920
that this was going to start with a
1221
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,040
hopefully not to trigger anybody but it
1222
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,240
was going to start with a terrorist
1223
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,720
attack
1224
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:12,160
and that was going to spark a
1225
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:14,319
potential cold war and then i knew where
1226
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,920
it was going to end and then so far all
1227
00:42:14,319 --> 00:42:19,520
i've been doing is just kind of putting
1228
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:21,119
down little lines to connect everything
1229
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:22,720
if you ever look at my
1230
00:42:21,119 --> 00:42:25,280
notes for
1231
00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:27,359
the campaign i mean one you'll probably
1232
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:29,440
break down and cry because they don't
1233
00:42:27,359 --> 00:42:31,760
make sense
1234
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,599
but in my head i'm like cool i know
1235
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,200
where everything is going
1236
00:42:33,599 --> 00:42:38,160
but it's it's just trying to figure out
1237
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:39,520
like ways to connect everything that's
1238
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,440
that's what i'm
1239
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:43,359
not struggling with but
1240
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:46,000
certainly that's what the uh the bulk of
1241
00:42:43,359 --> 00:42:47,599
my planning is i would say it's tough to
1242
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,160
do it in a way that
1243
00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:51,200
makes sense in universe yeah that's the
1244
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,480
you know that's the problem you can
1245
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,200
string anything together however you
1246
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:56,800
want but if the players go
1247
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,319
why the [ __ ] is this guy here when he
1248
00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,000
was on the other continent yeah two days
1249
00:42:58,319 --> 00:43:01,359
ago then there's no point in doing it
1250
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,640
because it doesn't make any sense
1251
00:43:01,359 --> 00:43:04,319
anymore or if you're playing some weird
1252
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:06,319
goofy campaign where everybody teleports
1253
00:43:04,319 --> 00:43:08,400
around then it makes sense but in most
1254
00:43:06,319 --> 00:43:10,240
typical fantasy settings it's
1255
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:12,400
yeah it's hard to string it together in
1256
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:14,720
a way that makes in-universe sense and
1257
00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:16,400
that's why i've
1258
00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:19,119
stayed away
1259
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:20,079
out of kind of willful ignorance almost
1260
00:43:19,119 --> 00:43:22,640
of
1261
00:43:20,079 --> 00:43:23,680
doing too much of the kind of political
1262
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:26,079
and
1263
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:29,040
geographical borders oh mate you've done
1264
00:43:26,079 --> 00:43:29,040
yourself a favor there
1265
00:43:29,119 --> 00:43:32,640
a lot you know all the world building
1266
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,319
tips you see online are like put your
1267
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:36,400
your capital cities together who's
1268
00:43:34,319 --> 00:43:38,079
warring with who and have they got the
1269
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:40,720
resources maybe this town has got wood
1270
00:43:38,079 --> 00:43:42,079
and this town has got water and they
1271
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:43,359
need each other's resources and that's
1272
00:43:42,079 --> 00:43:44,640
how they've got this alliance and i'm
1273
00:43:43,359 --> 00:43:46,160
just like man
1274
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,839
i'm gonna [ __ ] that up
1275
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:50,079
don't let me do that
1276
00:43:47,839 --> 00:43:51,680
because it's gonna be bad if i do that
1277
00:43:50,079 --> 00:43:54,319
and i know that the moment i would i
1278
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:55,119
would do that players would be like but
1279
00:43:54,319 --> 00:43:57,520
why
1280
00:43:55,119 --> 00:43:59,200
or i've put i accidentally put a forest
1281
00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:00,240
near the city that's got water and they
1282
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,400
go yeah but they've got a forest there
1283
00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:03,160
down low so why are they fighting it oh
1284
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:05,520
i don't know
1285
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:08,000
[Laughter]
1286
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:09,680
i've not got a major in geopolitics
1287
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,920
don't
1288
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,440
yeah it's it's
1289
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,680
that sort of thing is is certainly
1290
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:19,119
difficult i like to think that i've kind
1291
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:22,079
of distilled the conflict between
1292
00:44:19,119 --> 00:44:24,560
the the two major cities that we've kind
1293
00:44:22,079 --> 00:44:26,560
of been in which is luxem and terracol
1294
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:29,280
to the base component enough
1295
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:32,000
that it's fairly easy for for players to
1296
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:33,520
just be like cool they're the
1297
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,480
questionable
1298
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:37,760
bad guys and they're the seemingly good
1299
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,440
guys
1300
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,720
uh which makes it a lot easier if it's
1301
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:43,599
just like
1302
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:45,599
two opposing like ideologies most people
1303
00:44:43,599 --> 00:44:46,960
can just instantly get on board with
1304
00:44:45,599 --> 00:44:48,079
that yeah and
1305
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,160
because of
1306
00:44:48,079 --> 00:44:52,720
your surrounding environment informing
1307
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:53,920
your creative decisions it was basically
1308
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:57,119
designed to be
1309
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:59,359
cool luxum is like the right wing and
1310
00:44:57,119 --> 00:45:00,960
teresa was like the left wing and that's
1311
00:44:59,359 --> 00:45:03,280
that's basically it
1312
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:06,560
but now i've got to deal with
1313
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:08,640
somehow orchestrating a war
1314
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:10,880
that you are now kind of
1315
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:12,240
going away from which i suppose makes
1316
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:14,880
things easier
1317
00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:17,040
oh man that that makes us sound like
1318
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:18,880
right balance
1319
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,480
like we've lit the match thrown it into
1320
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:22,160
the haystack and then just gone yeah
1321
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:24,670
peace see you later guys which i know
1322
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:27,520
we've it's what we've actually done
1323
00:45:24,670 --> 00:45:29,520
[Laughter]
1324
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:33,440
um oh now i feel bad
1325
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:35,680
nah nah it's but the even though it's
1326
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,720
going to be difficult the the fun part
1327
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:41,760
of it is uh for me anyway as like a
1328
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:42,800
storyteller and a and a dm is how does
1329
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,280
this now
1330
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,400
affect the world
1331
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:48,319
that you guys
1332
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:50,160
are still traveling through like
1333
00:45:48,319 --> 00:45:51,040
although you're not directly interacting
1334
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:52,880
with it there's going to be
1335
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:55,520
ramifications it's going to affect the
1336
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:56,800
world and the cities that you go to
1337
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:59,440
so it's going to be fun but it's
1338
00:45:56,800 --> 00:46:02,160
difficult and props to anybody that has
1339
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:06,800
like politics and that sort of stuff at
1340
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:09,920
the core of their of their campaigns
1341
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:11,680
i agree completely like anyone who can
1342
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:15,119
do it in a way that is enjoyable and
1343
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:17,200
makes sense and has political intrigue
1344
00:46:15,119 --> 00:46:19,359
which is more than just
1345
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:21,760
there's spies
1346
00:46:19,359 --> 00:46:23,440
watch out yeah yeah i mean at that point
1347
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:27,040
you are essentially becoming
1348
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:28,960
a writer for a show you know you're
1349
00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:30,079
writing house of cards or something like
1350
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:32,000
that
1351
00:46:30,079 --> 00:46:34,480
yeah which i could definitely not be
1352
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:36,319
anywhere near other than these guys are
1353
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,599
blue these guys are green and blue
1354
00:46:36,319 --> 00:46:39,599
people hate green people and green
1355
00:46:37,599 --> 00:46:41,599
people hate the blue colored people and
1356
00:46:39,599 --> 00:46:43,200
they're sometimes spies
1357
00:46:41,599 --> 00:46:44,640
go go players
1358
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:46,560
but again it defends it depends on the
1359
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:48,640
players right some people want that and
1360
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:49,920
yeah some people don't so it would be a
1361
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:51,520
wasted effort
1362
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,760
maybe to do that
1363
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:55,760
for my players and so in that respect i
1364
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,720
guess i'm lucky uh well they're lucky
1365
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,839
that
1366
00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:59,839
i can't be bothered to do it either
1367
00:47:01,359 --> 00:47:04,160
um
1368
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:07,119
yeah so at the moment there's a lot of
1369
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:09,520
they're almost like bubbles of
1370
00:47:07,119 --> 00:47:12,720
chapters each chapter exists a little
1371
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:14,640
bit in its own bubble there are wider
1372
00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:16,160
like implications like you said so you
1373
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:18,240
know they will meet people on the other
1374
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,760
continents there will be oh did you hear
1375
00:47:18,240 --> 00:47:21,680
about that attack
1376
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:24,400
over there that kind of stuff is gonna
1377
00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:25,760
happen but there's not really like
1378
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,280
the classic
1379
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:28,800
you know like the witcher map where
1380
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:30,160
there's big swag
1381
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:32,480
on the map that you know you can't push
1382
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:34,000
that border forward not yet there may
1383
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,319
well be something like that down the
1384
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:39,440
line but that is certainly not my
1385
00:47:36,319 --> 00:47:41,920
comfort zone yeah to be franken my
1386
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:44,160
internal geography of trying to find a
1387
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:47,040
location in the real world is pretty
1388
00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:49,200
good i have a pretty good intuition for
1389
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:51,520
directions and finding places
1390
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:53,839
but in terms of designing
1391
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,100
a world that's garbage
1392
00:47:53,839 --> 00:47:56,720
yeah
1393
00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:58,400
[Laughter]
1394
00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:59,359
yeah it's um
1395
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,839
because
1396
00:47:59,359 --> 00:48:04,720
as i say like i i came up with the these
1397
00:48:01,839 --> 00:48:06,480
two cities and i knew that i wanted them
1398
00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:08,800
to be pretty close to each other
1399
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:11,200
and then that's like as far as i got and
1400
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,960
so what i found myself doing is just
1401
00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:15,440
kind of creating
1402
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:17,280
the continents and then putting rough
1403
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,520
placeholders for cities and stuff like
1404
00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:21,680
that and then just filling in
1405
00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:24,079
information as and when people have
1406
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:25,599
needed it because once again it's in my
1407
00:48:24,079 --> 00:48:27,520
head but when i look at my notes i'm
1408
00:48:25,599 --> 00:48:28,720
like ah that's that's a horror film
1409
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:31,520
right there
1410
00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:33,599
but yeah in terms of like like distance
1411
00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:35,760
i have a big issue with
1412
00:48:33,599 --> 00:48:38,160
yeah because i don't know how far things
1413
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:41,599
should be from each other yeah and then
1414
00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:42,640
yeah and environments as well like if uh
1415
00:48:41,599 --> 00:48:45,040
i think
1416
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:47,359
you guys have got like an area
1417
00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:50,319
coming up that is like a coastal
1418
00:48:47,359 --> 00:48:52,319
town city but in my head it was
1419
00:48:50,319 --> 00:48:54,880
swamp-like and then i had to do a load
1420
00:48:52,319 --> 00:48:57,359
of research i'm like are swamps even
1421
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:59,200
able to be near coastlines are they only
1422
00:48:57,359 --> 00:49:00,880
inland are there rivers that connect to
1423
00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:03,040
them and i'm like jesus
1424
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:05,040
god damn i just wanted to be a swampy
1425
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:07,839
city that's a bit spooky
1426
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:09,520
yeah yeah i i'd know that feeling only
1427
00:49:07,839 --> 00:49:12,079
too well and you know
1428
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:13,839
well probably it would be me in in your
1429
00:49:12,079 --> 00:49:15,359
example i'd be like
1430
00:49:13,839 --> 00:49:16,559
why is there a swamp here you know you
1431
00:49:15,359 --> 00:49:18,720
know there's always going to be a player
1432
00:49:16,559 --> 00:49:21,359
that's like well hang on yeah yeah
1433
00:49:18,720 --> 00:49:23,359
or the worst thing is they go well hang
1434
00:49:21,359 --> 00:49:25,280
on why is there a swamp here oh there's
1435
00:49:23,359 --> 00:49:27,440
some naughty magic somewhere that's
1436
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:29,440
twisting and tainting the land and then
1437
00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:31,520
the dms they're like no man i just
1438
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:33,040
wanted to swamp yeah yeah i mean i'm
1439
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:35,599
quite lucky that like
1440
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:38,240
george tim and psy
1441
00:49:35,599 --> 00:49:40,559
comparatively are all pretty
1442
00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:42,480
new to d and d and so they don't they
1443
00:49:40,559 --> 00:49:44,400
don't question a lot of
1444
00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:46,000
decisions that i make
1445
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:47,760
um
1446
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:50,240
but i think
1447
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:51,440
for the most part as long as it is a an
1448
00:49:50,240 --> 00:49:53,760
engaging
1449
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:55,520
area there's atmosphere you fill it with
1450
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:58,079
a decent amount of detail people can
1451
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,359
overlook the the gaps in knowledge of
1452
00:49:58,079 --> 00:50:01,839
like
1453
00:49:59,359 --> 00:50:04,319
yeah a swamp being where there shouldn't
1454
00:50:01,839 --> 00:50:06,559
be a swamp yeah although i have looked
1455
00:50:04,319 --> 00:50:07,920
it up and it does make sense um okay
1456
00:50:06,559 --> 00:50:10,000
good
1457
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:12,160
you can sleep easy now it's okay
1458
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:14,800
yeah i can rest
1459
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:16,160
i do i do relish i mean this in the
1460
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:18,000
nicest possible way but basically
1461
00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:20,720
turning my brain off from that thought
1462
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:21,760
process when i'm a player so i don't you
1463
00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:23,280
know
1464
00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:25,680
i use playing
1465
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:26,880
as an excuse to be like thank goodness i
1466
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:29,839
don't have to think about this kind of
1467
00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:32,480
stuff anymore so i relish not having
1468
00:50:29,839 --> 00:50:34,400
those critical thoughts and i use it as
1469
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:36,319
a time to not look too
1470
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:39,040
closely at that kind of stuff because
1471
00:50:36,319 --> 00:50:41,040
you're gonna find cracks and yep you
1472
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:42,480
know the stitching that the the dm's
1473
00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:44,720
that to put in there to
1474
00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:46,960
stitch it all together and then it is no
1475
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:48,800
fun for anybody so i use that as a time
1476
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:50,319
to go okay do you know what i'm just
1477
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,680
gonna take everything on face value
1478
00:50:50,319 --> 00:50:53,920
because nine times out of ten that's
1479
00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:56,319
what the dm wants anyway yeah so we can
1480
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:59,359
all just move forward together yeah
1481
00:50:56,319 --> 00:51:02,480
becoming a dm is is certainly
1482
00:50:59,359 --> 00:51:06,400
i would say informed me as a player just
1483
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:08,480
to be more receptive to ideas
1484
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:11,200
and yeah like not question things as
1485
00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:14,000
much though becoming a dm
1486
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:16,000
i play maybe like once every six months
1487
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:18,400
now
1488
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,160
i'm like fishing and begging for people
1489
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,280
to run one shots just so i could play
1490
00:51:20,160 --> 00:51:23,359
again
1491
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:24,559
let's get that hit get that fist oh man
1492
00:51:23,359 --> 00:51:25,839
that fix
1493
00:51:24,559 --> 00:51:28,720
don't even know what it
1494
00:51:25,839 --> 00:51:28,720
tastes like anymore
1495
00:51:29,599 --> 00:51:34,319
yeah it's it does give you that
1496
00:51:31,839 --> 00:51:36,000
perception of just take it on face value
1497
00:51:34,319 --> 00:51:38,240
and just like
1498
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:39,440
move on and i think with a lot of newer
1499
00:51:38,240 --> 00:51:41,280
players who've just gone straight into
1500
00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:42,720
it there is that inclination
1501
00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:44,640
to be like
1502
00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:46,559
he mentioned a rock on the floor what's
1503
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,839
that rock was that was there that rock
1504
00:51:46,559 --> 00:51:50,640
on floor where's this rock come from
1505
00:51:47,839 --> 00:51:52,319
yeah man you're in a cave there's gonna
1506
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:54,400
be rocks i mean
1507
00:51:52,319 --> 00:51:57,920
i've definitely shot myself in the foot
1508
00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:00,880
a little bit uh in this area somewhat
1509
00:51:57,920 --> 00:52:03,920
just purely because i have started
1510
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:06,000
introducing things earlier on and then
1511
00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:09,520
there's like a payoff later on
1512
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:11,200
and uh in particular time as well
1513
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:13,280
our particular campaign the players have
1514
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:15,839
died a few times and
1515
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:17,280
that's possibly in part
1516
00:52:15,839 --> 00:52:18,480
to do with me
1517
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:21,280
having
1518
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:23,680
uh run a one shot before and one of the
1519
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:25,040
earlier quests there was like a pseudo
1520
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:25,839
ticking clock
1521
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:27,520
where
1522
00:52:25,839 --> 00:52:29,119
if they had taken
1523
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:31,280
multiple rests
1524
00:52:29,119 --> 00:52:32,800
the child that they were trying to save
1525
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:34,800
would die
1526
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:36,800
if they hadn't sure they might have been
1527
00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:38,559
a little less prepared but the child
1528
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:40,640
would have been alive but because of
1529
00:52:38,559 --> 00:52:43,359
that it's now set this like
1530
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:45,119
weird paranoia inside of them so now
1531
00:52:43,359 --> 00:52:47,599
it's just like nah just gotta keep going
1532
00:52:45,119 --> 00:52:49,520
mate nah just keep now push in doesn't
1533
00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:51,040
what big dark cave that doesn't matter
1534
00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:52,880
it's fine
1535
00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:54,880
um i think it's it's better to be that
1536
00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:56,880
way than wanting to take a rest every
1537
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:59,040
two seconds that is true that is true
1538
00:52:56,880 --> 00:53:00,640
but yeah it's it's kind of shot myself
1539
00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:03,200
in the foot a little bit but it also
1540
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:04,720
means that for them as players they are
1541
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:06,720
much more engaged because they're
1542
00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:08,400
they're like trying to understand well
1543
00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:10,480
they're trying to see if there's any
1544
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:12,559
details that they've missed which for me
1545
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,920
is is a lot of fun because either a
1546
00:53:12,559 --> 00:53:16,640
they're going to find something that i
1547
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:19,760
have hidden or placed there or b i'm
1548
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:23,520
just like i mean no that's that's not it
1549
00:53:19,760 --> 00:53:23,520
at all but sure you keep thinking that
1550
00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:29,200
yeah exactly exactly yeah i need to
1551
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:31,200
probably drop in a few more little
1552
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:34,000
nuggets myself of
1553
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:36,160
more obvious threads because that's uh
1554
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:37,760
i wanted to say earlier like it's so
1555
00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:40,960
it's something i struggle with is it's
1556
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:43,119
so easy as the dm to be like no you
1557
00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:45,040
idiots this is a guy you met
1558
00:53:43,119 --> 00:53:47,200
and i have that memory
1559
00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:49,440
crystal clear in my head yeah that whole
1560
00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:50,240
interaction who was there the words they
1561
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:51,680
said
1562
00:53:50,240 --> 00:53:53,520
and i think to myself why the hell have
1563
00:53:51,680 --> 00:53:56,400
i remembered that
1564
00:53:53,520 --> 00:53:57,599
and it's so easy for players not to
1565
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:59,520
yeah and that's still something i
1566
00:53:57,599 --> 00:54:01,839
struggle with even just beginning to
1567
00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:04,880
comprehend like such a huge difference
1568
00:54:01,839 --> 00:54:06,960
in what players and dms find important
1569
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:09,839
and i you know as a player in your game
1570
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:10,880
i'm just as susceptible to that and uh
1571
00:54:09,839 --> 00:54:12,079
it's just something i find so
1572
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:14,720
interesting and weird that the
1573
00:54:12,079 --> 00:54:16,960
perception is just so vastly different
1574
00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:18,559
despite playing the same game and
1575
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:20,880
sitting at the same table
1576
00:54:18,559 --> 00:54:22,240
i have this crystal clear yes you spoke
1577
00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:25,040
to that person
1578
00:54:22,240 --> 00:54:26,960
for three hours and they told you their
1579
00:54:25,040 --> 00:54:28,160
whole life story and the players just
1580
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:29,200
like who
1581
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:31,520
sorry who
1582
00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:33,520
yeah i mean i
1583
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:35,839
obviously not uh to throw accusations
1584
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:39,119
but is that something on the dm's part
1585
00:54:35,839 --> 00:54:41,200
of not making that character memorable
1586
00:54:39,119 --> 00:54:44,319
enough is that something on the player's
1587
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:46,000
part of not being engaged enough
1588
00:54:44,319 --> 00:54:48,400
he's to say with you i'm not playing
1589
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:50,640
shade probably your players but again in
1590
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:52,559
our campaign i'm quite lucky that we
1591
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:56,079
don't really have that because quite
1592
00:54:52,559 --> 00:54:56,960
recently there was a reveal of
1593
00:54:56,079 --> 00:54:58,240
a
1594
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:00,480
gnome
1595
00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:03,440
cleric who had
1596
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:04,720
i think they met back in session
1597
00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:09,280
two
1598
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:11,280
and we're on session like 26 27 now and
1599
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:14,319
when they first met them the kid that
1600
00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:16,720
had died was her son and she was very
1601
00:55:14,319 --> 00:55:19,599
distraught and they did some botched
1602
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:21,040
roles and and she kind of like locked
1603
00:55:19,599 --> 00:55:22,720
herself away and before they left this
1604
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:23,920
town
1605
00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:25,040
they decided to go there and just
1606
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:26,880
quickly
1607
00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:29,200
visit and ulric
1608
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:32,240
for whatever reason was convinced that
1609
00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:33,920
she was like doing some like bad juju
1610
00:55:32,240 --> 00:55:36,000
was like trying to bring her son back or
1611
00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:37,200
something like that but he had no proof
1612
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:39,200
and everybody else was just like you're
1613
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,200
being an [ __ ] right now
1614
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:45,119
like just leave her alone let her grieve
1615
00:55:41,200 --> 00:55:48,319
yeah and now 25 sessions later or 26
1616
00:55:45,119 --> 00:55:50,880
sessions later and almost like nine
1617
00:55:48,319 --> 00:55:53,920
months later they have now gone back to
1618
00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:55,520
that same town have found her house and
1619
00:55:53,920 --> 00:55:57,200
gone in there and found like a hidden
1620
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:59,440
door where there was
1621
00:55:57,200 --> 00:56:02,319
elements of necromancy and
1622
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:04,000
the satisfaction of seeing tim slash
1623
00:56:02,319 --> 00:56:07,119
ulrich being like
1624
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:08,480
so vindicated in his beliefs and and
1625
00:56:07,119 --> 00:56:10,720
having that kind of
1626
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:12,559
payoff and him remembering that
1627
00:56:10,720 --> 00:56:15,440
interaction
1628
00:56:12,559 --> 00:56:17,839
it's it's quite a drug it's quite uh
1629
00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:19,920
it's quite addicting to be able to to
1630
00:56:17,839 --> 00:56:23,200
deliver that to uh to someone that has
1631
00:56:19,920 --> 00:56:24,079
shown participation and engagement
1632
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:25,680
mm-hmm
1633
00:56:24,079 --> 00:56:27,280
yeah it's probably you know six of one
1634
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:29,040
and a half a dozen of the other for me
1635
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:31,200
but i'm i'm a big
1636
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:34,000
proponent of talking about memorable
1637
00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:35,520
characters a lot of people are normal
1638
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:37,680
and mundane and yes some of them all
1639
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:40,640
major npcs might have it might be
1640
00:56:37,680 --> 00:56:43,359
flamboyant or they might hold positions
1641
00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:45,760
of power but that's not always memorable
1642
00:56:43,359 --> 00:56:48,240
right yeah someone being in a luth bell
1643
00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:50,079
end isn't there's another person in the
1644
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:52,400
way of the character's
1645
00:56:50,079 --> 00:56:54,640
adventure yeah sometimes rather than
1646
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:56,240
anything too exotic
1647
00:56:54,640 --> 00:56:59,520
is there anything you wanted to
1648
00:56:56,240 --> 00:57:01,520
specifically talk about regarding macro
1649
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:02,799
uh yeah i mean we've kind of covered it
1650
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:05,920
a little bit but just in terms of
1651
00:57:02,799 --> 00:57:07,680
planning in general like a campaign
1652
00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:09,280
for me personally people have different
1653
00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:11,760
ways of going about it but i certainly
1654
00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:14,640
found it a lot easier of
1655
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:16,480
going in for the larger story elements
1656
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:18,559
and the larger city points
1657
00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:20,160
than going the other way like i
1658
00:57:18,559 --> 00:57:22,240
for example still
1659
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:24,400
to this day i've got like you are on
1660
00:57:22,240 --> 00:57:26,799
your way to monilim
1661
00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:28,960
a a fairly big dwarven city i've got an
1662
00:57:26,799 --> 00:57:31,440
overall understanding of how that place
1663
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:33,359
works how the political structure works
1664
00:57:31,440 --> 00:57:36,160
but if you were to ask me what the shops
1665
00:57:33,359 --> 00:57:37,599
there or what the npc's there
1666
00:57:36,160 --> 00:57:39,040
having a clue i'll figure that out when
1667
00:57:37,599 --> 00:57:43,040
i get to it
1668
00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:44,960
yeah yeah that mirrors me quite closely
1669
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:46,240
to except this current chapter they're
1670
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:48,559
running through i'd actually run through
1671
00:57:46,240 --> 00:57:50,880
you know halfway previously so i had a
1672
00:57:48,559 --> 00:57:52,319
couple of things to fall back on there
1673
00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:54,400
but um
1674
00:57:52,319 --> 00:57:56,240
i found a
1675
00:57:54,400 --> 00:57:58,960
like a flow chart
1676
00:57:56,240 --> 00:58:00,319
of the overarching story and then each
1677
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:02,880
one of the characters pretty much has
1678
00:58:00,319 --> 00:58:04,559
their own flowchart i've put together of
1679
00:58:02,880 --> 00:58:06,160
the first couple of blocks of their
1680
00:58:04,559 --> 00:58:07,760
backstories and then
1681
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:09,280
it flows into well if they make this
1682
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:11,119
decision or if this thing happens then
1683
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,960
this other happens and then a couple
1684
00:58:11,119 --> 00:58:14,799
where they cross over and this that and
1685
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:18,000
the other and that's how i've planned
1686
00:58:14,799 --> 00:58:19,680
the next 5 000 sessions of my
1687
00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:21,040
never-ending campaign
1688
00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:23,359
but yeah
1689
00:58:21,040 --> 00:58:26,880
i said before in a podcast that's what i
1690
00:58:23,359 --> 00:58:29,040
find fun i think a lot more fun than
1691
00:58:26,880 --> 00:58:29,920
almost the moment to moment yeah oddly
1692
00:58:29,040 --> 00:58:32,079
enough
1693
00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:33,440
and that's probably where i fall short
1694
00:58:32,079 --> 00:58:34,640
sometimes of
1695
00:58:33,440 --> 00:58:36,319
maybe i'm better at it now but
1696
00:58:34,640 --> 00:58:38,160
definitely in the past of being like oh
1697
00:58:36,319 --> 00:58:39,839
man down low doesn't let's just move on
1698
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:42,480
like dana doesn't care about this small
1699
00:58:39,839 --> 00:58:44,480
little thing that everybody's fixated on
1700
00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:46,640
right now can we all just
1701
00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:48,400
move on to this cool twist i've got
1702
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:50,400
planned in
1703
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:52,319
down the line and that's a personal
1704
00:58:50,400 --> 00:58:54,319
struggle for me and trying to balance
1705
00:58:52,319 --> 00:58:55,280
that and be like no let me let me give
1706
00:58:54,319 --> 00:58:57,280
the
1707
00:58:55,280 --> 00:58:58,960
micro the care it loves because i'm just
1708
00:58:57,280 --> 00:59:00,720
so fixated on
1709
00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:02,400
the macro of
1710
00:59:00,720 --> 00:59:03,599
this would be cool if this would happen
1711
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:04,799
and this would be cool if this would
1712
00:59:03,599 --> 00:59:07,280
happen and
1713
00:59:04,799 --> 00:59:09,440
like your monolim example of this town
1714
00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:11,280
will be cool if it's embedded on the
1715
00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:12,720
side of a valley yeah overlooks this
1716
00:59:11,280 --> 00:59:14,960
glade at the bottom
1717
00:59:12,720 --> 00:59:16,400
okay cool but what's there and i had to
1718
00:59:14,960 --> 00:59:18,160
push myself to be like okay or maybe
1719
00:59:16,400 --> 00:59:20,319
there's a couple of shelves and maybe
1720
00:59:18,160 --> 00:59:22,079
the bottom shelf is the the housing and
1721
00:59:20,319 --> 00:59:23,520
the middle shelf is like the shops and
1722
00:59:22,079 --> 00:59:25,280
the upper shelf is
1723
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:27,040
like bel-air and it's where the nice
1724
00:59:25,280 --> 00:59:28,720
rich people live because
1725
00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:31,200
they're physically and literally above
1726
00:59:28,720 --> 00:59:33,119
those below them that kind of thing yeah
1727
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:34,319
yeah i think
1728
00:59:33,119 --> 00:59:35,839
most of the time you can start with the
1729
00:59:34,319 --> 00:59:38,559
macro and then you can always filter
1730
00:59:35,839 --> 00:59:40,640
down to the the micro anyway
1731
00:59:38,559 --> 00:59:42,960
and most of the time
1732
00:59:40,640 --> 00:59:44,640
in my head anyway the macro is there's
1733
00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:47,280
there's certain plates that you're
1734
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:50,720
you're constantly spinning via the
1735
00:59:47,280 --> 00:59:53,359
overarching storyline of your campaign
1736
00:59:50,720 --> 00:59:55,920
any kind of mini story arcs that you
1737
00:59:53,359 --> 00:59:57,839
might have and then the character arcs
1738
00:59:55,920 --> 00:59:59,200
and those you're just they're there
1739
00:59:57,839 --> 01:00:02,400
they're spinning and just every now and
1740
00:59:59,200 --> 01:00:04,079
again when story dictates it or when the
1741
01:00:02,400 --> 01:00:05,680
players have driven the narrative in
1742
01:00:04,079 --> 01:00:08,000
that way you just got to quickly run
1743
01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:09,599
over and spin it a little bit more just
1744
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:11,040
to put a little bit more emphasis on it
1745
01:00:09,599 --> 01:00:13,760
yeah and everything else you can kind of
1746
01:00:11,040 --> 01:00:15,599
just fill in as when you need to at
1747
01:00:13,760 --> 01:00:18,000
least that's how i look at it yeah and
1748
01:00:15,599 --> 01:00:19,520
before you eventually serve that plate
1749
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:20,720
to the players yeah then you dish it out
1750
01:00:19,520 --> 01:00:22,640
in front of them and say they go that's
1751
01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:25,520
that's your dinner for tonight i can put
1752
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:28,240
that plate in the dishwasher now yeah
1753
01:00:25,520 --> 01:00:31,920
where did this analogy come from i don't
1754
01:00:28,240 --> 01:00:31,920
know but i'm really really invested
1755
01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:36,400
and then you get the tip and you pay the
1756
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:37,680
bill and yeah the whole there's that
1757
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:39,680
that's the whole thing
1758
01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:41,760
there's a whole thing there
1759
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:44,319
all right so i think we're pretty much
1760
01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:44,960
there and this session has been a bit of
1761
01:00:44,319 --> 01:00:48,319
a
1762
01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:50,000
god a bit of a palette cleanser yeah
1763
01:00:48,319 --> 01:00:51,760
to continue it
1764
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,200
just when you thought it was over it
1765
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:54,640
ain't yeah that metaphor was going to
1766
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:56,960
keep giving
1767
01:00:54,640 --> 01:00:59,040
a bit of a palette cleanser to the kind
1768
01:00:56,960 --> 01:01:02,079
of yeah we talked about emotions in the
1769
01:00:59,040 --> 01:01:04,160
last episode but it's very easy to you
1770
01:01:02,079 --> 01:01:05,920
know this is now a theme of
1771
01:01:04,160 --> 01:01:07,680
a bit of a higher level with quite a few
1772
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:09,280
earlier episodes were around the the
1773
01:01:07,680 --> 01:01:12,079
roles and you know how to
1774
01:01:09,280 --> 01:01:15,520
build a character and what makes a good
1775
01:01:12,079 --> 01:01:15,520
player the moment-to-moment
1776
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:25,520
gameplay culture and the good things
1777
01:01:23,119 --> 01:01:27,920
that brings and maybe
1778
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:28,799
not opens itself up yeah it opens itself
1779
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:31,040
up to
1780
01:01:28,799 --> 01:01:32,640
vulnerabilities and the opportunity to
1781
01:01:31,040 --> 01:01:34,319
drop a few of those spinning plates
1782
01:01:32,640 --> 01:01:34,770
that's it still going i'm going to keep
1783
01:01:34,319 --> 01:01:36,400
it going
1784
01:01:34,770 --> 01:01:38,720
[Laughter]
1785
01:01:36,400 --> 01:01:41,760
and then yeah world building which i
1786
01:01:38,720 --> 01:01:43,839
love to put my hands up and
1787
01:01:41,760 --> 01:01:45,440
to build those long term
1788
01:01:43,839 --> 01:01:47,680
payoffs and
1789
01:01:45,440 --> 01:01:50,400
i personally find it frustrating that it
1790
01:01:47,680 --> 01:01:52,319
takes me so long to get to those points
1791
01:01:50,400 --> 01:01:53,680
and literally i'm the only one in
1792
01:01:52,319 --> 01:01:55,839
control of how long it takes to get
1793
01:01:53,680 --> 01:01:55,839
there
1794
01:01:56,640 --> 01:02:01,760
cool so um unless there's anything else
1795
01:01:58,880 --> 01:02:04,000
you want to uh mention or talk about
1796
01:02:01,760 --> 01:02:05,599
no no i think we've done a pretty good
1797
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:07,520
job there i mean i we're probably
1798
01:02:05,599 --> 01:02:09,200
stopping and i'm like oh man i've still
1799
01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:10,960
got like another hour's worth of stuff
1800
01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:13,200
that i want to talk about oh and just in
1801
01:02:10,960 --> 01:02:15,200
time for the cat to come in as well
1802
01:02:13,200 --> 01:02:17,680
that's it well that's a good i get a
1803
01:02:15,200 --> 01:02:19,200
stop point as any um but that's you know
1804
01:02:17,680 --> 01:02:21,599
hey if you if you do have that thought
1805
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:23,839
we will have a a session two and i'm
1806
01:02:21,599 --> 01:02:26,319
toying with the idea of having season
1807
01:02:23,839 --> 01:02:27,440
one be the first pass and then season
1808
01:02:26,319 --> 01:02:29,440
two being
1809
01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:30,720
you know round two essentially or
1810
01:02:29,440 --> 01:02:32,720
approaching them from a slightly
1811
01:02:30,720 --> 01:02:34,720
different vector ah that sounds good
1812
01:02:32,720 --> 01:02:37,839
otherwise thank you very much uh nathan
1813
01:02:34,720 --> 01:02:40,240
for coming on and um enjoy your dm
1814
01:02:37,839 --> 01:02:41,440
holiday as much as i will enjoy mine oh
1815
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:41,900
the christmas and new year period i
1816
01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:44,720
can't wait
1817
01:02:41,900 --> 01:02:46,960
[Laughter]
1818
01:02:44,720 --> 01:02:48,880
otherwise if anyone has any thoughts or
1819
01:02:46,960 --> 01:02:50,880
comments on today
1820
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:53,520
you can find me on twitter
1821
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:54,960
at download underscore dnd and nathan if
1822
01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:58,880
there's anything you want to plug now's
1823
01:02:54,960 --> 01:03:02,720
your chance uh sure i mean you've got me
1824
01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:05,520
on the brigzy on twitch and then twit i
1825
01:03:02,720 --> 01:03:06,799
think it's also the brigzy i've been on
1826
01:03:05,520 --> 01:03:09,520
the internet long enough that i've
1827
01:03:06,799 --> 01:03:11,119
managed to keep things fairly uniform
1828
01:03:09,520 --> 01:03:13,680
so yeah those are probably the the two
1829
01:03:11,119 --> 01:03:16,720
main places to find me either
1830
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:17,920
recording d d or just talking about dnd
1831
01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:19,920
pretty much
1832
01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:22,319
yep and you can find us both in our as
1833
01:03:19,920 --> 01:03:25,520
mentioned at the start dungeons dice and
1834
01:03:22,319 --> 01:03:27,440
dudes which unfortunately unfortunately
1835
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:29,119
will continue to be streamed i think in
1836
01:03:27,440 --> 01:03:31,039
the new year
1837
01:03:29,119 --> 01:03:32,960
i something drastically changes yeah
1838
01:03:31,039 --> 01:03:35,599
yeah more than likely
1839
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:37,760
filled with enthusiasm
1840
01:03:35,599 --> 01:03:40,160
hey it's uh
1841
01:03:37,760 --> 01:03:42,079
trying to dm and then also running a
1842
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:43,039
stream yeah it's tearing my brain in
1843
01:03:42,079 --> 01:03:46,079
half
1844
01:03:43,039 --> 01:03:49,039
i imagine it is a huge pain in the
1845
01:03:46,079 --> 01:03:50,799
backside and i count my lucky stars
1846
01:03:49,039 --> 01:03:51,680
every time i start and all i've got to
1847
01:03:50,799 --> 01:03:53,520
do is
1848
01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:54,559
put a playlist in spotify and then i'm
1849
01:03:53,520 --> 01:03:57,520
done
1850
01:03:54,559 --> 01:04:00,000
oh god sounds like heaven
1851
01:03:57,520 --> 01:04:01,920
but yes do do check us both out in our
1852
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:04,240
dm and player capacities and dungeons
1853
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:05,119
dyson dudes and thank you all for
1854
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:08,180
listening
1855
01:04:05,119 --> 01:04:13,369
and good night bye
1856
01:04:08,180 --> 01:04:13,369
[Music]
