Felix Tips: DM YOUR FIRST GAME!
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- Опубликовано: 15 авг 2022
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So we finally did it…Felix’ first video giving some advice to those curious about GMing a D&D game! There’s obviously way more to talk about, so if you liked this, there may be more advice videos in the future. So please maybe feel free to recommend topics in the comments
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I’m so excited to finally share this video with you guys!!! Y’all were adamant that you wanted me to share some advice videos, so I thought why not start off with this fun one. If you have topics you want me to talk about, please reply in the comments with your suggestion!
Also huge shoutout to VitaminDitter for animating this video! He’s a champ and we’re happy to welcome him officially to the Fool’s Gold team! Check out his stuff at ruclips.net/user/VitaminDitter
Cheers y’all
Why does it have 22 likes and four views?
hi Felix!
Claiming my spotvin replies. Also Felix is epic
This was really useful, tysm!
This fits so fing well im gonna dm in about a weak for the first time in my life THANK YOU
"Don't worry, you can get back at them by dishing out trauma like candy"
This perfectly describes Fool's Gold in it's entirety
But now I can't help but wonder what they did for Felix to want to dumps the tramas on them?
@@saffrona_kate2183 probably the sheep murders that weren't talked to much about
@@paillanos unless the sheep were a hombrewed Death Sheep.
Oh don't be fooled(Gold) - *every* DM does this.
Some players will also *gleefully* jump into it and provide you big shiny red buttons on their characters to induce extra trauma.
Cherish those players - they are the best.
@@Introbulus personally love playing those characters. I soak my characters in trauma, weird backstories, and character flaws while also giving them a secure present life so the DM has everything they need to make them miserable.
"you need a party you can fully trust in order to avoid ending up in Critcrab's videos."
Well said, Felix. Well said.
when he said Critcrab I was all captain america thinking: I understood that reference
Definitely make more of this.
Reasons to do these:
-Less strain on Dingo
-Someone besides Dingo on the mic
-More content
-Content based on the DM side of stuff, and thus,
-More varied content.
I see it as a win-win. 🏆
yeah but... who did the drawing?
@@charliedulol the guy He thanked in the description under the Video
@@Flt.Hawkeye Hero Forge? I could only find any mention of animation help in the description.
@@TailsClock sorry not a native Speaker i geschrieben the Word i should use is under
@@TailsClock comments, not description
2:31 Felix: "How do you end these things? Um... **lip smacks** yeah " Dingo: "That's my thing!" Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
Felix is a madlad, we need more DMs like him. He is an inspiration
GET OFF YOUR PHONE LOUIS
So true
If he's an inspiration, then can we roll him as our second d20?
@@ethansimard7452 👉😎👉 noice one my guy
He's a psychopath who tries to kill his PCs.
"If you're cringing super hard, you're doing it right" is probably something I needed to hear and to apply to more than just dnd. Thanks for the tip on how to be the Game Master of my life!
“Don’t worry, you can get back at them by dishing out trauma like candy.”
*starts rapidly scribbling in notebook*
Loved Felix’s hijacking plot, would love to see more channel usurping!
I love the thumbnail. Felix is like ‘I’m gonna teach you how to DM! What’re you gonna do about it!?’
"Oh, hey felix." **rolls**
Nat 20!
Oh, and another Nat 20. You know, this would have really been nice to get back when our first group TPK'd itself with that fireball...
"No DMPC". When I first started playing, I asked the DM if he also had a character in the world like us. He says yes, he has every other character in the universe that isn't in the party. Which is more than enough without including a party member.
Best part of being the dm: you can make so many characters and play all of them. And you can be ANYTHING.
you know youve done good when a temporary dmpc happens by accident -but not in a powerful or integral to story way- because the party likes the characters and wants to ensure the livelihood and protection of said character so theyre dragged around everywhere by the party
For some reason, my one friend who I DM likes the DMPC. I don't know what to do with that
My group is usually so small that I need to suppliment the party with a DMPC, I do my best to make sure to be fair with them, and basically treat them like an NPC who just has class levels built the way I would like. Then recently I told everyone to roll an investigation check for looting a dragon's hoard, and I rolled a nat 20 for my character and suddenly had a crisis.
1:43 There's another option. You could end up with a Dylan the bard situation where your DMPC does literally nothing for the entire campaign because you keep forgetting about him.
Did anyone else notice the small "KILL ALL" and "Don't look" notes on the new GM's screen when Felix screamed at Lewis yet another time? 😅
As someone who homebrewed his first campaign, don't. Just use a premade to give you insight on what is expected in an average campaign.
This is such good advice!! My PCs loved my first campaign which was homebrewed, but on my side it was a nightmare lol. Please just use a premade campaign to start. I believe they give you The Lost Mines of Phandelver for free on D&D Beyond
Eh, it can work out. Personally the creative part is one of the reasons I do DMing. Though I'd admit, my first campaign was very rough for first 7-10 sessions but it worked out. And the second one is far better now
Check what people say about different premade campaigns though, because a lot of them aren't balanced, or set for beginner DMs, like Horde of the Dragon Queen.
My first game is in a few days, and the dm still doesn't have any books. They're going to wing it.
I am so scared of how this will turn out
There's... a big difference between my first ever campaign and my first pathfinder campaign. First ever was world of darkness and I try to repress it (I had very bad ideas of what a GM should be doing, and it was imbalanced/railroaded the fuck out of with zero plot other than "go here, do things, ride the jet to get to the next place".
First pathfinder campaign? Was still homebrew, flew by the seat of my pants but everyone loved it. Just go into the campaign knowing what you AND your players want out of it, and establishing your GM philosophy *before* the players start using werewolf powers to spiritwalk past all the normal guards and then charm all your spirit guards, turning a 2 hour stealth mission into a 10 minute one.
I would love to see stories from Felix's side of the table, DM stories of things good, bad, and chaotic!
Could be a behind the scenes type of revisiting so cool
So, funny story on that whole killing NPC take. My characters actually currently have access to a Level 20 Cleric who is related to one of the characters and had offered the party 1 free Resurrection or True Resurrection Spell just in case one of them died at a super early level just so we wouldn't have to retire any characters that early. Low and behold the party gets a quest from a Ghost to return some things on her body to the college she works at, which the party has been to before. They get her stuff, which is in a Bag of Holding they get to keep, and then one of my players says, "Hey, don't we still have that free Resurrection from your grandfather?" And upon realizing that they do they stuff the bones into the bag as well and decided to revive this character who was supposed to be dead for actual plot reasons and now my entire story may end up being changed drastically depending on how that situation continues to go.
Exactly. Give them a multiple choice question, and nine times out of ten they'll add "none of the above", to which you reply, "Wait. What?"
@@stephenlignowski1915 Exactly. That sums up players in a nutshell.
It does create great story though. The reason why my game of Lost Mine of Phandelver is unlike any Lost Mine game I have ever heard about, my players let all the Redbrand mercenaries live. They are now in service of Phandalin as hired guards! XD
Suggestion: maybe a video on how to give npcs distinct personalities without writing an essays worth of backstory?
Also! This was wonderful!! I hope to see more videos with you, Felix!
Definitely not Felix, but I have some general advice.
1. For an important NPCs, the ones the party interacts with more than once, consider their daily life. You don't need details, but a feel of how overworked they are and what they do with their free time does a lot to create an illusion of an essay worth of backstory. The actual backstory can come in later, when the PCs definitely care about it.
2. For one-off NPCs, just your general bartenders and shopkeepers, stereotype. Pick 2 or 3 general personality traits from a list at random, mash them together, add an obvious motivation. For example, a shopkeeper can have an accent, pink mohawk they fix constantly, and a grumpy composition. As for motivation, they'd like to sell their goods to PCs. You don't need more than that, you don't even need a name unless the party decides to come back.
3. If you want to take these to another level, keep expanding the list of traits by watching people. Outside, at your job, at school, wherever you are, try catching traits in people that aren't in your list and adding them to it.
I'd say may be think a little about the difference between personality and backstory? They influence each other but they're not the same thing. You can always decide on a personality and then add a backstory that makes sense later.
So as an example let's say that I need a barkeeper NPC. I decide the NPC is going to be friendly and talkative because I need them to give the party information about the town and the easiest way to do that is if they like talking. That's enough personality to play them.
Later as the PCs come back and decide to get to know the bartender more- Maybe I decide that the reason the barkeeper is so talkative is because they're lonely. And a simple backstory reason for that could be that they're divorced or that their kids are grown up and moved to another town.
If you want something more complicated you tie that loneliness to bigger plot events. If there's a war in the world, maybe the barkeeper left their home to live in their current village, further away from the war.
And if you want a more complicated backstory remember that you can summarise a lot of really complicated stuff and then fill out the details later as you play. If I wanted to summarise Edward Elric I'd say 'Tried to bring his mother back to life and his brother was injured in the attempt. Now dedicated to healing his brother.' You could summarise Iron Man with 'Used to sell weapons, was then injured and kidnapped in a war zone. Is now traumatised and trying to make up for past mistakes.' Short summarises like that obviously don't tell you everything about Ed or Tony, but they're a short summary of a complex background that you can then build on as you play.
I sometimes like to use accents or voice acting to differentiate NPCs
@@AuntyAlexG Me who doesn't have a single shred of voice-acting talent:
NPCS need DNA!
Distinct features!
Needs!
Agenda!
If you got how they look, what they want, and how they are gonna get what they want then you got an NPC!
Stabby the thief is an adventurer of many failed expedientions, he has scars along his face, and a hooked nose. He has traveled with many groups only to be the sole survivor, people think he's talented or he just stabbed them in the back.
Stabby wants to seek redemption and trust, because no adventuring group will travel with him now. He is willing to join the PC without charging them for a cut of the gold, only recognition.
Bam NPC you can build from their if they don't die.
As a player who wants to try out being a DM, I love these down to earth kind of tips videos. Funny and gives good info. Includes quality memes. 10/10
Wait, there's bots on this channel, now? Is nothing sacred?
Johnny Chiodini (Oxventure‘s DM) also prefers easy to learn (hard to master) DM-teaching. Zee Bashew has good strats as well.
Basically, don‘t plan out too much. Prepare to improvise, and nothing can back you into a corner.
The Oxventure episode „heir superiority“ is an example of what can happen if the crew burn through the entirety of the content you prepared within 30 minutes. And the stream is scheduled to last another hour or so. Oh, the cold sweating on Johnny‘s part. It‘s one of my favorites tbh.
This couldn’t be more well timed! Totally needed this
@kung Fu panda you liar cheat and fraud
Agreed
If you're going to run dnd for the first time. All you need to page through is the rules in the free pdf wizards put out (for 5e idk about other games) trying to memorize several textbooks if information before you've ever played won't help you.
Or you can just be like me and watch other people's games and then run a game off of that knowlege.
OMG SAME!
Same
Dingo is the gremlin trying to be human and Felix is the human trying to be gremlin
I want a whole 'how to' series where Felix teaches us how to DM properly or even a comical series on how to DM
Good general advice. I'd like to add that "tabletop RPGs" does not mean "Dungeons & Dragons". There are a lot of other products out there that are not owned by this one big company. Some are like older D&D but streamlined to remove old junk and revive concepts like not solving all your problems by killing. Some offer experiences ranging from simpler mechanics focused more on storytelling, to radically different rules and settings and themes. If you try to shoehorn all possible RPG play into just being the latest edition of D&D, you're missing out on a ton of creative material, some of which is more newbie-friendly.
Personally, my two favorite gaming systems are these two called Savage Worlds and Fantasy Craft.
They're basically the opposite of each other: Fantasy is a crunchy 3.5 offshoot that has systems built in to ensure balance, such as point built monsters that can easily be scaled, having classes, ancestries, and backgrounds be point built. Basically if you want a really fun, well balanced game that you can make some ridiculous combos in this is the one for you. Another thing I should note is that anything magic can do, they have a way for non-magic users to do it. This does come at the cost of stuff like real mind control, but it's a pretty well designed game. Give it a shot.
Savage Worlds is the least crunchy and most beginner friendly RPG I've ever played, while making it so that if you want crazy combos, you can have crazy combos. It's a classless system that doesn't have a fixed setting. I personally think it's the best system, but there are a few quirks. Instead of adding skills to a d20 roll, each skill is a certain die type, for example, perception could be a d8. Alongside all your skill rolls you roll a d6, a wild die. You take whichever number is better. In most cases for a simple success you only need a 4. In addition, when you roll the max number in your die (an 8 on your d8) you 'ace' (or explode as my group likes to say) and you reroll the die and add that to the result, which makes the game pretty fun because sometimes you'll get a 40 to hit when all you needed was a 9,, giving you a ton of bonuses, and sometimes you'll end up rolling 2 ones and having a critical failure
I've got a couple of other rpgs I'd recommend. Changeling The Lost and Promethean the Created are both good games with interesting settings and lore. They're made for very specific kinds of stories and aren't particularly flexible. But they do what they're built to do well.
GURPs is also worth a try. It takes a lot of work to set up, it can complicated (and that put me off initially) but you can use it to play settings/games that you just can't run as easily using anything else. If you want to play FMA or SoulEater GURPs can do that. If you wanna play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles GURPs can do that. If you want to make a world that's a crossover of Dracula and Pacific Rim you can probably cobble that together in GURPs too.
@@lkriticos7619 Savage Worlds is a generic system, so I've been working on my custom setting and it's really handy because mine isn't just generic fantasy. I've also made a halo conversion and a friend of mine was working on a Warhammer 40k conversion, and they have the rules to make both of those super easily with one or two setting rules. The biggest difficulty that you will find in setting designs is that it leans more towards pulp fiction (which is perfect for me, I love being able to mix goofiness and seriousness as easily as that allows). I've heard Gurps is pretty crunchy, so it might be interested to have a crunchier savage worlds-like system in case I want something crunchier
@@greysonjones5429 I've never played Savage Worlds but I've heard good things from some friends. So far I've been able to get a fair bit of mileage in D&D 5e for non-generic fantasy, but it depends what you're doing and what the focus is. And halo and Warhammer 40k definitely wouldn't fit easily with D&D. I heard Savage Worlds had a sort of steampunk flavour to it and I was wondering whether it would work for something like Girl Genius? I'll see if they've got it in the bookshop and have a look.
Gurps is pretty crunchy and it takes a while to get used to working out where you're taking the numbers from. I think it benefits from deciding early what you want to do with it. Because it aims to support everything but that can just add unnecessary complexity in the name of running stuff you don't actually want to run. There are at least three separate magic systems, I'm only using one in my FMA game and it's adjusted to better fit the setting (though this didn't involve much work at all, just adjusting a few of the elements). There are rules around high tech futuristic gadgets which again, don't really fit the circa 1920s feel of FMA.
Honestly a lot of the barrier getting into Gurps is figuring out what you can do and then parring it down to what you want to do.
@@lkriticos7619 After a quick look at girl genius, it can easily do that. One of the base Arcane Backgrounds (basically the feature you take to get powers) is weird scientists.
Savage worlds doesn't have a set default setting, but steampunk is definitely one of the easiest ways to go. A friend of mine ran an early 1900s adventure where we fought german werewolves and mad scientists. Was pretty fun, and allowed me to play an australian sniper that doesn't kill humans (werewolves are definitely fair game though). It is a generic system, so as long as it's pulpy it will fit perfectly. Even some less pulpy things will work. It's hands-down the best system I've ever played.
I get the feeling a lot of people get playing an evil character wrong ( especially LE or NE) . Take NE ( personal favorite) for example. A NE character is perfectly capable of working within the confined spaces of most any group, even without screwing everyone else over if it plays into accomplishing their greater goals, just don't expect them to single handedly go save the other PC's if there isn't anything in it for them. Evil in D&D has always been about self interest, an evil character thinks of themselves first. The key word here is " thinks", it may well lead from think to acts but only when that action benefits your further goals to do so, evil doesn't mean stupid
I have a character that I played a bit before, and I have since realized that if I get to pull her out again she makes a lot more sense as an LE or LN character. Not because she is a horrific person but because of exactly like you said, she uses the "rules" (laws) to her advantage and has no qualms of doing whatever she needs to to complete her objective but has no interest in changing any law unless it would give her a greater advantage. Otherwise she has no care of how bad the law might actually be.
On the DM side of things a tip I have heard before that Brennan Lee Mulligan dropped is "no heroes". Don't make evil people, just remember that there are no people without flaws. Flawed people are just as easy to use for chaos and offer a wealth more options for the party to choose whether a fight goes down in the first place.
I'd say the main thing to remember when playing an evil character is to be evil, but to direct that evil at people outside the party / npcs that the other players care about, so as not to ruin their fun or drag them into difficult situations.
@@raeg1100 I actually think playing a good character limits your choices much more than evil, evil will use anything to accomplish it's goals while a good player may try to reform an evil one they definitely shouldn't be down with things like slaughtering everyone in a village of creatures even down to the babe in it's mother's arms ( depending on how zealous the good character is, but an LE should never be down for slaughter of a helpless foe). A LE player may refuse to strike an enemy down before giving them a chance ( note the word chance) but they are not going to let that get in the way of slaughter of an obviously weaker foe. A NE will probably be ok with killing all the adults and selling the kids into slavery.
@@snickerdoodleplus3383 exactly, just because they are evil doesn't mean they are stupid. Now if there was a potential way to steal from the party but in doing so make sure the blame got shifted on to an Npc that the character has a problem with, well that's just an exciting roleplaying opertunity right there! I would say the chances of them getting away with said scheme would be pretty narrow so I would only allow something like this once per campaign if at all. It would also be a great way at the end of a campaign to set up a new villain npc, the jerk that screwed the last party over
@@josephskiles I think on the spectrum of choices that though there are some choices for "good" people that are usually considered blocked off because they are too "evil", the same goes the other way as well. People can get too focused on being heroes (the greatest good) and that can tie their hands on the options they consider.
My point with flawed people was instead of good vs evil is it helps a DM focus on WHY a character does what they do. Or at least less focused on "they are evil so all the party can do is fight and kill them or force them to stop everything they do". It opens the door to persuasion, bribery, blackmail, and any other possible vices a character might have that you can lean on instead ;)
there's always that one guy that just stays on their phone the entire session
I am doing my first campaign now and I am kind shocked how relatable Lois is
Don’t worry, in my first DnD campaign (that I ran as a DM), I was the one who killed the little old lady with a whole backstory. My players were not happy
Oooooo.... I bet. There are two things you're going to find in your game:
1. your players will be murder hobos killing all of your favorite NPC's. (Usually, the cause of this is boredom. Mostly. Maybe a little lost in what they thing you're expecting them to do.)
2. They're going to glom on to that one NPC (Usually the one throwaway NPC you needed to quickly pass some exposition with), and drag that poor person around your fantasy world like a little girl does to a puppy or a kitten. Have fun killing that NPC off now. :D
In my case, for #2, they used a throwaway NPC to get around some rules set up by one of my organizations... Since I still had to build the local faction of "one of the group's enemies", I made said NPC not only part of that local faction, but he's the party leader. Hehehehe.... Oops. (We're playing a more black ops style campaign where there are some powerful figures trying to divvy up the world like the start to a global game of Risk(TM), and the table is just one party working for one of the factions.
IF YOU SEE A CLIP LINK HERE... DON'T CLICK ON IT. (It's spam from a brand new account. So just report it.)
be murderhobo before your players to assert dominance, I guess? You can't just drop that line and leave us without the story lol
@@jackielinde7568 Hell yeah. It’s by no means my first TTRPG game, I’ve been playing for over a decade, but was the first time I tried DMing more than just a one-shot!
@@hugofontes5708 Nah, was part of the story. She was a key player in them solving the main plot, which their enemies were more than aware of. So if they left her alone for too long, she’d get killed. And they did. Obviously doesn’t mean they lose the game, just made everything a lot more complicated for them, which I think has turned out as a positive over all. It’s been an example that the world is still moving when they’re not looking, and that (along with two mimics) has made them a bit paranoid I think
Ahh yes. Now I'm ready to run my completely original campaign Dumb Copper: Aproach the Calling Woods.
Anyway this is great and I would deffinately be interested in more of these.
It is really refreshing to see the Oxventure being held up along side the likes of critical role and dimension 20. I get so annoyed when people talk about alternatives to cr and it's just the same kind of thing. Thank you Felix. Thank you Dingo.
I love Oxventure but find Crit Role boring and kinda cringey.
@@stephenpardue2052 I don't enjoy cr, I did the first one until it felt like the big plot moments were known to some of the cast. I could be wrong, and happy to be so, but it's not for me.
2:03 EHHH! OXVENTURE rep! Lovin it!
How is your timing so perfect? 😂 I just DM'd my first game with my little cousins! A very quick one shot where I knew nothing about the math so I just let them have fun. They transported a chicken from one bar to another in a different town, and the chicken ended up being a random monster I pulled from the monster manual. Also our elf kept eating everything? Like EVERYTHING. Two rats, grass, pebbles, tried to eat the waiter at one of the bars, and also ate part of the chicken-turned-monster.... I think they might actually be a mimick
ALRIGHT LEARNING FROM THE MASTER HIMSELF
i love felix, i think we all need more felix in our lives
Felix needs to do more of these, his sense of humor is top tier
also I tried DMing a couple times, but it was a bit meh because it was homebrew EVERYTHING and I had no idea how to stat out fights, enemies, or skill checks
and I'm kinda terrible at improvising events and character interactions, so I might have to stick with writing stories that won't get thrown off because a player had their angel character offer pizza to a spirit of nightmares
The issue I still have as a GM after like 4 years, is I'm allowed to have fun. I'm not saying like at the expense of anyone else's fun but at a certain point if the DM's not having fun no one is and it's just a struggle and I just need you to talk to any of the gosh darn NPC or each other so I can move on the fffff scene!!!
Im just super happy that you mentioned oxventure!
Topic Suggestion: High passive abilities
"If you're cringing super hard, your doing it right"
BEST ADVICE EVER!! This is true facts!
My advice for beginning DM NPC's is to give each one a single SPECIFIC trait as their personality feature, and create them like any other basic character build.
You'll discover that these characters will absolutely live on in your players' minds as some of their most beloved companions. I had one DM NPC that literally shouted everything he spoke, both in and out of character. Players loved him. Another rogue was a typical quiet and reserved individual, until she started drinking. Her trait (a very specific trait for very specific player habits) was that she went with either the first or wildest idea that the players brought up in discussion, and then dial it up to 19
It was to help cut down on excessive talking around the table, which always led to inevitable "joke ideas" and all of said ideas were now considered "spoken aloud" when this character was given booze.
Amazing results and side adventures followed both of these characters lol
Wish I had this on Sunday it was my first time dming in a long time and I was extremely Rusty players seem to like it funny enough took inspiration from The Haunted Mansion story from this channel it was supposed to be a surprise for my friend who is also a big fan of the channel and actually wanted to start playing D&D because of it but had to drop out the last minute
It sucks, but "Life Getting In The Way"(tm) is also a part of the game. Just getting the players to agree to a time and date and SHOW UP ON THAT FUCKING DATE LIKE THEY PROMISED, ON TIME EVEN is like herding cats. You have my sympathies.
On the topic of evil alignments, I would say it's probably a good idea to have a discussion with your players. I firmly believe that evil alignments aren't the problem, but rather chaotic frames of mind are. I currently play an evil character whose entire goal is get the party to complete a quest so he can win a bet with his patron. He doesn't go around murdering random people because that probably won't make things go faster. But, like, if has to do something shady to move things along, he's not going to feel too bad about it. Evil with a clear goal is fine! Evil characters that just do bad things whenever they want because they think that's how evil works can break a campaign for a novice GM. Likewise, chaotic neutral/good characters can break campaigns for a novice GM. So sit down with your group and explain to them that this is your first game, and playing it like a bored person plays GTA will only make things harder.
While chaotic alignments are the most likely to cause disruption. Any evil character has the potential to make the party (or yourself as DM) highly uncomfortable for a number of reasons so it still pays to be careful around them. They might work with the party for plot reasons but not everyone shares the ends justify the means mentality. I'm okay with evil party members as long as they are careful to not drag my good-aligned characters into their shenanigans but it's best to avoid that possibility altogether.
The amount of players and DMs who refuse to read the books is TO DAMN HIGH!!!
There's never enough 'DM advice' type videos, especially those that are also condensed and funny :D Thanks for making this, looking forward for more and I am happy to see that the Fool's Gold team is expanding, also with additional artists / animators. After a Kickstarter *that* successful, this truly is a brand and I mean in the best possible way ^_^
As someone who'd love to run a game one day when I eventually get the confidence to, this was super useful. I'd love to see more of these kinds of videos!
"You will never be ready to run your first game." Best advice I ever got. Made a terrible and somewhat fun campaign and learned enough to make a second campaign everyone enjoyed a lot more than the first.
I'm DMing a simplified DND campaign. It's very scary. But, there's already 120+ creature/enemy deaths. It's 1000% the levels of "dungeons and warcrimes".
This was great! Please do more! (Also I love that you shouted out Oxventure right along the other giants)
Question for Felix:
How do you feel about co dm type dynamics?
More specifically a kind of dynamic where two people collaborate on a campaign setting and divide the workload of world building, threading narrative, building encounters and developing npc's
As a DM with loads of experience, my main issue with this is it requires sharing campaign secrets with the co-DM which can detract from their fun. It works great with West Marches type campaigns and side quest/one shot adventures, though.
@@delroland You seem to be insinuating that a co-DM needs to also be a player. That sounds like a really bad idea, as it could lead to a lot of metagaming, whether intentional or not. I, for one, have a story or two that I don't think I could do justice to if I ran them myself, so I might ask someone I know is good at running games to run them for me while I just listen in. We would then collaborate and discuss what works and what doesn't. That's an example of co-DMing.
felix inspired me to dm my first campaign (the lost colony of the flumphs) we need more dm like you
I feel the 'If you're cringing super hard, you're doing it right' .. True as heck, also with the fact that ytour players will completely unhinge everything you plan. Seriously if you want Improv practice and thinking on your feet, be a DM.
AN EXAMPLE!
My group is currently investigating a regicide in the Feywild. And they were.. supposed to go get some rest at their bed and breakfast ran by this little workaholic pixie they befriended.. But.. No. They decided to get involved with a party held by the Spring Court and proceed to make me improvise a whole session as they re-enacted 'It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia' - FeyWild Edition!
The Paladin got into a bard off with the god of parties..
The Cleric/Blue mage tried stand up comedy and lit themselves on fire (They're a fire elemental it's fine.)
The summoner outdrank out Sorcerer/Warlock and some how proceeded to nat 20 ALL his con saves to stay conscious.. EVEN AT DISADVANTAGE.
And.. the druid slept for a week as they all got roped into a Fey party.
And the escaped by crowd surfing the literal moshpit in the Courts event center..
Hooo boi.
Based on my experience in a DnD club, best starting point for new DMs is either premade campaigns or doing one-shots. Personally starting with one shots myself so I don't have to worry about kong term effects if I mess up, and I can easily test out some of homebrew monsters I have been making (suprised Wendigos or Nuckelavees aren't official monsters in DnD).
“If you’re cringing super hard you’re doing it right” since I watched this the first time I applied that to my life and ngl it helps
I love hero forge's new flat acrylic minis. Great value and better fidelity to what you designed than the lower end colored plastic minis.
this is so cool, I'm a pretty new DM myself and am currently a few sessions into an entity homebrew world and it's going pretty well (at least I think so) and the fools gold story and Felix's storytelling skills where a major inspiration for me. it's great to finally hear from the master behind the madness that is fools gold. I can't wait for new vidios from you and from Dingo. as for vidio ideas I would request one on how to run combat as I still struggle with that, especially spell casting and bonus actions ect. that would be great! can't wait for whatever you have in store and thank you for inspiring me. :)
I've been DMing my first campaign and my party is tiny so they keep getting help from NPCs, but because I get easily overwhelmed by monsters without having to worry about running NPCs in combat as it is, we worked out a system where the player with a relationship with the NPC gets to control them in combat while I handle the role-play outside of combat. So far we have two player-controlled NPCs which still leaves me with one NPC to control in combat sometimes but I've only used him twice (once as an enemy), and after that I've found ways to keep him out of direct combat, whether it be carrying an injured NPC or getting kidnapped.
No way Felix never made videos before. This is awesome.
DMPC's are a tempting outlet and are extremely hard to use correctly. I've only ever used them as mouth pieces and guides, but I've also seen them work extremely well as sidekicks and support characters that add so much to the story (see Thrilling Intent and Stabbyness), but the latter is difficult to do without stealing spotlight away from your players.
I mean if you have a party of only 2 then a support DMPC can help. Make them focused on healing, buffing and debuffing, and make sure they hang back during roleplay unless absolutely necessary.
When I make my dmpc's I always give them a handicap to their character creation (for instance if point buy for the PC's then -4 points for the dmpc, or if they did 2d6+6 then 2d4+6) and always have them be a level lower than the rest of the party so even if they are supposed to be a melee combatant they are squishier than what they should be at for the encounter. Also have my players take turns rolling the attacks and saving throws for the dmpc, it gives the players a connection to the character that they normally wouldnt have because they feel like they are controlling its fate. Oh and one last thing, 1 fewer death saving throws before death but one more death saving throw to stabilize but keep that track hidden do not let your players roll death saving throws
It'd be cool to get your perspective on some of the stories Dingo has shared, or any memorable moments from your games either as a player or DM.
I'd absolutely love to see how you can keep all of your lore straight in a non -virtual way
I'd really like more of Felix's DMing style
Dingo these episodes are dope! Can we get more of your friends and stuff when your busy?!?! I love hearing them gush like you do 😄
"Congrats to everyone Who is early and who found this comment 🐼
That's me!
THIS GUYS FIRST, IM MARKING MY SPOT
Aye I'm here
the gods hi
Hello that’s me 👋🏼
I want to see Felix petting Matt's hair
...just his hair. With bald Matt in the background corner, crying.
I remember in one of the fool's gold clips one of the characters said something like "It's not my fault the DM is evil". Gold standard man.
I don't often hear Felix
And yet the times I do watch and hear him
It's the literal SAME EXACT ENERGY as Dingo XD
This ending was glorious and will forever live in my memory as fucking great
One thing that I find alleviates the need to make "super-special DMPCs" is to instead pour all of that self-projecting energy into your villains! You'll make villains that your players can relate to, with sympathetic backstories, perhaps even a dash of redeemability, and who definitely aren't just dark reflections of yourself. They most certainly won't be a manifestation of all the things you hate most about you compiled into a punching bag that your friends will gleefully rip apart before your very eyes. Totally healthy! 10/10
That more or less necking between Felix and Dingo is so quacking adorable!
My first time DMing was in fully homebrewed world and lads, if you are doing Theatre of Mind that your most likely do for FULLY homebrewed world cuz there are no maps online you could use and your afraid that party isn’t getting the vibe of your world and some key aspects of it - don’t get overdescriptive to point them out or get something clear, that’s the reason such thing as a Session 0 exists and if your party is staying around for more then one session they will eventually figure it out with time, hence that’s one of MOST exciting parts to do as a player in world with homebrew setting - to figure it out by yourself throw the game. Good luck new DMs out there!
Choice quote "If you're cringing super hard, you're doing it right". Good advice for DMs and players.
FELIX IS FINALLY HERE
Yes, more Felix please. He seems like a good combo. Like peanut butter and jelly. Perfection.
As a still fresh DM, I've found a strategy for battles where (since the players don't know what HP the monster has) you can just decide when enough damage has been dealt rather than trying to find a good CR balance for your players.
If you don't know if 5 goblins is too much for your players, you can cut it short with a "magic missile blasts him into a tree" or if one lil kobold needs to be more the mid-boss of a dungeon, make it so it can probably take a good couple hits, but a firey explosion will still probably kill it.
I'm finally ready to do proper stat stuff in battle now, but this is great for a first campaign because I find that it allows for a more easy & casual DnD experience for those who aren't used to or don't want the more game-like numbers side of it.
Someone in my group ended up in one of CritCrab’s videos. He’s a cool guy and pretty chill but he was very hurt when he saw that episode (I’m not gonna look it up though). In our group, I play a Vengeance Paladin so when his (evil, though only became such via character development) pc finally crossed the line by murdering some innocent children, my pc had no other recourse than to smite the shit out of him until he died. And his player was cool with that because he knew his character fully deserved it. His current character is a healing-focused monk/druid/something else multiclass kobold.
Moral here is that you do not have to be a problematic player to end up in one of critcrab’s videos.
A topic I wouldn’t mind you talking about is if you have a basic homebrew plot idea but would like a module to help you out with the in between. What modules would you recommend for some basic dnd plot? Like ‘party has to go on a big fetch quest to put together, big magic thingy that will open mysterious magic door’ or ‘there’s a rebellion a brewin and you gotta choose a side’ or just your basic ‘adventuring/monster hunting without any big plot points’ etc etc.
I LOVE IT! Thanks for the great vid, Dingo and Felix!
I have so far done 1 game as a DM "a on shot for a friend" and omg the rapid fire rolls and calculations hit home. i was so not ready for that.
This man NEEDS his own series
felix: No dm player characters.
Me after watching brony DnD and seeing how wonderful balanced fire brands dm pc Jeminya Malum: I get your point it's not for new DMs but look at this queen braking all the stereotypes of Dm pcs like well a queen. it can be done!
"That's my thing!"
"I'm doing it right" lmao love it
I would watch a whole series of DM tips from Felix and a topic I would find really interesting or rather I could use some tips on is incorporating player backstory, because from what we see in Fools Gold, he does it perfectly.
"That's my saying"
"I'm doing it right"
The audacity 😂
Please make this a series
The is the start of an amazing series, please make more
I have been playing D&D since the early 1980s and I always welcome watching DM tips videos. sure most of the time I dont get any insight but sometimes I do. so make more of these. One good thing about being old and having lots of experience is I am super good at improvising and dont have to write up much for my games because players rarely do what you want them to.
I swear, I’ve read all the wiki pages and asked people online and watched these videos and I still don’t have a clue how you’re supposed to DM. HOW CAN YOU WRITE A STORY WITH SO MANY VARIABLES AND CHANGING PATHS-AND THERE’S *MATH??!?!?!?!!?* AAAAAAUUUGGHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!!!
Yes! Make more please! This is awesome! How to be a good DM is a question I've wondered about so many times, I love your work so far and I also love Dingo's worK! Keep it up!!!
this is the most useful information I have ever gotten for Dm tips.
I've asked my friends, who have DMing experience, how to be one and they just tell me "just do it", which did NOT go well for me, but this is a wonderful guide and I am thankful for your advice, sir Felix. Thank you for your words of wisdom
You know your doing it right when the other person sais "it's my thing"
OK, I never knew how much we needed Felix before..... we need more Felix.
Really good general advice! As a fledgling DM, these are super helpful. Keep 'em coming!
"Dingo is... not here at the moment. Don't ask, stop asking." Y'all are perfect for each other because that line alone if you change Dingo to Felix or left the name out, it could've been said by either of you.🤣
"Picture you, a *beautiful*-"
Nope, nope, Immersion broken immediately
Dungeons and Warcrimes is my new favourite dnd nickname.
Thank you Felix. I just started DMing myself, so this is appreciated. Also love your voice and how you did the video!
we love ya Felix, can't wait to see more of these!
I need more Felix in my life
Loved this!
Literally anything from the DMs perspective would be ace! From watching the series it seems like you’re a pretty epic Game Master!! You and dingo are awesome!!
I _really_ like this. Felix videos really fit along with Dingo videos.
I love you Felix. Please make more of these!
This is awesome! Dingo has hyped you up, looking forward to more content from you both!
Funny enough, in my first campaign I put a suffering dog in a cage as a little background thing to show how much of a bad guy the bad guy was, and I fully expected for the players to just feed it then let it be free or something like that...But no! They adopted it. I was essentially forced to DM-PC a Dog! (Mastiff, but still!)
We need more of this.
Loving this idea of a Felix series with GM tips and tutorials