Losing | Running the Game
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Episode 33: Losing sucks. It always sucks. But there's losing that's dramatic, and losing that makes you feel stupid.
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Had to do a Custom Thumbnail because the Autogenerated one JUST HAPPENED to grab part of the .03% of the video with the surprise guest in it. :(
Matthew Colville it actually shows me that cap every time I paused the video on my phone. It was an odd look.
Matthew Colville it's a good thing that you can make any thumbnail look good.
Matthew Colville how do you decide when the players are killed vs captured? or did you have all the fallen players make death saves and they were extremely fortunate?
Hey Matt. I'm trying to share the video on Twitter and it's grabbing the same surprise guest thumbnail. I deleted the tweet because I don't want to spoil the surprise. (I had to pause I was laughing so hard.)
Please add a list of all the movies you add clips from in the description?!
Players: OMG, we are surrounded!
Dwarf Players: Great, now we can attack in every direction!
"They’re on our right, they’re on our left, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us; they can’t get away from us this time." - Chesty Puller
Target rich environment
This whole room just became a "Free Fire Zone".
It's important for Bards to know Invisibility and Greater Invisibility, so they can survive to sing the tales of the party's heroism when everyone else inevitably dies.
Bards are the indisputable best class and this is no small part of why.
So Hondo from Star Wars Clonewars/rebels is basically a bard (claims to be a smuggler but maybe he just multiclassed)
@@wolfjack5802 well a smuggler is a profession not a class right? Same way anyone could go around and sing and dance but not everyone makes magic from it.
@@wolfjack5802
I'd say bard is THE classic for playing a smuggler. Cunning, sneaky and with a tongue of silver!
@@ShengFink I'm not sure there is any particular distinction between a profession and a class. Being a 'fighter' or a 'wizard' could be professions as well. My guess is that if you go look up a Star Wars RPG it probably has a smuggler class in it so you can be Han Solo x)
Best quote ever. "I think we all feel stupid all the time. You'd think we'd be used to it by now."
You think you're telling me how to play a game. Your actually giving great life advice
isn't that the game?
imefix you just lost
Dammit, you just made me loose to
KamiRecca bravo
:(
(damn, that's old!)
Imefix Oldies but Goldies ^^
Its not retreating, its advancing in the opposite direction.
Players always win there are only 3 options:
They die so it doesnt matter.
They win so they win.
They run away to win another day.
Especially the orc players.
Tactical Withdrawal.
It wasn't an attack; it was scouting in force.
A strategic relocation
I've played 3000 games of league, can confirm complaining starts after the first lost teamfight.
Oh you don't need a bad teamfight, some ganking, I mean harsh senseless camping, will do.
One bad engage bot lane and the adc is flaming the support and begging for a gank
People are far more toxic in an online game like league than face to face in a tabletop game like d&d
@@esoterra1024 lvl 1 laners wanting a gank be like:
That must be NA league xD EU league we have people complaining from champ select.
"Blame is one of those things that increases the more people there are to share it....unlike pizza."
Matt are you a wizard how do you come up with this stuff?
Decades of writing and DMing lol
And I absolutely say "Marines, we are leaving!" 90% of the time when it's time to hightail it out of an encounter. I thought it was just me! So this is what it sounds like when doves cry.
Mike Olson is it "Marines" or "Drake"? My Deadlands group couldn't decide which. If you listen to the clip it sounds a awful like" Drake"
Rebekah Fischer No, it's definitely "Marines." Check the script!
Mike Olson I like Marines better anyways :)
How to get anyone encouraged to retreat: "I got one more plan, and if involves these . . . *slaps my leg* Nigerundayo party!
It's Drake, We are leaving in the subtitles.
“The next round, that player is killed.”
oh god, i certainly hope not
"Building consensus relies, at least in part, some degree of enthusiasm and you're not going to get people enthusiastic about running away."
Truly fantastic, thank you!
I thought the five magic words were" F%$# THIS s%$# IM OUT!"
Great look at experienced RPG game. But thank god I never kill any.....oh I cant get that out with a straight face.
The reference to the Medusa was funny... considering one TPK'd the party the last time I ran D&D. They failed to notice the signs of her lair and waltzed right in
This is so common, even in experienced players...Had a room with double basalisks munching on food; they would have been distracted if the players did anything but: "I KICK THE DOOR DOWN AND CHARGE WHATEVER IS INSIDE XD."
Sometimes I don't get it....and that's why it's so fun to write DnD!
“The complaining starts when the losing starts.”
“Blame increases the more people there are.”
So called downer episodes are important. they cover topics that will come up and that are, in many ways, more important than some of the more creative aspects of the hobby.
Most of the party wipes I've DMed is because one person decided to go fight someone else. The player had a plan - sneak up behind another group of enemies and take them out single-handedly. Not only does it not work, it brings that other group of enemies into the fight, who usually achieve a pincer movement that kills off the other characters.
The other reason is because the players don't consider the tropes: We're fighting a werewolf, I have a silver dagger and a magic whip . . . I punch it!
Silly DM, Gronk distrusts magic, only thing you can rely is yourself!
Why did you look so happy saying "They fail to stop the assassination attempt" XD
Wouldn't you look happy too? I know I would! xD
Autumn because that means a war! :D
Death, does not always have to feel unsatisfying. I'm fond of the suicidally honorable and somewhat foolhardy hero
I've died to stop a dragon from burning a village. (GM told me i would die if i tried. I told him that it was obvious)
I've died to save a group of commoners from being slaughtered by the military i served. (executed for treason by another player)
I've died to slow the drow invasion into the kingdom of Saragost. (I died with three thousand soldiers and a great fortress)
I've died to allow my party to escape from a dragon that would have killed us all. (His name was steve, i had befriended him before the fire sorcerer attacked)
I've died to temporarily become god and stop the demonic invaders from conquering my world. (Harold is survived by his son though, so it's not all bad)
All of these deaths were dramatic, they all mattered. My character died well, he fought for what he believed in and his death accomplished something
I've had deaths were nothing was accomplished but that's the definition of life, you die in the end
It's not that dying can't suck, i have had plenty were dying does indeed suck but sometimes, death is the most dramatic and enjoyable outcome
Sam Kemp the one time I played an adventure I died trying to suicide bomb by fireball. It was epic. And the thing is, I made it dramatic. I could have tried to run through the surrounding 4 warriors, but there was no point. I was low on HP, and I needed LOS to attack the enemies wizard. I got surrounded the next turn. I failed my spell check to cast while in combat and I got critted 2 times.
The game Dungeon World did something really cool with this. Every class had a ”death move” that triggered if you died, like the mage releasing one final massive spell, the druid warping the area to their native climate, etc.
Basically meant that heroic last stand moments weren’t just cool narratively, but mechanically effective. You didn’t just fail a roll and lost your warrior, his sword is now infused with some of his legendary strength.
L
Absolute Truth: Sometimes the best win is a beautiful death.
@@metallsnubben stealing that, thanks
I am running a campaign, and actually finished a session 50 minutes ago, where the players are Monsters. They decided to infiltrate a human filled fortress, and fail terribly, ending up with their asses in a cage, about to be shipped off to an arena where they will have to fight against other monsters to maybe get out.
Your point about trying to get consensus about retreating reminded me of a moment in a game a few months ago. The party was gambling with a rich guy in a tavern, and one of the players was caught cheating. We all drew our weapons on the guy, but then half the patrons in the room drew weapons on us. Every single player at that table just went "H'Okay! How far to the door?". We span on a dime. In a heartbeat we were all on the same page. It really did feel like we'd achieved something amazing, even though we hadn't done anything yet.
My character still fell unconscious in the fucking doorway, but we all escaped with our lives.
This reminded me of my first D&D character who died in an impossible fight against a level 20 general from the campaign's main villain, we were lvl 5.
Our entire party was falling apart, two of our players were trying to heal a dragon we were trying to rescue while we fought this general. He was capable of taking down 4 characters with one of his combos dividing his attacks.
My character is an Aarakocra Ranger, I kept my hp full for the entire fight while holding this enemy down using necrotic arrows to cause poison like damage. By the final turn we had, he had taken down my party by hitting each one ONCE, and taking their hp to 0, so when I had to get his attention so the dragon would be fully healed and out of danger, one final necrotic arrow to the face and managed to draw his attention towards me on the other side of the room.
He unleashed his entire monk magic items combo on my character, I knew what I was going against, the entire combo was going to kill me, the DM had a worried expression for my character, he said without throwing his dice and doing the math that "oh yeah, uuuuuuh.... you are unconscious!" I told him to do the rolls, I knew what could happen and took the risk. Ultimately, he did even more than he anticipated, brutally killing my ranger, but at the same time this general died from the same poison I caused him, both characters dying in front of each other.
I will never forget that fight, my Aarakocra died and that got a reaction from the DM and my party, they legitimately cared for her, she was pretty much "momma bird". It was an epic encounter that will live forever in my D&D experience.
They managed to revive her afterwards but at a high cost, she is still fighting and I can't wait for the next session.
DatBritishMexican Oh neat, my first 5e character was an arracocra ranger. He died fighting Strahd at 3rd level after fighting the party fighter twice. The party warlock made a deal with Strahd to get her and the rogue out in exchange for the soul of the fighter and the location of Van Ritchen. The fighter got taken over and we fought him, a zombified version of him, and then Strahd. We took him down to 4 hit points. It was awesome. It is important to note that this was DM machinations so I don't think that it would count as spoilers to the spoiler consious.
WTF is that DM doing by dropping lvl 20 enemies into the game against lvl 5s? That's just sloppy game design. As for "you weren't supposed to attack him" logic, a good DM assumes that the players characters will attack anything you put in front of them.
@@arandombard1197 yeah, that is something you assume. however, the players need to be taught that there are some fights you can't win, and plenty of fights you have to run from. the fact that they hadn't run after he had killed a bunch of them in one hit means that they WANTED to stay and fight. that probably created a very memorable moment of all of them trying desperately to heal this dragon that the general wanted to defeat/capture, and they all knew what they were getting themselves into. after op's character completely died, it also killed the MAIN VILLAIN OF THE ENTIRE CAMPAIGN which was probably a really sweet moment, especially because a good DM in this situation would have teased this villain beforehand as characters who are level 5 have normally experienced quite a bit in-game. that is a legendary story to tell and that makes this DM pretty fantastic.
@@beardalaxy As Matt has mentioned before, players don't run or surrender. Its heroic fantasy, defeating impossible odds is an expected part of the experience and players will stand their ground no matter how much you spell out that they are outnumbered, even if means a TPK.
@@arandombard1197 idk, the players I'm running for have ran a couple times and approached the enemies differently.
Having watched all of Matt's running the game series multiple times over, I think the most valuable observation I have taken away from them is that Matt really wants his players to buy him pizza. Lol. It's like an Easter Egg in several of the videos. Love it!
nice camio from from Matt Mercer's.
What was that about? Was he actually yelling at Colville here?
This is about a month late, but...it was a joke/cameo since Colville mentions their occasionally conflicting styles of DMing. They're good friends and it would be crazy for him to get actually angry over this.
I'd like to see them play together. Colville should be on Critical Role! lol
@@2Infinit2 He was! Technically. In spirit. Also in the form of an omnipotent greater deity to facilitate a Battle Royale
@@alexhammond9343 This is 8 months late but thanks! I figured he wasn't actually yelling at Colville. I just wasn't sure if this was taken from some video out of context clip from some Mercer video or if he made it just for Colville to use.
its scarry how every time you upload a "running the game" video is perfectly describes my last sesion of D&D. It is beyond perfect
I have a friend who is a power gaming storyteller. He will take 3 to 4 weeks to build a character, pouring over splatbooks in order to flush put every detail, and then righting a 3 page backstory complete with highlighted plothooks. If his character dies, he's done for that session. But when his character lives... man is it epic.
It's hard and easy to break the rules of magic in d&d. I was running Curse of Strahd and the party entered the amber temple. They took the alternate entrance and fought a gladiator and a bunch of barbarians. They got a good bit of resistance, but they won. they then entered the entry hall. And a lone arcanaloth, using the inside of a statue's head (within a cloud of magical darkness) attacked them. It had a lot of powerful spells (chain of lightning took most of the party down to half health). The party managed to knock the statue down instead of trying to attack the Arcanaloth while it was in a position of great advantage. However, the fighter got Banished. The Arcanaloth can cast invisibility at will. The party was frustrated that they could never see the Arcanaloth even though it was casting spells while invisible, i ruled that if it can cast invisibility at will, concentration to maintain it is unnecessary because it can cast this spell effortlessly. They didn't really like it, but when they got the Arcanaloth within 10 hp, it made itself visible and brought the fighter back so the party would let him live. The Arcanaloth, to me, didn't have a reason to fight these people to the death.
"The player is always reacting..."
That is so perfectly worded. Thank you for putting words to my long-time thoughts! The people who make battles a drag in my games are the ones that don't think much about what they're doing, don't realize RP is for fighting too, and that combat can be really fun if you don't just take the dungeon like a sidescroller beat em up.
Hi, I've spent the last few months trying to prepare a game for a group of 5 friends. None of us have ever played before and have wanted to for a long time. We finally arranged a date today to get together and play so I just want to say thank you as you're videos have been extremely helpful with making a game. I have a lot of self confidence problems and was initially worried about running a game but after watching your videos I feel a lot more confident about the world I have created. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm pretty sure that I would be dreading the responsibility without watching your videos. Thank you again. I'm pretty sure I'll be using your videos to help me for a while.
I'm just going to create fog or a pool of water for no reason in my campaign now. Just to mess with players.
Great video and I really love the tips! Thanks, Matt C!
Heh. I several times had "The Chosen One" too. Every time when there's an enemy close to 1HP, or within a certain death by single blow - and party just fails against all odds to land a hit. It's clear that their enemy is The Chosen One.
Hahahaha oh jeez, the number of times I've had the "When you killed my character..." "Uh, I didn't kill your character. The Orc Chieftain did" exchange with my players makes me laugh. Glad I'm not the only one.
Watching your videos represent a +2 Wisdom Ability Score Increase.
And a +6 Charisma....... IF YA KNO WAT I MIN ( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)
(I don't even know what I mean, just... jesus christ, sorry for the cringe dude lol)
Best line “Losing doesn’t feel as bad as feeling stupid, which is funny. We all feel stupid all the time, you think we’d be used to it by now”
I've watched your Running the Game videos several times, because I love listening to you talk as background while I do other things (ADHD sucks, silence drives me completely nuts). You're also quite the GM, and you've given me more than a few ideas and helped me to refine my own GMing style, so thanks for all that.
Great episode as always, but it reminded me of a story from a campaign I was in that I think in part explains the mindset of people who keep going after their resources run out. We were just doing a low level dungeon and ran low on hit points and spells, so we decided to rest in one of the side rooms before taking on where we assumed the final boss was. We awoke and set out, finding much harder traps than were elsewhere in the dungeon, but hey, route to the big bad guy, makes sense. When we finally get there, bruised and battered from the slew of traps, we find an empty room. No invisibility, no hiding, definitely no loot, just empty.
Turns out that this was one of those "the bad guys want to win" scenarios, so during their nightly patrols they found that we had killed a good chunk of the dungeon, so they packed everything up and set up the nastiest traps they had before leaving. We were decidedly less risk-averse after that.
every time there is a new video I'm like that n64 kid on Christmas morning!
"OH MY GOD! MATT COLLLLLVILLE NEW VIIIIDEO! AHHHHHHHHHHH"
You too? That was totally me Saturday morning, lol!
since this is 37 of 52 in this series, I have lots more to view YAYYYY. After that, I'll check out Matts other stuff.
Suddenly, Matt Mercer!
Colville rolled a 12 on the random encounter check.
Nice video as always... Just one point that I disagree on (Well, not really. But one I'm going to mention.) In my games, usually the fog is just fog. The full moon is just a full moon, or maybe it's a red herring. The black moon? Same thing. Usually, the pond is just a pond, the river just a river. Don't fear it. Go for a swim. And then, the fifth pool you use, there is a flesheating beast. At the riverside, there is a beautiful lady (Or man, depending on what your character is into), asking you to join her on a swim. The already dark night with the black moon grows even darker, and shadows crawl from the forest towards your camp.
And then, the next black moon, you will be afraid. You will watch every shadow closely. Every caw of an owl will be like an announcement of doom. But nothing will happen.
I agree with that. I always explain the environment in a neutral way and I never attempt to get my players to do anything, I let them decide (don't get me wrong I joke around sometimes like "hey, run in the front door, it will work out fine!" but I'm clearly joking and they can do what they want and I try not to do that too often.
I rarely use creepily unnatural weather effects. The closest I get is every night of the full moon (of the larger moon in my campaign, where the gods live) there is a good chance someone will see a white owl kill a small rodent and fly off with it. - My players have no idea why it keeps happening, and I am still figuring it out too. I imagine it will be important to the plot eventually.
this is something i wish more horror games used.
let the player feel like something is safe and comfortable, and then strip that comfort away, only to not bring back what stripped it away for a while. it will make them incredibly shocked, then incredibly uneasy. just as they are starting to get used to it again, do something different that will shock them and strip away that comfort once more.
I do this with doors in dungeons. Every door us just a door. Until it's a jar.
I love these videos but hearing that Matt plays/played league gave me such severe whiplash. Especially since I watched this vid minutes after chain inting a whole ranked game. Wild stuff! Gotta sub now!
Those turn-the-tide moments are just the best, especially when you realize you brought the right tool.
We got stuck fighting a flesh golem at low level. It crits the rogue and he's down. It lays into the fighter like Ivan Drago. I'm a lightning wizard so my offensive magic is useless. The fighter's got one more blow's worth of hit points, then the golem is going to turn its attention to the cleric or me. We calculate we'll each last about a round. Things are looking grim. Everyone is scanning their inventory, reading their spells one more time. Suddenly I realize I've got a one-shot _glitterdust_ item I had made because that was all I could afford. I make my Arcana check and remember the golem's list of immunities does not include blindness. Untargeted effects bypass spell immunity, and -- POOF! Covered in dust, it proceeds to miss its next five attacks, which gives us the time we need to salvage the situation.
Lightning and teleportation are cool, but those "turns out I've got just the thing" moments have been my favorite part of playing a wizard.
Thank you for this Matt. I just started to DM my first game last weekend and it's for all completely new people. I'm taking them through short one-off adventures for a couple weeks to get them used to how the mechanics and game works. I plan on treating this as a "tutorial" for them and opening up the game to a sandbox after a few weeks. the problem I was facing was I made these one shots pretty easy and kind of hand hold them through, as subtly as possible of course, but once we start the game for real ill be much less forgiving. This petty much puts it all out there and I plan to have them watch this so they can understand the fact that they might, and probably will, lose every now and then. Your videos have been more than I could have hoped for, and I feel more confident and excited about being a DM now that I am equipped with all of these ideas and insights you provide. Keep at it, you are our hero sir, and I plan on grabbing your books this weekend.
Grettings from Switzerland Mr. Colville,
As someone who was forced into the seat of the DM twenty years ago (I just wanted to play my charming swashbuckling ladies man and so i ginded my teeth...) and grew into the role more and more over the years to the point where i get the most fun when i can host a great experience for others, I really appreciate what you are providing with this Vlog to all new DMs needing advice and afraid of failing. When a player shows interest in trying out the seat behind the screen and wants advice i always lead then to your videos.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your efforts.
Last session was the first time my party had to retreat. Right now, they're all level 6 with a loadout of magic goodies, but a boosted up Kruthik hive proved to be too much for them. The creatures had taken over a mine, had a lot of Aliens vibes going. Things were going well until the cleric peeked into a nest room that ended up wasting a lot of time and resources to save that character from all the monsters in that side room.
Eventually, they got to the room where the boss was at, a homebrewed Kruthik Matriarch. I was excited to do pilot this huge alien queen of a monster, but the party was worse for wear than anticipated. They all decided to run for the exit and take the lift, they figured whatever follows them on the lift would be better than facing down the queen. The sorcerer blasted some eggs on our way out, our hexblade made a timely Aliens reference and it made for a really exciting and tense moment.
All of this brought the party into perspective. Their recklessness almost cost them and at where they are in their lives, they did want to die in some whole eaten by monsters. Like you said, this moment added a lot of drama and tension to the situation.
Once they made it down there and realized they couldn't handle the boss fight I was disappointed in myself for making the dungeon too hard. But after the session the players were delighted with how tense things got and everybody still can't wait for next session.
its good to see that no matter how busy you are, you will still upload a video now and then. Appreciate it Matt your videos are fantastic, keep it going :)
Matt, This is by far one of the best video on D&D I have ever seen. Thank you for taking the time to make it. I DM for a group of 5 level 8 characters and the concept of losing is one I have struggled with for sometime, the result unfortunately is encounters that I feel are too under powered. Well done, this episode has gained my subscription and support of your channel.
"What are the five magic words."
*plays clip*
I almost had an asthma attack, laughing that hard. WORTH!
I like what Matt says after you lose your character.Had my hot tempered sorcerer get his brain sucked out by a mind flayer. My dice kept rolling under 10 and the mind flayer kept getting back his stun. After my character died I blamed my dice and sulked for about 20 minutes before rolling up my Duragur paladin(who is awesome). Being a DM myself and have had player characters die when I thought they would be fine it's interesting to see how each player deals with the reality of "my character is dead" but then start looking at what to play next. Thanks Matt for the great video (side note: the miniature that killed my sorcerer was my own that the DM was borrowing.)
I did a small dungeon crawl for part of my campaign and decided to put two scaled down red dragons to see what they'd do. They tried to fight them but, after the wizard went down, they decided to retreat and barely made it out the room.
I knew it really stuck with them when one of those players ran a game that I played in and had a very similar room where you had to learn to say no sometimes. It honestly made me happier than playing the game knowing he learnt a lesson from that encounter
This was a godsend. I've had these moments as a dm and never know how quite to handle them
"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take."
Thanks for this Matt. I (my PC) almost died last week, it realy feelt like loosing, even though I lived to see a nether day. but this video helped me get back in the saddle again, so thanks!
5:42 took me by such a surprise, I couldn't stop laughing for a little while
Your movie clips are always on point, Matt. Love them.
My Very first game i ever run as a DM....My Nephews and nieces faced AC 15 giant crabs at level 1. When the First PC ( eldest IRL player) was grapples and nearly died....they all quickly ran. I spent weeks creating it and they ran from my dungeon!! I'm so proud of them!! Love your videos Matt!!
"The side that's complaining is always the losing side" You sure you've played a lot of league of legends?
Yeah, I was gonna say. A lot of players still complain before, during, and after winning the game. Some people are just so picky about their fun.
My group is currently running through Curse of Strahd, and we got over confident with low resources. Needless to say half of our party died before the other half decided to retreat. While annoyed, it was totally our overconfidence that killed us. Love your videos, and constantly give me inspiration while playing der' en' der'. Love your videos, and have enjoyed both your books. Keep up the good work!
This Colville video is a year old, I've already watched it, I haven't typed anything in my browser about the event of my D&D campaign and yet this was placed as the first entry of recommended videos after my party just finished a off a session where the entire party had been knocked unconscious from fighting dragon cultists. Mighty coincidence.
If there is a god, they are probably a cruel, dice rolling god with perhaps a magnificent beard.
I can't truly express how much I enjoy your videos, Mat.
The talking points presented are well considered and their delivery is superb.
Wonderful stuff. I love to just hear you speak. perhaps I am not much of an internet user, but I have never seen "talking head" style vlogs with anyone nearly as eloquent, insightful and sincere as your videos, Mat.
This is an art, dude.
I can't hit like hard enough. I think I've said that before but I mean it. One of my future players was asking what happens when perma-death occurs, and I told them that it'll be a moment sadness and glory, but you can return to the party with a new character.
You mentioning prepreping a new character in-between your time is some good advice to give once in game.
A message to say thanks ! In recent months my DM seemed to have became burned out and not wishing our small group to break I thought maybe I would try my hand at it and was instantly terrified as I rarely put myself out there like that . But after watching 90 Episodes of Critical Role and Urealms Live I sucked it up and began to plan. I discovered your channel and without it I dont know that I would have done quite as well. To cut this story off it turned out to be a great success and I am looking forward to continuing their adventures !!! So again Thank you, the perspectives that you give made this all a great deal easier and now there is one more DM in the world !
I remember being a PC in my friend's campaign... we were fighting a small army of goblins (4th lvl at the time) and he had is massive monster (that we had seen before, been defeated by before and had been warned about before) come out of the woods after hearing all the commotion. The native goblin army retreats and I suggest we go and hide in our nearby (had literally just walked out of when we heard the goblins) stronghold. About half of the party actually gets down into the stronghold and the rest get ready to fight it. Either way, initiative is rolled, they are getting absolutely destroyed, a player goes down, I get out and cast healing word, another player goes down... [and this is the point where I stop for no reason in particular].
The advice I'm most glad I heard from this video is that players blaming the DM when they lose is normal, natural, temporary, and not to be taken personally.
It also makes me feel less ashamed of blaming my DM so venomously when I and my party spectacularly lost a Sorcerer we had bound and imprisoned quite thoroughly, we thought.
Fantastic Video. As primarily a GM I would love my players to remember that retreat IS a valid option.
Don't worry about your slow uploads Matt. No offense, but you look exhausted and it's flattering you took the time to make this for us despite already working yourself so hard. Love you.
Players killed my Black Dragon week before last, I felt genuine loss.
Matt your videos always have such an astounding amount of replay value. You are like a teacher whom I haven't had the graces to meet in a classroom. Maybe, someday at a convention this will change. Kudos on inspiring this particular player to become a DM; all of your hard work has paid off. Keep on keeping on.
Matthew, thank you for these great video's. I just found your channel yesterday and ended up binge watching all of the running the game series until 4 am this morning. You have also convinced me to dust off all my D&D books and look around for a game, it's been 20+ years since I played last, and watching these makes me wonder why I ever stopped playing in the first place. Maybe if I had a DM like you I would have never stopped.
I'm glad this video came out today. During our last session, 3 out of the 5 characters of the players I've been running for died. I've been running a mix of Hoard of the Dragon Queen and my own stuff and the players were supposed to infiltrate the raiders' camp in Episode 2. Only I'm pretty sure they didn't pay much attention to why they were there and what their objective was. They went in hot, burning the tents at the entrance of the camp while one of the characters went around and took down one of the watch towers (another one sneaked in undetected, managed to free some prisoners, who unfortunately ended up killed), which of course alerted the camp. I must admit I did not see this coming.
I've partly been blaming myself because even though their plan was questionable at best, I really wasn't feeling like DMing that night but didn't want to cancel at the last minute. I'm relatively new to DMing and I'm still pretty bad at describing environments and roleplaying dialogues, among other things, and I feel like maybe I wasn't clear enough on the danger they were facing.
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the video, it was just what I needed.
Matt I just noticed the copy of Wiz War on your shelf, bless you sir. That game has provided me with so much inspiration over the years, that today I'm going to be public play testing a board game of my own design. It's almost criminal that more people don't seem to know about it.
Matt, It's been 4 weeks. We miss you, come back soon!
Thank you for making a video for this topic, I just found it today and it came to me in the right moment, I just lost a character that was the first character that I got to be creative with, and is very dear to me, and now I have watched this my Wis just upgraded +2. Please don't stop making these!
You look very tired Matt. Hope you're in good health.
Thank you for making these videos. They help me with our groups sessions.
My party lost its dwarf paladin while running a Lost Mines playthrough vs a zombie beholder. The paladin died to a disintegration beam face first against the beholder, keeping its attention and dealing damage to save the party and keep us safe. When we defeated the beholder, and found our paladin very, very dead, we took his ashes to the temple in Neverwinter, completely offscript from what the DM expected. His funeral included the best RP we as a group had to date. Party member death happens, but thankfully in my experience, all the deaths I've seen were incredibly memorable, and emotional.
This is chilling. I had two of my five players ragequit today because they were "losing". A villain escaped them and re-released some witches. They were barely INTO the encounter with the four villains that they complained about how the only reason this happened was because "bullshit". The other three players stuck around and despite being one character short (I took over one of the quitting player's warlock and the other dropped unconscious so I just killed him off) they still won.
So they don't even complain because a character dies, they complain because villains aren't idiots who just sit around waiting for the heroes to murder them.
Nice! Usually I play the cleric, and when I'm out of healing spells, I make a decision to retreat depending on the scenario. It is actually the clerics responsibility to retreat.
Oh and if I'm running and get a TPK, I tell the characters to keep their character sheet, because most of that is swag, like fifty fifty that giear is there. Kinda dulls the pain I think.
Great video! I love every movie you clipped, Matt. The biggest take away for myself as a GM from the video is the advice of letting players be pissed, upset, disappointed. I have this need as the GM to make sure the players are having fun. That's part of the job description. And my experience is that players will be forgiving of your mistakes and flaws as a GM if you are a fun one.
Being frustrated, disappointed or let down usually isn't fun, so when that happens I have this panicked urge to fix things right away or fudge things to help them. But in the broader context, difficulty can allow for some truly epic moments that make the entire experience more fun or at the very least, memorable. So I need to let them be frustrated. The guy taught me to GM and introduced roleplaying to me always said "don't be afraid to challenge your players because you are more likely to underestimate them than overestimate them."
Also, it's just good advice to leave someone alone immediately after they become really upset about anything. Sometimes people just need a minute.
I see a pile of Tales from the Yawning Portal in the background.
Michael Schmidt - Yes...how dare! :p
He's showing off... :P
I'm sensing a 90-minute walk to the gaming store in my near future!
Edward, when i was a kid, those frequent walks back & forth from the D&D store was the exercise that saved me from childhood obesity! :)
One thing I've started doing is getting players to sign a campaign contract to clearly put, in paper, expectations for player and DM. I always make sure "Players will understand that retreating is always an option and that they don't need permission to survive from other players or the DM." Is on the expectations for players.
I have had many parties whose characters committed suicide because, even when the enemies started retreating, they refuse to move backward on the battle grid.
The only D&D situations I remember vividly are the ones where I am pushed to losing, risk, danger, loss and anger. I am not mad at the game, I am not mad at the GM and I am certainly not mad at other players; this was what I play D&D for in the first place, to feel that rush, that giddy high from putting myself close to the sting of defeat.
Funny you posted this yesterday, and yesterday night my players, already out of spells and having used most of their per rest abilities got into a battle with a wraith and three hell hounds (who somehow rolled a lot of 6s on their breath recharge) in Strahd's castle, barely escaping it. While they were deciding how and where they would long rest, one of the rogues, eager to see what was in the next tomb, unleashed Strahd's horse. They managed to kill it fairly easily, but they decided this was it, they were going to long rest. They went upstairs into a room and barricaded themselves in. They knew going into this that random encounters were highly likely (check every 10 minutes). So after a couple of non-combat encounters, about 6 hours and 50 minutes into a 10 hour rest (they had 2 hours before they could even long rest again), a dinner bell appears floating in mid air. They weren't sure if they should leave it alone or take it before it rang, but one of them goes to grab it and it rings. They wait, unsure what's about to happen, and 12 seconds later the window opens and a vampire spawn appears and we ended the session. Funny thing is they have a quick way out of the castle but didn't want to use it because it wouldn't be quick getting back in. I think they'll make it through the night, but not before they shit their pants a few times. Good thing the NPC they're traveling with can cast prestidigitation.
Great episode :) I am HUGELY surprised and happy to hear that you'll be continuing the campaign diaries at long last, and that game streams are returning!!!
My thoughts on my characters dying is the same as your friend Mark. Except rather than the DM I get more frustrated when other players try to console me or justify the situation. I just want to move on and play a new character after being angry.
I've killed one character in the 3 games I've DM'd over my 11 years of experience. That player cried and I caved and undid the situation. My biggest DM regret.
This was a great video, a lot of perspective and a lot to think on as both a player and a DM. Thanks Matt.
I can remember when our DM set us up to fight a hell hound and a chain devil (Cr11 Creature with an average of 66 dmg a turn) .... against our part of four 4'th level characters.
We lost the paladin, who was killed in 1 round, thanks to the overpowered ability that chaindevils have. but managed to beat the fight. Only to hear the DM say "hey, you guys survived didn't you?"
Clips from all of my favorite movies! (I just watched the source of the "5 magic words" this weekend.
Thank you I needed this as I prep for tonight's session. Also just an FYI the Tomb of Sextus Veranius was awesome! I even had a player, a paladin, swear his oathe of fieldty to Sextus at the end. Was an awesome night that hooked the players. Cant wait for the next video. Im getting them to Orlane next. Ive had this module since the good ol days and have never ran N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God. Will be lots of fun. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for these videos Matt! Because of your videos I got interested in D&D, became a dungeon master, and created a D&D club at my school that has now become quite popular. Thanks so much and keep doing what you do! It helps out me and all of my club members a lot. :D
Belive it or not, watching your videos became such a habit that I now put them at the same level of my favourite series, and I learn a lot in the process
This video aged like milk: Just earlier today Mercer went "Ok, just so you know. Vocodo might be banished to the astral sea where he belongs and you still have a couple turns left to finalise the banishment but he was already looking rough and if he stays banished then also does all the treasure hoarded on his back. It's your choice."
Matt, love the videos. Absolutely epic advice. I've binged your entire "Running The Game" series over the last few days that I'm at the point where the internal narrator in my head is now you. Looking forward to more of your content!
My boyfriend has actually said the same thing when something happens in-game that frustrates or upsets him. He will get really angry/upset at first, but after he's had time to internalize what happened and put some distance between him and the events, he comes back to me telling me how much he enjoyed the session.
I've finally gotten caught up, and I just have to say, awesome. I have watched (Over the course of the last two weeks) every episode in this series (Including some of the non numbered ones), and being a new DM, it's VERY helpful.
By new DM, I mean I literally went out, bought the starter set (March 3rd), got two buddies and my fiancé to agree to play, and away we went. Zero experience between the four of us, I'm the only one that had at least seen a few videos/streams/been to a D&D night, so figured what the hey, I'll be DM. I ran one night (Which went very well in case you're curious), then stumbled upon one of your videos... Took off from there. Second night, I was quite armed with knowledge from having seen a number of your videos, and used methods, tips, etc that you mentioned, and we all had a blast.
It was entertaining, it was enticing, it was dramatic, and it was epic. Determined, I wanted to finish your series before our next night, so I pushed it back a week so I could finish by this Friday. And I am glad I did. I literally took notes watching your videos, key points really, to help with future situations.
I would be lying if I said you were the first person I stumbled upon with type of video series, but you're the first that I felt engaged with. The first that really had me wanting to know more, and also taught me more than I thought I needed to know. Also, answered more questions before I could ask them.
I will eventually be a great DM, and it's mostly because of this video series. Thank-you for making this series, and continuing to do so. I will now crawl back into the dungeon from which I came, and continue to stare at your face while I wait for the next episode.
Fun Fact: you have gone up (If memory serves) 4,000 subscribers since I started watching, you're doing a great service, and you're amazing at it, keep it up Matt!
Hey there. 5 years later, how's it going?
Thank you for doing these. I only wish you had been doing them back when I was stuck in a rather poor pathfinder game.
It's not "Retreating" it's "Advancing in the opposite direction"
that mercer cameo
Thanks to your videos, I got inspired to DM for the first time in 20 years. Bought the books, made up my own adventure, invited some friends over, played the adventure.....and killed all the PC's.
Eep.
My character, and, my entire party, got wiped out during the final fight with the BBEG. Little bit of DM ex machina, but our respective gods offered us a shot to come back. Except, for my character. He was an old man who fully believed in the concept of everything returning to the earth, and believed that it was his time. Though he could have come back to life permanently, he chose to only return to help his friends finish the fight, after which he willingly peaced out to the heavens.
Honestly, me and my character felt exactly the same in that moment. We had one hell of a run. It wasn't anyone's fault, this is what we wanted.
I remember doing the Curse of Strahd campaign and, after defeating Strahd the way the game had written him, my DM revealed a second form of him that he had come up with to make it more of a challenge. This was after we had fought off a few powerful minions, then his girlfriend who we had rescued for her brother, and then after beating regular Strahd. We were low on everything. Still, we put up a valiant effort and due to careful planning we managed to, as my DM told me later, bring his second form of Strahd down to only about 5 hit points. However, that's when he gained a significant advantage. He started regaining hit points and the party started dropping like flies. Eventually it was just me and one other, and that one other tried to run, but was knocked out in the attempt. It was just my character, a wizard, with one hit point and no spells. I could do little more than spit at the vampire. Then, because we had done so well and because our cleric had made a prayer before, that cleric's god stepped in and brought the entire party up to full strength and we were all allowed to attack at the same time at full power, killing Strahd. Now, we had won in this case and my DM thought it was pretty awesome, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. To have come so far, surviving due to my careful planning and managing to find a way to win in even the most desperate situations, to then be rescued by a god. I hated this. For me, and subsequently for my character, this was not a victory. We had achieved our goal, but to me and the character I played, this was failure. This was a loss. I told my DM afterward that he should have just let Strahd die when he went down to 5 hit points, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
Afterward my DM was having trouble coming up with a new campaign for us, so I decided to give it a shot. Late in my campaign, I found that I was starting to play out a rescue of my own. I had created a powerful wizard who had given them a quest that he wasn't currently capable of going on, then toward the end of it I was able to bring him and a friend of his the players had rescued into the fight. They didn't need these powerful characters helping them and making it easy, so for the final boss fight I planned in the treasure room, I had these powerful characters taken out by the boss they now had to fight. In one motion, I placed a sense of doom and a sense of purpose into my players. On one hand they thought "oh god, this thing is so powerful that it just instantly struck down two characters who are much stronger than us" and on the other hand they had the thought "Their only chance of being rescued lies with us." Of course, the monster they had to fight was indeed very powerful, but they were very smart players and they managed to find a way to win and in doing so, because I had aided them with powerful characters only to have them taken out (turned to stone, if you were curious), they now gained much more fulfillment out of beating this creature than they would have if it was just what stood between them and treasure.
As someone working his way through these steadily, I’m glad to see the return of the cutaway movie scenes
At this point in my playgroup I've had more characters then anyone else die. I used to be really upset when it happened but now I just try to make it an interesting death, last time i had a character die I was smiling the entire time, already pulling out the book to make a new one. I feel that trying to make your character's death either epic or funny or something like that really helps you and the other players get through it.