@@JorisVDC you want to unleash a squad of physically awkward gamers to heft chairs around each others noggins? Bring the bandages and liquid complacency(alcohol).
That really depends on how you define DnD though. The professor has stated previously that he defines it as playing a game in which you can do anything, as long as you roll high enough with a D20.
@@DaBezzzz I've made another comment under the movie, where I've went more into details. The vast number of changes make it hard to follow and compare to the original DnD (5e at least). I'm fine with some of the ideas presented, but I believe it's totally a different game that we all are trying to "pump up" with professor's ideas.
I think one of the main idea of this channel is : "what can be done to adapt your game in a way it fits your style of GMing". The professor thinks in his games, combats are too long, scaling spoils the fun, and focusing in the system makes it less realistics... so he does changes that works for his games. If you are a GM that loves long and complex combat, maxing the potential of your characters, and making every skills important part of dungeon crawling, you might think 5E to be too simple. So maybe you want to take a few aspect of 3.5 and 4 that you liked and add you own feats... and that's totally fine! DnD rules are a proposition not a religion.
You should have opened with the "I run a very big game with mostly older players who don't have a lot of free time, this informs my decisions" as suddenly everything you just said makes sense.
@@michaelstronghold3550 This is nonsense. Everyone is different. Some people sit after work watching 6 hours of the news. If they care about a hobby they could spend that 6 hours once a month playing a game..or whatever it is they care about. Busy people are busy. Not "Adults".
@@Amrylin1337 its about having 5 or 6 adults trying to coordinate around different schedules. I play as much as I possibly can which is about once a month. I personally can make time probably once a week but thats how it goes. Takes more than one person to do this hobby. I usually spend time working on my setting or terrain a couple times a week because thats whats possible. Don't give me no guff about "if you care about the hobby blah blah blah" I've been running groups for 25 years man. You don't do anything that long without caring about it.
I disagree with a lot of his rule choices.... but I love hearing different viewpoints because it helps give me ideas for how to better adapt the rules to my players! (New DM here)
Exactly! you should adapt your rules to fit your players--while still making it easy for YOU. My players don't give a poop about initiative, multi-classing, or spell slots. So none of them feel as if I'm particularly authoritarian. Cheers!
I can see the point about multiclassing in that it often seems more like tactical career planning instead of roleplaying. In AD&D, I once had a dual-classed NPC magic user/thief that I would send with the players to balance out the party and provide skills it might need, but that NPC was who he was from the outset and remained so. Fortunately, I never had players who worried too much about rule lawyering and trying to become tanks, although some rule options from Dragon magazine we used didn't always work so well, even though those options were often good food for thought. The thing most valuable I learned here - and I wished I'd considered it far earlier - is that keeping the game moving and the players engaged is a primary objective in itself, even compared to combat, roleplaying and storytelling - if only because it's movement and engagement which primarily ultimately serves combat, roleplaying and storytelling within the limited resource of playing time. It now seems/sounds stupid, but I can't count the number of times that we sat around trying to make various rules give us the game we wanted to play instead of just abandoning/changing the ones that didn't. I like a lot of other ideas too - multiple uses on prepared spells, with backfire possibilities, limiting the HP of even very tough opponents to make combat quicker/more exciting. I had an idea for critical hits that seemed to work - whenever max damage is rolled on the die, you get to roll another die and add it to the total until max damage isn't rolled (on a d6 weapon or spell, say, 6+6+3=15), so everyone gets a chance at critical hits, although warriors will still be best in combat because they will attack/hit more often.
I disagreed with the Prof's rules too until I realized how many days of my life have been wasted to determining initiative order and adding and substracting 10 million modifiers, just to end up back at 16 to hit. And how many players quit because it all was too damn boring.
Wow. What a boss. His closing monologue sealed it for me, even though his cavalier takes on the rules feels a little disconcerting at times, fun and time economy are the most important thing for me as I get older.
Like them or not, he's got a point. He may not be offering the rules that are the most fun for your players but damn if he isnt giving you the most practical rules, thatll likely only increase in how practical they are
Basic D&D and ODD had a very "let the DM decide" type feel. And hopefully they decided to keep the adventure moving. It's only foreign now because we have been corrupted by the Lawful Evil Corps from Seattle to believe that we MUST buy one more book full of charts to determine how far one can jump, etc. Then spend 115 minutes trying to find the rules when it comes up in the game.
Regarding Skill checks, I'm pretty sure the rules of D&D 5e already state that you don't need to ask for a check for every single action the players are taking, only those that have consequences for a one time failure.
Another reason to have "small" checks is if the character is in a hurry such as being chased. Rolling to climb a regular wall when the guards are 10 seconds behind you adds drama.
Professor Dungeon Master, you should consider either making a PDF we can use, or consider making your own role-playing game! I'd love a guide on how you determine damage, potential spell catastrophe, and HP, it sounds like you've got the details right!
The issue with the fighters not getting more attacks is that rogues and wizards are still dealing progressively more damage with each couple levels, right?
He has essentially reformatted the entire game, so your points are valid for normal 5e, but it not valid for his homebrew version. Listen to the last thing he says, he has made these changes to cater for a large group with time constraints, that is why he has made the changes that he has.
In Starfinder, there are two Envoy abilities: "Sick 'Em" and "Not in the Face." Everyone will choose Sick 'em. Its more powerful. But my wife made me proud when she said "No, I can totally see my character saying "Not in the Face!". Lol
I really want to see your run a game that shows how a dungeon works, I want to get a better idea on how you handle monsters and players in an actual session
You mean he should do a little like Guy Scanders from "How to be a great GM" where he comments a little before and after the games his experience as a GM and his preaping ? But rather than focus in the RP, focus on the mechanics ?
This is the greatest. from a creative perspective, this channel illuminates so many of the gems that RPG's provide to the story telling arts. world building, structure, pacing and most importantly tips and tricks for streamlining your efforts so that we can all get on with the story. Thanks for sharing your ample experience and your passion in such a thoughtfully concise manor, prof!
I came from a wargaming background and so was always rule happy. We ran in early on to people using non-standard characters which proved to be invulnerable. We had a Ninja that could barely get hit, saved versus damage when they were hit and were basically unkillable. We had a TPK where the Ninja waltzed away. Ooo I like your group initiative But yes we got to 5E I have all sorts of feats? Skills? I'm not sure and I don't bother rolling them anymore because our four player group is 8th level now and we will get a 23 a 19 a 12 by the person who doesn't have the skill. Why am I rolling? We always get some crazy success roll. I've seen (a lot) of 30's rolled on a 20 sided die. Honestly the DM is basically waiting for that 5% chance of a one. and I am with you on the basic skills MY high powered Bard isn't going to roll a one The worst they can do is get an 11 really. Though I do flash back at times to Bob Dylan at "We are the World" but even he with his critical failure didn't get booed off the stage. He certainly wasnt attacked by tavern goers because his performance was so inflammatory. Appreciate your view point. I do run a more stripped down 2E type game, where the druids rangers elves clerics dwarves gnomes haflings magic users all have certain different basic knowledge. We are rolling all the time for knowledge we should have in 5E that isn't provided in game so we are making crazy critical success rolls that should basically have us building a nuclear reactor and we come away with the fact that this mineral seems like it might be poisonous. It feels like this level of ability doesn't create a better campaign unless the DM has built their world ten layers deep. All this tends to expose is that the DM's world is one/two layers deep at best.
While I understand why he wants to speed things up by reducing the number of attacks, I don't agree with his conclusion that his solution doesn't nerf fighters. It does. A fighter dealing 50 dmg/turn, is not the same thing as a fighter dealing 10 dmg/turn vs an enemy that only has a fifth of their original HP. The reason why that's not the same thing is because the fighter's damage output was reduced, while all the other classes stayed the same. So while a fighter might have been able to deal 5 times as much damage as a cleric before the change, they now deal about the same amount of damage. Nerfing the fighter. You could also see it as buffing all the other classes, since their attacks now takes away a larger percentage of a monster's HP, compared to before the change.
Exactly. I’d like to see his reasoning in doing this, and why his players would ever pick a fighter now that it’s been reduced to a single attack, low damage melee class compared to the (presumably) unchanged spellcasters
@@nickromanthefencer Yeah. I suppose you could compensate by giving some sort of sneak attack type bonus where the fighter deals a lot of damage with the one attack, but then you just make it feel less like a fighter and more like a rogue that can wear heavy armor and swing bigger weapons.
It’s the same logic behind DMs nerfing the Rogue’s Sneak Attack damage. They don’t seem to understand that’s their primary damage source. It also encourages a style of gameplay intended for a Rogue: engaging from a hidden location or from safety while an ally engages them.
All you guys just do not get it. Round everything to simpliest terms, no use having all these high numbers when they can be small. FIghter is nerfed to what? Is he going to die? You looking at RPG's games the wrong way. You play the character, what every character that may be, why does the character have to be superman. D&D 5e and pathfinder has unnecessary complexities. When I play as a player, I actually hate leveling, I hat getting artifacts, cause I have to be bothered adjusting my character sheet. I have fun with just my basic character trying to survive. In my campaigns the characters start off with absolutely nothing.
I take feats for roleplay reasons! I took Linguist because I wanted to play a linguistics nerd who spoke every language we’d reasonably come across in the world as well as a few fun ones we wouldn’t because he’s a nerd. Also, I actually took Actor too! It allows him to mimic the voices of others, which not only lets him be an amazing face/disguise character, but is also is amazing for him managing to get down all these obscure foreign accents! Never say never my friend!
... Halfway through the video I'm starting to wonder why you're using 5e when you leave out or change so many significant rules. It sounds more like a homebrew system that's just using elements from D&D.
@@Daedalus_Dragon riding the populair wave in order to get players is my gues, no hate and it's pretty smart since he just basicly "homebrews" some stuff and players probably either leave or deal with it. Kinda impressive in a way
Well, he's not using 5e, he's playing actual d&d, created by Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and TSR. He's simply replaced THACO with the D20 roll high mechanic.
Played for years growing up on 2nd Ed and returning to the game in my 40's. Have to say, it's been a crazy learning curve, and I really appreciate the perspective you bring. Thanks for helping an old dm fresh out of long retirement / rpg torpor make things run smoother for his players.
This is a pretty interesting idea. In my homebrew setting, there's no variant human, no taking feats when you get the attribute bonus from leveling up. Feats are available in the setting though... since it's meant to be a more RP-heavy setting, PCs train feats the same way that you learn a tool or language. I believe it was 250 days of downtime training (not necessarily consecutive as long as you get the total) at a cost of 1gp per day. That makes it have a monetary and time cost to get a feat. One of the things I've been trying to do is give players a chance to see a living world grow around them.
Great thoughts! I hope some day you find the inspiration to bring together your ideas in a Professor Dungeon Master's +1 Book of Insight - An RPG system for players and DM's who love the story in the game. I continually appreciate your commitment to not wasting time at the table. I am not sure that people are catching what a signficant achievement it is to run a game for 6 or more players that has them coming back for more. Keeping things moving along and keeping everyone involved is a huge achievement. I am glad to see your channel growing!
After watching this video I can legitimately say, " have you tried not playing d&d? " I highly reccomend Numenera to you. It is my favorite system to play, but I love/play d&d for what it is. You have great points and they all line up with how Numenera is fundamentally designed.
The final stage beyond "have you tried not playing D&D?" is to realise all games are just published copies of someone else's house-ruled D&D, taking all the bits you like from all the games you've tried and codifying your own house-ruled D&D. Their group is at that stage.
@@MrBionicArm Really not true. There are plenty of rules systems out there (including Numenera, which is amusing considering Monte Cook's origins at TSR) that can't reasonably be called D&D variants in any way. Games like The Dying Earth RPG, FFG's Genesys, WW's Storyteller engine, to name just a few. It might be fair to say they're all responses to failings of D&D, but they're more like grouchy neighbors than the cousins that dominate the OSR sub-genre.
Rich McGee I would argue they all came about as a result of DnD. Whether that be lightly influenced, complete rip offs, or purposely counter to DnD to make it its own unique thing. Even if not purposely with DnD design in mind, people were inspired by what they played in DnD, at least I would wager the vast majority of it is.
Tbh i love how multiclass and feats can enable a whole world of Character building, the thief who is a devote cleric of mask (thief rogue/ trickery cleric) or the proud herald of a old and forgotten entity (infernal or hex bladelock / conquest pally) maybe the cunning, bold and daring duelist (Swashbuckler rogue or valor bard / battlemaster fighter) or maybe a brute and unstoppable gladiator (champion fighter/ berserker barbarian)
I get what you mean, I am currently building a Ancestral Guardian Barbarian Champion Fighter but I really was thinking about a berserker first. I just decided to go with Ancestral Guardian because I could reskin it into metal bending because my Character has dragonmarks like that.
I'm with you 100%. If I multiclass, it's entirely because that character concept is very interesting to me. I still reminisce about my Ranger / Cleric, who has almost no interclass synergies (and one glaring awkward overlap), but as a swashbuckler and devotee of the sea, he was gloriously fun to roleplay.
Completely agreed. I used to play a sniper (Rogue/Ranger/Assassin). Didn't multiclass with any other character, with the exception of taking Fighter/Defender when playing a dwarf. Multiclassing is perfect when you have an idea for a character that you just can't make under normal class restrictions.
You can be a thief who is devote cleric of mask, you just don't need to take skills of another class for doing that, just roleplay what he is. D&D is a group roleplay game, you just dont need to be good in everything, because rpg is this, some are good em somethings and other are good in another things.
I almost never multiclass, but the people I know who do multiclass don’t tend to do it for any kind of optimization or power gaming reason, in fact sometimes quite the opposite. Most commonly I see someone with a clear idea of a character they want to play, and to fulfill that concept they want to have features from multiple classes together.
Group initiative is where it's at. How would a DM go about using spell malfunction and critical success and degenerative effects like Dungeon Crawl Classics does in ones D&D game?
Just make a table. I've read 5e and DCC, and also watched the Prof's videos, and made one of my own. Most backfires are fairly minor, but high-level attack spells can ruin your day when they go wrong. DCC is a little *too* harsh imho, and too many tables, but it isn't hard to consolidate, simplify and moderate the idea.
What i do for spell failure is create on the fly random effects and try to weave them into the narrative. Crits are easy to implement when a spell is damage based, less so when they aren't. I also use the schools of magic (printed on spell cards) so Necrotic or Blood spells fail and succeed very differently from say, Holy or Fire spells.
@@HujraadJohaansen whenever I play a character with multiple attacks I roll them all together and then see what hits. The fighter can be just as boring or exciting as any other class. If a wizard takes 5 minutes to chose a spell that's boring too. It all bout being deceived and rolling right away
@@HujraadJohaansen I'd just modify the cost of defending in d00lite from 20 to 10. Attacking should be riskier and more exert more than defending, which is reflexive. One thing I really like about the system is that it accounts for multi-attacks in a cinematic way. When confronting a highly skilled opponent you'll attack less, not to leave yourself open. It seems fairly gritty to me, but the higher starting BP would be a good argument against that.
Wizard: can cast wish Fighter: naa bro only 1 attack. Oh yeah and no feats. And definitely no multiclass so you suck. You have pointy sticks that won't scale cuz you're stuck at 20 strength/dex forever. While your magic user counterparts are having fun casting cool as shit spells
I always thought combat feats and social feats should be in different buckets so the combat black hole doesn't suck up character development opportunities. I have different feat lists for that reason in games.
@@cloak5857 It would work better if it actually had a separate tally of combat vs social feats. There is no system that divides the two. Fighters gaining new combat feats as a class feature is the closest you get to that, like wizards picking up item creation or metamagic feats. But it seems to be only those two. There should be a non-combat and combat feat advancement.
Agreed! As a DM for 2 years (5e only) I have realized how much I dislike the standard rules to D&D are. I am not a hard DM and have had multiple players tell me they love playing my games, however I feel the PCs run the game more often than I do, not because I lack directive, but the rules grant so much power to the players it's ridiculous sometimes. I absolutely love the idea of magic being terrifying, lower hp, no ac, and less page turning for maximum effects. I once had my players ask me continuously a monsters AC I finally said, "Are you asking the monster? While you ponder the weakest points for maximum damage on this beast he prepares to strike you again." I think the 'Room' DC level application is perfect for this situation. I am currently establishing my own set of rules which hopefully will not deter my players but I want to enjoy the game better for myself. Thank you Professor for making me realize magic spell descriptions should be for the DM and not the players. You've changed my outlook of the game for better!
Was listening to this and was like "Ok no multiclassing or feats that's fine not everyone does character concepts that require those. OP and Nerf aren't that but ok?" The thing that you lost me was the argument of taking away a Fighters Multi-attack. Yeah a fighter hits once really hurting that dragon with 39 HP. Well if the Magic users don't just disintegrate the dragon first. It really makes the fighter seem inconsequential and yeah the Rogue also does hit once, but they do triple the damage easily. Also no Skill checks? Then why are we using dice? Assume competence yeah and not everything needs a roll but it shouldn't just be an easy solve. Honestly it just seems like you want to play a different system, which is fine, but I just don't know if all of this is as much of a problem as you are making it out to be. Oh should say that yeah me and my friends are also a group of adults with things to do and run a 5e game close to as written and it works just fine. Don't appreciate the attack on those that won't agree with your way of doing things by saying that you are "busy" people. It may not have been your intention but it seemed to insinuate that others that don't play like you are just wasting their time.
@@malakarvonstroheim5372 I noticed the same thing. Seems like all the pro- fighters upset about losing multi attacks haven't watched his episode on magic.
@@kevingooley9628 Basically he's playing a different game from everyone else. Yet labeling it the same way. It's like saying "We're speaking in English" yet you place in random sentences of full on German. Or making English flow like Japanese. You're not playing the same game as your audience.
Sounds like he runs magic from Dungeon Crawl Classics. In DCC the Magic User might end up disintegrating themselves or half their party if they get too gung-ho with slinging spells.
@@WhyYouMadBoi I've played d&d since 1986. He may be playing a different game than you, but the game he plays is the way d&d was for 30 years or so. There are other games than 5e.
Instead of extra attacks I just let my fighters roll damage for as many adjacent enemies that they would have hit with their first roll for as many extra attacks they would have gotten. Only roll once to hit, but can potentially damage several opponents.
I *love* the idea of taking a risk with spells instead of treating them like ammunition. It's a lot more story based and keeps wizards from being too nerfed at first and too powerful later.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 So you'd have a wizard first roll a d20 to see if he can cast that fireball, and if he can, then the enemy can make a save to see if he avoids (some) damage ? That is like non-magic fighting would always roll with double disadvantage (i.e roll to see if you can swing the sword at all, then roll again to see if you hit with the swing) Or do you mean that instead of the enemy save vs fireball, wizard has to roll a d20 to see if he can cast the spell, if he can, the spell just hits, there is no save ?
@@_Lunaria I think he means that if you swing your sword and there is a chance of it going wrong, why wouldn't it have a chance to go wrong when you try to manipulate the fabrics of reality? xD When casting fireball it just hits exactly like you want, no chance of exploding in your hands, for example He probably also only do two rolls for spells that deal damage in area, one for the casting process and one for damage, so if you pass a specific DC (as he said at the beginning of the video) it's total damage, normal fail deals half damage and fail by 5 or more/nat 1 it just fails or explode. This way I think it's balanced with martials only having one attack that don't explode themselves and hit only one target at a time :)
@@peakay2396 Spells are strong, yes, but unlike martials who can swing their sword as many times as they want, casters can only use those hard hitting spells few time a day, which balances it out pretty well already. And if the GM only chooses to put 10 goblins vs the group in a day, that the wizard can delete with 1 spell. That is not the spells fault, that is the GMs fault for not putting multiple smaller groups against the players. Cause yea sure the 6 goblins could be burned with 1 fireball, but after the 3rd goblin pack, the wizard is out of spell slots while the fighter keeps on swinging his sword.
@@_Lunaria Well, what I said is just how I think he rules based on what is in the video, but I really think having this risk of using magic is cool. I recommend seeing the corruption rule from DCC if you haven't yet.
Hey, Prof, would you ever been interested in livestreaming a game? I feel like most of us would be interested in actually witnessing this in action but can't for obvious reasons. I don't mean it as a "SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT" kinda thing, I'm just really interested in learning how to keep a game flowing for such an enourmos number of players.
It can happen. I don't have a YT channel, but students generally figure out that I like FRP games. So an office visit can certainly transition to D&D "shop talk."
You are clearly a clever GM and I like some of your ideas a lot (especially your leveling system based upon quests/character achievement). That all being said, are you sure 5th edition is really right for you? At a certain point you’ve changed enough fundamentals you’re not playing the same game. You claim these were rules in old editions, but 2e is not the same game as 5e. I get wanting simpler mechanics as a GM, but at a certain point if you strip them away it’s just group story telling. Still fun, but forgetting the “G” in RPG. You should honestly compile your rules into a supplement/conversion ruleset. It’s different enough it could be it’s own system. I suspect you don’t actually really care for 5e but make content for it because it’s what will get views. At any rate, keep making videos! It’s good that you don’t let yourself get quashed by dissenting opinions. That’s what online discourse is all about, and it’s clear you know what works best for your table.
IMO DND is very popular the next biggest game system is only doing a fraction of the business and is basically just a clone of DND. It is also one of the worst systems when it comes to the RP in RPG. But I play it and run it because that is what everybody knows and occasionally I can drag them away from DND for better games. I feel like you are right and he really does not like 5th much but having little choice both for his channel and for his table he makes it work.
I like this initiative. Roll your dexterity or lower on d20. If you succeed, you go before the monster. If you fail, you go after. If you roll a 1, you go before boss monsters, otherwise bosses go first.
He seems to be using the classes and class abilities of 5e, but then again, he doesn't really seem to differentiate between Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks in his magic video. Banning halflings (see his hobgoblin video) is a totally legit DM move, however. A setting's flavor is defined by what you don't allow. Sure, maybe a halfling could hop on his spelljammer and fly into PDM's world, but he'd have precious little reason to stay here unless his presence awoke the setting's grimdark gods and they stranded him by destroying his spaceship with Moonstone meteors.
@@Titan360 maybe in name only, after watching his video on what he does use compared to this one it's clear he just does what he wants under the guise that since rules can be changed he can do whatever. He is so far from any edition I don't know why he calls it D&D, this is just general role playing. He's a "good time over all" DM, which means he isn't really playing a game that's balanced but the game he wants.
@@drevil0076 No, but nice try. I mean if you think you're so good at DM'ing that you toss everything out, why not make it all up and don't even relate it to D&D? What's the point? His game honestly sounds like harmon quest, just people making shit up and the DM making it work, sort of.
@@iantusa9207 - First of all, D&D is the Kleenex of Fantasy RPGs. So unless there is a specific reason to point out the particular system you're running, then just saying "D&D", which everyone has heard of, just makes sense. Second, this is just a highly streamlined version of D&D. So, again, calling it D&D is perfectly legitimate. If you went through every edition of the game you would find just as much variation between them as between any of them and what he's doing. They add and delete entire gameplay concepts all of the time. This is no different, other than the fact that it's homebrew rather than official.
You can’t say you’re not needing the fighter just because enemy health is lower. A wizard casting fireball hitting 4 enemies for 25 damage a piece, then a fighter swinging once on one enemy for 10 damage…that’s why fighter gets extra attacks. Not everything was better in 1975
Thank you for this article. Many people forget that the round is supposed to be multiple back-and-forth swinging a sword. The damage is the net result of the action. Meaning you may have hit the person multiple times in that round. That doesn’t mean multiple attacks. Not in game mechanics. What you end up with is what’s called the average damage. Leader game designers for Dungeons & Dragons forgot this. I also do not allow feats. but I do allow feets… A.k.a. a centaur player … I also have a unique method of game initiative. I do round robin and ask him what each player is going to do. I then work out the initiative in the localized combat meaning of a player and a monster are the only ones engaged with each other the initiative is only between the two. If two are attacking one, again it’s only those three. Otherwise I go round robin with the results of each action. Taking notes as they go along quickly then I go round robin again explaining the outcome. Keeping it fast and furious. I do like some of your ideas on that as well
Professor, I like all of your content, but the campaign and rules ones are by far my favorite! This one was really great! I love the way you not only say what rules you don't use, but why, and then what you in fact do. I am going to save more of my mechanics questions for the Facebook group, as I feel that is a better forum for the back and forth sharing of information. Thanks again!!!
I'm enjoying the stripped-down, deconstructed rules - at first I was skeptical, but the longer I look at it, the more I end up agreeing that you gain more than you lose by cutting out all the crap. For example, my first reaction to cutting feats? "TERRIBLE - you're removing SO MANY of the player choices to build characters with!" Then I think a bout it, and the page upon page upon page of feats in the books I own, plus the countless others in books I don't own, and how few of them I've seen actually getting used, and how few of those even add anything role-playing-wise to the game other than spending more time trying to choose them and then unnecessarily adding and subtracting to the already overblown mathematics that take the scenic route to get to a simple target number anyway, and when I throw out all the chaff, I realize how little "wheat" is left at the end of the day, and then at last I get it: the feats are actually adding nothing to the game that more time spent role-playing rather than number-crunching wouldn't easily make up for, and then some. After I saw "Dungeon Crawl Classics", I began to appreciate it for its relative simplicity myself, and started thinking of the changes I'd make to a D20 game that took the best parts of D&D 3.0/3.5, Pathfinder, DCC, and the Dungeon! board game while cutting all the fat, with my perspective changing with more and more radical cuts making sense to me, and then I realized you were already a few steps ahead of me and that I was likely going to go in a similar direction anyway, so I really ought to pay attention here! I think that I've been considering only two extreme cuts that you've never mentioned: first, Alignment for sure, which has never added anything constructive to any game I've ever played that couldn't be infinitely better handled with old-fashioned Creative Writing 101-style characterization! Second is that I've been seriously considering cutting Character Level (the ultimate blasphemy to the Cult of D&D!) which, the more I think of it, has added little to the game beyond another illusion of choice that gets us ultimately to the same place as picking a target number and rolling a die, with a whole lot of unnecessary math added to the top that, when reduced, eventually just get us to that same target number anyway. I think these sorts of drastic changes are far more comfortable and make far more sense to role-players who've played games other than D&D, of course - there would probably be exceptions (especially among players who tried one or two other games and something didn't go well), but I'd be willing to bet most of the strongest objections come from gamers who've never tried another game. I know that you're making a lot of "hardcore D&D" folks mad with what has been working for you and your group - the staggering number of "You Can't Do That!" responses is, to me, a good sign you're on the right track (in my experience, GMs and Rules Lawyers only bring out the "You Can't Do That" responses when things are in danger of actually getting too fun! GM: "You meet an Orc in a 5'x5' room with a chest of gold - what do you do?" Me: "I want to talk to him, let me roll Diploma - " GM: "You Can't Do That! You attack the Orc, roll for initiative!") Keep up the good work! :)
Herr Professor mentions "alignment" in at least one of his vids...the one with his character sheets. Might be others tho. He harkens back to 0DnD when the assumption that all characters were good and fighting various forms of evil. Alignment wasn't a 3x3 grid, it was a single linear scale: chaos....neutral....law. Re character level. Epic 6 (E6). Look up the article about Gandalf being a 5th level wizard. You might not agree, but I'd bet you'll enjoy the different perspective. This plays well with the whole scaled down stats Herr Professor talks about. For those that really love their crunch however, may I suggest looking into Hârn? I'm not sure how many crunchier or more realistic a system is out there (not that I've looked). I do not like the HârnMaster system at all. It *totally* throttles role play. I totally love the Hârn world build though. But I digress...
What bothers me most about feats is that now there's a specific skill that allow you to shield bash, to pin someone or attack recklessly (when really anyone should be able to try doing that), so when a player wants to improvise doing something like that, I as the DM need to consider how to do that in a way that doesn't make the feat useless. Bah! Most feats really are useless.
"Most of the time instead of rolling dice I just decide upon the outcome, like your ranger, can they track the goblins to their lair? Yes they can, especially if the next part of the adventure is called 'the orc lair.'" This is super dangerous. While I agree that simple tasks (climbing over a short wall as a rogue, etc) don't need rolls, deciding on the outcome based on what you as the GM want to push the players towards feels like a type of railroading to me. You've just decided that there's no world in which the players don't find the lair (or where they have to get creative to do it), any implication story-wise that they might fail to find the lair is a *lie* you're selling to the players. There are no real consequences to their actions as a result, and aren't actions and consequences the heart of RPG gameplay?
First of all, love the vest. Moving on, I'm digging the "enough of the shenanigans" perspective, but it begs the question: if you feel compelled to modify so much of what was published for 5e, why bother using it? Related to that: what do you like about 5e, and why?
Great question. The 5E STARTER Set is one of the best set of RPG rules ever written. It's scalability that's the issue for me. If D&D just capped HP at 3rd level, it would be a better game.
Wizard describes the magical effect they want. I give them a target number. They meet or beat the target number. If successful they roll the d20 a second time for effect. That's it. It's worked fine for 20 years.
I know this is asking alot but it would be pretty cool to get like a pdf or something of all the house rules you use for your Keep on the borderland game. I really love many of your ideas (Although getting my players to agree with them is hard) one thing I was struggling with was the idea of maxing hp at 3rd level and lowering the monster hp. you stated multi dice damage spells should be lowered to suit and that made sense but I was wondering how to do it with muli-attacks as the group got higher level, but now it makes sense that you don't even do multi attacks. Anyway great video as always! Can't wait for the next one!
Still enjoy rewatching these videos Prof. Dungeon Master. Could you share your thoughts on playing online via video chat (Zoom)? How is your group coping with the pandemic??
People have asked for a video on that. I haven't done it yet, but probably will soon. I'm not big on Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. I Zoom it. It's not good, but it's better than nothing. We also continue to meet in person, but there are quarantine protocols (everyone locks down and self-isolates a week before the game). We only play once every 8 weeks now. :(
Again, your video reiterates the fact that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. I’ve been playing since 1981 (and still use the B/X rules) and you have inspired my tweaking of the game more than any other since those first days. Thank you for sharing your inventive imagination and talent with all of us, that look forward to each Thursday’s DungeonCraft video.
Love the video, you had a lot of really good points, and it sounds like the games you run work like a well oiled machine! And, personally, I loved your rules for initiative. I use them for every game that I DM, and my players love them too!
I'm very intrigued by your rules and definitely need to speed up my game - have you ever put all your rules down on paper? If you have I'd love to see that.
If you reduce the monster's hit points and balance it by removing multiple attacks from martial characters, doesn't it make casters even more powerful, since their damage output remains unchanged? As a possible alternative to Extra Attack giving an attack roll, how about it adding dice of damage? So a Fighter with Extra attack would do 2d8 with a longsword. Add in buffed crits (on a crit you roll the damage dice and add it to the max as opposed to doubling the dice) and you could keep martial characters on a par with casters without rolling multiple swings.
@@anthonynorman7545 And I think I remember him mentioning at one point that damage from spells in his game doesn't scale the same way it does in 5E. If you roll high, he'll let you do extra damage with a fireball. If you roll low, it's kind of a mediocre result.
I have actually done this and it works VERY WELL in 5e. I see no reason why a 12th Level master swordsman shouldn't be able to disembowel a monster in a SINGLE ATTACK. Especially since that "attack" is described as "a flurry or series of blows and feints" by the rules. If you use it, it WILL speed up your combats.
@@swaghauler8334 was that the only thing you changed or were there other changes with it? There's some balancing and meta-balancing issues with changing the way fighter damage works.
I absolutely agree that any and all rules can be changed. My table normally seats 3 or 4 players. I have found 5E so much simpler to use that most of my additional rules add a bit more complexity. One of my current pet peeves is why does dex increase the damage a ranged weapon does? For a longbow, it is all about the pull tension. I deal loosely with multiclassing, requiring any change to be aligned with the story. There is also a gold cost to acquiring a new teacher. I give all NPCs and PCs base HP=Con. Then you add their HD as they level. I've increased the number of pieces of armor (chest, legs, helm) to allow for a plate chest, but those cool elven chain pants (uh platemail?!). I also have a simple chart for critical hits and misses (sling weapon is still one of my favorites).... etc. I have added or really brought back some rules about lancing from a mount. That is still great fun! But then, that was your point... have fun the way you want to. It is OK! Oh, and I am one of the jerks that list the names across the top of my screen. It works for us! (Only mildly offended!) Thanks for stimulating my creative mind!
If it works, use it! I think the THINKING behind the Dex bonus is your shot is more accurate. For example, when you shoot a deer, if you hit it in the right spot you can kill it instantly. Hit it in the wrong spot and it can limp around, slowly dying. But you're right about bow tension.
It’s interesting that so many comments ask why the prof uses 5e and not just a homebrew, when it’s obvious that he’s trying to free the DMs mind from becoming a slave to a system. It’s all D&D the rules are just a suggestion.
"Maybe at a certain level..."Maybe we just don't need dice, or rules, or how about we just sit around and tell stories. The only reason that D&D is a "game" is that there are rules, these rules determine balance, that balance is consistently adjusted by teams of people who work the math in order to maintain that balance. Want to "keep the game moving," great its called an egg timer, or use a sand timer, either way you will keep the game moving. Players will have their actions predetermined by the time it is their turn and this also mitigates table talk and over strategizing amongst the group. I generally enjoy the Professor's videos, but this time I have to be among the naysayers. I just don't think that this level of throwing out rules is conducive of running a fair and consistent game. The rules are in place to create a sense of danger for the players, and allows for a less subjective gaming experience. This is also the reason that I roll combat dice for encounters in front of my players. It allows them to see that I didn't arbitrarily decide to kill a PC, that was just how the dice fell. I also let them know that encounters involving NPC's or creatures of higher intelligence are more likely to make sure that a PC is dead in most circumstances, but I still employ the rules as written and/or intended.
I don't remember if this is a varient rule, or some homebrew I encountered, but my group once tried out something called 'passive skill checks', based off of the passive perception rule. Instead of rolling, your result, and therefore skill, is skill level (Attribute bonus+proficiency) plus 10. So if you have 12 Dex and proficiency in sneak, your sneak skill is ALWAYS 14. Advantage is a plus 5. It wasn't for us, but if someone is looking for a between ground of using, and not using skills. If you want to use them, but don't want to be rolling so many dice.
then the Wizard or sorcerer should just choice a Focus at level 1. A focus is a item they can channel their magic through thus not needing components. It was always an option but it allows DM to mess with them by removing the focus.
I don't love many of these ideas for the game I play, but they definitely made me think. That's the wonderful thing about this game/hobby. His table and mine might be totally different, and, as long as we're having fun, we're both doing it the right way. I love being able to come to channels like this. Even when I disagree, it makes me confront how I do things and justify them. Sometimes I might change, sometimes not, but there's room enough in D&D for all kinds of games. Great video!
I'm curious about the characters in your game. Do you find that with the rules you use (and don't use), is there a tendency for players to play more "vanilla" characters? I get the impression that you favour traditional character roles in your campaign. Or do they still break with stereotypes and create weird and wonderful personas? Cheers and thanks for all your videos.
@@jacobstaten2366 maybe if your players play "vanilla characters" there is a higher chance of repeating concepts since you can go only as far as X/vanilla with said character, therefore in order to make that char feel "new" they wil do weird things/breack something here or there.
@@draakgast not every traditional character is vanilla. Some archetypes are scenery chewers and mustache twirlers. What I'm saying is that going out of their way to make unique characters won't make them unique by default. They have to actually know what that means in context or be out in scenarios that challenge them.
Hey Prof DM! I I just recently discovered your channel, and I have been trying a lot of what you're talking about. I implemented the "no initiative" rule, and it is working out fantastically! Keep it up and I hope to catch up to your latest video.
"Huh, interesting that he says iniative is too unwieldy..." "I run for 10 players." "There it is." I mean if you gotta make changes for the group size, then yeah. I get it. I've found iniative can still go pretty fast if you use digital tools. So for my games I use roll20. With the iniative tracker. Go down the list. Ask that player their iniative, hit sort. And done. I can understand those who just take feats for power, but sometimes feats really give a new spin. Example, I have a character concept for a rogue doctor. He took the healer feat so he could use a healers kit to actually heal people. Id even flavor some downtime to stich people back up, put joints back into place, etc. Yes there is synergy for the thief fast hand to heal as a bonus, but you can have synergy with flavor. The blanket room DC I can kinda get, but different aspects of different rooms could be stated differently.
Yea but you can do that without feats. I tend to agree with this guy but also started in AD&D and 2E. I went through phases of the modern stuff from 3.5 up but nowadays i find myself running a homebrew of AD&D with some modern sensibilities added in. I find combat boring in the modern editions its too much like a computer game. personally id rather just play the computer game eod. Also he touched on needing to roll for obvious things that your character should just know. I made a cleric that was bad at religion checks because its int based for instance...That kind of stuff is just unnecessary imo. you cant say modern editions of DnD dont get super cumbersome, my party got to level 14 and it would take the entire night to run a couple of encounters. digital help is pretty much required. i dunno just 1 DMs opinion from playing many table top games.
@@themonkeys96 why? You still have a cleric or druid without multiclassing. Personally I dont mind multiclassing within reason, but I will say no if the concept is too convoluted or overpowered. I also don't allow anything outside the core races for PCs. This is just the way I do it and there is 20 years of trial and error that led me to the way we currently play.
Of course. It’s my game (will slight mods). My advice is keep level advancement slow. It should take 4-5 sessions to get from level 1-2. That & watch DungeonCraft!
This everyone video feels like "this is why D&D 5E is bad." There's also so much homebrewing going on that, unless you're running your game with all of these other rules, most of these are pointless. I also really dislike the "feats are for metagaming" attitude that still persists. You can have mechanical thinking alongside RP decisions.
Which is true, yet in the end the professor likes to speed up all the game mechanics and feats and multi-classing just create more options for leveling up. Just look at the sheer number of optimization threads on fora, they will all talk about multi-classing and features. It's very gamey and lends more to video game 'builds' and winning/loosing vs the monsters instead of telling a story together.
True, this 100% . I need mechanical "stuff" as a baseline to convey and RP what the character is like. If I wanna be a speedy guy who's home in the wilds, I wil need to take feat: mobile, charger and have at least a +6 in survival and of course he's a ranger that just fits the character. If I wanna play a docter type I'm sure I'm gonna need the healer and skilled feat to make sure my guy can keep an eye on the patient, his/her breathing, needs sleight of hand for opperation stuff. Hell maybe I'l even take lucky for the dramatic *don't you die on me now Jayden, we're gonna get out of this and go back to your mansion where I can finally beat you at archery you SOB*.
Feats are kind of a blessing and a curse. They give you great ideas and abilities, but at some point they also mean, you can't take a certain action, unless you've spent a feat slot on them. Some feats seem like they should be possible applications of skills, that get adjudicated away. The stunt system from Iron Heroes is creative, but I'm not too familiar with it.
On the initiave part ; how do you handle flanking/ pack tactics. A group of wolves, all moving and attacking at once can rek a mid-level party pretty hard. Likewise the party can encircle your bossmonster.
Yes. A pack of wolves is dangerous. The party CAN circle the boss monster. I give him more hit points and sometimes the option to strike more than once.
Everyone is allowed to play the game the way they want, I'm just saying, this is barely D&D at this point. You might want to try a different game system. Something less tactical. Open Legend, maybe?
Hi, Ezra. It's 1980 D&D mixed with 5E. Some of those old rules were better. Some of the 5E stuff is better. I respect your opinion, and thanks for commenting!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I'm curious why you don't play something else. Is it pure nostalgia? I mean, there are so many good systems out there that do what you want better.
I agree, no reason to even grab the 5E books, hell why use books at all. Obviously he is running an awesome game and everyone he is running for is having a blast. I can't even get to the level of story telling he does as a GM and my creativity is quite poor, so I like to have some more rules to give some structure to the my game.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I still play a homebrew of AD&D. I kind of did what you are doing but in reverse. I found it was easier to add modern sensibilities to the old than try to do the reverse. I think this all made a lot of sense.
I’m coming to your channel WAY LATE, and just saw this nearly 3 years after it was originally posted. Excellent stuff. I’d love to see a follow-up video on the same subject. What other rules you no longer use? What else have you discarded since posting this video? What have you added, and why?
I see many things that I can agree with, however, I must disagree with the following: Fighters and multi-attack: It would be wonderful if all classes were granted multi-attack with spells, but if I did that, wizards would only be able to affect only one target with a fireball spell just to keep things balanced. There is a reason why wizards are known as "Glass Canons". That, and there are very few of my players who take a dedicated "Tank". I am more of a game Balance enthusiast. Wizards can injure multiple creatures in one go using an area effect spell. A fighter is more one-on-one. How do you balance this serious drawback for the fighter if you remove his extra attacks? The tank is there to make sure his Glass Canon doesn't wind up getting shattered; he can't do that with the loss of those extra attacks he gets at higher levels. Some of the critters he goes up against (even without their multi-attacks) can waltz on by a fighter with only one attack. Dramatic combat, and defence of your "best hope to triumph over evil" can be just as much part of roleplay as any other aspect of the game. It all depends on the DM and how he describes the combat in accordance to what the dice rolls tell him.
@@uthewallstreetbetsgod4714 I've watched them all. I am still an advocate for balance. I'm not passing judgement, I'm just saying you play the game your way, and allow me the same. I posted an opinion, nothing more.
There a system to track consumable resources like arrows or torches where if you have, say, a full quiver of arrows, you start with a d12. Roll the die after encounter where you shoot your bow; a 1 means you broke or lost some arrows and the die is not a d10. Likewise, a 1 of the d10 means to to go a d8, then d6 and finally to d4. Roll a 1 on a d4 then you're out of arrows. Finding some arrows means you go up a die, say d6 to d8. Finding, or buying, a new set means you start over with a d12. With torches, max may be a d10. What do you think?
Even though I don't play your style of game. I am glad you and your players like it. There is room for all kinds in the world. I wish you and your games all the best. It is good to hear your reasoning, regardless. Thank you for sharing your views.
Absolutely solid, as always! I remember in one video you mentioned doing a “how things can go really wrong” video eventually.....are you still planning on doing that? I’d be curious to see your take!
Good and charismatic video as always. I tend to always find a good idea in all the movies. But the more I see, the more I'm actually confused what game do You even play. It's hard to follow all the changes when even some of them contradict each other (you often say that you cut fireball damage in half, but then you say you don’t use HP for monster). Would you consider making a consolation of all the rules in one video? For this I’m interested in some of those points: 1. Do you only use the simple statistics as in the Character sheet movie? Do you still start with the 0 lvl chars? 2. Do you allow other races (what impact do they make)? 3. What classes can player take and what they change? 4. What class features you use? What features they get when they level up? 5. Combat: you don’t use the initiative, instead of HP use number of hits to kill, do you allow any advanced actions as parry, disarm, disengage, attack of opportunity, 2weapon fighting? 6. Magic: once casted roll for the spell effect (higher the better), don’t use slots per day? There are probably dozens other questions, but those came to my mind first. Cheers and keep up the good work
I'll publish many of my rules on Patreon shortly. Here are the answers: 1. Yes. Yes. 2. Yes--but they're rare and most people are human. 3. They can be the traditional classes or make their own, subject to my approval. 4. You get to say, "Hey--I should be able to hit that orc easier because I'm level 5." 6. No spell slots. Cast as many spells per day as you want until you blow yourself up and splatter your friends with your entrails.
Amazing video, Professor. I've been a critic of some of the rules you mentioned in your previous videos but now I realize I've been a critic of the WAY YOU EXPLAINED said rules. This video clarified so much of your though processes and now I'm an even bigger fan. Thanks for the amazing ideas. Hope your channel grows bigger and bigger (and yeah, we're doing our part to help ;-) )
I hearing appreciate Prof DM emphasizing the importance of keeping the game moving. With a group of people who have careers, family and limited time set aside, the flow game is important during a limited time to enjoy a game. I find myself with family, & work schedules about as limited opportunities, to have a game session for D&D, about as often as a lunar eclipse occurs.
I'm still really new to D&D. A couple of friends and I have been winging it for months now. I have high ambitions for one day finding a way to make EVERY rule for A NUMBER of editions work but somehow not slow anything down. Your truncated playstyle is actually an inspiration to me and helped me wing a number of events in my games I simply wasn't prepared for. Please keep up the good work because clearly, it works! Would love to see the end result of this multi year experiment feel much like your games already do; I just feel bad for leaving all the little ideas/rules from the little supplements out xD
There is no possible way to make every rule from the players handbook, DM guide, mnosters manual, Xanathar, Mordekainen, Tasha, and Sage.... and a few others, all 3000+ pages of the game, SIMPLIFIED game and make it "not slow anything down."
I initially disagreed with a lot of things that were said on this channel. HOWEVER!! Once I found myself bouncing between rule sets (Symbaroum, FFG, Torchbearer, etc etc) looking for something that fit my group and personal play style, I decided to take the Professor's advice and start incorporating rules I liked that made sense to my games. These videos helped me break away from religiously adhering to one rule set and my current homebrewed system is the right mix of fair, thematic, gritty and grim. So thank you, Professor. You're one of the few channels I will be regularly coming to for advice.
More power to ya, but my friends and I like to play 5E D&D, not arbritrary D&D where the bulk of the core rules are thrown out by (insert random DM). Some homebrew is fine, but there is a point (that this video has crossed) where you are no longer playing the edition you claim to be.
@@christophercox8485 You need to watch the first video on the rules the professor uses and from which system. It's all explained there and TLDR: it's like a salad bar and you pick and choose to match your style and needs. If you here the professor speak, you can clearly see that he prefers to keep things moving and exciting, rather than rules heavy games were a turn from a player can take up to five minutes to work out.
@@JorisVDC I've played a lot of editions over a couple decades. One of the fastest ways to keep a game moving is to actually use published rules so everyone is on the same page and minimize too long of a list of houserules. That isn't incompatible with keeping the game moving and maximizing excitement.
You should totally do a video (doesn’t have to be full length) on incorporating unusual or invasive elements into a preconstructed world (ie having an old, nonfunctional machine gun be found in the dirt when playing in a medieval world)
With every respect- my legit favorite system is the first edition of Hackmaster. Enormous amount of rules directed at inspiration and filling in flavor text. Talents, hindrances and the right way to run Thac0 even if city/country names are spelled more poorly than conventional Klingon. DM target number is a big taboo from fights over it during Deadlands in the 90's. Grateful I found your channel. Very valuable
Multiclassing and even powerbuilding is fine with me if the character makes sense and is played as a unique character. I don't care for standard archetypes because there is less uniqueness.
I started GMing an ICRPG game for my son and his friend, first time GMing anything in 20 years. Binging your channel. I'll be one of those commenters who agrees with pretty much everything you are advocating.
The one weakness of clockwise initiative- the chairs aren't equally comfy! I'm not giving up the good seat just so the rogue can go first!
Lol! I think the character with the highest STR or CON should sit in the hardest chair. They can take it!
Lol
You know that chairs are movable, right?
;-)
@@JorisVDC Must be a heavy chair.
@@JorisVDC you want to unleash a squad of physically awkward gamers to heft chairs around each others noggins?
Bring the bandages and liquid complacency(alcohol).
You have to get there early and steal the best chair!
I disagree with many things on this channel, but I always want to hear what the professor has to say!
same. It is nice to hear how others run a game. Gives me the ideas.
Same, still I don't understand why all those movies start with: "what I've changed in DnD", when clearly there's no longer a DnD to begin with.
That really depends on how you define DnD though. The professor has stated previously that he defines it as playing a game in which you can do anything, as long as you roll high enough with a D20.
@@DaBezzzz I've made another comment under the movie, where I've went more into details. The vast number of changes make it hard to follow and compare to the original DnD (5e at least). I'm fine with some of the ideas presented, but I believe it's totally a different game that we all are trying to "pump up" with professor's ideas.
I think one of the main idea of this channel is : "what can be done to adapt your game in a way it fits your style of GMing". The professor thinks in his games, combats are too long, scaling spoils the fun, and focusing in the system makes it less realistics... so he does changes that works for his games. If you are a GM that loves long and complex combat, maxing the potential of your characters, and making every skills important part of dungeon crawling, you might think 5E to be too simple. So maybe you want to take a few aspect of 3.5 and 4 that you liked and add you own feats... and that's totally fine! DnD rules are a proposition not a religion.
You should have opened with the "I run a very big game with mostly older players who don't have a lot of free time, this informs my decisions" as suddenly everything you just said makes sense.
You too will one day be an Adult with responsibilities and will look to make the time spent playing dnd more valuable haha.
Yes. You should have lead with the ending caveats you stated. I was wondering for most of the video why you were so worried about rushing things.
@@michaelstronghold3550 This is nonsense. Everyone is different. Some people sit after work watching 6 hours of the news. If they care about a hobby they could spend that 6 hours once a month playing a game..or whatever it is they care about. Busy people are busy. Not "Adults".
@@Amrylin1337 its about having 5 or 6 adults trying to coordinate around different schedules. I play as much as I possibly can which is about once a month. I personally can make time probably once a week but thats how it goes. Takes more than one person to do this hobby. I usually spend time working on my setting or terrain a couple times a week because thats whats possible. Don't give me no guff about "if you care about the hobby blah blah blah" I've been running groups for 25 years man. You don't do anything that long without caring about it.
@@michaelstronghold3550 I think it’s when you say “you too will be an adult” it implies the recepient of your message isn’t lol
I disagree with a lot of his rule choices.... but I love hearing different viewpoints because it helps give me ideas for how to better adapt the rules to my players! (New DM here)
Exactly! you should adapt your rules to fit your players--while still making it easy for YOU. My players don't give a poop about initiative, multi-classing, or spell slots. So none of them feel as if I'm particularly authoritarian. Cheers!
I can see the point about multiclassing in that it often seems more like tactical career planning instead of roleplaying. In AD&D, I once had a dual-classed NPC magic user/thief that I would send with the players to balance out the party and provide skills it might need, but that NPC was who he was from the outset and remained so. Fortunately, I never had players who worried too much about rule lawyering and trying to become tanks, although some rule options from Dragon magazine we used didn't always work so well, even though those options were often good food for thought.
The thing most valuable I learned here - and I wished I'd considered it far earlier - is that keeping the game moving and the players engaged is a primary objective in itself, even compared to combat, roleplaying and storytelling - if only because it's movement and engagement which primarily ultimately serves combat, roleplaying and storytelling within the limited resource of playing time. It now seems/sounds stupid, but I can't count the number of times that we sat around trying to make various rules give us the game we wanted to play instead of just abandoning/changing the ones that didn't.
I like a lot of other ideas too - multiple uses on prepared spells, with backfire possibilities, limiting the HP of even very tough opponents to make combat quicker/more exciting. I had an idea for critical hits that seemed to work - whenever max damage is rolled on the die, you get to roll another die and add it to the total until max damage isn't rolled (on a d6 weapon or spell, say, 6+6+3=15), so everyone gets a chance at critical hits, although warriors will still be best in combat because they will attack/hit more often.
I disagreed with the Prof's rules too until I realized how many days of my life have been wasted to determining initiative order and adding and substracting 10 million modifiers, just to end up back at 16 to hit.
And how many players quit because it all was too damn boring.
Wow. What a boss. His closing monologue sealed it for me, even though his cavalier takes on the rules feels a little disconcerting at times, fun and time economy are the most important thing for me as I get older.
Like them or not, he's got a point. He may not be offering the rules that are the most fun for your players but damn if he isnt giving you the most practical rules, thatll likely only increase in how practical they are
Basic D&D and ODD had a very "let the DM decide" type feel. And hopefully they decided to keep the adventure moving.
It's only foreign now because we have been corrupted by the Lawful Evil Corps from Seattle to believe that we MUST buy one more book full of charts to determine how far one can jump, etc. Then spend 115 minutes trying to find the rules when it comes up in the game.
@@spudsbuchlawI would argue that in a game, the most practical rule is also the rule that most players find fun.
I like PDM's philosophy: We don't serve rules. Rules serve us.
Regarding Skill checks, I'm pretty sure the rules of D&D 5e already state that you don't need to ask for a check for every single action the players are taking, only those that have consequences for a one time failure.
Who knows, let's just make everything up as we go!
I think I remember seeing that somewhere, yet I see a lot of other channels acting as if everything needs to be checked.
any decent game system with skills would usually have you only skill check in a crucial moment
I generally have characters Dex check to see if my characters tie their shoes.
Another reason to have "small" checks is if the character is in a hurry such as being chased. Rolling to climb a regular wall when the guards are 10 seconds behind you adds drama.
Professor Dungeon Master, you should consider either making a PDF we can use, or consider making your own role-playing game!
I'd love a guide on how you determine damage, potential spell catastrophe, and HP, it sounds like you've got the details right!
I wouldn't mind this but he has recommended the two books that he draws his ideas from. Index Card RPG and X Dungeon Master.
Just buy ICRPG, its all in there
The issue with the fighters not getting more attacks is that rogues and wizards are still dealing progressively more damage with each couple levels, right?
He has essentially reformatted the entire game, so your points are valid for normal 5e, but it not valid for his homebrew version. Listen to the last thing he says, he has made these changes to cater for a large group with time constraints, that is why he has made the changes that he has.
The wizard can blow up an entire room full of people as easily as he can blow up his allies and himself, is risk reward at its finest
Because the HP is capped at like 10-20, and an Adult red dragon has 36 HP and an Orc gas like 4, I dont think itll end up being a problem after all
@@spudsbuchlaw so when a wizard deals 60 damage with 1 spell? Am I crazy here? This doesn't make any sense...
In the end you are just admitting that WOTCs product is a steaming pile of S#$#
In Starfinder, there are two Envoy abilities: "Sick 'Em" and "Not in the Face."
Everyone will choose Sick 'em. Its more powerful. But my wife made me proud when she said "No, I can totally see my character saying "Not in the Face!". Lol
I really want to see your run a game that shows how a dungeon works, I want to get a better idea on how you handle monsters and players in an actual session
You mean he should do a little like Guy Scanders from "How to be a great GM" where he comments a little before and after the games his experience as a GM and his preaping ? But rather than focus in the RP, focus on the mechanics ?
I'd love to see this as well.
I agree that a practicum from Prof. Dungeon Master would be helpful. Perhaps a live-stream?
I agree, I'd like to see Professor Dungeon Master run a game, to see how his games flow.
It's coming to Patreon soon. Thanks for watching!
This is the greatest. from a creative perspective, this channel illuminates so many of the gems that RPG's provide to the story telling arts. world building, structure, pacing and most importantly tips and tricks for streamlining your efforts so that we can all get on with the story. Thanks for sharing your ample experience and your passion in such a thoughtfully concise manor, prof!
You seem to run the game opposite to my way of doing it. Your players have a good time, so does mine. That's the beauty of dnd.
I concur.
Let's see, armor class 32 and you have +14 to hit so......
I came from a wargaming background and so was always rule happy. We ran in early on to people using non-standard characters which proved to be invulnerable. We had a Ninja that could barely get hit, saved versus damage when they were hit and were basically unkillable. We had a TPK where the Ninja waltzed away.
Ooo I like your group initiative
But yes we got to 5E I have all sorts of feats? Skills? I'm not sure and I don't bother rolling them anymore because our four player group is 8th level now and we will get a 23 a 19 a 12 by the person who doesn't have the skill. Why am I rolling? We always get some crazy success roll. I've seen (a lot) of 30's rolled on a 20 sided die. Honestly the DM is basically waiting for that 5% chance of a one. and I am with you on the basic skills MY high powered Bard isn't going to roll a one The worst they can do is get an 11 really. Though I do flash back at times to Bob Dylan at "We are the World" but even he with his critical failure didn't get booed off the stage. He certainly wasnt attacked by tavern goers because his performance was so inflammatory.
Appreciate your view point. I do run a more stripped down 2E type game, where the druids rangers elves clerics dwarves gnomes haflings magic users all have certain different basic knowledge. We are rolling all the time for knowledge we should have in 5E that isn't provided in game so we are making crazy critical success rolls that should basically have us building a nuclear reactor and we come away with the fact that this mineral seems like it might be poisonous. It feels like this level of ability doesn't create a better campaign unless the DM has built their world ten layers deep. All this tends to expose is that the DM's world is one/two layers deep at best.
While I understand why he wants to speed things up by reducing the number of attacks, I don't agree with his conclusion that his solution doesn't nerf fighters. It does. A fighter dealing 50 dmg/turn, is not the same thing as a fighter dealing 10 dmg/turn vs an enemy that only has a fifth of their original HP. The reason why that's not the same thing is because the fighter's damage output was reduced, while all the other classes stayed the same. So while a fighter might have been able to deal 5 times as much damage as a cleric before the change, they now deal about the same amount of damage. Nerfing the fighter. You could also see it as buffing all the other classes, since their attacks now takes away a larger percentage of a monster's HP, compared to before the change.
Exactly. I’d like to see his reasoning in doing this, and why his players would ever pick a fighter now that it’s been reduced to a single attack, low damage melee class compared to the (presumably) unchanged spellcasters
@@nickromanthefencer Yeah. I suppose you could compensate by giving some sort of sneak attack type bonus where the fighter deals a lot of damage with the one attack, but then you just make it feel less like a fighter and more like a rogue that can wear heavy armor and swing bigger weapons.
@@nickromanthefencer recommend go watch his video on magic. (Also clerics). Everything in his game is altered to a more low fantasy style.
It’s the same logic behind DMs nerfing the Rogue’s Sneak Attack damage. They don’t seem to understand that’s their primary damage source. It also encourages a style of gameplay intended for a Rogue: engaging from a hidden location or from safety while an ally engages them.
All you guys just do not get it. Round everything to simpliest terms, no use having all these high numbers when they can be small. FIghter is nerfed to what? Is he going to die? You looking at RPG's games the wrong way. You play the character, what every character that may be, why does the character have to be superman. D&D 5e and pathfinder has unnecessary complexities. When I play as a player, I actually hate leveling, I hat getting artifacts, cause I have to be bothered adjusting my character sheet. I have fun with just my basic character trying to survive. In my campaigns the characters start off with absolutely nothing.
I take feats for roleplay reasons! I took Linguist because I wanted to play a linguistics nerd who spoke every language we’d reasonably come across in the world as well as a few fun ones we wouldn’t because he’s a nerd. Also, I actually took Actor too! It allows him to mimic the voices of others, which not only lets him be an amazing face/disguise character, but is also is amazing for him managing to get down all these obscure foreign accents!
Never say never my friend!
He would have just let you know those languages for free to match your character concept.
I see the title... this is going be a gloriously LONG video :p
I see he gave you a well earned shout out.
TIL your name isn't actually Hankerin Fernale lol
@@Styles2304 or Ingrid Bernal 😎
What is Ingrid Bernal? Why does he have 3 names?
@The Wizard, have you ever seen the Netflix original What Happened to Monday? It explains everything. 👍
... Halfway through the video I'm starting to wonder why you're using 5e when you leave out or change so many significant rules. It sounds more like a homebrew system that's just using elements from D&D.
I agree, the changes he discussed are not what I expected and it is very much “so why are you playing 5e even?”
@@Daedalus_Dragon riding the populair wave in order to get players is my gues, no hate and it's pretty smart since he just basicly "homebrews" some stuff and players probably either leave or deal with it.
Kinda impressive in a way
Yeah I was wondering the exact same thing.
Well, he's not using 5e, he's playing actual d&d, created by Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and TSR. He's simply replaced THACO with the D20 roll high mechanic.
To everyone saying he plays "actual" dnd, which version didn't even have fucking skills?
Played for years growing up on 2nd Ed and returning to the game in my 40's. Have to say, it's been a crazy learning curve, and I really appreciate the perspective you bring. Thanks for helping an old dm fresh out of long retirement / rpg torpor make things run smoother for his players.
Unrelated, but I'd like to throw out there that I'm incredibly jealous of the goblin holding the D20 statue behind you.
It's from Paizo. I love Pathfinder goblins!
This games sounds a lot like Dungeon World
This is a pretty interesting idea. In my homebrew setting, there's no variant human, no taking feats when you get the attribute bonus from leveling up. Feats are available in the setting though... since it's meant to be a more RP-heavy setting, PCs train feats the same way that you learn a tool or language. I believe it was 250 days of downtime training (not necessarily consecutive as long as you get the total) at a cost of 1gp per day. That makes it have a monetary and time cost to get a feat. One of the things I've been trying to do is give players a chance to see a living world grow around them.
Cool ideas. Thanks for watching!
Great thoughts! I hope some day you find the inspiration to bring together your ideas in a Professor Dungeon Master's +1 Book of Insight - An RPG system for players and DM's who love the story in the game. I continually appreciate your commitment to not wasting time at the table. I am not sure that people are catching what a signficant achievement it is to run a game for 6 or more players that has them coming back for more. Keeping things moving along and keeping everyone involved is a huge achievement. I am glad to see your channel growing!
Thanks, Richard! You can see it growing by sharing this video and tell your friends I officially approve all your DM decisions.
Richard, that game exists and it's name is Cypher System. You should check it out. It's rules kinda blew my mind.
After watching this video I can legitimately say, " have you tried not playing d&d? "
I highly reccomend Numenera to you.
It is my favorite system to play, but I love/play d&d for what it is. You have great points and they all line up with how Numenera is fundamentally designed.
I love Cypher System. Is my weapon of choice to one-shot games.
Sounds like he should just play 2nd Edition or some retro clone, if he doesn't want to be bogged down in turn time. But Numenera works too.
The final stage beyond "have you tried not playing D&D?" is to realise all games are just published copies of someone else's house-ruled D&D, taking all the bits you like from all the games you've tried and codifying your own house-ruled D&D. Their group is at that stage.
@@MrBionicArm Really not true. There are plenty of rules systems out there (including Numenera, which is amusing considering Monte Cook's origins at TSR) that can't reasonably be called D&D variants in any way. Games like The Dying Earth RPG, FFG's Genesys, WW's Storyteller engine, to name just a few. It might be fair to say they're all responses to failings of D&D, but they're more like grouchy neighbors than the cousins that dominate the OSR sub-genre.
Rich McGee I would argue they all came about as a result of DnD. Whether that be lightly influenced, complete rip offs, or purposely counter to DnD to make it its own unique thing. Even if not purposely with DnD design in mind, people were inspired by what they played in DnD, at least I would wager the vast majority of it is.
A relatively unknown die is the D1
“Because the DM said so” is the D1
Thought that was rule 0 😁
A ping pong ball with a one on it.
@@roumonada will it stop rolling?
Raymond Lugo All good things must come to an end.
Well said, Cal!
Tbh i love how multiclass and feats can enable a whole world of Character building, the thief who is a devote cleric of mask (thief rogue/ trickery cleric) or the proud herald of a old and forgotten entity (infernal or hex bladelock / conquest pally) maybe the cunning, bold and daring duelist (Swashbuckler rogue or valor bard / battlemaster fighter) or maybe a brute and unstoppable gladiator (champion fighter/ berserker barbarian)
I get what you mean, I am currently building a Ancestral Guardian Barbarian Champion Fighter but I really was thinking about a berserker first. I just decided to go with Ancestral Guardian because I could reskin it into metal bending because my Character has dragonmarks like that.
I'm with you 100%. If I multiclass, it's entirely because that character concept is very interesting to me. I still reminisce about my Ranger / Cleric, who has almost no interclass synergies (and one glaring awkward overlap), but as a swashbuckler and devotee of the sea, he was gloriously fun to roleplay.
Completely agreed. I used to play a sniper (Rogue/Ranger/Assassin). Didn't multiclass with any other character, with the exception of taking Fighter/Defender when playing a dwarf. Multiclassing is perfect when you have an idea for a character that you just can't make under normal class restrictions.
You can be a thief who is devote cleric of mask, you just don't need to take skills of another class for doing that, just roleplay what he is. D&D is a group roleplay game, you just dont need to be good in everything, because rpg is this, some are good em somethings and other are good in another things.
I almost never multiclass, but the people I know who do multiclass don’t tend to do it for any kind of optimization or power gaming reason, in fact sometimes quite the opposite. Most commonly I see someone with a clear idea of a character they want to play, and to fulfill that concept they want to have features from multiple classes together.
Group initiative is where it's at.
How would a DM go about using spell malfunction and critical success and degenerative effects like Dungeon Crawl Classics does in ones D&D game?
Just make a table. I've read 5e and DCC, and also watched the Prof's videos, and made one of my own. Most backfires are fairly minor, but high-level attack spells can ruin your day when they go wrong. DCC is a little *too* harsh imho, and too many tables, but it isn't hard to consolidate, simplify and moderate the idea.
That's the next video. Stay tuned!
What i do for spell failure is create on the fly random effects and try to weave them into the narrative. Crits are easy to implement when a spell is damage based, less so when they aren't. I also use the schools of magic (printed on spell cards) so Necrotic or Blood spells fail and succeed very differently from say, Holy or Fire spells.
Fighter can swing his sword multiple times because the wizard can drop a fire bomb on 100+ goblins in a giant room. It's all fair
Seriously, like just screw the melee classes while casters are altering the entire realm with one action.
@@HujraadJohaansen whenever I play a character with multiple attacks I roll them all together and then see what hits. The fighter can be just as boring or exciting as any other class. If a wizard takes 5 minutes to chose a spell that's boring too. It all bout being deceived and rolling right away
I think Bare Bones Fantasy has a great system for multi-attacks. I would reduce the cost of defending though.
@@HujraadJohaansen I'd just modify the cost of defending in d00lite from 20 to 10. Attacking should be riskier and more exert more than defending, which is reflexive. One thing I really like about the system is that it accounts for multi-attacks in a cinematic way. When confronting a highly skilled opponent you'll attack less, not to leave yourself open. It seems fairly gritty to me, but the higher starting BP would be a good argument against that.
Wizard: can cast wish
Fighter: naa bro only 1 attack. Oh yeah and no feats. And definitely no multiclass so you suck. You have pointy sticks that won't scale cuz you're stuck at 20 strength/dex forever. While your magic user counterparts are having fun casting cool as shit spells
"If you don't like what I'm saying, don't use it."
I always thought combat feats and social feats should be in different buckets so the combat black hole doesn't suck up character development opportunities.
I have different feat lists for that reason in games.
Pathfinder did this and it works pretty well.
@@cloak5857 It would work better if it actually had a separate tally of combat vs social feats. There is no system that divides the two.
Fighters gaining new combat feats as a class feature is the closest you get to that, like wizards picking up item creation or metamagic feats. But it seems to be only those two.
There should be a non-combat and combat feat advancement.
Gandalf is not a man. He's an Istari, aka maiar/ angel who took human-like forms about 3,000 years ago.
These videos have helped me out more than anything else I've watched.
he kills it
Agreed! As a DM for 2 years (5e only) I have realized how much I dislike the standard rules to D&D are. I am not a hard DM and have had multiple players tell me they love playing my games, however I feel the PCs run the game more often than I do, not because I lack directive, but the rules grant so much power to the players it's ridiculous sometimes. I absolutely love the idea of magic being terrifying, lower hp, no ac, and less page turning for maximum effects. I once had my players ask me continuously a monsters AC I finally said, "Are you asking the monster? While you ponder the weakest points for maximum damage on this beast he prepares to strike you again." I think the 'Room' DC level application is perfect for this situation. I am currently establishing my own set of rules which hopefully will not deter my players but I want to enjoy the game better for myself. Thank you Professor for making me realize magic spell descriptions should be for the DM and not the players. You've changed my outlook of the game for better!
Cool!
Have you checked out Matthew Colville's videos?
@@ArvelDreth Of course. He is the Elvis to my Ramones. The one on "Why is your country NOT at war?" is required DM viewing.
Was listening to this and was like "Ok no multiclassing or feats that's fine not everyone does character concepts that require those. OP and Nerf aren't that but ok?" The thing that you lost me was the argument of taking away a Fighters Multi-attack. Yeah a fighter hits once really hurting that dragon with 39 HP. Well if the Magic users don't just disintegrate the dragon first. It really makes the fighter seem inconsequential and yeah the Rogue also does hit once, but they do triple the damage easily. Also no Skill checks? Then why are we using dice? Assume competence yeah and not everything needs a roll but it shouldn't just be an easy solve. Honestly it just seems like you want to play a different system, which is fine, but I just don't know if all of this is as much of a problem as you are making it out to be. Oh should say that yeah me and my friends are also a group of adults with things to do and run a 5e game close to as written and it works just fine. Don't appreciate the attack on those that won't agree with your way of doing things by saying that you are "busy" people. It may not have been your intention but it seemed to insinuate that others that don't play like you are just wasting their time.
Do bear in mind that Magic in his table is something that he establishes as a double edge sword that could kill the user at a moments notice
@@malakarvonstroheim5372 I noticed the same thing. Seems like all the pro- fighters upset about losing multi attacks haven't watched his episode on magic.
@@kevingooley9628 Basically he's playing a different game from everyone else. Yet labeling it the same way. It's like saying "We're speaking in English" yet you place in random sentences of full on German. Or making English flow like Japanese. You're not playing the same game as your audience.
Sounds like he runs magic from Dungeon Crawl Classics. In DCC the Magic User might end up disintegrating themselves or half their party if they get too gung-ho with slinging spells.
@@WhyYouMadBoi I've played d&d since 1986. He may be playing a different game than you, but the game he plays is the way d&d was for 30 years or so. There are other games than 5e.
Instead of extra attacks I just let my fighters roll damage for as many adjacent enemies that they would have hit with their first roll for as many extra attacks they would have gotten.
Only roll once to hit, but can potentially damage several opponents.
In older editions of DnD the fighter could kill as many monsters with 1 hit die as their level.
I *love* the idea of taking a risk with spells instead of treating them like ammunition. It's a lot more story based and keeps wizards from being too nerfed at first and too powerful later.
EXACTLY! You said that better than I could.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 So you'd have a wizard first roll a d20 to see if he can cast that fireball, and if he can, then the enemy can make a save to see if he avoids (some) damage ? That is like non-magic fighting would always roll with double disadvantage (i.e roll to see if you can swing the sword at all, then roll again to see if you hit with the swing)
Or do you mean that instead of the enemy save vs fireball, wizard has to roll a d20 to see if he can cast the spell, if he can, the spell just hits, there is no save ?
@@_Lunaria I think he means that if you swing your sword and there is a chance of it going wrong, why wouldn't it have a chance to go wrong when you try to manipulate the fabrics of reality? xD
When casting fireball it just hits exactly like you want, no chance of exploding in your hands, for example
He probably also only do two rolls for spells that deal damage in area, one for the casting process and one for damage, so if you pass a specific DC (as he said at the beginning of the video) it's total damage, normal fail deals half damage and fail by 5 or more/nat 1 it just fails or explode. This way I think it's balanced with martials only having one attack that don't explode themselves and hit only one target at a time :)
@@peakay2396 Spells are strong, yes, but unlike martials who can swing their sword as many times as they want, casters can only use those hard hitting spells few time a day, which balances it out pretty well already.
And if the GM only chooses to put 10 goblins vs the group in a day, that the wizard can delete with 1 spell.
That is not the spells fault, that is the GMs fault for not putting multiple smaller groups against the players.
Cause yea sure the 6 goblins could be burned with 1 fireball, but after the 3rd goblin pack, the wizard is out of spell slots while the fighter keeps on swinging his sword.
@@_Lunaria Well, what I said is just how I think he rules based on what is in the video, but I really think having this risk of using magic is cool. I recommend seeing the corruption rule from DCC if you haven't yet.
Hey, Prof, would you ever been interested in livestreaming a game? I feel like most of us would be interested in actually witnessing this in action but can't for obvious reasons.
I don't mean it as a "SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT" kinda thing, I'm just really interested in learning how to keep a game flowing for such an enourmos number of players.
I wonder how many of Professor's legitimate students approach him during office hours for D&D advice
It can happen. I don't have a YT channel, but students generally figure out that I like FRP games. So an office visit can certainly transition to D&D "shop talk."
Her probably has after school office hours for DnD!
Actor feat on a changeling was way more fun than getting another +1 to my dex
Fair enough.
You are clearly a clever GM and I like some of your ideas a lot (especially your leveling system based upon quests/character achievement). That all being said, are you sure 5th edition is really right for you? At a certain point you’ve changed enough fundamentals you’re not playing the same game. You claim these were rules in old editions, but 2e is not the same game as 5e. I get wanting simpler mechanics as a GM, but at a certain point if you strip them away it’s just group story telling. Still fun, but forgetting the “G” in RPG.
You should honestly compile your rules into a supplement/conversion ruleset. It’s different enough it could be it’s own system. I suspect you don’t actually really care for 5e but make content for it because it’s what will get views. At any rate, keep making videos! It’s good that you don’t let yourself get quashed by dissenting opinions. That’s what online discourse is all about, and it’s clear you know what works best for your table.
i know this is old, but he doesn't use 5th edition, he uses a gestalt of systems he likes
Watch the "the rules I use" video
Prof DM runs his own game, using D&D5e as inspiration amongst other things.
IMO DND is very popular the next biggest game system is only doing a fraction of the business and is basically just a clone of DND. It is also one of the worst systems when it comes to the RP in RPG. But I play it and run it because that is what everybody knows and occasionally I can drag them away from DND for better games. I feel like you are right and he really does not like 5th much but having little choice both for his channel and for his table he makes it work.
I like this initiative. Roll your dexterity or lower on d20. If you succeed, you go before the monster. If you fail, you go after. If you roll a 1, you go before boss monsters, otherwise bosses go first.
Very cool!
I have to wonder why you’re even using 5e. It seems to me you should just make it all up.
He seems to be using the classes and class abilities of 5e, but then again, he doesn't really seem to differentiate between Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks in his magic video.
Banning halflings (see his hobgoblin video) is a totally legit DM move, however. A setting's flavor is defined by what you don't allow. Sure, maybe a halfling could hop on his spelljammer and fly into PDM's world, but he'd have precious little reason to stay here unless his presence awoke the setting's grimdark gods and they stranded him by destroying his spaceship with Moonstone meteors.
@@Titan360 maybe in name only, after watching his video on what he does use compared to this one it's clear he just does what he wants under the guise that since rules can be changed he can do whatever.
He is so far from any edition I don't know why he calls it D&D, this is just general role playing. He's a "good time over all" DM, which means he isn't really playing a game that's balanced but the game he wants.
@@iantusa9207 In other words - he's the Dungeon Master, not the Rule Enforcer.
@@drevil0076 No, but nice try. I mean if you think you're so good at DM'ing that you toss everything out, why not make it all up and don't even relate it to D&D? What's the point? His game honestly sounds like harmon quest, just people making shit up and the DM making it work, sort of.
@@iantusa9207 - First of all, D&D is the Kleenex of Fantasy RPGs. So unless there is a specific reason to point out the particular system you're running, then just saying "D&D", which everyone has heard of, just makes sense.
Second, this is just a highly streamlined version of D&D. So, again, calling it D&D is perfectly legitimate. If you went through every edition of the game you would find just as much variation between them as between any of them and what he's doing. They add and delete entire gameplay concepts all of the time. This is no different, other than the fact that it's homebrew rather than official.
You can’t say you’re not needing the fighter just because enemy health is lower. A wizard casting fireball hitting 4 enemies for 25 damage a piece, then a fighter swinging once on one enemy for 10 damage…that’s why fighter gets extra attacks. Not everything was better in 1975
Great video. Thought provoking and loving every minute. Think I'll watch it again....Cheers!!
Thank you for this article.
Many people forget that the round is supposed to be multiple back-and-forth swinging a sword. The damage is the net result of the action. Meaning you may have hit the person multiple times in that round. That doesn’t mean multiple attacks. Not in game mechanics. What you end up with is what’s called the average damage. Leader game designers for Dungeons & Dragons forgot this.
I also do not allow feats. but I do allow feets… A.k.a. a centaur player …
I also have a unique method of game initiative. I do round robin and ask him what each player is going to do. I then work out the initiative in the localized combat
meaning of a player and a monster are the only ones engaged with each other the initiative is only between the two. If two are attacking one, again it’s only those three. Otherwise I go round robin with the results of each action. Taking notes as they go along quickly
then I go round robin again explaining the outcome. Keeping it fast and furious.
I do like some of your ideas on that as well
Professor, I like all of your content, but the campaign and rules ones are by far my favorite! This one was really great! I love the way you not only say what rules you don't use, but why, and then what you in fact do. I am going to save more of my mechanics questions for the Facebook group, as I feel that is a better forum for the back and forth sharing of information. Thanks again!!!
Man i dunno it seems like playing your campaign would be more like watching a video then playing a game.
In Gandalf's defense, he wasn't a man.
I'm enjoying the stripped-down, deconstructed rules - at first I was skeptical, but the longer I look at it, the more I end up agreeing that you gain more than you lose by cutting out all the crap.
For example, my first reaction to cutting feats? "TERRIBLE - you're removing SO MANY of the player choices to build characters with!" Then I think a bout it, and the page upon page upon page of feats in the books I own, plus the countless others in books I don't own, and how few of them I've seen actually getting used, and how few of those even add anything role-playing-wise to the game other than spending more time trying to choose them and then unnecessarily adding and subtracting to the already overblown mathematics that take the scenic route to get to a simple target number anyway, and when I throw out all the chaff, I realize how little "wheat" is left at the end of the day, and then at last I get it: the feats are actually adding nothing to the game that more time spent role-playing rather than number-crunching wouldn't easily make up for, and then some.
After I saw "Dungeon Crawl Classics", I began to appreciate it for its relative simplicity myself, and started thinking of the changes I'd make to a D20 game that took the best parts of D&D 3.0/3.5, Pathfinder, DCC, and the Dungeon! board game while cutting all the fat, with my perspective changing with more and more radical cuts making sense to me, and then I realized you were already a few steps ahead of me and that I was likely going to go in a similar direction anyway, so I really ought to pay attention here!
I think that I've been considering only two extreme cuts that you've never mentioned: first, Alignment for sure, which has never added anything constructive to any game I've ever played that couldn't be infinitely better handled with old-fashioned Creative Writing 101-style characterization!
Second is that I've been seriously considering cutting Character Level (the ultimate blasphemy to the Cult of D&D!) which, the more I think of it, has added little to the game beyond another illusion of choice that gets us ultimately to the same place as picking a target number and rolling a die, with a whole lot of unnecessary math added to the top that, when reduced, eventually just get us to that same target number anyway.
I think these sorts of drastic changes are far more comfortable and make far more sense to role-players who've played games other than D&D, of course - there would probably be exceptions (especially among players who tried one or two other games and something didn't go well), but I'd be willing to bet most of the strongest objections come from gamers who've never tried another game.
I know that you're making a lot of "hardcore D&D" folks mad with what has been working for you and your group - the staggering number of "You Can't Do That!" responses is, to me, a good sign you're on the right track (in my experience, GMs and Rules Lawyers only bring out the "You Can't Do That" responses when things are in danger of actually getting too fun! GM: "You meet an Orc in a 5'x5' room with a chest of gold - what do you do?" Me: "I want to talk to him, let me roll Diploma - " GM: "You Can't Do That! You attack the Orc, roll for initiative!") Keep up the good work! :)
Herr Professor mentions "alignment" in at least one of his vids...the one with his character sheets. Might be others tho. He harkens back to 0DnD when the assumption that all characters were good and fighting various forms of evil. Alignment wasn't a 3x3 grid, it was a single linear scale: chaos....neutral....law.
Re character level. Epic 6 (E6). Look up the article about Gandalf being a 5th level wizard. You might not agree, but I'd bet you'll enjoy the different perspective. This plays well with the whole scaled down stats Herr Professor talks about.
For those that really love their crunch however, may I suggest looking into Hârn? I'm not sure how many crunchier or more realistic a system is out there (not that I've looked). I do not like the HârnMaster system at all. It *totally* throttles role play. I totally love the Hârn world build though. But I digress...
What bothers me most about feats is that now there's a specific skill that allow you to shield bash, to pin someone or attack recklessly (when really anyone should be able to try doing that), so when a player wants to improvise doing something like that, I as the DM need to consider how to do that in a way that doesn't make the feat useless. Bah! Most feats really are useless.
You guys should try ICRPG. It's gonna blow your mind
"Most of the time instead of rolling dice I just decide upon the outcome, like your ranger, can they track the goblins to their lair? Yes they can, especially if the next part of the adventure is called 'the orc lair.'"
This is super dangerous. While I agree that simple tasks (climbing over a short wall as a rogue, etc) don't need rolls, deciding on the outcome based on what you as the GM want to push the players towards feels like a type of railroading to me. You've just decided that there's no world in which the players don't find the lair (or where they have to get creative to do it), any implication story-wise that they might fail to find the lair is a *lie* you're selling to the players. There are no real consequences to their actions as a result, and aren't actions and consequences the heart of RPG gameplay?
First of all, love the vest. Moving on, I'm digging the "enough of the shenanigans" perspective, but it begs the question: if you feel compelled to modify so much of what was published for 5e, why bother using it? Related to that: what do you like about 5e, and why?
Great question. The 5E STARTER Set is one of the best set of RPG rules ever written. It's scalability that's the issue for me. If D&D just capped HP at 3rd level, it would be a better game.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 How do you feel about the wound penalty system, or the vitality point and body point system?
Can you explain your magic system?
Wizard describes the magical effect they want. I give them a target number. They meet or beat the target number. If successful they roll the d20 a second time for effect. That's it. It's worked fine for 20 years.
@DUNGEONCRAFT1 If successful, do they roll? Or do you have a table if they fail? Like a mishap table? (Thank you for the reply! I'm a huge fan!)
I love the content and experience you bring to your channel. Well done! How to you handle romance and relationships in your campaigns?
Coming up on Valentine's Day.
I know this is asking alot but it would be pretty cool to get like a pdf or something of all the house rules you use for your Keep on the borderland game.
I really love many of your ideas (Although getting my players to agree with them is hard) one thing I was struggling with was the idea of maxing hp at 3rd level and lowering the monster hp. you stated multi dice damage spells should be lowered to suit and that made sense but I was wondering how to do it with muli-attacks as the group got higher level, but now it makes sense that you don't even do multi attacks.
Anyway great video as always! Can't wait for the next one!
PDFs of rules and character sheets will be available on Patreon shortly. Thanks for watching!
I like your play style, it's awesome, but it's kinda tricky for start. Where can I see a full session with you as dm? I want to know more about it.
Still enjoy rewatching these videos Prof. Dungeon Master. Could you share your thoughts on playing online via video chat (Zoom)? How is your group coping with the pandemic??
People have asked for a video on that. I haven't done it yet, but probably will soon. I'm not big on Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. I Zoom it. It's not good, but it's better than nothing. We also continue to meet in person, but there are quarantine protocols (everyone locks down and self-isolates a week before the game). We only play once every 8 weeks now. :(
Again, your video reiterates the fact that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.
I’ve been playing since 1981 (and still use the B/X rules) and you have inspired my tweaking of the game more than any other since those first days. Thank you for sharing your inventive imagination and talent with all of us, that look forward to each Thursday’s DungeonCraft video.
Go B/X!
well said
Love the video, you had a lot of really good points, and it sounds like the games you run work like a well oiled machine! And, personally, I loved your rules for initiative. I use them for every game that I DM, and my players love them too!
I really love the "room difficulty" idea or encounter. saves so much time and scales well.
Thank Runehammer.
Interesting points, Professor. You got me thinking about how I do initiative and how I can streamline/improve it.
This video is why I don't need to make DM videos anymore. +1 vest is all you need. Brilly.
YES YOU DO! Naw, do your thing. Look forward to the next Dungeon DJ.
if your worried about fighters taking too long have them make 1 attack but do damage for all attacks ex 4 attacks 4d8 plus str
That's a cool idea. And they can roll one hit and split it up between multiple opponents!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 ya very cleave esc
and thank you for your vids and interacting with the community 10/10
I'm very intrigued by your rules and definitely need to speed up my game - have you ever put all your rules down on paper? If you have I'd love to see that.
It's coming to Patreon--but not all at once. In dribs & drabs. Rules are incredibly time-consuming to write. Thanks, Jafar!
I love your ideas, quite frankly. I love how you make the game simpler, more direct, more exciting.
You're welcome and thanks for watching and sharing!
If you reduce the monster's hit points and balance it by removing multiple attacks from martial characters, doesn't it make casters even more powerful, since their damage output remains unchanged?
As a possible alternative to Extra Attack giving an attack roll, how about it adding dice of damage? So a Fighter with Extra attack would do 2d8 with a longsword. Add in buffed crits (on a crit you roll the damage dice and add it to the max as opposed to doubling the dice) and you could keep martial characters on a par with casters without rolling multiple swings.
Maybe, but the spell casters are less powerful because they have a fumble table.
@@anthonynorman7545 And I think I remember him mentioning at one point that damage from spells in his game doesn't scale the same way it does in 5E. If you roll high, he'll let you do extra damage with a fireball. If you roll low, it's kind of a mediocre result.
@@duskworkerdron5901 rolling low also can have miss firing
I have actually done this and it works VERY WELL in 5e. I see no reason why a 12th Level master swordsman shouldn't be able to disembowel a monster in a SINGLE ATTACK. Especially since that "attack" is described as "a flurry or series of blows and feints" by the rules. If you use it, it WILL speed up your combats.
@@swaghauler8334 was that the only thing you changed or were there other changes with it? There's some balancing and meta-balancing issues with changing the way fighter damage works.
I absolutely agree that any and all rules can be changed. My table normally seats 3 or 4 players. I have found 5E so much simpler to use that most of my additional rules add a bit more complexity. One of my current pet peeves is why does dex increase the damage a ranged weapon does? For a longbow, it is all about the pull tension. I deal loosely with multiclassing, requiring any change to be aligned with the story. There is also a gold cost to acquiring a new teacher. I give all NPCs and PCs base HP=Con. Then you add their HD as they level. I've increased the number of pieces of armor (chest, legs, helm) to allow for a plate chest, but those cool elven chain pants (uh platemail?!). I also have a simple chart for critical hits and misses (sling weapon is still one of my favorites).... etc. I have added or really brought back some rules about lancing from a mount. That is still great fun! But then, that was your point... have fun the way you want to. It is OK! Oh, and I am one of the jerks that list the names across the top of my screen. It works for us! (Only mildly offended!)
Thanks for stimulating my creative mind!
If it works, use it! I think the THINKING behind the Dex bonus is your shot is more accurate. For example, when you shoot a deer, if you hit it in the right spot you can kill it instantly. Hit it in the wrong spot and it can limp around, slowly dying. But you're right about bow tension.
It’s interesting that so many comments ask why the prof uses 5e and not just a homebrew, when it’s obvious that he’s trying to free the DMs mind from becoming a slave to a system. It’s all D&D the rules are just a suggestion.
THANK you. You get it.
I gotta say this is your best video just for the first rule
"Maybe at a certain level..."Maybe we just don't need dice, or rules, or how about we just sit around and tell stories. The only reason that D&D is a "game" is that there are rules, these rules determine balance, that balance is consistently adjusted by teams of people who work the math in order to maintain that balance. Want to "keep the game moving," great its called an egg timer, or use a sand timer, either way you will keep the game moving. Players will have their actions predetermined by the time it is their turn and this also mitigates table talk and over strategizing amongst the group. I generally enjoy the Professor's videos, but this time I have to be among the naysayers. I just don't think that this level of throwing out rules is conducive of running a fair and consistent game. The rules are in place to create a sense of danger for the players, and allows for a less subjective gaming experience. This is also the reason that I roll combat dice for encounters in front of my players. It allows them to see that I didn't arbitrarily decide to kill a PC, that was just how the dice fell. I also let them know that encounters involving NPC's or creatures of higher intelligence are more likely to make sure that a PC is dead in most circumstances, but I still employ the rules as written and/or intended.
I don't remember if this is a varient rule, or some homebrew I encountered, but my group once tried out something called 'passive skill checks', based off of the passive perception rule. Instead of rolling, your result, and therefore skill, is skill level (Attribute bonus+proficiency) plus 10. So if you have 12 Dex and proficiency in sneak, your sneak skill is ALWAYS 14. Advantage is a plus 5. It wasn't for us, but if someone is looking for a between ground of using, and not using skills. If you want to use them, but don't want to be rolling so many dice.
Interesting point. I’m as a dm don’t use components for spells
then the Wizard or sorcerer should just choice a Focus at level 1. A focus is a item they can channel their magic through thus not needing components. It was always an option but it allows DM to mess with them by removing the focus.
Also, finding components for powerful spells are always fun hooks for adventures
I don't love many of these ideas for the game I play, but they definitely made me think. That's the wonderful thing about this game/hobby. His table and mine might be totally different, and, as long as we're having fun, we're both doing it the right way. I love being able to come to channels like this. Even when I disagree, it makes me confront how I do things and justify them. Sometimes I might change, sometimes not, but there's room enough in D&D for all kinds of games. Great video!
I'm curious about the characters in your game. Do you find that with the rules you use (and don't use), is there a tendency for players to play more "vanilla" characters? I get the impression that you favour traditional character roles in your campaign.
Or do they still break with stereotypes and create weird and wonderful personas?
Cheers and thanks for all your videos.
I'm not sure why that would change. 🤔
@@jacobstaten2366 maybe if your players play "vanilla characters" there is a higher chance of repeating concepts since you can go only as far as X/vanilla with said character, therefore in order to make that char feel "new" they wil do weird things/breack something here or there.
@@draakgast not every traditional character is vanilla. Some archetypes are scenery chewers and mustache twirlers. What I'm saying is that going out of their way to make unique characters won't make them unique by default. They have to actually know what that means in context or be out in scenarios that challenge them.
Hey Prof DM! I I just recently discovered your channel, and I have been trying a lot of what you're talking about. I implemented the "no initiative" rule, and it is working out fantastically! Keep it up and I hope to catch up to your latest video.
"Huh, interesting that he says iniative is too unwieldy..."
"I run for 10 players."
"There it is."
I mean if you gotta make changes for the group size, then yeah. I get it. I've found iniative can still go pretty fast if you use digital tools. So for my games I use roll20. With the iniative tracker. Go down the list. Ask that player their iniative, hit sort. And done.
I can understand those who just take feats for power, but sometimes feats really give a new spin. Example, I have a character concept for a rogue doctor. He took the healer feat so he could use a healers kit to actually heal people. Id even flavor some downtime to stich people back up, put joints back into place, etc. Yes there is synergy for the thief fast hand to heal as a bonus, but you can have synergy with flavor.
The blanket room DC I can kinda get, but different aspects of different rooms could be stated differently.
Yea but you can do that without feats. I tend to agree with this guy but also started in AD&D and 2E. I went through phases of the modern stuff from 3.5 up but nowadays i find myself running a homebrew of AD&D with some modern sensibilities added in. I find combat boring in the modern editions its too much like a computer game. personally id rather just play the computer game eod. Also he touched on needing to roll for obvious things that your character should just know. I made a cleric that was bad at religion checks because its int based for instance...That kind of stuff is just unnecessary imo. you cant say modern editions of DnD dont get super cumbersome, my party got to level 14 and it would take the entire night to run a couple of encounters. digital help is pretty much required. i dunno just 1 DMs opinion from playing many table top games.
Musical chairs for initiative, and the one without a chair is flatfooted and surprised.
@@michaelstronghold3550 Without multiclassing or feats, you'd be reliant on magic items to heal.
@@themonkeys96 why? You still have a cleric or druid without multiclassing. Personally I dont mind multiclassing within reason, but I will say no if the concept is too convoluted or overpowered. I also don't allow anything outside the core races for PCs. This is just the way I do it and there is 20 years of trial and error that led me to the way we currently play.
@@coda821 that's pretty funny lol
Hi sir, have you played Basic D&D? I want to run this version starting with B1. Can you give any advice?
Of course. It’s my game (will slight mods). My advice is keep level advancement slow. It should take 4-5 sessions to get from level 1-2. That & watch DungeonCraft!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 thanks sir 🙂
This everyone video feels like "this is why D&D 5E is bad." There's also so much homebrewing going on that, unless you're running your game with all of these other rules, most of these are pointless. I also really dislike the "feats are for metagaming" attitude that still persists. You can have mechanical thinking alongside RP decisions.
And sometimes you can even use the "metagaming" bonuses you get from feats to improve RP
Which is true, yet in the end the professor likes to speed up all the game mechanics and feats and multi-classing just create more options for leveling up.
Just look at the sheer number of optimization threads on fora, they will all talk about multi-classing and features.
It's very gamey and lends more to video game 'builds' and winning/loosing vs the monsters instead of telling a story together.
@@JorisVDC Then he should run a story-telling RPG, and not the video-gamey system that is D&D.
True, this 100% .
I need mechanical "stuff" as a baseline to convey and RP what the character is like.
If I wanna be a speedy guy who's home in the wilds, I wil need to take feat: mobile, charger and have at least a +6 in survival and of course he's a ranger that just fits the character.
If I wanna play a docter type I'm sure I'm gonna need the healer and skilled feat to make sure my guy can keep an eye on the patient, his/her breathing, needs sleight of hand for opperation stuff. Hell maybe I'l even take lucky for the dramatic *don't you die on me now Jayden, we're gonna get out of this and go back to your mansion where I can finally beat you at archery you SOB*.
Feats are kind of a blessing and a curse. They give you great ideas and abilities, but at some point they also mean, you can't take a certain action, unless you've spent a feat slot on them. Some feats seem like they should be possible applications of skills, that get adjudicated away. The stunt system from Iron Heroes is creative, but I'm not too familiar with it.
On the initiave part ; how do you handle flanking/ pack tactics.
A group of wolves, all moving and attacking at once can rek a mid-level party pretty hard. Likewise the party can encircle your bossmonster.
Yes. A pack of wolves is dangerous. The party CAN circle the boss monster. I give him more hit points and sometimes the option to strike more than once.
Everyone is allowed to play the game the way they want, I'm just saying, this is barely D&D at this point. You might want to try a different game system. Something less tactical. Open Legend, maybe?
Hi, Ezra. It's 1980 D&D mixed with 5E. Some of those old rules were better. Some of the 5E stuff is better. I respect your opinion, and thanks for commenting!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I'm curious why you don't play something else. Is it pure nostalgia? I mean, there are so many good systems out there that do what you want better.
I agree, no reason to even grab the 5E books, hell why use books at all. Obviously he is running an awesome game and everyone he is running for is having a blast. I can't even get to the level of story telling he does as a GM and my creativity is quite poor, so I like to have some more rules to give some structure to the my game.
Shoutouts for knowing Open Legend :ok_hand:
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I still play a homebrew of AD&D. I kind of did what you are doing but in reverse. I found it was easier to add modern sensibilities to the old than try to do the reverse. I think this all made a lot of sense.
If there are no feats, how do you balance fighters with spell casters?
Fighters get more hp, hit things easier, and get a 2nd attack. Also, they CAN do one feat: "cleave" from 3rd edition.
Great explanation. I like to think of the "Rules" more like Guidelines.
I’m coming to your channel WAY LATE, and just saw this nearly 3 years after it was originally posted. Excellent stuff. I’d love to see a follow-up video on the same subject. What other rules you no longer use? What else have you discarded since posting this video? What have you added, and why?
I see many things that I can agree with, however, I must disagree with the following:
Fighters and multi-attack: It would be wonderful if all classes were granted multi-attack with spells, but if I did that, wizards would only be able to affect only one target with a fireball spell just to keep things balanced. There is a reason why wizards are known as "Glass Canons". That, and there are very few of my players who take a dedicated "Tank".
I am more of a game Balance enthusiast. Wizards can injure multiple creatures in one go using an area effect spell. A fighter is more one-on-one. How do you balance this serious drawback for the fighter if you remove his extra attacks? The tank is there to make sure his Glass Canon doesn't wind up getting shattered; he can't do that with the loss of those extra attacks he gets at higher levels. Some of the critters he goes up against (even without their multi-attacks) can waltz on by a fighter with only one attack.
Dramatic combat, and defence of your "best hope to triumph over evil" can be just as much part of roleplay as any other aspect of the game. It all depends on the DM and how he describes the combat in accordance to what the dice rolls tell him.
I would recommend watching more of his videos. He talks at length about fighters attacking multiple targets.
@@uthewallstreetbetsgod4714 I've watched them all. I am still an advocate for balance. I'm not passing judgement, I'm just saying you play the game your way, and allow me the same. I posted an opinion, nothing more.
BareBones Fantasy has a very elegant press your luck mechanic for multiple attack of any sort. You might like it.
There a system to track consumable resources like arrows or torches where if you have, say, a full quiver of arrows, you start with a d12. Roll the die after encounter where you shoot your bow; a 1 means you broke or lost some arrows and the die is not a d10. Likewise, a 1 of the d10 means to to go a d8, then d6 and finally to d4. Roll a 1 on a d4 then you're out of arrows. Finding some arrows means you go up a die, say d6 to d8. Finding, or buying, a new set means you start over with a d12. With torches, max may be a d10. What do you think?
“The home brew game rules that I use” because this really isn’t 5E anymore. There are a lot of other systems out-there, maybe try those?
Even though I don't play your style of game. I am glad you and your players like it. There is room for all kinds in the world. I wish you and your games all the best. It is good to hear your reasoning, regardless. Thank you for sharing your views.
Absolutely solid, as always! I remember in one video you mentioned doing a “how things can go really wrong” video eventually.....are you still planning on doing that? I’d be curious to see your take!
Good and charismatic video as always. I tend to always find a good idea in all the movies.
But the more I see, the more I'm actually confused what game do You even play. It's hard to follow all the changes when even some of them contradict each other (you often say that you cut fireball damage in half, but then you say you don’t use HP for monster).
Would you consider making a consolation of all the rules in one video? For this I’m interested in some of those points:
1. Do you only use the simple statistics as in the Character sheet movie? Do you still start with the 0 lvl chars?
2. Do you allow other races (what impact do they make)?
3. What classes can player take and what they change?
4. What class features you use? What features they get when they level up?
5. Combat: you don’t use the initiative, instead of HP use number of hits to kill, do you allow any advanced actions as parry, disarm, disengage, attack of opportunity, 2weapon fighting?
6. Magic: once casted roll for the spell effect (higher the better), don’t use slots per day?
There are probably dozens other questions, but those came to my mind first.
Cheers and keep up the good work
I'll publish many of my rules on Patreon shortly. Here are the answers: 1. Yes. Yes. 2. Yes--but they're rare and most people are human. 3. They can be the traditional classes or make their own, subject to my approval. 4. You get to say, "Hey--I should be able to hit that orc easier because I'm level 5." 6. No spell slots. Cast as many spells per day as you want until you blow yourself up and splatter your friends with your entrails.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 ok, thank you for the answers
Amazing video, Professor. I've been a critic of some of the rules you mentioned in your previous videos but now I realize I've been a critic of the WAY YOU EXPLAINED said rules. This video clarified so much of your though processes and now I'm an even bigger fan. Thanks for the amazing ideas. Hope your channel grows bigger and bigger (and yeah, we're doing our part to help ;-) )
Thanks! If I don't explain something well enough, please tell me. I want to improve.
I hearing appreciate Prof DM emphasizing the importance of keeping the game moving. With a group of people who have careers, family and limited time set aside, the flow game is important during a limited time to enjoy a game. I find myself with family, & work schedules about as limited opportunities, to have a game session for D&D, about as often as a lunar eclipse occurs.
Lets see how critical role handles fjords mulitclass. Id say his is a roleplay choice.
I'm still really new to D&D. A couple of friends and I have been winging it for months now. I have high ambitions for one day finding a way to make EVERY rule for A NUMBER of editions work but somehow not slow anything down. Your truncated playstyle is actually an inspiration to me and helped me wing a number of events in my games I simply wasn't prepared for. Please keep up the good work because clearly, it works! Would love to see the end result of this multi year experiment feel much like your games already do; I just feel bad for leaving all the little ideas/rules from the little supplements out xD
There is no possible way to make every rule from the players handbook, DM guide, mnosters manual, Xanathar, Mordekainen, Tasha, and Sage.... and a few others, all 3000+ pages of the game, SIMPLIFIED game and make it "not slow anything down."
10:20 That right there. I have thought the same thing.
I initially disagreed with a lot of things that were said on this channel. HOWEVER!! Once I found myself bouncing between rule sets (Symbaroum, FFG, Torchbearer, etc etc) looking for something that fit my group and personal play style, I decided to take the Professor's advice and start incorporating rules I liked that made sense to my games. These videos helped me break away from religiously adhering to one rule set and my current homebrewed system is the right mix of fair, thematic, gritty and grim. So thank you, Professor. You're one of the few channels I will be regularly coming to for advice.
More power to ya, but my friends and I like to play 5E D&D, not arbritrary D&D where the bulk of the core rules are thrown out by (insert random DM). Some homebrew is fine, but there is a point (that this video has crossed) where you are no longer playing the edition you claim to be.
That's cool. I don't claim to play 5E, though. I'm more like Basic D&D circa 1980.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 All good with the group as you described it though. As long as the group is on board and has fun, that's a win.
@@christophercox8485 You need to watch the first video on the rules the professor uses and from which system.
It's all explained there and TLDR: it's like a salad bar and you pick and choose to match your style and needs.
If you here the professor speak, you can clearly see that he prefers to keep things moving and exciting, rather than rules heavy games were a turn from a player can take up to five minutes to work out.
@@JorisVDC I've played a lot of editions over a couple decades. One of the fastest ways to keep a game moving is to actually use published rules so everyone is on the same page and minimize too long of a list of houserules. That isn't incompatible with keeping the game moving and maximizing excitement.
If you only allow fighter/barbarians/paladins/ranger/monk one attack and no feats, I don’t know why anyone would play those classes.
My players like a grittier, more realistic game. They've been playing with me for 30+ years. To each their own.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1Do you also limit sneak attack? It seems to me like the rouge would just be doing way more damage than everyone else.
@@imatroll7051 Yes. Sneak attack is not always successful.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1oh okay. How do you determine if it is successful?
@@imatroll7051 die roll. There is always a chance of being heard.
You should totally do a video (doesn’t have to be full length) on incorporating unusual or invasive elements into a preconstructed world (ie having an old, nonfunctional machine gun be found in the dirt when playing in a medieval world)
With every respect- my legit favorite system is the first edition of Hackmaster. Enormous amount of rules directed at inspiration and filling in flavor text. Talents, hindrances and the right way to run Thac0 even if city/country names are spelled more poorly than conventional Klingon.
DM target number is a big taboo from fights over it during Deadlands in the 90's.
Grateful I found your channel. Very valuable
Pure D20 is brutal. There was genius in making some checks low numbers on D20 and many different percentage opportunities...I love my 10 siders
Multiclassing and even powerbuilding is fine with me if the character makes sense and is played as a unique character. I don't care for standard archetypes because there is less uniqueness.
I started GMing an ICRPG game for my son and his friend, first time GMing anything in 20 years. Binging your channel. I'll be one of those commenters who agrees with pretty much everything you are advocating.
Wow. Your game is nothing like the ones I run or play in. To each their own.