I, too, was a believer in adding some very interesting rodents to my dungeon-mastering skills. Instead, I was entranced by this mythical adventure of a man marching through the woods to find the best icicle. Well done, sir. PS, I appreciate the cadence of your voice very well, and usually struggle to sit through an entire video due to my ADHD. More importantly, just keep doing whatever you're comfortable doing.
Your mention of railroading players into your own personal novel brings back a piece of advice I gave once... as closely quoted as I can recall it. "I know you've created this world and in a way it feels like a novel to you, and that's fine. The world is your novel, but this game is about what those other people over there are doing while your novel is happening, the stories of the people who may only make it onto a page or two of the great book of your world."
Love the Mastadon rep. Something that I enjoy doing is getting together with my players and asking them to create a _party_ together before I've done any prep whatsoever. Not just individual characters. I ask them the following questions: - Why are you working together, or why are you going to end up working together? - What is your ultimate goal as a party? - How do you hope to achieve that goal? - Why is your character here, specifically? - What secondary goals do they have, if any? These questions can fly off in a lot of directions, but the point is that you should end up with the party agreeing on what they want the campaign to be about on some level. They're exercising their sandbox muscles by deciding what they're doing with their lives rather than you telling them what they're doing, and that tends to lead to them being driven to push the game forward themselves and helps to keep things coherent rather than being a big mess of ideas that don't really mesh together.
Yeah I love this idea too. Some games have a natural route to get your players thinking and planning as a party, but for the ones that don't, these are a great list of questions.
Oh I loved this video! Several great points I'm going to have to try out. Also found myself humming along to the "When the Dice Settle" jingle at the end
Whew, you deserve more subs dude. Some love went into this video. (A more energetic voiceover would have still been nice though.) I love to tie character quests to what the players give me btw. If a player provides me with backstory or even better asks me to brainstorm it together I can tie it in and reward them with it during their adventures. If they don't give me stuff to work with, I simply don't have anything to work with. (Of course this is properly communicated in my games and I help newbies with it.)
This spoke with inner inspiration like a singing flame. Orson Scott Card, Patrick Rothfuss, & many more have settled close to this very flame of inspiration aware that it was a foundation to an adventure that whispered to be set free. Cider @ the Eolian is on me. Cheers!
Just stumbled upon your channel, and I am not surprised since I am very much into thematic roleplaying. I agree with you that themes are not plots and thus are not an invitation to railroading, but the themes presented feel more like just the focus point of attention and not actual themes. I mean your Star Wars example talks about the theme that lies in Anakin's story arc, but to say the theme is 'character' is far too vague, and well, one could make the point that it is an 'event' story for Luke's agency is quite limited and he often just reacts to the world (wow, I wrote that before you mentioned that change at the end of the video). Maybe it is my bias against Orson Scott Card, since I really cannot stand bigots. I guess I will watch your other videos and probably subscribe, even though I think there is much more to thematic play and that the model presented is not adequate to deal with that.
Money Ideology Coercion Ego? Im running a Spy Craft game so thats what immediately comes to mind. 😂Oh its a completely different M.I.C.E. Milieu, Inquiry, Character, Events. That is interesting.
Interesting. It has obvious applications for quest writing. But I am unsure how this applies to story themes. For example, my game's theme is about family. I can apply this to all 4 of the categories. And I can do so in ways that could be interchangeable with other themes.
It's definitely not all encompassing. MICE Quotient was originally written for novel writers, but won't work for all games. Hopefully it provides inspiration for some GMs out there. Thanks for watching!
Great video. I started out playing d&d many moons ago just wanting to kill stuff and roll dice. As I have gotten older I prefer a more narrative game now.
Luckily the 2x speed exists just for you! My cadence however is deliberate. I'm intentionally going for a more laid-back style. There are countless RUclips channels where the information comes at you at alarming speeds. This is my own way of standing out among the crowd. Thanks for watching!
@@ElderGoblinGames well dude I'm not trying put you down - I'm giving you constructive feedback- cause it really sounds like you're speaking so slow so you can pad out your runtime for some of that juicy ad money. whether you're playing the game this way or not- countless YT channels are [particularly in this genre ] and you're not going to stand out, you're gonna get lumped in with them. I'm not saying go lightning fast, or drop the song or speed that up. Just consider speaking at least as fast as the news. And bro, I wouldn't bother writing this if I didn't think you had potential.
@@TheDawnTreader1 thanks, I do appreciate the feedback. That is my natural cadence to my voice however. Not trying to pad out time or anything like that. I'm not even at a point I'm getting monetized so that's not even in my mind. You should hear it before I cut out the gaps haha. And I definitely didn't take it that way. Preferences are preferences and they're all valid but no one can be all things to all people. Thanks again, I hope you like what I have to offer and continue watching.
Instructions unclear, filled my dungeon with mice. Every square foot, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Just mice. Players had a great time.
This is the way.
@@ElderGoblinGames Squeak.
I, too, was a believer in adding some very interesting rodents to my dungeon-mastering skills. Instead, I was entranced by this mythical adventure of a man marching through the woods to find the best icicle.
Well done, sir.
PS, I appreciate the cadence of your voice very well, and usually struggle to sit through an entire video due to my ADHD. More importantly, just keep doing whatever you're comfortable doing.
Your mention of railroading players into your own personal novel brings back a piece of advice I gave once... as closely quoted as I can recall it.
"I know you've created this world and in a way it feels like a novel to you, and that's fine. The world is your novel, but this game is about what those other people over there are doing while your novel is happening, the stories of the people who may only make it onto a page or two of the great book of your world."
Good one, friend. Keep 'em coming!
Reminds me of a similar animal in improv theatre. The CROW (Character, Relation, Objective, Where/When)
Wow, really awesome video! I’m really surprised your channel isn’t bigger. I find your stuff much more creative and inspired than most D&D youtubers
Thank you so much!
very timely - thanks! 👍😊
Love the Mastadon rep.
Something that I enjoy doing is getting together with my players and asking them to create a _party_ together before I've done any prep whatsoever. Not just individual characters. I ask them the following questions:
- Why are you working together, or why are you going to end up working together?
- What is your ultimate goal as a party?
- How do you hope to achieve that goal?
- Why is your character here, specifically?
- What secondary goals do they have, if any?
These questions can fly off in a lot of directions, but the point is that you should end up with the party agreeing on what they want the campaign to be about on some level. They're exercising their sandbox muscles by deciding what they're doing with their lives rather than you telling them what they're doing, and that tends to lead to them being driven to push the game forward themselves and helps to keep things coherent rather than being a big mess of ideas that don't really mesh together.
Yeah I love this idea too. Some games have a natural route to get your players thinking and planning as a party, but for the ones that don't, these are a great list of questions.
Oh I loved this video! Several great points I'm going to have to try out. Also found myself humming along to the "When the Dice Settle" jingle at the end
Glad you found it helpful! And thanks I had a lot of fun with that jungle.
Whew, you deserve more subs dude. Some love went into this video.
(A more energetic voiceover would have still been nice though.)
I love to tie character quests to what the players give me btw.
If a player provides me with backstory or even better asks me to brainstorm it together I can tie it in and reward them with it during their adventures.
If they don't give me stuff to work with, I simply don't have anything to work with.
(Of course this is properly communicated in my games and I help newbies with it.)
This spoke with inner inspiration like a singing flame. Orson Scott Card, Patrick Rothfuss, & many more have settled close to this very flame of inspiration aware that it was a foundation to an adventure that whispered to be set free. Cider @ the Eolian is on me. Cheers!
I had heard this is where pride pays silver and plays golden.
But if you're buying, I'll have a Sounten.
Just stumbled upon your channel, and I am not surprised since I am very much into thematic roleplaying. I agree with you that themes are not plots and thus are not an invitation to railroading, but the themes presented feel more like just the focus point of attention and not actual themes. I mean your Star Wars example talks about the theme that lies in Anakin's story arc, but to say the theme is 'character' is far too vague, and well, one could make the point that it is an 'event' story for Luke's agency is quite limited and he often just reacts to the world (wow, I wrote that before you mentioned that change at the end of the video). Maybe it is my bias against Orson Scott Card, since I really cannot stand bigots. I guess I will watch your other videos and probably subscribe, even though I think there is much more to thematic play and that the model presented is not adequate to deal with that.
Those three rules are always good prompts when acting in goblin ways. Nice.
Money Ideology Coercion Ego? Im running a Spy Craft game so thats what immediately comes to mind. 😂Oh its a completely different M.I.C.E. Milieu, Inquiry, Character, Events. That is interesting.
Great information effectively presented!
"Let it happen" is a great GM motto.
Cheers!
Interesting. It has obvious applications for quest writing.
But I am unsure how this applies to story themes. For example, my game's theme is about family. I can apply this to all 4 of the categories. And I can do so in ways that could be interchangeable with other themes.
It's definitely not all encompassing. MICE Quotient was originally written for novel writers, but won't work for all games. Hopefully it provides inspiration for some GMs out there. Thanks for watching!
I thought this was going to be about mouses with swords like Redwall or something.
Still a great video!
Thank you! Watch my video titled "what makes a role-playing game good" if you want mice and dice and swords! 😅
There exists *_NO_* game, story, or genre that can't be improved by introducing Mrs. Johnathan Brisby and/or Matthias.
☮
New goblin video has dropped, Nobody panic!
"Don't Panic!"
-Douglas Adams
Great video. I started out playing d&d many moons ago just wanting to kill stuff and roll dice. As I have gotten older I prefer a more narrative game now.
As is the way for so many of us. I enjoy both in the right amounts, and in the right genres.
Very good!
I really thought this would be about how to utilize actual mice for fun and for profit : (
I read your 654 views as 645 thousand views as im so dyslexic, I didn't question it as it was the video felt worthy of that many views.
That's high praise! I am brand new to all this, only about 3 weeks in and 5 total videos. But feel free to share around so I can get to that many 😅
you gotta speak faster bro- I had this at x2 speed and it was still too slow
Luckily the 2x speed exists just for you! My cadence however is deliberate. I'm intentionally going for a more laid-back style. There are countless RUclips channels where the information comes at you at alarming speeds.
This is my own way of standing out among the crowd.
Thanks for watching!
@@ElderGoblinGames well dude I'm not trying put you down - I'm giving you constructive feedback- cause it really sounds like you're speaking so slow so you can pad out your runtime for some of that juicy ad money.
whether you're playing the game this way or not- countless YT channels are [particularly in this genre ] and you're not going to stand out, you're gonna get lumped in with them. I'm not saying go lightning fast, or drop the song or speed that up. Just consider speaking at least as fast as the news. And bro, I wouldn't bother writing this if I didn't think you had potential.
@@TheDawnTreader1 thanks, I do appreciate the feedback. That is my natural cadence to my voice however. Not trying to pad out time or anything like that. I'm not even at a point I'm getting monetized so that's not even in my mind. You should hear it before I cut out the gaps haha.
And I definitely didn't take it that way. Preferences are preferences and they're all valid but no one can be all things to all people.
Thanks again, I hope you like what I have to offer and continue watching.
@@ElderGoblinGames Imma keep watching man, hope you do get there.
@@ElderGoblinGames Just want to say, I really appreciate the slower pace of your videos.