I actually really dig the most obvious portion of the exploration pillar: the hex crawl. Each new hex discovered and mapped is basically a reward, it clicks the same thing for me that I get from getting a new level or a new magic item, or an achievement in a video game. This is one new hex that my character knows the layout of, can probably travel through again with greater ease. Also, when you have that map with all those unexplored hexes, it's almost like a puzzle, waiting for you to complete it. I've heard other RUclipsrs disparage the hex crawl, and I don't quite get what I'm getting that they're missing, but when a DM pulls out a hex map and fills in that first hex, I'm giddy with anticipation.
Finally - someone else who loves hexcrawls as much as I do. They are the perfect example of player action --> world reaction ---> new situation. As a DM I love love love making hex maps. People treat the rolling tables like isolated random encounters. For me, if I roll a tiger in one hex and a tribe of orcs in another, it's an opportunity to worldbuild. Maybe the orcs have a coming of age ritual that involves killing a tiger and acquiring its skin. Maybe the tiger is a mother with her cub. Is there a river in that hex? That's their water source. All those "random" encounters are actually worldbuilding tools when you stop treating them as one-off encounters and start asking yourself how each hex interacts with every other one. There's a reason a dragon's environmental effects extend six miles: that's a hex. And when a dragon moves in to hex 10, you can watch the ripple effect throughout the rest of the map. I could go on forever about this. Just glad someone else gets it. It's such a simple tool that solves all the angst I see about physical exploration.
A lot of it stems from how poorly made the hex crawls and random tables in the early 5e books were and how 5e was initially designed as a nostalgia focused rules set rather than a teach new players the game rules set. What I find works best is shrinking the hexes or increasing the speed of overland travel so that players can, mostly, cover at least three hexes in a day, and either making random tables that include some kind of prompt or using a disposition or "what are they doing" table to change up the results of the generic creature random tables.
The key word is EXPLORE. And for each person exploring is different - Kids explore and old house, a toy shop or a candy shop, Women may explore a jewelry shop or a florists. Some men explore a Hardware store or an electronic store. Families explore a theme park, museum or a beach. An avid reader made explore a huge college library. A group of friends may explore some woods behind their school (like me) There is really no end to what can be explored. And it certainly does not have to have a battle scene involved. A group of adventures explore a small grotto. The warrior is a bit bored because there is nothing to fear over but the magic is having a blast because she is finding scores of herbs, flowers and roots to make spells out of. Meanwhile the bard is content because he found a huge path of mushrooms and starts concocting a stew for the party to have for lunch. The thief is having a blast climbing trees and stealing eggs from nests. The cleric finds a place that is so serene that he slips into a long meditation and connects with his personal God/dess. Later they move on and explore more and find a pool of fresh water and all go swimming. Maybe while swimming they find a lost runestone someone lost years ago. It's not magical BUT it's something worth connecting to. That alone is EXPLORING and ADVENTUREING. The same can be said by a bunch of friends hopping into a car and go on a long drive. Finding a comic book shop they never seen before and explore it. Then go out and eat that the pizza party next door where they discover a famous TV personality is there doing an autograph signing. They then drive on and find a small street faire and then lastly, they head to a beach where they swim and explore till the sun sets and completes their day with a wunderbar sunset. (Yes, this REALLY happen to my friends and I and the Tv star was Erin Murphy from Bewitched.) Point being, an adventure, A TRUE adventure does not have to be all body counts and blood baths. We all EXPLORE but we do not realize it. And we usually emerge from that exploration with something, be it a book, a toy, a movie, a meal or just something we learned. And sometimes that small thing we bought or found, leads to something bigger later on.
After reading OSR material for a while, I've picked up on a feature of dungeon exploration that is very handy: giving PCs stuff to experiment with. For example: PCs walk into a room. In the center of the room are three basins full of bubbling liquid, each a different color. They don't need to interact with the basins or their contents at all to progress (or do they?). But the basins are there, nonetheless. What do the PCs do with them? Drink the liquids? Dip their weapons into the basins? Drop bits of destroyed monsters in them? Collect some of the liquid in containers and bring them back to an alchemist? If the liquids have weird, interesting, and/or hazardous properties, it can provide plenty of distraction for the party to figure it out. Especially if, upon figuring it out, it gives them an edge during the rest of the dungeon. So long as they're clever, experimental, and cautious, they could be rewarded...or end up dying. A rule of thumb I've heard in the OSR scene is to give players plenty of meaningful choices like these. The difference between a sightseeing tour on a railroad, and an interactive roleplay experience, is choice.
see, THIS is a good video. He talks fast, is straight to the point from the start of the video, and really carries meaning in his voice. amazing, man. ty.
If pathfinder 2e did one thing right, it's the emphasis of the journey and not just the destination. I would highly recommend checking out The One Ring and Adventures in Middle Earth on how to make travel mechanically and narratively interesting.
Heck yes!! Welcome aboard - you might like the Combat Flow video. Not as smooth in the production, but (IMHO) A+ content :) ruclips.net/video/z2d1gceeAPw/видео.html
In my opinion, I actually think the skeleton of a game is built on one of two fundamental aspects: story driven or exploration. Some players love the story driven, RP aspect of a world, to explore deep and complex conflicts to challenge the characters so they can feel rewarded through story progression. I've found with these types of games there's still an emphasis on world building but less of an incentive to explore it. Thus less 'exploration'. On the other hand some players just want to simply explore the world with little story elements attaching them to it. I've found these are the kinds of games where players mostly just like to discover new people, places, and things, score loot and build themselves up in a way thats not restricted to the story, with minor RP elements. It's possible to definitely have these two aspects in one game, and there's nothing wrong with either of these type of games, but from personal experience as a DM, a group of players will lean towards one over the other. That's why as a DM you have to speak with your players before hand to establish the expectations of a campaign, that way both parties get to enjoy a campaign to its fullest. And I think that's why most groups struggle to make exploration actually interesting, because the expectation was not established before hand. If players expect to go into a campaign with promises of loot and exploration but get involved in some great cosmic war for the fate of the universe, players will be to focused saving the world than actually exploring it, and that's why I think exploration gets a bad rep.
You don't need to reply to this particular comment, I just wanted to tell you that you've really fueled my DM design and rekindled my love of designing fun adventures for my friends. Thank you!
How I implemented the exploration pillar to my game: I made the world have alot of secrets, intricat things, and ordinary things that would be usual in our world work differently: LIke armies are just parties from adventuring guilds, protecting a region. My players love to explore the world, and by interacting with NPC's and different objects in the world they learn more about it
@@OnlineSarcasmFails He means that the 5 room dungeon is really just 5 flavors of content. An entrance, puzzle, trick/setback, climax and reward. It's a loose story structure that can be applied to any pillar of gameplay in an rpg. For a 100% roleplaying session. Talking with the guards can be an entrance test to get into a castle. The puzzle might be making arrangements between court nobles in a disagreement that grants access to the king. The trick is that someone set them up to take blame for a crime. The climax might be exposing the real criminal. Then the reward is an apology from the king. Personally, I find this design structure repetitive and overly linear. But if your group likes playing this way, it's not bad. It's actually a pretty good way to organize adventures early on as a GM. The only flaw is that because it's so linear players might derail or bypass a section.
i totally agree with you. giving some structure to exploration really helps keep the game moving. i like to have my players take exploration turns where they can move and make an action (plus a free action). this also helps me keep track of in-game time and light resources.
Great pitch, but the fact that a great DM can take the tools on the rulebooks for exploration (basically, zero) and create a compelling narrative doesn't change the fact that there are zilch tools for it or the implied expectation in the rulebooks that those other pillars are the less important parts between the killing and looting.
Hmmm...I'm not sure less important to the *game but everything that's not combat is less important in the *rules. I'm not convinced that is a bad thing though. In the DnD Next playtest, there were rules for the 'exploration turn' but they got dropped because folks didn't actually like playing with them. Likewise, there are lots of rules for forced marches, extreme weather, foraging, encumbrance etc. They get ignored because that's not fun for the majority of players
I watch a ton of videos about DMing. I am obsessed about this art, and this video has taught me a lot. Is the first video i watch from you and i´m already a fan. This should be among the most usefull i have ever seen. Keep it up.
My biggest gripe with "what do you do" is DMs hear one person and start going. Listen to everyone THEN decide who does what first! ie- Jack you go to the table and____, Bob you make across the room amd see____, Catt you follow him and hear a sound coming from the far wall...
Everything you say as a GM should provide characters with potential goals. From scene descriptions, NPC dialogue and combat minutiae a player needs to be able to identify something to latch onto. The next bit to move things forward. The reason exploration is so integral is that it provides the most amount of potential goals to a character. However, a problem often lurks in this. Goal paralysis. When players are presented with too much and are overburdened with choices they have a problem with isolating specific goals and also stop moving forward. I tend to see this in games where sandbox is thought to be just give them 100 different things to do. Your role as the GM is to provide a structural framework of potential goals from which the players use their volition to affect change.
The whole video was great about a topic that needs discussion. I'm sharing it with some people right away! The 4:00 - 5:00 was the best thesis describing what RPGs are and the basic format DMs need to focus on. Great stuff, you're one of only 3 D&D channels that offer worthwhile insight.
@@ZipperonDisney , no Matthew Colville and Dungeoncraft. If you are suggesting Matthew Perkins I would certainly take a look. While none of the 3 of you have method in common, you all do have distinct and intelligent philosophies about running games. The video production is good and each has of you has a strong voice that is unique and inspires me to do more in my games than I would otherwise.
I just found your channel and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Couldn't help but notice all the chest candy behind you on the wall, in some earlier videos. "Make peace or die".
I've always loved exploration in general, whether it's experiencing it in fiction or real life. I've never thought of tabletop exploration this way, but it's an enlightening interpretation that I'm going to use to bolster my current campaign. Great video (I like the background decoration, they really match the channel atmosphere.)
@@ZipperonDisney That's one of the videos that drew me to the channel some time ago. Your content is informative, but the atmosphere and pacing makes them much more entertaining. Keep making great stuff!
It's easy to trivialize exploration as just... building the scene and reacting to players. Having it broken down like this helps contextualize what we are already doing in a way that reminds DMs that they already using these techniques, just not thinking about them in this manner. Looking forward to the second half of this video!
I think the main focus of the vid was to get DMs to recognize what they are already doing as exploration! And, yeah, giving something a name and context helps you think about it more
@@ZipperonDisney Absolutely! I'm now looking back and recognizing areas of active exploration that I just brushed off as doing what I'm supposed to be doing. This really helped put everything into perspective.
What I think is important in exploration it's that exploration should benefit the player. Many DMs take approach that exploration benefits DMs as an opportunity to give lore or something like that. But a take the point from videogames: in videogames you want to explore the level because it gives you something cool, like an item. Sure, lore is a benefit on its own, because it's makes game more interesting in a way. But it should be an additional stuff so to speak
I think systems as written should be more daring to write methodical processes to explore; say... a forest. How hard it is to traverse, how well hidden are it's secrets, what kind of riches it holds and which checks are used on each? They could have levels and stats like monsters; from a walk in the park to marching through mordor. They could throw "spells" like a dragon's lair, with increasingly challenging saves. Which class skills or equipment could counter-act them? what goes wrong if they don't? Set up a gameplay loop to conquer a treacherous mountain the same way you defeat a boss monster. If you ask me, I think it could be done with some brainstorming, most game developers are just not that much into it, and most DMs default to sprinkling long distances with random encounters for which the game rules and character abilities have well defining methods of overcoming.
I think of exploration as traveling to points of interest, discovering curiosities, and solving mysteries. Therefore, a campaign setting should have some mysteries and points of interest. I feel like traps and puzzles are a fourth pillar. In the course of your exploration, you'll encounter NPCs, fight monsters, and deal with traps and puzzles--that is, you'll encounter the other three pillars.
Great video. I've always loved the exploration side of DnD and it doesn't seem to get as fair of a shake. My current campaign is basically an elaborate Point A to Point B quest in order to put exploration in the foreground. Hopefully, the idea of "earning" lore appeals to them as much as to me and you, because that's gonna be the MO.
Go for it! You might want to check out my vids on Random Encounters and Overland travel too. I ran a campaign similar to what I think you're describing, and the ideas I put in those vids helped me out 😎
@@ZipperonDisney Just watched them. We seem to have similar thoughts on most things. Seriously, I could've written the Random Encounters video myself. I've subscribed, by the way. I look forward to whatever's next
I really enjoyed this video! It's so easy to miss what this pillar truly means. I have never considered the story to be a part of the exploration pillar before!
thought you would talk about the most difficult part: overland travel hard to make exiting. The rest of exploration is... maybe not easy, but a just matter of training. The way you describe it: Everything is exploration and well... that´s correct.
I like the idea of scaling up when it comes to exploration, but it may also be useful to simplify the three pillars to their most essential attributes. When I think of the three pillars in their most traditional form they appear as mapping out the dungeon and checking for traps/solving puzzles, fighting the monsters you find, and talking to the NPCs you meet there. Overcoming obstacles, defeating enemies, and making allies. One requires experimentation and creative problem solving, one requires clever tactics and teamwork, and one requires clever roleplay. I think with these core elements in mind you can run a satisfying version of each pillar, or even switch them around. For example I've seen mystery scenarios that appear to be social encounters but require experimentation and problem solving to find and collect clues, and wilderness survival scenarios that only require the players to cleverly roleplay their actions in a way that's engaging and believable. Glad to see a new video, you're one of my favorite RUclips D&D thinkers. Keep up the good work!
@@ZipperonDisney always :-D speaking of pillars: Drēahnian wódr̥. A 500 meter inverted waterfall, that pulls water from below and blast it into the sky. the water is drained from the surrounding lands creating a huge desert. All is barren except for the extremely fertile lands just around the mouth of the waterpillar where a lush jungle sprouts in a constant wet season. high up in the sky, the pillar twists and bends towards the nearest ocean - as a river in the sky. Walking the desert you can often see water - but never reach it.
Most of my vids have a different angle than most. I'm not trying to tell you everything I know about a topic, I'm trying to change the way you look at parts of the game
I really liked this video. Exploration has always been a catch all term that everyone has some understanding of what it is but can't define. And the handbook doesn't provide a good enough definition or rules frame to interpret it. So if you are not socially interacting or combating, you are exploring. This "everything else" definition is so broad that it's hard to implement exploration in your sessions in a meaningful way. I wouldn't call it a Pillar but a roof supported by the other two pillars. I think other games have interesting takes on explorations that could be imported to D&D to enhance the experience: the One Ring has a really cool travel/journey mechanic and The Burning Wheel is an excellent system to explore character internal conflict, motivation and development from a more narrative point of view.
@@ZipperonDisney Not necessarily. I would like to see the designers take on a supplement, though. One could also ask: Would the game benefit from a central Social Interaction mechanic? I think a better question to ask is Would YOUR game benefit from such mechanics? I mean D&D is so big and old and rooted in culture that it is hard to implement new radical central mechanics without deviating from its core.
This video kinda bummed me out because this has long been the thing I struggle with the most, and it's because it really requires the players to buy in and take the reigns. Getting my players to have an answer when I say, "what do you do?"consistently been the hardest thing for me. They always seem to have decision paralysis when I don't specifically give them options :/
That can be really frustrating. While planning is part of the fun, if nothing ever moves forward, that stinks. I covered that topic and some tools to deal with it a little bit in another video about how to increase engagement in a session. You might find it helpful -> ruclips.net/video/WWrCxVW3_gg/видео.html
@@ZipperonDisney I haven't given it a lot of thought before! I think one thing that has worked for me is when allow them to discover something of interest off the beaten path. If they're going through a cave with linear progression, they've been very interested when they find a small opening (crawl only) that leads to another part of the cave system. This signals that I've probably prepared something for them if they go that way, because it's not the norm to create secret paths that are just red herrings leading nowhere. I think this relies on some metagame knowledge of what the DM is providing, which I think is healthy.
First of all, very enjoyable video, and I like your content! I like framing the exploration as not rp and not combat. Very useful take on it! However, I couldn't disagree more with your claim that combat pillar is not really supported. Maybe 2/3s of PHB is dedicated to different ways to engage with combat. Initiative structure is here to support combat. Class levels are here to support combat. Hp and AC are here to support combat. And Monster Manual is in fact a book to support combat. If it has a stat block, it is here to support combat.
This is absolutely brilliant. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts. And assuming your other content is nearly as cogent as this you will count me among your Patreon crew soon.
Thanks! More to come! 😎 Folks are really fond of my Combat Flow video, too. The production isn't as good (bane of youtubers everywhere!) but the ideas I think are still valuable ➡️ ruclips.net/video/z2d1gceeAPw/видео.html
This video is great mate! I’ve been co-DMing a West Marches style campaign and the exploration aspect of that has become a lil stale/monologue-y, so this reframing seems super useful!
Great thoughts. Party exploration is very important to an adventure, otherwise the players feel like they are spectators on a ride, being "driven" by the DM to the next challenge/event/encounter. Sure, create storylines and plots, but always within the context of a "sandbox" exploration region.
Or, at least, transport the players from mini-sandbox to min-sandbox if you are doing a more "on rails" game (like organized play or an episodic style game)
Welcome aboard! ❤️ If you DO want more info on overland travel (and want to see what 2 years of video production improvement looks like) my very FIRST vid was about making travel interesting -> ruclips.net/video/pOKkrbPdsPA/видео.html
Awesome, thank you! If you're looking for some more ideas off the beaten path, you might like my "What If Alignment Mattered?" video :) ruclips.net/video/KqrlB1aGrUc/видео.html
My problem is that non of my players "poke or prod" might as well just be running a war game. Can't get any of them to rp to save my life. Players need to convince the local lord of something. I set it up try to start some dialogue and it's just " I try to persuade him. **Dice sound** 19. Does that work?".
@@ZipperonDisney thanks I'll look for it. This is the first video I've stumbled on of yours so I haven't really had the chance to look through your back catalogue of content yet.
I have watched 10000 videos about the philosophical approach to dnd. The ideas a dm should have and how to think respond act and react. My problem is that when it comes to execution, i fall flat. Whether its nerve inexperience or im just plain bad at it is still up for debate. I have so much content ready to go and i dont think it's necessarily bad. i just can't translate it well at the table. And idk how to fix this.
practice and self reflection. And being forgiving of yourself. Everybody makes mistakes or things don't work at as planned. Everybody has times when things fall flat. Best thing to do is to remember what doesn't work for you and move on, and what works for *your* table and do it again!
My players can be quit the handful, However they always give exploration a fun twist. From our dumb-ass barbarian not knowing what furniture is And our rogue with PTSD every time I say the word veil To our Warlock prodding for information with every NPC. They have explored the same room like 4 times now, But every time it's like they find it for the first time.
@@ZipperonDisney They move on eventually, But there's very little coordination, So people get lost all the time. I don't mind the slow pace, After all I know exactly where they missed a spot, So I'll give them some hints or slightly change the description of the area Whenever they decide to backtrack And there's something left to discover.
Pathfinder 2nd Edition has an Exploration Mode and Exploration Activities you can only do in that mode, and games like Numenera succeed pretty well at making exploration attractive, discovery being the only thing that gives XP to players. Steal from those games. A good tip for making exploration attractive to players is to give them rewards to engage in exploration and solving mysteries. XP, unique items, access to restricted and interesting powers, additional feats. 4E suggested players to make a list of stuff they would like to acquire and suggest the GM to use that list to incentivise the PCs. A troll is worth 1,800 but how much is it to find the entrance to the Lost City? Rewards for non-combat activities is often intangible, therefore it is a good idea to tell the players upfront.
@@ZipperonDisney I feel we must take into account the campaign style. Gaining a new contact or an ally in an urban campaign should worth more XP than finding the secret passage to the Thieves Guild. If exploration should be a big deal in our campaign the reward should be proportional to its importance and difficulty. It might be a good idea to rate Discoveries in Levels, the same as monsters.
Lol you hit the nail on te head. WotC has dome a poor job preparing DMs im all aspects of the game. Its hilarious how unusable adventure modules are. They are pretty much textbooks that will halt pacing to a snails pace if you need to parse information from it
I don't agree that the method of play (DM describes, player describes, repeat) is exploration by default. It's exploration when the context is exploration or intent is discovery. I think this is being way too generous to 5e and I think this is missing the spirit of the complaint about 5e exploration which is specifically about hex crawling and dungeon crawling.
Welcome aboard! ❤️ Most of my vids are on obscure DnD topics or trying to give another take on something common. Do you have something in the game that is of particular interest to you?
Being human means we tend to break things into parts to think about them. If we could think more synergistically, we could more easily understand how the three pillars co-exist and work seamlessly as a whole. But due to our limited mental acumen, we must divide what does not truly work as broken parts, but amazingly sing as one. The game can just flow at times - not needing or heeding analysis.
@@ZipperonDisney Right. Part of my point is that analysis requires us to break things down into parts. However, when games flow, there is a bit of magic that defies analysis - when the "3 pillars" happen seamlessly as one. It happens when players engage in driving the game play forward and game flow happens without much effort. Thanks for the videos.
Every single Dnd video is like : lose your functional fixedness. But I already did. And if DMs out there lack imagination and like their neat little boxes, you telling them to be more loose won't change anything.
You are using a very broad…to the point of being meaningless…definition of exploration. I think you also nailed an essential truth about newer editions - the loss of procedures. Procedures have been stripped from the game to reduce it to telling a half baked story with bad voice acting with occasional dice rolls thrown in sporadically. One of the reasons I love running B/X D&D so much is because it actually provides a framework to play the game on. There are procedures for combat, for dungeon turns, for overland travel, for encounters, etc. There are wandering monster tables, encounter tables, and other things to add in a sense of urgency and danger. This provides “actual” support for exploration, not just theoretical support for a watered down concept of it. And of course OSR is full of hex crawls, point to point exploration, modules that serve as location based adventures rather than narrative based adventures, etc. These are all entire products designed to elevate this “pillar” of the game in a way nothing else does. In short, this is a modern problem that’s pretty much fixed by playing OSR games instead.
There's a reason that 5e is such a weak edition in design terms...there were rules for exploration in every other edition and they axed it. It's even in their beta materials and write ups and they kind forgot to keep it in there. Lots of D&D is actually designed and reliant on the exploration or dungeon turn. There's a reason why rituals take 10 minutes, why short rests are 1 hour, and buffs last for the amounts of times that they do. It's not meant to be as fiat as 5e unfairly expects of the DM.
RUclips just changed how they did midroll ads. I'm looking into seeing if I can just do banner overlays, because full on ad breaks in the middle bug me too. We'll see, looks like it might be all or nothing 😑
Another great take! You’re so right that exploration is baked into a lot of D&D but it often ends up being overlooked or oversimplified.
Thanks Bob - the intro map in your new vid is really catching!
Actually the two best smaller tubers that keep videos short and concise.
I actually really dig the most obvious portion of the exploration pillar: the hex crawl. Each new hex discovered and mapped is basically a reward, it clicks the same thing for me that I get from getting a new level or a new magic item, or an achievement in a video game. This is one new hex that my character knows the layout of, can probably travel through again with greater ease. Also, when you have that map with all those unexplored hexes, it's almost like a puzzle, waiting for you to complete it. I've heard other RUclipsrs disparage the hex crawl, and I don't quite get what I'm getting that they're missing, but when a DM pulls out a hex map and fills in that first hex, I'm giddy with anticipation.
Me too! I love that feeling. I really want to play a west marches game with a scratch-off map
Same for dungeon exploration on quad paper!
I was actually thinking of doing that in some future campaign.
Finally - someone else who loves hexcrawls as much as I do. They are the perfect example of player action --> world reaction ---> new situation. As a DM I love love love making hex maps. People treat the rolling tables like isolated random encounters. For me, if I roll a tiger in one hex and a tribe of orcs in another, it's an opportunity to worldbuild. Maybe the orcs have a coming of age ritual that involves killing a tiger and acquiring its skin. Maybe the tiger is a mother with her cub. Is there a river in that hex? That's their water source. All those "random" encounters are actually worldbuilding tools when you stop treating them as one-off encounters and start asking yourself how each hex interacts with every other one. There's a reason a dragon's environmental effects extend six miles: that's a hex. And when a dragon moves in to hex 10, you can watch the ripple effect throughout the rest of the map.
I could go on forever about this. Just glad someone else gets it. It's such a simple tool that solves all the angst I see about physical exploration.
A lot of it stems from how poorly made the hex crawls and random tables in the early 5e books were and how 5e was initially designed as a nostalgia focused rules set rather than a teach new players the game rules set.
What I find works best is shrinking the hexes or increasing the speed of overland travel so that players can, mostly, cover at least three hexes in a day, and either making random tables that include some kind of prompt or using a disposition or "what are they doing" table to change up the results of the generic creature random tables.
The key word is EXPLORE. And for each person exploring is different - Kids explore and old house, a toy shop or a candy shop, Women may explore a jewelry shop or a florists. Some men explore a Hardware store or an electronic store. Families explore a theme park, museum or a beach. An avid reader made explore a huge college library. A group of friends may explore some woods behind their school (like me) There is really no end to what can be explored. And it certainly does not have to have a battle scene involved.
A group of adventures explore a small grotto. The warrior is a bit bored because there is nothing to fear over but the magic is having a blast because she is finding scores of herbs, flowers and roots to make spells out of. Meanwhile the bard is content because he found a huge path of mushrooms and starts concocting a stew for the party to have for lunch. The thief is having a blast climbing trees and stealing eggs from nests. The cleric finds a place that is so serene that he slips into a long meditation and connects with his personal God/dess. Later they move on and explore more and find a pool of fresh water and all go swimming. Maybe while swimming they find a lost runestone someone lost years ago. It's not magical BUT it's something worth connecting to. That alone is EXPLORING and ADVENTUREING.
The same can be said by a bunch of friends hopping into a car and go on a long drive. Finding a comic book shop they never seen before and explore it. Then go out and eat that the pizza party next door where they discover a famous TV personality is there doing an autograph signing. They then drive on and find a small street faire and then lastly, they head to a beach where they swim and explore till the sun sets and completes their day with a wunderbar sunset. (Yes, this REALLY happen to my friends and I and the Tv star was Erin Murphy from Bewitched.)
Point being, an adventure, A TRUE adventure does not have to be all body counts and blood baths. We all EXPLORE but we do not realize it. And we usually emerge from that exploration with something, be it a book, a toy, a movie, a meal or just something we learned. And sometimes that small thing we bought or found, leads to something bigger later on.
After reading OSR material for a while, I've picked up on a feature of dungeon exploration that is very handy: giving PCs stuff to experiment with.
For example: PCs walk into a room. In the center of the room are three basins full of bubbling liquid, each a different color. They don't need to interact with the basins or their contents at all to progress (or do they?). But the basins are there, nonetheless. What do the PCs do with them? Drink the liquids? Dip their weapons into the basins? Drop bits of destroyed monsters in them? Collect some of the liquid in containers and bring them back to an alchemist?
If the liquids have weird, interesting, and/or hazardous properties, it can provide plenty of distraction for the party to figure it out. Especially if, upon figuring it out, it gives them an edge during the rest of the dungeon. So long as they're clever, experimental, and cautious, they could be rewarded...or end up dying.
A rule of thumb I've heard in the OSR scene is to give players plenty of meaningful choices like these. The difference between a sightseeing tour on a railroad, and an interactive roleplay experience, is choice.
That is a really strong piece of advice - thanks for sharing! (and for the examples too!)
Why... weren't you always doing this? You needed OSR to tell you that your players wanted to actually PLAY in your world?
@@jackalcoyote8777 You might want to reread the post to which you replied. That's not what they said. Have a wonderful day.
see, THIS is a good video. He talks fast, is straight to the point from the start of the video, and really carries meaning in his voice.
amazing, man. ty.
Trying my best! Check out the improvement since my first one: ruclips.net/video/pOKkrbPdsPA/видео.html
Maybe a bit too fast for non-native speakers, but the subtitles helped. Excellent points throughout the whole video.
If pathfinder 2e did one thing right, it's the emphasis of the journey and not just the destination. I would highly recommend checking out The One Ring and Adventures in Middle Earth on how to make travel mechanically and narratively interesting.
This is the kind of content that makes a man subscribe 👍
Heck yes!! Welcome aboard - you might like the Combat Flow video. Not as smooth in the production, but (IMHO) A+ content :) ruclips.net/video/z2d1gceeAPw/видео.html
i am in complete agreement with Vipers opinion! subbed
In my opinion, I actually think the skeleton of a game is built on one of two fundamental aspects: story driven or exploration.
Some players love the story driven, RP aspect of a world, to explore deep and complex conflicts to challenge the characters so they can feel rewarded through story progression. I've found with these types of games there's still an emphasis on world building but less of an incentive to explore it. Thus less 'exploration'.
On the other hand some players just want to simply explore the world with little story elements attaching them to it. I've found these are the kinds of games where players mostly just like to discover new people, places, and things, score loot and build themselves up in a way thats not restricted to the story, with minor RP elements.
It's possible to definitely have these two aspects in one game, and there's nothing wrong with either of these type of games, but from personal experience as a DM, a group of players will lean towards one over the other. That's why as a DM you have to speak with your players before hand to establish the expectations of a campaign, that way both parties get to enjoy a campaign to its fullest.
And I think that's why most groups struggle to make exploration actually interesting, because the expectation was not established before hand. If players expect to go into a campaign with promises of loot and exploration but get involved in some great cosmic war for the fate of the universe, players will be to focused saving the world than actually exploring it, and that's why I think exploration gets a bad rep.
You don't need to reply to this particular comment, I just wanted to tell you that you've really fueled my DM design and rekindled my love of designing fun adventures for my friends.
Thank you!
How I implemented the exploration pillar to my game: I made the world have alot of secrets, intricat things, and ordinary things that would be usual in our world work differently: LIke armies are just parties from adventuring guilds, protecting a region. My players love to explore the world, and by interacting with NPC's and different objects in the world they learn more about it
You are my favourite dnd / dm tips youtuber!!!such well-structred and clear videos, without usual boring introduction stories, just the good stuuf !
Wow, thank you! But don't watch my older vids, a lot of them start with long stories. Often about stuff that's NOT DnD! :P
the great secret is when you realize you can apply the 5 room design to pretty much everything in the game.
What do you mean by this?
@@OnlineSarcasmFails He means that the 5 room dungeon is really just 5 flavors of content. An entrance, puzzle, trick/setback, climax and reward. It's a loose story structure that can be applied to any pillar of gameplay in an rpg. For a 100% roleplaying session. Talking with the guards can be an entrance test to get into a castle. The puzzle might be making arrangements between court nobles in a disagreement that grants access to the king. The trick is that someone set them up to take blame for a crime. The climax might be exposing the real criminal. Then the reward is an apology from the king.
Personally, I find this design structure repetitive and overly linear. But if your group likes playing this way, it's not bad. It's actually a pretty good way to organize adventures early on as a GM. The only flaw is that because it's so linear players might derail or bypass a section.
i totally agree with you. giving some structure to exploration really helps keep the game moving. i like to have my players take exploration turns where they can move and make an action (plus a free action). this also helps me keep track of in-game time and light resources.
3:11 the 3.5 monster manual I borrowed from my friend actually goes into detail explaining combat strategies for all the monsters
Great pitch, but the fact that a great DM can take the tools on the rulebooks for exploration (basically, zero) and create a compelling narrative doesn't change the fact that there are zilch tools for it or the implied expectation in the rulebooks that those other pillars are the less important parts between the killing and looting.
Hmmm...I'm not sure less important to the *game but everything that's not combat is less important in the *rules. I'm not convinced that is a bad thing though.
In the DnD Next playtest, there were rules for the 'exploration turn' but they got dropped because folks didn't actually like playing with them. Likewise, there are lots of rules for forced marches, extreme weather, foraging, encumbrance etc. They get ignored because that's not fun for the majority of players
I watch a ton of videos about DMing. I am obsessed about this art, and this video has taught me a lot. Is the first video i watch from you and i´m already a fan. This should be among the most usefull i have ever seen. Keep it up.
Thanks! I try really hard to make my vids differnt than what you see on the majority of DnD channels!
This is one of the best D&D youtube channels out there. I really appreciate your perspectives.
Glad you enjoy it!! I try really hard to put out stuff that's different than your standard fare and I'm happy you appreciate it :)
My biggest gripe with "what do you do" is DMs hear one person and start going. Listen to everyone THEN decide who does what first! ie- Jack you go to the table and____, Bob you make across the room amd see____, Catt you follow him and hear a sound coming from the far wall...
Everything you say as a GM should provide characters with potential goals. From scene descriptions, NPC dialogue and combat minutiae a player needs to be able to identify something to latch onto. The next bit to move things forward.
The reason exploration is so integral is that it provides the most amount of potential goals to a character.
However, a problem often lurks in this. Goal paralysis. When players are presented with too much and are overburdened with choices they have a problem with isolating specific goals and also stop moving forward.
I tend to see this in games where sandbox is thought to be just give them 100 different things to do.
Your role as the GM is to provide a structural framework of potential goals from which the players use their volition to affect change.
This is a great comment! You touched on a salient point about exploration x goals x structure. Thanks for sharing :)
@@ZipperonDisney thanks :)
The whole video was great about a topic that needs discussion. I'm sharing it with some people right away! The 4:00 - 5:00 was the best thesis describing what RPGs are and the basic format DMs need to focus on. Great stuff, you're one of only 3 D&D channels that offer worthwhile insight.
Glad you enjoyed it! I'm almost loath to ask but who are the other 2? And is one of them @MatthewPerkins?
@@ZipperonDisney , no Matthew Colville and Dungeoncraft. If you are suggesting Matthew Perkins I would certainly take a look.
While none of the 3 of you have method in common, you all do have distinct and intelligent philosophies about running games. The video production is good and each has of you has a strong voice that is unique and inspires me to do more in my games than I would otherwise.
Found out about you today and your videos are great. You deserve more subs, man
❤ Thanks a bunch! The Algorithm was good to you! 😎
Great take- keeping open concepts is how i work not being able to keep paper notes
I just found your channel and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.
Couldn't help but notice all the chest candy behind you on the wall, in some earlier videos.
"Make peace or die".
Yut!
A really interesting perspective.This helped me to look around my imagined world in a new way.
I've always loved exploration in general, whether it's experiencing it in fiction or real life. I've never thought of tabletop exploration this way, but it's an enlightening interpretation that I'm going to use to bolster my current campaign.
Great video (I like the background decoration, they really match the channel atmosphere.)
Glad you enjoyed it! Welcome aboard - you might like my Likable NPCs video too :)
@@ZipperonDisney That's one of the videos that drew me to the channel some time ago.
Your content is informative, but the atmosphere and pacing makes them much more entertaining. Keep making great stuff!
It's easy to trivialize exploration as just... building the scene and reacting to players. Having it broken down like this helps contextualize what we are already doing in a way that reminds DMs that they already using these techniques, just not thinking about them in this manner. Looking forward to the second half of this video!
I think the main focus of the vid was to get DMs to recognize what they are already doing as exploration! And, yeah, giving something a name and context helps you think about it more
@@ZipperonDisney Absolutely! I'm now looking back and recognizing areas of active exploration that I just brushed off as doing what I'm supposed to be doing. This really helped put everything into perspective.
This is one of the most useful DM videos I’ve ever seen! Thank you + algorithm
Thanks for watching! 😁 You can help others find it by (as they say) liking, SHARING, and subscribing 😉❤️
What I think is important in exploration it's that exploration should benefit the player. Many DMs take approach that exploration benefits DMs as an opportunity to give lore or something like that. But a take the point from videogames: in videogames you want to explore the level because it gives you something cool, like an item. Sure, lore is a benefit on its own, because it's makes game more interesting in a way. But it should be an additional stuff so to speak
Another way to say that is treasure is the reward for exploration?
@@ZipperonDisney I'll say that the true reward will be the story. But treasure can be a great motivation for players to explore
I think systems as written should be more daring to write methodical processes to explore; say... a forest. How hard it is to traverse, how well hidden are it's secrets, what kind of riches it holds and which checks are used on each? They could have levels and stats like monsters; from a walk in the park to marching through mordor. They could throw "spells" like a dragon's lair, with increasingly challenging saves. Which class skills or equipment could counter-act them? what goes wrong if they don't? Set up a gameplay loop to conquer a treacherous mountain the same way you defeat a boss monster. If you ask me, I think it could be done with some brainstorming, most game developers are just not that much into it, and most DMs default to sprinkling long distances with random encounters for which the game rules and character abilities have well defining methods of overcoming.
Have you seen my Overland Travel video? It's old, but I thin it really covers (most of) those ideas
@@ZipperonDisney not yet! I just recently discovered this channel. Good stuff! thank you : )
I think of exploration as traveling to points of interest, discovering curiosities, and solving mysteries. Therefore, a campaign setting should have some mysteries and points of interest.
I feel like traps and puzzles are a fourth pillar. In the course of your exploration, you'll encounter NPCs, fight monsters, and deal with traps and puzzles--that is, you'll encounter the other three pillars.
This is one of my favorite dnd videos I have seen. And I have watched a lot of them
Thank you kind sir!
Great video. I've always loved the exploration side of DnD and it doesn't seem to get as fair of a shake. My current campaign is basically an elaborate Point A to Point B quest in order to put exploration in the foreground. Hopefully, the idea of "earning" lore appeals to them as much as to me and you, because that's gonna be the MO.
Go for it! You might want to check out my vids on Random Encounters and Overland travel too. I ran a campaign similar to what I think you're describing, and the ideas I put in those vids helped me out 😎
@@ZipperonDisney Just watched them. We seem to have similar thoughts on most things. Seriously, I could've written the Random Encounters video myself.
I've subscribed, by the way. I look forward to whatever's next
Your cuts in here are very good, definitely can see where you have tried improving the quality of your videos
I try...I got a teleprompter last week, so the next vid should be even better :)
@@ZipperonDisney ooh? Seems interesting, honestly figured you might've had something like that already tbh lol. Love your work!
Hey dude, just found your channel. Your content is super informative, but moreover your chill energy gives these videos a great vibe. Good stuff!
Welcome aboard! I'm really glad you're digging the channel :)
I really enjoyed this video! It's so easy to miss what this pillar truly means. I have never considered the story to be a part of the exploration pillar before!
Glad you enjoyed it! I really digged your Character Arc vid :)
This blew my mind. I've got a whole new perspective, and it's beautiful.
Glad to hear it! ❤️ That's a big aim of my channel - to give folks a new take on things!!
thought you would talk about the most difficult part: overland travel
hard to make exiting. The rest of exploration is... maybe not easy, but a just matter of training. The way you describe it: Everything is exploration and well... that´s correct.
This was a great watch 😊 I subscribed right after it finished. Looking forward to watching your previous and future videos 😁
Thank you so much 🤗 I got a lot of topics that you'll only find here!
I like the idea of scaling up when it comes to exploration, but it may also be useful to simplify the three pillars to their most essential attributes. When I think of the three pillars in their most traditional form they appear as mapping out the dungeon and checking for traps/solving puzzles, fighting the monsters you find, and talking to the NPCs you meet there. Overcoming obstacles, defeating enemies, and making allies. One requires experimentation and creative problem solving, one requires clever tactics and teamwork, and one requires clever roleplay. I think with these core elements in mind you can run a satisfying version of each pillar, or even switch them around. For example I've seen mystery scenarios that appear to be social encounters but require experimentation and problem solving to find and collect clues, and wilderness survival scenarios that only require the players to cleverly roleplay their actions in a way that's engaging and believable.
Glad to see a new video, you're one of my favorite RUclips D&D thinkers. Keep up the good work!
I like your point about IDing the core elements are being ready to switch them around. That's a cool way of thinking of it!!
Inspired! - as a worldbuilder I am aaallways open to advise that makes my players interact with my world a little more :)
Glad to hear it! Care to share a cool world detail I can steal?
@@ZipperonDisney always :-D speaking of pillars:
Drēahnian wódr̥. A 500 meter inverted waterfall, that pulls water from below and blast it into the sky. the water is drained from the surrounding lands creating a huge desert. All is barren except for the extremely fertile lands just around the mouth of the waterpillar where a lush jungle sprouts in a constant wet season. high up in the sky, the pillar twists and bends towards the nearest ocean - as a river in the sky.
Walking the desert you can often see water - but never reach it.
PREACH BROTHER! Wow I love your stuff! How have I never seen a video of yours! Love the energy, presentation, cuts, AND some great points made!
Most of my vids have a different angle than most. I'm not trying to tell you everything I know about a topic, I'm trying to change the way you look at parts of the game
I really liked this video. Exploration has always been a catch all term that everyone has some understanding of what it is but can't define. And the handbook doesn't provide a good enough definition or rules frame to interpret it. So if you are not socially interacting or combating, you are exploring. This "everything else" definition is so broad that it's hard to implement exploration in your sessions in a meaningful way. I wouldn't call it a Pillar but a roof supported by the other two pillars.
I think other games have interesting takes on explorations that could be imported to D&D to enhance the experience: the One Ring has a really cool travel/journey mechanic and The Burning Wheel is an excellent system to explore character internal conflict, motivation and development from a more narrative point of view.
Do you think the game would benefit from having a central 'exploration' mechanic?
@@ZipperonDisney Not necessarily. I would like to see the designers take on a supplement, though.
One could also ask: Would the game benefit from a central Social Interaction mechanic?
I think a better question to ask is Would YOUR game benefit from such mechanics?
I mean D&D is so big and old and rooted in culture that it is hard to implement new radical central mechanics without deviating from its core.
@@colbyboucher6391 Torchbearer? 2nd edition is coming. You can explore what dungeon delving really is. 😁
@@colbyboucher6391 what? Mouse gaurd is so fun!! I appreciate the light heartedness and Scenes mechanic
IMO the BEST model to follow for an exploration adventure is one of the three Indiana Jones' movies combined with Oceans 11....with Orks.
Good news!!! I have you covered -> ruclips.net/video/z9P9nmbGu0E/видео.html
This video kinda bummed me out because this has long been the thing I struggle with the most, and it's because it really requires the players to buy in and take the reigns. Getting my players to have an answer when I say, "what do you do?"consistently been the hardest thing for me. They always seem to have decision paralysis when I don't specifically give them options :/
That can be really frustrating. While planning is part of the fun, if nothing ever moves forward, that stinks. I covered that topic and some tools to deal with it a little bit in another video about how to increase engagement in a session. You might find it helpful -> ruclips.net/video/WWrCxVW3_gg/видео.html
Zipperon Disney Wow, thank you so much!
I saw your thought-provoking tweets that lead up to this video. I'm grateful for the fresh perspective on exploration!
Right on!! What do you do to encourage your players to discover things?
@@ZipperonDisney I haven't given it a lot of thought before! I think one thing that has worked for me is when allow them to discover something of interest off the beaten path. If they're going through a cave with linear progression, they've been very interested when they find a small opening (crawl only) that leads to another part of the cave system. This signals that I've probably prepared something for them if they go that way, because it's not the norm to create secret paths that are just red herrings leading nowhere. I think this relies on some metagame knowledge of what the DM is providing, which I think is healthy.
First of all, very enjoyable video, and I like your content!
I like framing the exploration as not rp and not combat. Very useful take on it!
However, I couldn't disagree more with your claim that combat pillar is not really supported. Maybe 2/3s of PHB is dedicated to different ways to engage with combat. Initiative structure is here to support combat. Class levels are here to support combat. Hp and AC are here to support combat.
And Monster Manual is in fact a book to support combat. If it has a stat block, it is here to support combat.
That's a fair take, there are a lot of rules for combat. My main point was how even with all that, the DM is expected to DIY to put them together
This is absolutely brilliant. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts. And assuming your other content is nearly as cogent as this you will count me among your Patreon crew soon.
Thanks! More to come! 😎 Folks are really fond of my Combat Flow video, too. The production isn't as good (bane of youtubers everywhere!) but the ideas I think are still valuable ➡️ ruclips.net/video/z2d1gceeAPw/видео.html
This video is great mate! I’ve been co-DMing a West Marches style campaign and the exploration aspect of that has become a lil stale/monologue-y, so this reframing seems super useful!
Happy you found it useful!😎 I've always wanted to do a multi-DM west marches game. How is it working out?
11:11 as a Kölner, I appreciate that. A lot.
So what's a word we can use other than "Exploration" for the overly narrow definition, and how might we enbolded specifically what that would cover?
I think "dungeon delving" "overland travel" or "urban investigation" are good descriptors for those specific parts of exploration
@@ZipperonDisney Noted. Know anyone who's made videos about those by any chance?
Great thoughts. Party exploration is very important to an adventure, otherwise the players feel like they are spectators on a ride, being "driven" by the DM to the next challenge/event/encounter. Sure, create storylines and plots, but always within the context of a "sandbox" exploration region.
Or, at least, transport the players from mini-sandbox to min-sandbox if you are doing a more "on rails" game (like organized play or an episodic style game)
Thanks, this is excellent. I haven't thought about exploration like this before, and it makes a lot of sense. Subscribed!
Welcome aboard! ❤️ If you DO want more info on overland travel (and want to see what 2 years of video production improvement looks like) my very FIRST vid was about making travel interesting -> ruclips.net/video/pOKkrbPdsPA/видео.html
Can't believe this video was made so many years ago.
This helped me a lot! I am so taking a look at more of your videos.
Go for it! The 2 vids on pacing people find really useful too
That's actually exactly how I treat exploration 😊
First time I have seen one of your videos ... Art work was amazing and some great points ... Liked and subscribed look forward to more thanks.
Awesome, thank you! If you're looking for some more ideas off the beaten path, you might like my "What If Alignment Mattered?" video :) ruclips.net/video/KqrlB1aGrUc/видео.html
My problem is that non of my players "poke or prod" might as well just be running a war game. Can't get any of them to rp to save my life. Players need to convince the local lord of something. I set it up try to start some dialogue and it's just " I try to persuade him. **Dice sound** 19. Does that work?".
I might suggest you check out my video on Indirect Role Play ❤️
@@ZipperonDisney thanks I'll look for it. This is the first video I've stumbled on of yours so I haven't really had the chance to look through your back catalogue of content yet.
I am just diggining into tyour videos. they are fantastic. thank you!!
Welcome! I'm glad you're digging them :)
I just stumbled across your channel and had to subscribe. I don’t even play 5E but your videos contain great advice and entertaining opinions.
Welcome aboard! You might also like my Rival Party video for some system agnostic advice ruclips.net/video/ymeT73N-ka4/видео.html
Good points and good video
Thanks for stopping by for the premiere and chatting :)
I have watched 10000 videos about the philosophical approach to dnd. The ideas a dm should have and how to think respond act and react. My problem is that when it comes to execution, i fall flat. Whether its nerve inexperience or im just plain bad at it is still up for debate. I have so much content ready to go and i dont think it's necessarily bad. i just can't translate it well at the table. And idk how to fix this.
practice and self reflection. And being forgiving of yourself. Everybody makes mistakes or things don't work at as planned. Everybody has times when things fall flat. Best thing to do is to remember what doesn't work for you and move on, and what works for *your* table and do it again!
Great thought provoking video! Well done. (and subscribed :) )
That's what I aim for! Thanks and welcome 😎
"Knowing players something probably caught fire."
Killer video dude. Such an elegant perspective
Thank you! What sort of things do your players like to discover?
Very inspiring and insightful! New subscriber here!
Welcome aboard! Let me know if you have any ideas for videos 😎
My players can be quit the handful,
However they always give exploration a fun twist.
From our dumb-ass barbarian not knowing what furniture is
And our rogue with PTSD every time I say the word veil
To our Warlock prodding for information with every NPC.
They have explored the same room like 4 times now,
But every time it's like they find it for the first time.
lol...do you have some ideas on how to get them to go forward?
@@ZipperonDisney They move on eventually,
But there's very little coordination,
So people get lost all the time.
I don't mind the slow pace,
After all I know exactly where they missed a spot,
So I'll give them some hints or slightly change the description of the area
Whenever they decide to backtrack
And there's something left to discover.
Good topic, enjoyed the video. 🙂👍
Thanks! 🙂
Great video and congrats on the new subscriber
Thanks and welcome
Great insights! Thanks for sharing. You got a new sub :)
Welcome aboard! ❤️ If you interested in different takes, you might like my Mythical Thinking Video: ruclips.net/video/YAWuthZjpBY/видео.html
Man love this content.
Thank you!! 😊
What book is the image at 2:23 from?
Great video, subscribed.
Awesome, thank you!
Pathfinder 2nd Edition has an Exploration Mode and Exploration Activities you can only do in that mode, and games like Numenera succeed pretty well at making exploration attractive, discovery being the only thing that gives XP to players. Steal from those games.
A good tip for making exploration attractive to players is to give them rewards to engage in exploration and solving mysteries. XP, unique items, access to restricted and interesting powers, additional feats. 4E suggested players to make a list of stuff they would like to acquire and suggest the GM to use that list to incentivise the PCs. A troll is worth 1,800 but how much is it to find the entrance to the Lost City? Rewards for non-combat activities is often intangible, therefore it is a good idea to tell the players upfront.
Oh yeah, I totally give out XP for discovery! Another question is what % of XP should come from non combat encounters?
@@ZipperonDisney I feel we must take into account the campaign style. Gaining a new contact or an ally in an urban campaign should worth more XP than finding the secret passage to the Thieves Guild. If exploration should be a big deal in our campaign the reward should be proportional to its importance and difficulty.
It might be a good idea to rate Discoveries in Levels, the same as monsters.
Lol you hit the nail on te head. WotC has dome a poor job preparing DMs im all aspects of the game.
Its hilarious how unusable adventure modules are. They are pretty much textbooks that will halt pacing to a snails pace if you need to parse information from it
Woooh! Great stuff!
I don't agree that the method of play (DM describes, player describes, repeat) is exploration by default. It's exploration when the context is exploration or intent is discovery. I think this is being way too generous to 5e and I think this is missing the spirit of the complaint about 5e exploration which is specifically about hex crawling and dungeon crawling.
Found and subbed. Great observations!
Welcome aboard! ❤️ Most of my vids are on obscure DnD topics or trying to give another take on something common. Do you have something in the game that is of particular interest to you?
Being human means we tend to break things into parts to think about them. If we could think more synergistically, we could more easily understand how the three pillars co-exist and work seamlessly as a whole. But due to our limited mental acumen, we must divide what does not truly work as broken parts, but amazingly sing as one. The game can just flow at times - not needing or heeding analysis.
Well, yes, but one outlook of mine is that breaking things downs at categorizing them makes analysis easier!
@@ZipperonDisney Right. Part of my point is that analysis requires us to break things down into parts. However, when games flow, there is a bit of magic that defies analysis - when the "3 pillars" happen seamlessly as one. It happens when players engage in driving the game play forward and game flow happens without much effort. Thanks for the videos.
*gasp* You said Morrowind. I love you even more.
Thanks for another great video with solid advice!
Morrowind is my *favorite* 🌟🌙 Check this from a previous campaign -> drive.google.com/file/d/1sxitrYtN1JE6qaWLrJBckeG3bLr_Grjl/view?usp=sharing
@@ZipperonDisney Mine too!
Oh, that looks fun! I've been wanting to do a MW campaign, but no one to do it with, lol.
Just what I needed, neat video.
Thank you! 😊
You have thought this through and I'd like to follow you into more insights. #exploration
Great stuff mate!
Thanks for the visit - have you watched the channel before?
Every single Dnd video is like : lose your functional fixedness. But I already did. And if DMs out there lack imagination and like their neat little boxes, you telling them to be more loose won't change anything.
Using Inkarnate as I watch this. 😆
Do you ever watch @IcarusMiniatures? He's all about them Maps (so is @WASD20 for that matter)
Wasd20, yes. But the other, not until you suggested! Thanks friend!
You are using a very broad…to the point of being meaningless…definition of exploration. I think you also nailed an essential truth about newer editions - the loss of procedures. Procedures have been stripped from the game to reduce it to telling a half baked story with bad voice acting with occasional dice rolls thrown in sporadically.
One of the reasons I love running B/X D&D so much is because it actually provides a framework to play the game on. There are procedures for combat, for dungeon turns, for overland travel, for encounters, etc. There are wandering monster tables, encounter tables, and other things to add in a sense of urgency and danger. This provides “actual” support for exploration, not just theoretical support for a watered down concept of it.
And of course OSR is full of hex crawls, point to point exploration, modules that serve as location based adventures rather than narrative based adventures, etc. These are all entire products designed to elevate this “pillar” of the game in a way nothing else does.
In short, this is a modern problem that’s pretty much fixed by playing OSR games instead.
Or, "What happens if I . . . "
The VSauce of D&D
I'll take it 😜
I love the content and want to watch more videos, but I find it hard to listen to since you talk so fast that the words all blur together.
i can agree whats funny is most videos i watch on 2x speed and this one i had to watch at normal speed
There's a reason that 5e is such a weak edition in design terms...there were rules for exploration in every other edition and they axed it. It's even in their beta materials and write ups and they kind forgot to keep it in there. Lots of D&D is actually designed and reliant on the exploration or dungeon turn. There's a reason why rituals take 10 minutes, why short rests are 1 hour, and buffs last for the amounts of times that they do. It's not meant to be as fiat as 5e unfairly expects of the DM.
dnd defining exploration as something that isn't exploring then claiming it is one of their pillars is complete horseshit
Could you stop with those mid-roll ads? It makes the video unwatchable...
RUclips just changed how they did midroll ads. I'm looking into seeing if I can just do banner overlays, because full on ad breaks in the middle bug me too. We'll see, looks like it might be all or nothing 😑