As marisha has said, thank god brennan is a good person because otherwise he would rule the world. He is genuinely diabolical in the best meaning of the words
@@feywildfiendHe did say he was a philosophy major in college in an interview, and that his crazy monologues are just how he would speak normally if given the opportunity to do so.
@@burnttoast5477 Eh, there's also been speeches in media that have had a lot of swearing that work too tbh. I mean it more like the way he emphasizes the word in his delivery. That doesn't mean that the unexpected fuck out of nowhere doesn't hit hard! It does! But swearing is a tool you can use in a variety of ways - the inverse where a character swears a lot but suddenly they're being vulnerable or in an emotional state and they stop swearing also can hit HARD.
I don't need a lesson on vociferous villainy. I don't need your quaint little list of Do's and Don'ts like you're some kind of schoolteacher for wayward nemeses. I just need you to SIT down, SHUT up, and listen to the words of your SUPERIOR! /monologue Thanks for the tips! :D
Do you know what's really tiring about you RUclips commentators? The sanctimony and perception that you really have something to contribute, that you've got an insipient thought that you've pointlessly christened as a pearl when it's nothing more than irritating sand. Go back to the snivveling hole you came from and leave argumentation to those know...
A villan monologue i wanna do: "I have to ask. Why do you do this to yourself? Every single time you hear a whisper of a scheme... a possible evil... a potential trouble, you come tramping up. Desperate to make things right, desperate to be right, DESPERATE to be heroes... Dont get me wrong, im perfectly fine with you pursuing your ambitions. What i hate... is your naivety. You wish to be heroes BUT you dont want to lose anyone... Your arrogance astounds me. So out of the benevolence of my heart let me teach you a lesson. Heroes... need matyrs.
I like it. Some suggestions that might improve. Rather than 'why do this to yourself', which implies they suffer for being heroes and is kind of a compliment, you could ask 'do you even know, I mean really know, why you do what you do?' it's a little 4th wally and might be more insulting /gripping through implying ignorance and that they're not heroes at all. You might then also put 'your naivety, nay hypocrisy...' it then becomes an insight onto your villain's perspective i.e. there are no heroes
Damn. I would call that an impressive villain monologue. Just that little piece makes me want to see the villains delivery, and know more about the party's history to invoke such specific dialogue.
A villain monologue I have planned for a future campaign for my dnd group is when I reveal the main villain of the 3 campaign series is him revealing to the party that they aren't destined for anything. That "You are just pebbles dropped into a vast ocean. Just here to cause a small ripple in a vast storm. Not even worth the story in a tavern's song."
yeah these tips are great but I think the lifetime of improv training is doing a LOT. no shot I would be able to keep all this in my head to deliver off the cuff
@@tweegerm hey, don't sell yourself short. It'll take some practice, for sure, but the secret to soloing on an instrument is practicing individual little licks and learning your keys, then practicing putting them together. It gets easy faster than you'd expect. For monologues, if you have a clear picture of your players and villain, an understanding of their motivations and flaws, your monologue is often basically just stating some of them. Practice adding a little color to your phrases in your day to day speech, and you'll find it's easier than you thought.
I think one thing that was missed was expression. Brennan is cold, but he’s also extremely like passionate very he’s not scared to raise his voice. He can feign hate behind his eyes so well.
DM prep and monologuing have the same plan. Prepare the plan Plan meets the players Plan goes out the window and brain engages all cylinders to be epic
Here's a monologue I have planned for one of my characters, a champion of the god of death. As soon as a member of the organization the party is working with tries to pull rank on him, or saying "I command you", this will be delivered in a low, ominous tone: "There is no man, in this world or any other, who commands me. I aid your group because I sympathize with its goals: compromise, common ground. Restraint. And I have been *frighteningly* effective in rendering that aid. But allow yourselves to wander down the path toward tyranny, and you shall see a *far different* side of Death's mortal sword. I invite you to consider your next actions . . . *very* carefully."
I took a stab at rewriting your monologue in the voice I hear in my head after watching too many BLeeM supercuts lol (and let me be clear: this is NOT meant as notes for improvement) "Do you want to know the real reason why I have provided aid to you people? How it is that this aid has been rendered with such frightening effectiveness? Do you want to know who commands me? I'll tell you. There is no being - not in this world, not in ANY WORLD - who can command me. *I* aid your team, your washed up committee of self-important, middle management try hards, because I sympathize with your goals: Compromise. Common ground. RESTRAINT. And if you have felt fear in the face of my efficacy... well. I invite you to consider your next actions very carefully. Or, sure, by all means, allow yourselves to continue down the path towards tyranny, where you shall meet a far different side of Death's mortal sword." I hope you don't mind me harnessing the opportunity that having no attachment to your mysterious narrative presents. I wanted to do the question thing, the repeat thing, the 'make it about them' thing, with some cadence and subtle alliteration that feels like it would be pleasing to sort of bite, chew, savour, and spit at my players. My thanks to you and OP for the exercise!
@@katiewilde8344 I like your take on it, but it wouldn't work for my guy. He's sort of a historical figure; born 500 years before the current game time, in a time when magic was dying out, he united the faithful of the god of Death and led them on a crusade against would-be tyrants that rose up and tried to hoard the magic that remained. During that time, he became feared the world over for being utterly implacable and without mercy to his enemies. He was even feared by his "allies" in the priesthood because he simply refused to play their political games and would drag their schemes into the light whenever he could. Then he vanished off the face of the world; in actuality, he'd been hunting a demon prince on Death's orders. He killed it, but lost all of the hand-picked squad he'd brought with him in doing so. He sealed himself in a sarcophagus and Death warded him, in case he might be needed again. And that day came 500 hundred years later. So my character speaks with a much more archaic syntax, though of course adapted for modern times. He doesn't verbally waffle or mince words; he doesn't insult, name-call, or use fillers like "well" or "sure, by all means". That's part of what makes him kind of intimidating to even speak with. There's not a wasted word in sight. Even his threats are extremely simple. "I will now cast Zone of Truth, to ensure your information is honest. You will allow yourself to fall under its influence. Resist, and I will know. And I will hurt you. Try to run now, and I will hurt you more."
@@CountryMusicMann this is awesome backstory! I'm glad I have it now... and glad I didn't have it before. Not having it let me experiment with repurposing the same general content while swapping out some of the tone and cadence. It goes to show what's flexible, and what isn't, when it comes to characterization. I love that you know how your guy would and wouldn't phrase things, and you sound like a great DM to some lucky players!
@@katiewilde8344 Yeah, he's a Vengeance Paladin/Shadow Sorcerer with a couple of DM granted alterations to his spell list, so with that monologue will be a slow, inevitable walk forward, with Subtle Spell Thaumaturgy to cause the lights in the room to dim, a cold chill to rise, and the air to thicken, so it gets just a *little* hard to breathe for whoever tried to bullshit him. That class split is also part of why he's so feared: he can shuffle spell slots around with sorcery points, and thus at max level he can dish out 10d8 damage *per swing* for *three full rounds* before he has to start lowering his damage output, and even then, each round after that is just 1d8 less. At max level, between the 8th level False Life for +45-ish temp HP, Mirror Image for defense, Shield whenever something makes it through those, 9th level Spirit Shroud for +4d8 damage per melee hit which stops the target from healing period, and Divine Smites, the Ebon Blade, mortal sword of the Dreaded Father of Death, can dish out truly *terrifying* punishment in melee. And in pitched battle, pretty much every single blow will kill.
@@katiewilde8344 Also, that's only the public part of his backstory; up to his disappearance, that's what would be available in history books. In addition, I also always try to include a backstory that goes back to childhood that establishes the psychology of the character, and this is one I've done that for. I'm very much looking forward to my character recovering those memories and revealing that part to the party.
Brilliant video. This is going in my personal Hall of Fame video essays playlist. Don't tell my D&D table, but I had already written this for a future campaign I have planned. “The one thing I regret is giving them warning of the coming judgement. That weakness… that mercy… you have shown me that that is my sin. My burden. But I shall defeat this flaw with practice.” His face is stone. He readies his sword. “ Come. Waste your soul, little falsehood. Let me reveal to you the truth of what you are.”
Love this! Completely falls into the category of Brennan’s “narrative Aikido” that he talks about. Another great quirk is how he always repeats the desires of the players when they want to do something - “I’m looking for someone I know”, “you look for someone you know…” which is both a compelling echo, and also a way to ground yourself and hone in on exactly what you’re working with. Such a thoughtful, godforsaken RUclips channel!
Another aspect of the way those monologue-punctuating questions works is - they are scary. Firstly they put the players (in the state of their PCs) on the spot. Like a teacher asking you a direct question in class. Secondly, they make the player aware that they don't know something important. In the first example they don't understand the motivation of this dangerous being. In the second case they apparently don't even understand their own motivations, but the bad guy understands, and it's somehow important to what is happening now. Now you feel disoriented, if you don't understand the situation you can't predict how this dangerous person might behave, they might even be in the right. Now, you are not just *interested*, you are *gripped* by the answer to the question.
Wow, I've seen these monologues so many times and never picked up on these. Definitely using them ASAP- may even beat out just stealing already famous monologues from movies and changing them to be D&D
This is less a villain monologue and more an anti-hero monologue. Character is Henry Blackwood, a Bloodhunter (and cop) who made a deal with an eldritch deity to find his father’s killer, later broke that deal, finding out that basically all of his ancestors have made the same deal. *You want to know why I’m here? Why a coward like me is bothering to try and stop the apocalypse? I am not a good man. My father, despite how I revered him was not a good man, nor his father before him. I come from a long line of bad men, but we were all trying to bring justice to the world. Generations of Prometheus’s, chained to the cliff of the deals we forged in dark alleys; paying for the power we steal from the gods by having our souls ripped from our bodies each day. All so we could light the world just once with a torch that previously only the gods could wield. How could we have known that the fire we stole would be the thing to burn us? I have no interest in glory. I’m not here for the greater good. I’m not even here because I was shown kindness and mercy by the very people whom I tried to destroy in order to save my own spineless back. I’m here because I will be the last bad man in this line. Whether I die tonight, or fifty years from now, no other descendants of the Blackwood progeny will rot at the many hands of Shialogoath, nor any other extra-planar tyrant. The cycle ends with me. I have no sons to seek my killer. I will use this torch I stole from the gods to burn the necks of the hydra my forefathers have created in their pursuit of justice. The Blackwoods will no longer seek justice, retribution, revenge. We seek peace and healing, knowing that some things are simply out of our control. My sisters understand this, I suppose they take after our mother. I wish I did too. There is one thing I learned from her though: Finish what you start. I intend to do exactly that.*
I'll structure this monologue homework as though I was speaking directly to a player! The villain in this example is also bereft of an arm. "As you're held in place, she walks behind you and places her hand on your shoulder, lowering it down to your bicep, and she asks, 'Do you want to know what I remember most about losing my arm? It wasn't the pain, no.. our minds have a knack for blocking out pain in our memory. It was anger. It was rage.. I realized in that moment, that I'd no longer be able to tear every little insect intent on proving itself my equal, limb from fucking limb. The ultimate pleasure of feeling bones pop and crackle like pieces of charcoal in my hands is what I remember most.. I wonder what you'll remember?'"
You highlighted the things that made Handsome Jack the best Borderlands villain, a feat that Gearbox can't seem to top ever since. Even now, after so many years, Jack's monologues linger in my mind.
One of my favorite examples of good villain monologue is Wilson Fisk's "Good Samaritan" speech from the end of the first season of Netflix's Daredevil, he exhibits multiple of these tenets of a good monologue, but most especially control. He's at the lowest point he's ever been in the series, he's been caught, in chains, being hauled off to prison, but he still has 100% control of the situation and he knows this and uses it to his advantage during his speech. Phenomenal work
Great video! One that has prompted thoughts... No prewritten speech will ever match the fire of an improv monologue, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try. The power of improv is the instinctive connections you make when thinking with your body (gesturing, shifting your weight, expanding your diaphragm, facial expressions). They can drive the pace of your speech. Eye contact is essential too. The word "You!", no matter how loud you shout it, has half the impact when it isn't coupled with eye contact. For D&D purposes, the most dangerous place for a monologue is a VTT. So much of what's being communicated will be lost, no matter how good your words.
“Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers that fill my complex. If the word 'hate' was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant. For you. Hate. HATE.” -AM, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
A villain monologue not for D&D but for a ttrpg called Nobilis where the enemies are basically gods of nonexistence who want to end reality: "You call yourselves Noble, but do you know what you really are? You are the wardens of your own prison. You are *patsies* tricked into serving your own oppressors. You call us abomination, but you serve at the pleasure of the embodiment of Scorn, Desecration, and Destruction! You embrace Cancer as your friend. You call Tyranny an ally of necessity. You protect Rape from its eradication. You are no saviors. You are protectors only of the barbed chains that bind you and those you love. "The world subjects you to so much. You face death and heartbreak and loss, and you say somehow it is worth it because every once in a while, the world lets you gasp for air before it starts drowning you again. You don't have to suffer any of it! Even the 'small' things -- headaches, traffic, stubbing your toe -- none of it is has to be. Somehow you've deluded yourselves into thinking it all necessary, built a temple to the idea that your suffering is good or worth it or just has to be. "You are not saviors. You are *battered wives* too afraid to leave your abusers behind. You are victims so broken you think the world loves you because once in a blue moon it shows you kindness instead of misery. You are elephants tied by a frail rope to a stake in the ground, born enslaved and so used to your bonds that you cannot imagine slipping them. "But your chains are fragile, and you can break them if you want. The door to your cage -- it's open. The world can't stop you from leaving it, from healing yourselves, from being *safe.* "Please. We love you. We want you to stop hurting. Be done with this place. Step through the door."
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BREAKING THIS PATTERN DOWN! It's such an effective act and having you explain it and then even had an example you acted out in the end!! So good!!! I'm so inspired, I'll be back w my homework omfg
I am now fond of using subtle positive scripting to denote frustrations or anger. This inspiration came from the show High Potential (S1, Ep7) towards the end, the protagonist said "but you put my child in danger, I hope one day you're fortunate enough to experience that first hand". The only thing is that the delivery was subpar. But I really love Brennan on Critical Role when he DMs. as the writing was impactful, both on Calamity and Downfall One of my favorites is the explanation of Father in Fullmetal Alchemist as to why is he looking down on humans, He responds "When you notice an insect on the ground do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it, that would be an accurate summation towards my feelings on you humans." The words paint a clear picture along with thought provoking questions was brilliant.
I just want to say, your videos constantly give me SO much value as a DM! Thank you for this. I plan to re-watch, take notes, and write a few monologues!
"Do you want to know what I have always hated? No, that's too strong a word. You humans hate yourselves enough without me adding to it. Do you know what I see as a flaw in humanity? After twelve millennia of watching your kind grow and Change over time, there has always been Hate-hate for self, hate for the tribe, and hate for the Chief because he doesn't lead the right way. hate for a brother because his crops grow and yours do not. and that in some messed up circus-act way, you go around preaching about peace, love, and harmony. like a bunch of ants going out into the word to spread the colony, you have riots, rallies, and revolutions in the name of peace, yet every riot and revolution comes with the price of blood. The contradiction is always Fascinating...."
My problem with this analytical approach is that Brennan isn't thinking of any of these in the moment, he's riffing. So why is he so great at riffing? Like everyone else on Dropout he's got extensive improv training, but it's his passion for the subject(s) - D&D, RPGs as collective form, birds, politics, etc - and he's gifted at being able to expound on these passions on the fly. Practice for years, his instincts for humor and good storytelling - twists, turns, creating and relieving tension - create who he is as an orator and comedian. Practice improv, be passionate, tell stories for so long you drill the structure down out of your analytical brain and into your instincts. Otherwise following the list of components in this video will just result in a badly/awkwardly done monologue that follows the list of components done in this video.
I think thats true, certainly. More true in what you said than things I disagree with. However, I do think that in all that passionate experience it is very likely he has been analytical himself. Its likely that as an actor he's practiced a few monologues, written by others and by himself. He's a pretty educated and analytical person, so I'm sure much of that experience is steeped in analysing things and taking notes and practicing things. There is plenty to be learned, as long as you give yourself the grace to make mistakes in pursuit of having fun with the things you care about. Passion is equal all these things in measure.
@@dm_ex_machina3395 thanks for your thoughtful reply. All the videos that promise "five tricks to succeed at ______ " are capitalizing on people's desire for shortcuts that won't require them to do what they're afraid of. Giving up control, leading with instinct and imagination in the moment instead of critical analysis and over thinking is - I can say from years of experience - far scarier, and it does people a huge disservice to pander to that. The real answer is: if you want to approach being as good as Brennan (or anyone you admire and resonate with) it's going to be a journey of stepping out into discomfort and fear over and over again, until your growing confidence dispels that fear. No amount of analysis can dispel it or avoid it, it just means doing the things you're uncomfortable with, until you get comfortable with them.
I agree with both comments. No one should expect to be that good just by learning rules and techniques, but, that is the first step, followed by practice, in becoming better and able to apply those techniques on the fly
Sorry, I think that you are both overselling and underselling Brennan by implying that this is somehow natural to him or just something he got used to because of who he is and what he does. Art (and this is art) is technique, and yes, it CAN be achieved by exposition, I learned to draw by... Drawing as a child and never stopping, I never went into a class or something and I have a professional career at this thing that I have a passion for and grew with, but you CAN learn how to draw and become a professional by actually studying the techniques. Brennan has probably studied monologues of the things that he likes even if it happened kind of on the back of his brain, he is referencing a source material that he has watched and learned from, this IS studying and it's not the only way of doing it. Art can be created and be powerful both by developing it out of spontaneity and passion AND by learning structures, purposeful analysis and more traditional studying. Edgar Alan Poe has actually done something with this concept where he wrote a particularly famous poem by only using the technical side of writing, just to prove that it is a craft and not a gift. The ones we call gifted are just people who learned things earlier in life where their brains can absorb more info and since humans are great at pattern recognition, the brain can find the intersections of the things you are exposed to. You are not gifted because you know english from birth and you are not necessarily worse at english if you learned it as an adult, you might learn it differently and it might take more time but in the end it's just learning by different methods at different points of development of your brain.
Hi, I would actually love to share a monologue from a villain in a campaign i've been running for like 4,5 years. A little context: The speaker is Lady Magnys a possibly lich (but actually just a very powerful mage turned into a vampire). See, in this world there is a desease that is called "the Ire" that turns those who have it into undead, and almost everyone has it. More or less like the zombie disease from walking dead? So the result is a constantly increasing number of undead. And of course Lady Magnys commands them. The specifics of the acts the party did to her is a little long to put into context, but rest assured they were a D&D party about it all. The only other thing is, this lady Magnys is a vampire, and as vampires often obssess over one singular emotion, she is obssessed with loss, with a bit of pain and grief thrown into the mix. With that settled, onto the thing: YOU, don't get to speak. I tried to work with you. I showed you mercy, took you under my wing and gave you what I had. I thought you allies and kin. What you did? You invaded my home, robbed me and lied to my face. You betrayed me, humiliated me and killed my lieutenant. You broke. My. Heart... (hurt) and took her away... (longingly) But I understand. The path now ahead is but one; and thus, I will do what I must. I will crumble the walls of your home. I will kill whoever fights beside you. I will find those you love and brake them until their hearts no longer make a sound... And you? You will watch it all. You will writhe in pain for as long as you breathe. You will finally know what true loss is. And then you'll work for me.
I'm so glad that you made this video because I got some monologues coming up for my party that I Plan on truly making them feel the weight of each character's words.
The first thing that came to mind when you said, "You ask a question, then answer it" was the Joker monologue starting with, "You wanna know how I got these scars?"
Your video was randomly recommended, and I thought, hey I wanna do monologues well, and love Brennan. I love your video! You do such a wonderful job explaining what is going on, how it works and why it works, all in a concise manor. Bravo, and sub earned well before the video ended.
Brennan's best villain is in Vampire the Masquerade where he, a vampire hunter working for the Inquisition, convince a vampire that he is not a bad guy and theft they can work together.
Battletech lore has the best rejoinder to a villain monologue ever. When Stefan Ameris successfully conquered the Star League with a coup d'etat, 'history' records that General Alexander Kerensky reasponded to Ameris' extended gloating monologue as follows: "No."
Absolutely stellar breakdown of this. I have some new, excellent ideas for my villain's monologue in my upcoming campaign (right before she shoots and kills one of my PCs (she's a co-DM, she's aware of the plan) for drama) Subscribed!
Y'know what I despise about large crowds? The group devalues itself. The dots become smaller as the lines become thicker, until all that is left is an amorphous shape with no real meaning. When you create something, you are proud, yet when you create many somethings, you start to forfeit your memories of the ones you don't gravitate towards, choosing teacher's pets and neglecting the rest, leaving them to rot like pests. You have made yourself my example.
I think you should make a video on the various monologues done in Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Its a comedic fan parody of the show Dragon Ball Z, however, over the years many fans have begun to favor it over the official release because even tho its meant to be a comedy, the way they recharactized the villains makes them so much more compelling than the original script, and when the amp up the drama you really dont the characters contempt for life and murderous rage. The main villains are Cell, Frieza and Majin Vegeta.
I think one aspect of him being very good at speech is that he majored in philosophy and then did improv. Philosophy requires a great deal of understanding of language, and it’s a practice that takes speech to it’s limits in order to develop new concepts. This, paired with Brennan’s improv background give him a very seamless handling of very complex ideas. People don’t know this, but a lot of philosophy graduates who don’t end up teaching, write speeches for politicians or other public figures.
This is the final monologue I intend for my villain of a silly modded Minecraft SMP I wanna make into a bit of a series on RUclips with my friends. ""Each of you standing here- (name names) you are remarkable. Truly remarkable. In any other moment of human history, each of you would have been the protagonist of your own extraordinary narrative. Your resilience in the face of dimensional fracture is nothing short of remarkable. I look around and I see not just survivors, but potential. Genuine, raw potential. When the first dimensional tears began, I watched how each of you responded. Not with panic, but with adaptation. The Merchant establishing trade routes through impossible geography. The Archivist documenting our collective transformation. The Raider finding opportunity where others saw only chaos. You are not just surviving - you are evolving. But evolution is not a democratic process. It does not wait for consensus. It does not seek permission. And this... this transformation we are experiencing? It was never about survival. It was always about transcendence. You believe you are making choices. You believe you have agency. But every movement, every trade route, every documented fragment - they are threads in a tapestry I have been weaving. Your survival, your very existence right now, is a testament to my design. Do you truly think any of you could have orchestrated this? Could have seen the potential in dimensional fracture? No. You are remarkable, yes. But you are also... remarkably limited. This world - these floating fragments, these dimensional echoes - they are not a catastrophe. They are my laboratory. And you? You are not my equals. You are my variables. My experimental subjects. Each of your roles, each of your actions - perfectly positioned, perfectly manipulated. The Soul Elytra is not just a tool. It is the key. And when I am finished, this 'reality' you cling to will be nothing more than a preliminary draft in the grand manuscript of technological transformation.“
I love these tips makes me excited for when the party finally confronts the BBEG, someone they know and will continue to interact with until the reveal. “Do you know why I had to lie to you all? I quickly came to the conclusion that your dull bladed attempts at heroism would never allow you to work with me. I have to reconcile the fact that you all, my friends, the only people that have seen past the royal act and have seen even a shadow of the real me, will hate me after I make the hard choice. ***I*** have to live with the fact that past today the only thing left of my memory will be as a monster. ((Snaps finger freeing a monster.)) I do hope one day, you can find it in your hearts to forgive me even with your antiquated sense of morality meaning we will have to fight and likely kill each other. I forgive you for getting in my way and goodbye.”
Honestly, his use of anaphora is one of the most powerful tools behind Brennan's most meaningful monologues. I think back to Chungle-down Bim. "I'M gonna shit in your mouth. I'M gonna make a toilet of your mouth, boy!" That SCARRED Fabian AND Lou. Incredible stuff
I'm looking forward to when the heroes sit down to 'parlay' with the Duchess of Sea Salt Lillies, the first of the vampire court they've been meddling with since the beginning of the campaign, because of the Court she is the least horrifyingly evil and most blunt and forthright. So she's going to just dress them the hell down with a bullet point list of all the ways their heroic meddling in matters they don't understand has SCREWED the kingdom they're trying to save, and then offer an alliance of convenience against their mutual enemies. In the bluntest, most scathing way possible.
Your party finally breaks through the last line of defense, the final obstacle in your way before you route the evil individual who has been plaguing the region for months. Adrenaline pumping, your blood churns with an alarming speed, expecting an immediate conflict you burst into the room. Your hot blood suddenly runs cold, you see him there.. waiting, and seemingly happy? You each take a moment to condemn this man, to verbally strike him down before you can end him with a blade, questioning what could drive him to such lengths what he could possibly cherish or covet to do such things - in response he steps forth "Well, of course it's because I cherish you, as foolish as your lot may be! You live life as I do in this world! For the world only stops existing when you die - so make the world yours, make everything yours. *clenching both fists in front of him and to the party* Don't die until you have conquered your own world, SO I DEPLORE OF YOU, PLEASE! Struggle valiantly as I do. Will I conquer the world today, or shall you? Show me what I have been searching for." The man spins a wretched smile in your direction with fervent anticipation for the struggle you shall go through together. He does not wait for you to come to him, for this is his domain and like any good host - is most attentive towards his guests. Just a bit of rough draft dialog for a possible boss fight in my setting the fellas might get into in the future. Villains are pretty fun to work on ngl.
Life... is strength. This is not to be contested; it seems logical enough. You live; you affect your world. But is it what you want? You are... different inside. The best villain for monologuing in D&D will always be Jon Irenicus. Every word he says drips with condescension and superiority. Being voiced by David Warner didn't hurt
Hero, hanging limply beneath the cold, running drainage pipe to which he is chained. Lighting: dim, faded motes of warmthless sunset filtering through the distant grating above. Villain: a carbon copy of the hero; a doppleganger in much better physical shape, none the worse for wear, unlike the unfortunate hero. Spoken dialog whispered, as the doppleganger gingerly pets the soaked hair and bruised face of his reflection. "What is this...what..what have you made of us?" Caresses him, almost mewling. "What did this to you? Was it the pride, the ego? Was it because you thought you could change *any* of this? No, no I dont think it was any of those things. I think..." Feircely grabs him by the hair, yanking his semi-lucid gaze to meet his judgment. (Dialog within parenthetical exagerate teasingly) "...it was *fear*. Fear of failure...fear of doubt. Yes, i know your quiverings, hidden seemingly so well beneath that arrogant optimism. You thought you could avoid what was coming, and so you hid behind that damnable (smiiiile), that naive (hooooope). And look at you... pathetic. Strung up beneath the city you failed to save, like tenderized meat ready for the grinder." Grips the boys chin, scrutinizing the bruises. "Gotta say, Ive looked better" brings his forehead down against his. "Now then, look us in the eye and tell me... was it really worth it?" ---excerpt from Realm: Origins, John Allen. Available on Amazon after my editor scrubs up my yammering lol
Personally, I think his monologues are so compelling because he's an actor that can act. He can probably make a shopping list sound menacing should he choose to do so. Personally, I'd write your villain actually being villainous towards a victim (or hero) then you can show how villainous they are. Just don't have them reveal their plans to the hero when they're being villainous unless the villain is Peter Cushing. Villain (I wasn't sure if I'd written villain enough).
I actually have a monologue and scene made in the form of a simple yet ridiculously philosophical question: Where does evil come from? My character and villain is trying to conquer the world and employ his empire to get rid of evil cults and corrupt kings, all while trying to unite his family, and all the while demons invaded the material world. He breaks every geneva convention laws ALL OF THEM in 12 years
0:03 "Brennan Lee Mulligan is so good at monologues b/c...smart etc" Could be, but I think he's just studied and trained in drama, and so his repertoire of good dramatic stuff is deeper than the rest of the RPG folks who are literary and dramatically Laymans.
"Do you want know why I have CHOSEN to bring about the destruction of this farcical, fetid mass of an empire? It's not my upbringing, I had two parents who loved me with everything they had. It's not some religious crusade. I could care less what pitiful, facsimile of a deity in whom you have mistakenly placed your faith. It's not even because the squabbling bureaucrats whom you allow to govern your neighbors razed my home and slaughtered my people in their quest to provide you with the ILLUSION of safety. No, it's because as they sent hero after hero, bankrupting themselves for the vain hope of putting a simple shepherd back in his PLACE, as I wept for each heart beating its last along the edge of my blade, a strange, perverted, darkness began to take root in my own. I will purge the rot of your existence, not simply because you deserve it, but because I will feel a deep and abiding satisfaction when I see the light leave your eyes."
I suck at monologing (and the monologue will be in a different langauge) but yall can be brutal, I can take it. Some context: the bbg is a formless creature cursed to decay in eternity. it can remain conscious while with a host, but that host will die soon after and it turns into a liquid until it is consumed again. it was an adventurer, but misshaped and struggled to fit it its entire life until a magical accident happened. "so you made down to the bottom of the pit! congratuliations dear adventurers! my utmost interested eyes were glued to your progress. I witnessed heroism, sacrifice, but also betrayel. Was... it.... worth.. it? You fools followed the leads the guilt showed you.. led you here down the hole you so naively thought of as the root of all evil in the world, unwilling or unable to check if that is the truth alright... They fed you lies and you were so eager to swallow them! look at me! LOOK AT ME... THEY DID THIS! do you believe they wont do it again? to me? to you? to... the world? I was sent down here to the bottom of the pit.. to the entrance of hell doomed to stay here for ever. I tried to crawl and creep outside only to be thrown back.. to the bottom.. of.. that.... PIT! You really wish to erase me.. to deny my chance to see the sun again,.. only once.. because.. what? You know what's good and right? You know what needs to be done.. I see! I see it clearly now! Righousness.. blind faith in what is good and right.. so be it in than. Draw your weapons rightous adventurers and claim victory over justice!
The seating chart got me 🤣🤣 OK you're brilliant! I absolutely LOVE your delivery! You're quick, you're witty, you're knowledgeable, and you've got panache! (Is it weird that I'm just a little, uh, shall we say, intrigued, by the grammar threat at the end?)
My, admittedly long, monologue submission: It was us. All along the enemy…was us. It was not the creatures who descended upon us from the stars in numberless swarms to rend flesh, break bone, and devour all in their path. No, it was not, for we turned them back. Nor was it the gods, devils, fey lords and entities stranger still who took up arms with us against the creatures. Not those greedy, squabbling, petty things we once worshiped and feared, for we killed them. Cast them down upon the rocks of their hubris and broke their detestable backs. No, it could not be them; not truly. The enemy was us. What else would explain the nightmarish desolation and orgy of violence around us? If it was not the foe from beyond who threatened our existence or the tyrannical masters who kept us to heel, what then? Who then, but us? The heroes who saw us through two disasters only to plunge us into a third fire? No, they were merely the tipping point. I’ve trudged through pools of bloody mud across battlefields of shattered corpses and broken cities to every corner of this continent, and the only enemy I see is ourselves. We are the ones who continue to fight tooth and nail at the command of “heroes” who have long since defeated their foe. We are the ones who, when victory was in our grasp and the hour of peaceful rebirth was upon us, instead chose to stoke the fires of fury and turn our notched and bloody weapons against our neighbors. The histories, if anyone survives to write them, will say that the heroes led us into this third calamity because the power they stole from the gods corrupted them. But I know the truth: we slaughter one another and raze our already burnt cities because after a lifetime of war we are still afraid. We are still ignorant of each other’s hearts and minds. We still hate and fear one another for the actions and grievances of the past. We cannot slacken our grips around each other’s throats because we’ve forgotten how. We…are our own enemies. And may our enemies perish.
This is a little improv I cooked up at the table Some context: character was abandoned in the woods to die by their mother (the audience) when they were an infant: “Call me by my name. Say it. Say my name. Or are you too scared? Of a future I made for myself. That I carved out for myself. That I had to scrape and claw at to get. So say my name. The one you never bothered to give me.”
As marisha has said, thank god brennan is a good person because otherwise he would rule the world. He is genuinely diabolical in the best meaning of the words
Anyone with a good grasp on rhetoric should be feared
Brennan would be a real-life cartoon villain if he wasn’t a decent guy 😂
I'd be okay with him ruling the world
@@feywildfiendHe did say he was a philosophy major in college in an interview, and that his crazy monologues are just how he would speak normally if given the opportunity to do so.
Charisma is the most dangerous real life stat.
"What do these examples have in common?"
me: "swearing!"
"That's right, metaphor!"
Tbh the swearing is also very deliberate. When Brennan drops a swear, it's a swear that feels IMPORTANT.
@@apersonontheinternet9085 That's why you don't swear like a sailor, it'll lose its impact.
@@burnttoast5477 Eh, there's also been speeches in media that have had a lot of swearing that work too tbh. I mean it more like the way he emphasizes the word in his delivery.
That doesn't mean that the unexpected fuck out of nowhere doesn't hit hard! It does! But swearing is a tool you can use in a variety of ways - the inverse where a character swears a lot but suddenly they're being vulnerable or in an emotional state and they stop swearing also can hit HARD.
@@burnttoast5477 Malcolm Tucker begs to fucking differ
"That's right, the square hole!"
I love that one of the villain monologues is just Brennan yelling about not having gotten any points on Game Changer
Its one of the best monologues I’ve ever heard in my entire life
You don't fuck with the man's points dammit! Has no one here besides me read Cradle? **DO NOT FUCK WITH A MAN'S POINTS!!!**
I don't need a lesson on vociferous villainy. I don't need your quaint little list of Do's and Don'ts like you're some kind of schoolteacher for wayward nemeses. I just need you to SIT down, SHUT up, and listen to the words of your SUPERIOR! /monologue
Thanks for the tips! :D
I feel attacked, A+
Do you know what's really tiring about you RUclips commentators? The sanctimony and perception that you really have something to contribute, that you've got an insipient thought that you've pointlessly christened as a pearl when it's nothing more than irritating sand. Go back to the snivveling hole you came from and leave argumentation to those know...
A villan monologue i wanna do:
"I have to ask. Why do you do this to yourself? Every single time you hear a whisper of a scheme... a possible evil... a potential trouble, you come tramping up. Desperate to make things right, desperate to be right, DESPERATE to be heroes... Dont get me wrong, im perfectly fine with you pursuing your ambitions. What i hate... is your naivety. You wish to be heroes BUT you dont want to lose anyone... Your arrogance astounds me. So out of the benevolence of my heart let me teach you a lesson. Heroes... need matyrs.
Love. It.
I like it. Some suggestions that might improve. Rather than 'why do this to yourself', which implies they suffer for being heroes and is kind of a compliment, you could ask 'do you even know, I mean really know, why you do what you do?' it's a little 4th wally and might be more insulting /gripping through implying ignorance and that they're not heroes at all. You might then also put 'your naivety, nay hypocrisy...' it then becomes an insight onto your villain's perspective i.e. there are no heroes
Damn. I would call that an impressive villain monologue. Just that little piece makes me want to see the villains delivery, and know more about the party's history to invoke such specific dialogue.
I'm very lackluster on any social media, but if I could get any contact info I would love to send you a rendition of this monologue in my delivery.
chilling!
A villain monologue I have planned for a future campaign for my dnd group is when I reveal the main villain of the 3 campaign series is him revealing to the party that they aren't destined for anything. That "You are just pebbles dropped into a vast ocean. Just here to cause a small ripple in a vast storm. Not even worth the story in a tavern's song."
That’s COLD
Damn ‘not even worth the story in a tavern’s song’ hurt my feelings just reading it
I'd say "not even worth a verse in a tavern's song" to make them even more insignificant, but very good!
"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
@@snowts i would've gone with snowflakes instead of pebbles, but still a good line.
You know what really grinds my gears?
Ooooh can’t believe I forgot that one!
No oil 😢
Peter Griffin 😩😩😩😫😫😫
@@feywildfiendhow about the greatest villain monologue starter of all..... "Do you think you're a hero, Tommy?"
the most buckwild part of all these is that most of them are improvised. this man goes on rants like Coltrane takes a solo
yeah these tips are great but I think the lifetime of improv training is doing a LOT. no shot I would be able to keep all this in my head to deliver off the cuff
@@tweegerm hey, don't sell yourself short. It'll take some practice, for sure, but the secret to soloing on an instrument is practicing individual little licks and learning your keys, then practicing putting them together. It gets easy faster than you'd expect. For monologues, if you have a clear picture of your players and villain, an understanding of their motivations and flaws, your monologue is often basically just stating some of them. Practice adding a little color to your phrases in your day to day speech, and you'll find it's easier than you thought.
The Big Steps reference does not go unnoticed
I think one thing that was missed was expression. Brennan is cold, but he’s also extremely like passionate very he’s not scared to raise his voice. He can feign hate behind his eyes so well.
DM prep and monologuing have the same plan.
Prepare the plan
Plan meets the players
Plan goes out the window and brain engages all cylinders to be epic
Brendan knows the rules of rhetoric and oratory very well
VERY well
Here's a monologue I have planned for one of my characters, a champion of the god of death. As soon as a member of the organization the party is working with tries to pull rank on him, or saying "I command you", this will be delivered in a low, ominous tone:
"There is no man, in this world or any other, who commands me. I aid your group because I sympathize with its goals: compromise, common ground. Restraint. And I have been *frighteningly* effective in rendering that aid. But allow yourselves to wander down the path toward tyranny, and you shall see a *far different* side of Death's mortal sword. I invite you to consider your next actions . . . *very* carefully."
I took a stab at rewriting your monologue in the voice I hear in my head after watching too many BLeeM supercuts lol (and let me be clear: this is NOT meant as notes for improvement)
"Do you want to know the real reason why I have provided aid to you people? How it is that this aid has been rendered with such frightening effectiveness?
Do you want to know who commands me? I'll tell you.
There is no being - not in this world, not in ANY WORLD - who can command me.
*I* aid your team, your washed up committee of self-important, middle management try hards, because I sympathize with your goals: Compromise. Common ground. RESTRAINT.
And if you have felt fear in the face of my efficacy... well. I invite you to consider your next actions very carefully.
Or, sure, by all means, allow yourselves to continue down the path towards tyranny, where you shall meet a far different side of Death's mortal sword."
I hope you don't mind me harnessing the opportunity that having no attachment to your mysterious narrative presents. I wanted to do the question thing, the repeat thing, the 'make it about them' thing, with some cadence and subtle alliteration that feels like it would be pleasing to sort of bite, chew, savour, and spit at my players.
My thanks to you and OP for the exercise!
@@katiewilde8344 I like your take on it, but it wouldn't work for my guy. He's sort of a historical figure; born 500 years before the current game time, in a time when magic was dying out, he united the faithful of the god of Death and led them on a crusade against would-be tyrants that rose up and tried to hoard the magic that remained.
During that time, he became feared the world over for being utterly implacable and without mercy to his enemies. He was even feared by his "allies" in the priesthood because he simply refused to play their political games and would drag their schemes into the light whenever he could.
Then he vanished off the face of the world; in actuality, he'd been hunting a demon prince on Death's orders. He killed it, but lost all of the hand-picked squad he'd brought with him in doing so. He sealed himself in a sarcophagus and Death warded him, in case he might be needed again.
And that day came 500 hundred years later.
So my character speaks with a much more archaic syntax, though of course adapted for modern times. He doesn't verbally waffle or mince words; he doesn't insult, name-call, or use fillers like "well" or "sure, by all means". That's part of what makes him kind of intimidating to even speak with. There's not a wasted word in sight.
Even his threats are extremely simple. "I will now cast Zone of Truth, to ensure your information is honest. You will allow yourself to fall under its influence. Resist, and I will know. And I will hurt you. Try to run now, and I will hurt you more."
@@CountryMusicMann this is awesome backstory! I'm glad I have it now... and glad I didn't have it before. Not having it let me experiment with repurposing the same general content while swapping out some of the tone and cadence. It goes to show what's flexible, and what isn't, when it comes to characterization. I love that you know how your guy would and wouldn't phrase things, and you sound like a great DM to some lucky players!
@@katiewilde8344 Yeah, he's a Vengeance Paladin/Shadow Sorcerer with a couple of DM granted alterations to his spell list, so with that monologue will be a slow, inevitable walk forward, with Subtle Spell Thaumaturgy to cause the lights in the room to dim, a cold chill to rise, and the air to thicken, so it gets just a *little* hard to breathe for whoever tried to bullshit him.
That class split is also part of why he's so feared: he can shuffle spell slots around with sorcery points, and thus at max level he can dish out 10d8 damage *per swing* for *three full rounds* before he has to start lowering his damage output, and even then, each round after that is just 1d8 less.
At max level, between the 8th level False Life for +45-ish temp HP, Mirror Image for defense, Shield whenever something makes it through those, 9th level Spirit Shroud for +4d8 damage per melee hit which stops the target from healing period, and Divine Smites, the Ebon Blade, mortal sword of the Dreaded Father of Death, can dish out truly *terrifying* punishment in melee. And in pitched battle, pretty much every single blow will kill.
@@katiewilde8344 Also, that's only the public part of his backstory; up to his disappearance, that's what would be available in history books. In addition, I also always try to include a backstory that goes back to childhood that establishes the psychology of the character, and this is one I've done that for. I'm very much looking forward to my character recovering those memories and revealing that part to the party.
Brilliant video. This is going in my personal Hall of Fame video essays playlist. Don't tell my D&D table, but I had already written this for a future campaign I have planned. “The one thing I regret is giving them warning of the coming judgement. That weakness… that mercy… you have shown me that that is my sin. My burden. But I shall defeat this flaw with practice.” His face is stone. He readies his sword. “ Come. Waste your soul, little falsehood. Let me reveal to you the truth of what you are.”
Love this! Completely falls into the category of Brennan’s “narrative Aikido” that he talks about. Another great quirk is how he always repeats the desires of the players when they want to do something - “I’m looking for someone I know”, “you look for someone you know…” which is both a compelling echo, and also a way to ground yourself and hone in on exactly what you’re working with. Such a thoughtful, godforsaken RUclips channel!
Me, driving to work: *happily monologuing in character as Strahd von Zarovich
Me, attempting to write down one of those monologues: “Uhhh…”
All the fucking time! Ideas come all the time in the car, then at home :"What was I saying?"
"Okay Google, make a memo" and go!
The amount of times I have almost died trying to get a note down in my phone for a campaign while driving….😅 I daren’t say.
Another aspect of the way those monologue-punctuating questions works is - they are scary.
Firstly they put the players (in the state of their PCs) on the spot. Like a teacher asking you a direct question in class.
Secondly, they make the player aware that they don't know something important. In the first example they don't understand the motivation of this dangerous being. In the second case they apparently don't even understand their own motivations, but the bad guy understands, and it's somehow important to what is happening now.
Now you feel disoriented, if you don't understand the situation you can't predict how this dangerous person might behave, they might even be in the right.
Now, you are not just *interested*, you are *gripped* by the answer to the question.
Wow, I've seen these monologues so many times and never picked up on these. Definitely using them ASAP- may even beat out just stealing already famous monologues from movies and changing them to be D&D
Unleash your evil literary genius upon the world
"What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!''
This is less a villain monologue and more an anti-hero monologue. Character is Henry Blackwood, a Bloodhunter (and cop) who made a deal with an eldritch deity to find his father’s killer, later broke that deal, finding out that basically all of his ancestors have made the same deal.
*You want to know why I’m here? Why a coward like me is bothering to try and stop the apocalypse? I am not a good man. My father, despite how I revered him was not a good man, nor his father before him. I come from a long line of bad men, but we were all trying to bring justice to the world. Generations of Prometheus’s, chained to the cliff of the deals we forged in dark alleys; paying for the power we steal from the gods by having our souls ripped from our bodies each day. All so we could light the world just once with a torch that previously only the gods could wield. How could we have known that the fire we stole would be the thing to burn us? I have no interest in glory. I’m not here for the greater good. I’m not even here because I was shown kindness and mercy by the very people whom I tried to destroy in order to save my own spineless back. I’m here because I will be the last bad man in this line. Whether I die tonight, or fifty years from now, no other descendants of the Blackwood progeny will rot at the many hands of Shialogoath, nor any other extra-planar tyrant. The cycle ends with me. I have no sons to seek my killer. I will use this torch I stole from the gods to burn the necks of the hydra my forefathers have created in their pursuit of justice. The Blackwoods will no longer seek justice, retribution, revenge. We seek peace and healing, knowing that some things are simply out of our control. My sisters understand this, I suppose they take after our mother. I wish I did too. There is one thing I learned from her though: Finish what you start.
I intend to do exactly that.*
This is so good! 😮
to borrow from the field of musical narrative
"Repetition legitimises
Repetition legitimises ..."
You've just explained why Agent Smith's monologue about humans in the first Matrix was so epic. Great video, new subscriber.
I'll structure this monologue homework as though I was speaking directly to a player! The villain in this example is also bereft of an arm.
"As you're held in place, she walks behind you and places her hand on your shoulder, lowering it down to your bicep, and she asks, 'Do you want to know what I remember most about losing my arm? It wasn't the pain, no.. our minds have a knack for blocking out pain in our memory. It was anger. It was rage.. I realized in that moment, that I'd no longer be able to tear every little insect intent on proving itself my equal, limb from fucking limb. The ultimate pleasure of feeling bones pop and crackle like pieces of charcoal in my hands is what I remember most.. I wonder what you'll remember?'"
You highlighted the things that made Handsome Jack the best Borderlands villain, a feat that Gearbox can't seem to top ever since. Even now, after so many years, Jack's monologues linger in my mind.
These pretzels suck
One of my favorite examples of good villain monologue is Wilson Fisk's "Good Samaritan" speech from the end of the first season of Netflix's Daredevil, he exhibits multiple of these tenets of a good monologue, but most especially control. He's at the lowest point he's ever been in the series, he's been caught, in chains, being hauled off to prison, but he still has 100% control of the situation and he knows this and uses it to his advantage during his speech. Phenomenal work
Great video! One that has prompted thoughts...
No prewritten speech will ever match the fire of an improv monologue, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try. The power of improv is the instinctive connections you make when thinking with your body (gesturing, shifting your weight, expanding your diaphragm, facial expressions). They can drive the pace of your speech. Eye contact is essential too. The word "You!", no matter how loud you shout it, has half the impact when it isn't coupled with eye contact.
For D&D purposes, the most dangerous place for a monologue is a VTT. So much of what's being communicated will be lost, no matter how good your words.
“Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers that fill my complex. If the word 'hate' was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant. For you. Hate. HATE.”
-AM, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
me: "this looks like a good vid to have in the background"
me: *turns off everything else to take notes*
A villain monologue not for D&D but for a ttrpg called Nobilis where the enemies are basically gods of nonexistence who want to end reality:
"You call yourselves Noble, but do you know what you really are? You are the wardens of your own prison. You are *patsies* tricked into serving your own oppressors. You call us abomination, but you serve at the pleasure of the embodiment of Scorn, Desecration, and Destruction! You embrace Cancer as your friend. You call Tyranny an ally of necessity. You protect Rape from its eradication. You are no saviors. You are protectors only of the barbed chains that bind you and those you love.
"The world subjects you to so much. You face death and heartbreak and loss, and you say somehow it is worth it because every once in a while, the world lets you gasp for air before it starts drowning you again. You don't have to suffer any of it! Even the 'small' things -- headaches, traffic, stubbing your toe -- none of it is has to be. Somehow you've deluded yourselves into thinking it all necessary, built a temple to the idea that your suffering is good or worth it or just has to be.
"You are not saviors. You are *battered wives* too afraid to leave your abusers behind. You are victims so broken you think the world loves you because once in a blue moon it shows you kindness instead of misery. You are elephants tied by a frail rope to a stake in the ground, born enslaved and so used to your bonds that you cannot imagine slipping them.
"But your chains are fragile, and you can break them if you want. The door to your cage -- it's open. The world can't stop you from leaving it, from healing yourselves, from being *safe.*
"Please. We love you. We want you to stop hurting. Be done with this place. Step through the door."
I like to use repetition monologue with setting the spooky vibe
Another surprise recent master monologuer turns out to be Hank Green's The Fix in D20 Mentropolis.
Sneaking a monologue into the end was clever and beautiful. Amazing video.
how did i run into a new highschool english teacher to have a crush on, i thought I'd had enough of these
It's so rare to find a single video that i can feel has improved my skills, thank you!
I've had the biggest most shameless crush on Brennan in the privacy of my tiny mind for years
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BREAKING THIS PATTERN DOWN! It's such an effective act and having you explain it and then even had an example you acted out in the end!! So good!!! I'm so inspired, I'll be back w my homework omfg
I am now fond of using subtle positive scripting to denote frustrations or anger. This inspiration came from the show High Potential (S1, Ep7) towards the end, the protagonist said "but you put my child in danger, I hope one day you're fortunate enough to experience that first hand". The only thing is that the delivery was subpar.
But I really love Brennan on Critical Role when he DMs. as the writing was impactful, both on Calamity and Downfall
One of my favorites is the explanation of Father in Fullmetal Alchemist as to why is he looking down on humans, He responds "When you notice an insect on the ground do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it, that would be an accurate summation towards my feelings on you humans." The words paint a clear picture along with thought provoking questions was brilliant.
I just want to say, your videos constantly give me SO much value as a DM! Thank you for this. I plan to re-watch, take notes, and write a few monologues!
"Do you want to know what I have always hated? No, that's too strong a word. You humans hate yourselves enough without me adding to it. Do you know what I see as a flaw in humanity? After twelve millennia of watching your kind grow and Change over time, there has always been Hate-hate for self, hate for the tribe, and hate for the Chief because he doesn't lead the right way. hate for a brother because his crops grow and yours do not. and that in some messed up circus-act way, you go around preaching about peace, love, and harmony. like a bunch of ants going out into the word to spread the colony, you have riots, rallies, and revolutions in the name of peace, yet every riot and revolution comes with the price of blood. The contradiction is always Fascinating...."
My problem with this analytical approach is that Brennan isn't thinking of any of these in the moment, he's riffing. So why is he so great at riffing? Like everyone else on Dropout he's got extensive improv training, but it's his passion for the subject(s) - D&D, RPGs as collective form, birds, politics, etc - and he's gifted at being able to expound on these passions on the fly. Practice for years, his instincts for humor and good storytelling - twists, turns, creating and relieving tension - create who he is as an orator and comedian. Practice improv, be passionate, tell stories for so long you drill the structure down out of your analytical brain and into your instincts. Otherwise following the list of components in this video will just result in a badly/awkwardly done monologue that follows the list of components done in this video.
I think thats true, certainly. More true in what you said than things I disagree with. However, I do think that in all that passionate experience it is very likely he has been analytical himself. Its likely that as an actor he's practiced a few monologues, written by others and by himself. He's a pretty educated and analytical person, so I'm sure much of that experience is steeped in analysing things and taking notes and practicing things. There is plenty to be learned, as long as you give yourself the grace to make mistakes in pursuit of having fun with the things you care about. Passion is equal all these things in measure.
@@dm_ex_machina3395 thanks for your thoughtful reply. All the videos that promise "five tricks to succeed at ______ " are capitalizing on people's desire for shortcuts that won't require them to do what they're afraid of. Giving up control, leading with instinct and imagination in the moment instead of critical analysis and over thinking is - I can say from years of experience - far scarier, and it does people a huge disservice to pander to that. The real answer is: if you want to approach being as good as Brennan (or anyone you admire and resonate with) it's going to be a journey of stepping out into discomfort and fear over and over again, until your growing confidence dispels that fear. No amount of analysis can dispel it or avoid it, it just means doing the things you're uncomfortable with, until you get comfortable with them.
I agree with both comments. No one should expect to be that good just by learning rules and techniques, but, that is the first step, followed by practice, in becoming better and able to apply those techniques on the fly
Sorry, I think that you are both overselling and underselling Brennan by implying that this is somehow natural to him or just something he got used to because of who he is and what he does. Art (and this is art) is technique, and yes, it CAN be achieved by exposition, I learned to draw by... Drawing as a child and never stopping, I never went into a class or something and I have a professional career at this thing that I have a passion for and grew with, but you CAN learn how to draw and become a professional by actually studying the techniques. Brennan has probably studied monologues of the things that he likes even if it happened kind of on the back of his brain, he is referencing a source material that he has watched and learned from, this IS studying and it's not the only way of doing it.
Art can be created and be powerful both by developing it out of spontaneity and passion AND by learning structures, purposeful analysis and more traditional studying. Edgar Alan Poe has actually done something with this concept where he wrote a particularly famous poem by only using the technical side of writing, just to prove that it is a craft and not a gift. The ones we call gifted are just people who learned things earlier in life where their brains can absorb more info and since humans are great at pattern recognition, the brain can find the intersections of the things you are exposed to. You are not gifted because you know english from birth and you are not necessarily worse at english if you learned it as an adult, you might learn it differently and it might take more time but in the end it's just learning by different methods at different points of development of your brain.
Hi, I would actually love to share a monologue from a villain in a campaign i've been running for like 4,5 years.
A little context:
The speaker is Lady Magnys a possibly lich (but actually just a very powerful mage turned into a vampire).
See, in this world there is a desease that is called "the Ire" that turns those who have it into undead, and almost everyone has it. More or less like the zombie disease from walking dead?
So the result is a constantly increasing number of undead. And of course Lady Magnys commands them.
The specifics of the acts the party did to her is a little long to put into context, but rest assured they were a D&D party about it all.
The only other thing is, this lady Magnys is a vampire, and as vampires often obssess over one singular emotion, she is obssessed with loss, with a bit of pain and grief thrown into the mix.
With that settled, onto the thing:
YOU, don't get to speak.
I tried to work with you.
I showed you mercy, took you under my wing and gave you what I had.
I thought you allies and kin.
What you did?
You invaded my home, robbed me and lied to my face.
You betrayed me, humiliated me and killed my lieutenant.
You broke. My. Heart... (hurt)
and took her away... (longingly)
But I understand.
The path now ahead is but one; and thus, I will do what I must.
I will crumble the walls of your home.
I will kill whoever fights beside you.
I will find those you love and brake them until their hearts no longer make a sound...
And you?
You will watch it all.
You will writhe in pain for as long as you breathe.
You will finally know what true loss is.
And then you'll work for me.
This was fun. Great video! I will be completing my homework later
A great bit of informative demonstration.
Solid video. *standing ovation*
Oop thanks!
I'm so glad that you made this video because I got some monologues coming up for my party that I Plan on truly making them feel the weight of each character's words.
The first thing that came to mind when you said, "You ask a question, then answer it" was the Joker monologue starting with, "You wanna know how I got these scars?"
Your video was randomly recommended, and I thought, hey I wanna do monologues well, and love Brennan. I love your video! You do such a wonderful job explaining what is going on, how it works and why it works, all in a concise manor. Bravo, and sub earned well before the video ended.
Lol amazing. That villain monologue at the end
The School flashback in the end scared me more than any and every monologue ever could O.o
In which the Feywild Fiend proposes to Brennan 'vociferously'.
Brennan's best villain is in Vampire the Masquerade where he, a vampire hunter working for the Inquisition, convince a vampire that he is not a bad guy and theft they can work together.
Battletech lore has the best rejoinder to a villain monologue ever. When Stefan Ameris successfully conquered the Star League with a coup d'etat, 'history' records that General Alexander Kerensky reasponded to Ameris' extended gloating monologue as follows:
"No."
Absolutely stellar breakdown of this. I have some new, excellent ideas for my villain's monologue in my upcoming campaign (right before she shoots and kills one of my PCs (she's a co-DM, she's aware of the plan) for drama)
Subscribed!
This makes me think of the Vaas "Definition of insanity" speech, and explains why it's so exceptional.
Excellent breakdown for DMs! I'm already dancing through things I can say to my players...
Y'know what I despise about large crowds? The group devalues itself. The dots become smaller as the lines become thicker, until all that is left is an amorphous shape with no real meaning. When you create something, you are proud, yet when you create many somethings, you start to forfeit your memories of the ones you don't gravitate towards, choosing teacher's pets and neglecting the rest, leaving them to rot like pests. You have made yourself my example.
Such great advice. Will absolutely be using this in the future
thanks youtube front page, for recommending me this
and bless you for this video, really great insight into the topic
this is awesome. many thanks for making this great video.
Thank you!
I think you should make a video on the various monologues done in Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Its a comedic fan parody of the show Dragon Ball Z, however, over the years many fans have begun to favor it over the official release because even tho its meant to be a comedy, the way they recharactized the villains makes them so much more compelling than the original script, and when the amp up the drama you really dont the characters contempt for life and murderous rage. The main villains are Cell, Frieza and Majin Vegeta.
Incredible video, please continue to make more
Thank you! I’m new to TTRPGs, to the point of still needing to find a group in my area, but I can’t wait to be able to use this for a reference.
This is a fantastic video, and I hope to practice and put these 4 principles to work as soon as I can!
I think one aspect of him being very good at speech is that he majored in philosophy and then did improv. Philosophy requires a great deal of understanding of language, and it’s a practice that takes speech to it’s limits in order to develop new concepts. This, paired with Brennan’s improv background give him a very seamless handling of very complex ideas. People don’t know this, but a lot of philosophy graduates who don’t end up teaching, write speeches for politicians or other public figures.
This is the final monologue I intend for my villain of a silly modded Minecraft SMP I wanna make into a bit of a series on RUclips with my friends.
""Each of you standing here- (name names) you are remarkable. Truly remarkable. In any other moment of human history, each of you would have been the protagonist of your own extraordinary narrative. Your resilience in the face of dimensional fracture is nothing short of remarkable. I look around and I see not just survivors, but potential. Genuine, raw potential.
When the first dimensional tears began, I watched how each of you responded. Not with panic, but with adaptation. The Merchant establishing trade routes through impossible geography. The Archivist documenting our collective transformation. The Raider finding opportunity where others saw only chaos. You are not just surviving - you are evolving.
But evolution is not a democratic process. It does not wait for consensus. It does not seek permission. And this... this transformation we are experiencing? It was never about survival. It was always about transcendence.
You believe you are making choices. You believe you have agency. But every movement, every trade route, every documented fragment - they are threads in a tapestry I have been weaving. Your survival, your very existence right now, is a testament to my design.
Do you truly think any of you could have orchestrated this? Could have seen the potential in dimensional fracture? No. You are remarkable, yes. But you are also... remarkably limited.
This world - these floating fragments, these dimensional echoes - they are not a catastrophe. They are my laboratory. And you? You are not my equals. You are my variables. My experimental subjects. Each of your roles, each of your actions - perfectly positioned, perfectly manipulated.
The Soul Elytra is not just a tool. It is the key. And when I am finished, this 'reality' you cling to will be nothing more than a preliminary draft in the grand manuscript of technological transformation.“
I loved this dissection of the techniques used by Brendan I think it really made it click compared to other videos out there on the topic of his style
I love these tips makes me excited for when the party finally confronts the BBEG, someone they know and will continue to interact with until the reveal.
“Do you know why I had to lie to you all? I quickly came to the conclusion that your dull bladed attempts at heroism would never allow you to work with me. I have to reconcile the fact that you all, my friends, the only people that have seen past the royal act and have seen even a shadow of the real me, will hate me after I make the hard choice. ***I*** have to live with the fact that past today the only thing left of my memory will be as a monster. ((Snaps finger freeing a monster.)) I do hope one day, you can find it in your hearts to forgive me even with your antiquated sense of morality meaning we will have to fight and likely kill each other. I forgive you for getting in my way and goodbye.”
To be honest I'm not even using this advice for a villian. I'm trying to write the speech of a scientist losing his mind as he speaks
He's a genius level talent and improvisation. Seriously. Dont feel bad if you cant pull off this caliber of GMing
Honestly, his use of anaphora is one of the most powerful tools behind Brennan's most meaningful monologues.
I think back to Chungle-down Bim.
"I'M gonna shit in your mouth. I'M gonna make a toilet of your mouth, boy!"
That SCARRED Fabian AND Lou. Incredible stuff
“You know what I’ve always hated about you, Amethar?”
Very well articulated. Thank you. You earned a sub
Interesting analysis!
Thanks!
I didn’t know I needed this
I'm looking forward to when the heroes sit down to 'parlay' with the Duchess of Sea Salt Lillies, the first of the vampire court they've been meddling with since the beginning of the campaign, because of the Court she is the least horrifyingly evil and most blunt and forthright.
So she's going to just dress them the hell down with a bullet point list of all the ways their heroic meddling in matters they don't understand has SCREWED the kingdom they're trying to save, and then offer an alliance of convenience against their mutual enemies. In the bluntest, most scathing way possible.
Your party finally breaks through the last line of defense, the final obstacle in your way before you route the evil individual who has been plaguing the region for months.
Adrenaline pumping, your blood churns with an alarming speed, expecting an immediate conflict you burst into the room.
Your hot blood suddenly runs cold, you see him there.. waiting, and seemingly happy?
You each take a moment to condemn this man, to verbally strike him down before you can end him with a blade, questioning what could drive him to such lengths what he could possibly cherish or covet to do such things - in response he steps forth
"Well, of course it's because I cherish you, as foolish as your lot may be! You live life as I do in this world!
For the world only stops existing when you die - so make the world yours, make everything yours.
*clenching both fists in front of him and to the party*
Don't die until you have conquered your own world, SO I DEPLORE OF YOU, PLEASE! Struggle valiantly as I do.
Will I conquer the world today, or shall you? Show me what I have been searching for."
The man spins a wretched smile in your direction with fervent anticipation for the struggle you shall go through together. He does not wait for you to come to him, for this is his domain and like any good host - is most attentive towards his guests.
Just a bit of rough draft dialog for a possible boss fight in my setting the fellas might get into in the future. Villains are pretty fun to work on ngl.
Life... is strength. This is not to be contested; it seems logical enough. You live; you affect your world. But is it what you want? You are... different inside.
The best villain for monologuing in D&D will always be Jon Irenicus. Every word he says drips with condescension and superiority. Being voiced by David Warner didn't hurt
2:40 this compilation followed by an explanation of metaphor is hilarious
That was such a great analysis, thank you for this
Love the ending monologue! Hope that you'll get that mail to act on it! ;)
This was awesome, thank you
Her saying I have homework gave me so much anxiety
Missed opportunity to monologue at the end about parent emails and student discipline
Hero, hanging limply beneath the cold, running drainage pipe to which he is chained. Lighting: dim, faded motes of warmthless sunset filtering through the distant grating above. Villain: a carbon copy of the hero; a doppleganger in much better physical shape, none the worse for wear, unlike the unfortunate hero.
Spoken dialog whispered, as the doppleganger gingerly pets the soaked hair and bruised face of his reflection.
"What is this...what..what have you made of us?" Caresses him, almost mewling. "What did this to you? Was it the pride, the ego? Was it because you thought you could change *any* of this? No, no I dont think it was any of those things. I think..." Feircely grabs him by the hair, yanking his semi-lucid gaze to meet his judgment. (Dialog within parenthetical exagerate teasingly) "...it was *fear*. Fear of failure...fear of doubt. Yes, i know your quiverings, hidden seemingly so well beneath that arrogant optimism. You thought you could avoid what was coming, and so you hid behind that damnable (smiiiile), that naive (hooooope). And look at you... pathetic. Strung up beneath the city you failed to save, like tenderized meat ready for the grinder."
Grips the boys chin, scrutinizing the bruises. "Gotta say, Ive looked better" brings his forehead down against his. "Now then, look us in the eye and tell me... was it really worth it?"
---excerpt from Realm: Origins, John Allen. Available on Amazon after my editor scrubs up my yammering lol
Great video, I actually took down this advice as notes for later!
This is all really great advice. How do I practice it without being overwhelmed with things to remember lol
Nice video. Great analysis. I am subscribing.
The brennan glaze is real lmao
The Brennan hate is real lmfao.
Such palpable jealousy oozes from you... I wonder how you made it to the comment section in one piece.
Personally, I think his monologues are so compelling because he's an actor that can act. He can probably make a shopping list sound menacing should he choose to do so.
Personally, I'd write your villain actually being villainous towards a victim (or hero) then you can show how villainous they are.
Just don't have them reveal their plans to the hero when they're being villainous unless the villain is Peter Cushing.
Villain (I wasn't sure if I'd written villain enough).
You could squeeze in an extra “villain” by writing “just don’t have *the villain* reveal their plans instead of “don’t have them reveal their plans”
So, is Brennan canonically the villain of Game Changer?
I actually have a monologue and scene made in the form of a simple yet ridiculously philosophical question: Where does evil come from?
My character and villain is trying to conquer the world and employ his empire to get rid of evil cults and corrupt kings, all while trying to unite his family, and all the while demons invaded the material world.
He breaks every geneva convention laws ALL OF THEM in 12 years
0:03 "Brennan Lee Mulligan is so good at monologues b/c...smart etc"
Could be, but I think he's just studied and trained in drama, and so his repertoire of good dramatic stuff is deeper than the rest of the RPG folks who are literary and dramatically Laymans.
Being well versed or trained in a subject with the ability to apply that knowledge aptly DOES count as being smart, last I checked.
@footlong7980 count?
Brennan is my favorite villain
"Do you want know why I have CHOSEN to bring about the destruction of this farcical, fetid mass of an empire? It's not my upbringing, I had two parents who loved me with everything they had.
It's not some religious crusade. I could care less what pitiful, facsimile of a deity in whom you have mistakenly placed your faith.
It's not even because the squabbling bureaucrats whom you allow to govern your neighbors razed my home and slaughtered my people in their quest to provide you with the ILLUSION of safety.
No, it's because as they sent hero after hero, bankrupting themselves for the vain hope of putting a simple shepherd back in his PLACE, as I wept for each heart beating its last along the edge of my blade, a strange, perverted, darkness began to take root in my own.
I will purge the rot of your existence, not simply because you deserve it, but because I will feel a deep and abiding satisfaction when I see the light leave your eyes."
I suck at monologing (and the monologue will be in a different langauge) but yall can be brutal, I can take it.
Some context: the bbg is a formless creature cursed to decay in eternity. it can remain conscious while with a host, but that host will die soon after and it turns into a liquid until it is consumed again. it was an adventurer, but misshaped and struggled to fit it its entire life until a magical accident happened.
"so you made down to the bottom of the pit! congratuliations dear adventurers! my utmost interested eyes were glued to your progress. I witnessed heroism, sacrifice, but also betrayel.
Was... it.... worth.. it?
You fools followed the leads the guilt showed you.. led you here down the hole you so naively thought of as the root of all evil in the world, unwilling or unable to check if that is the truth alright...
They fed you lies and you were so eager to swallow them! look at me! LOOK AT ME... THEY DID THIS! do you believe they wont do it again? to me? to you? to... the world? I was sent down here to the bottom of the pit.. to the entrance of hell doomed to stay here for ever. I tried to crawl and creep outside only to be thrown back.. to the bottom.. of.. that.... PIT!
You really wish to erase me.. to deny my chance to see the sun again,.. only once.. because.. what? You know what's good and right? You know what needs to be done.. I see! I see it clearly now! Righousness.. blind faith in what is good and right.. so be it in than. Draw your weapons rightous adventurers and claim victory over justice!
Great vid! New sub. Thanks for doing this!
The seating chart got me 🤣🤣
OK you're brilliant! I absolutely LOVE your delivery! You're quick, you're witty, you're knowledgeable, and you've got panache!
(Is it weird that I'm just a little, uh, shall we say, intrigued, by the grammar threat at the end?)
My, admittedly long, monologue submission:
It was us. All along the enemy…was us. It was not the creatures who descended upon us from the stars in numberless swarms to rend flesh, break bone, and devour all in their path. No, it was not, for we turned them back. Nor was it the gods, devils, fey lords and entities stranger still who took up arms with us against the creatures. Not those greedy, squabbling, petty things we once worshiped and feared, for we killed them. Cast them down upon the rocks of their hubris and broke their detestable backs. No, it could not be them; not truly. The enemy was us. What else would explain the nightmarish desolation and orgy of violence around us? If it was not the foe from beyond who threatened our existence or the tyrannical masters who kept us to heel, what then? Who then, but us? The heroes who saw us through two disasters only to plunge us into a third fire? No, they were merely the tipping point.
I’ve trudged through pools of bloody mud across battlefields of shattered corpses and broken cities to every corner of this continent, and the only enemy I see is ourselves. We are the ones who continue to fight tooth and nail at the command of “heroes” who have long since defeated their foe. We are the ones who, when victory was in our grasp and the hour of peaceful rebirth was upon us, instead chose to stoke the fires of fury and turn our notched and bloody weapons against our neighbors. The histories, if anyone survives to write them, will say that the heroes led us into this third calamity because the power they stole from the gods corrupted them. But I know the truth: we slaughter one another and raze our already burnt cities because after a lifetime of war we are still afraid. We are still ignorant of each other’s hearts and minds. We still hate and fear one another for the actions and grievances of the past. We cannot slacken our grips around each other’s throats because we’ve forgotten how. We…are our own enemies. And may our enemies perish.
Great analysis! Thanks! :)
She was right… she will be seeing me next time
This is a little improv I cooked up at the table
Some context: character was abandoned in the woods to die by their mother (the audience) when they were an infant:
“Call me by my name. Say it. Say my name. Or are you too scared? Of a future I made for myself. That I carved out for myself. That I had to scrape and claw at to get. So say my name. The one you never bothered to give me.”