Since Dadi called it out: people in the comments, tell me your favorite non fantasy systems and why, please!! I'm trying to tknow more about other games than just my usual D&D 5E and similars
I've got too many recommendations to list, but here are a few: Monster of the Week (a monster hunting game in the Powered by the Apocalypse tradition) is great fun for one-shots, and it's simple enough that after an introduction to the game it's a great opportunity for non-DMs to try out GMing too. I also love Paranoia (which is roughly like if 1984 was played for laughs) for one-shots, although it requires a little more buy-in from the group and a bit of mutual trust and respect so that people don't get mad when their "teammates" laser them in the face for committing treason. For something longer, Lancer is incredible, it's a sci-fi mech game with a lot of tactical depth and character customizability. It's a lot to learn, admittedly, but there's an excellent official (and free!) character creation software called COMP/CON that really aids the process. I'd also be remiss not to mention Wildsea, which is technically fantasy by definition but completely distinct from the elves and dwarves, swords and magic type fantasy one would expect. Instead, you're sailing chainsaw-powered ships across a sea of swiftly growing trees, with playable ancestries including cactus people and a hive mind spider swarm inhabiting a single body. For full disclosure, I haven't played this one yet, my group's trying it out for the first time on New Year's Eve, but I've heard great reviews and just reading the book has been such an enjoyable experience with the imagination that went into it!
Best campaign I ever played in was a three year Star Wars campaign using FFG's Age of Rebellion/Edge of the Empire system. It uses custom dice that take a bit to get used to, but the system works quite well overall. Lots of incremental character build options, tons of gear/vehicle/ship customization. In the hands of a DM who really knows the setting, it feels just like being in a Star Wars movie. I played as a heavy weapons droid who carried around a giant turret that was supposed to take two people to use, it was great. I made life hard on the DM by being too damn strong and beefy, but he gave me that turret, so this was his own fault. 😂
Secondary shoutout to Exalted, which was originally a White Wolf system. The mechanics are sorta finicky, but the Asian-inspired setting is really cool. Very flashy, over-the-top abilities with a totally non-Tolkien-esque lore and flavor.
It depends what you are looking for but if you are wanting something nothing like DnD (TTRPGs that are not tied to a fantasy setting) I recommend the following: - Monster of the Week (MotW) is a system based around investigating paranormal happenings a la X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or even Scooby Doo. It works on a 2d6 system, and is less mechanically dense compared to 5e. Overall, the game is way more focused on its narrative and how characters interact with each other and a rules light system really goes a long way to support that. - The Walking Dead Universe TTRPG (TWD) is based on the TV show/comic of the same name but you don't have to run games in its universe. All in all, it's a solid zombie apocalypse system that aims to capture the humanity of survivors and test the content of their character. There's a stress mechanic, and the margin for error is big enough to be a constant threat always hanging over the players. Despite this, roleplay and character connections are incredibly important too (the anchor mechanic my beloved). I highly recommend this system, and it also has a whole section on solo play so if you want to try it out for yourself you can no GM required. Now I have played both of these systems so I feel pretty confident in recommending them, but i'll also throw out some names of systems that I like but just haven't played: - Utopia TTRPG - Blades in the Dark - Candela Obscura - Shadowdark - Liminal Horror RPG Cheers, and I look forward to hearing about any other systems from other commenters!
It's honestly just silly how consistent the quality of this channels videos are. I get so much out of each upload, even with the stuff I thought I was already rather well-versed in. Hoping to see more longer videos like this one in the future! The both of you seem to put so much love and care into every detail of the script, editing and lighting, and it really pays off - I'll sometimes throw on one of your vids as background noise while I'm doing stuff around the house, only to find myself drawn back to the screen to watch intently. Keep it up, gang!
I was once involved in a discussion on a ttrpg forum where a few people actually argued, that you only have to read about 20% of the rules, because the rest never comes up anyway. But how are you supposed to know before hand which 20% will be relevant for you? You don't have to memorize it all, but read the whole thing for crying out loud!
The bit that got me baffled was this poster's readiness to search for tips and tools online, including to read. Just as long as it WASN'T the rules! I don't know where to start! - Daði
@@Mystic-Arts-DM as a GM of 15 years, I read through every book to steal ideas for my own party's homebrew that matches our needs. Part of the reason for this is; literally ONLY 1 person out of ~70 of us(excluding me), has actually read the phb and dmg. Another 2 have read about half of the phb. Everyone else couldn't even be bothered to read through the whole character creation or even their class abilities 🙄 most of them just grab a random RUclips video or tiktok short and ask the GM to help them "make this." One of my players told me they came to game, not to read, which left me bewildered because how were they supposed to know how to game if they hadn't even an inkling of the rules? 😅
This can't possibly be your first youtube channel, right? Nobody comes out the gate swinging this hard and hits every single mark flawlessly every time. Great audio & video quality. Confident and well-paced cadence, volume, and tone of voice. Frequent uploads of videos with consistently high quality. When I subscribed, I was shocked at how new the channel was. Keep up the great work!
He has also said he gets help from his girlfriend. Every now and then her hand even makes it on camera! But I suspect she has at least as much to do with it as he does. That's a true partner right there! A proper team.
I manditorily gush on every video for the algorithm but I really can’t help but be blown away by how consistently useful and professional every one of your videos have been so far. Keep up the excellent work!
I appreciate how often you stress in your videos that just because something might be bad in a 'general purpose' way, doesn't mean it can't work perfectly well in the right situation or with the right group. So much sensationalist content out there, it's refreshing to hear nuanced takes that encourage people to think outside the box and do what works for them.
You pointed out that other d&d tubers have already made DMG.24 videos which I have already watched, and while your video didn’t have any groundbreaking new content it did present it in a new way and with a new perspective that I found valuable. The highlighting the ease of access differences and your genuine excitement for the update helped reframe this reprint for me. I won’t be buying a copy since I’ve already got the info in the DMG.14 and have learnt to navigate its idiosyncrasies. As always a fabulous video, got some burst out loud laughs and Dadi’s voice is smooth the listen to. I very much concur on the whole Chase scene mess, I haven’t found something that feels great over the years but normally end up with a hodge podge Skill Challenge.
I LOVE "So you want to be a Game Master" by Justin Alexander!!! I guffawed when you held that up at the end. But tbh, if WotC didn't release Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, I never would have come across him as early as I did. Justin is a great mentor for DMs who want well-defined tools for running games! Really love your channel and I look forward to seeing more content from y'all! Peace!
I thought that was hilarious, too. I just finished reading that book about a month ago - cover to cover - and I'm not surprised Dadi gave it a shout-out. I have the new PHB and DMG, too, and am just finishing reading the PHB. I'll be starting the DMG within the next few days, I imagine. Great video as always!!
I honestly can’t believe your channel is so new! The quality of content is incredible, and somehow it feels like your videos have been on my “need to rewatch this again later” list of DM videos for years. Not sure how I DMed before these 😂
My 2 cents: • Great review and thank you for the timestamps. It makes it easier to go back and watch sections I want to see again. • If you playing another fantasy system, the DMG is still a fantastic resource of ideas. Worth reading even if you're playing Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl, 13th Age, etc.
All of your videos are so useful to new GMs and I love how you find that important, thank you very, very much. An excellent quality video like all the others!
To the note on chases, I recommend looking into the one featured in "The Fiend of Hollow Mine" adventure in Journeys Through The Radiant Citadel (A horribly underrated adventure anthology in 5e that has one of the coolest worlds i've seen)! That was the one that made them click for me and I have enjoyed running them in my games. Edit: The lack of homebrew rules is troubling for me, esp as someone who experienced the OGL crisis firsthand. I won't go too deep into what that is (there are plenty of vids out there that do), but I have a feeling that these methodologies were taken out so that another Pathfinder situation (where DnD creates its own competition) is less likely to happen.
I came a Long way watchin thousands of d&d youtubers and beeing bored of the same advices over and over again.. you‘re on a whole nother level! Every 10 seconds comes an advice thats worth of pure gold! Thank you for your cozy & lovely Videos!♥️
Great video! You mention you use your own hex crawl system and will stick to using that over the journey stages approach introduced in the 2024 DMG. Curious what your system looks like.
@12:50. I run chase scenes as mini skill challenges. making contested rolls like Dexterity(Stealth) fleer to avoid detection vs Wisdom(Survival) chaser to track; Charisma(Deception) fleer to evade vs Wisdom(Insight) for chaser anticipate the next move; Dexterity(Acrobatics) parkour for fleer vs Constitution for chaser to keep up; etc
You know what's better? The intro section is also part of Beyond's free rules. You can just show it to your friends with any worry (maybe except when they can't read English).
love you Dadi and Anna!!! you two make amazing content. I'm always stoked to see when you post another video!!! I'm a newish DM (Been running my first campaign about a year now) and ive been considering getting the 2014 dmg a while but i kept hearing how messy it was and now that ive seen your review of the 2024 book im totally sold. getting it for myself as a christmas gift.
More players mentioned!! This video has a longer runtime than the others but the care put into the pacing was excellent. You guys are doing excellent work!
I'm really on the fence about whether I'll buy into this rules revision, as I'm sorta transitioning from D&D 5e to Pathfinder 2e at the moment. I am the sort of guy who would just buy a rules/setting book just to steal ideas for my world, though. Thanks for another excellent video, and I certainly do not feel like a book could replace your insights! That high-five at the end put a smile on my face. Keep up the good work you two :)
Holy shit, even when you don't supply direct advice (like with complaints about Chases), I find myself lost in my imagination, inspired and brainstorming. Another brilliant video to watch 3-4 times
My favorite change from 2014 is the change to make background more important in character creation than species or “race” because it doesnt matter what you were born as, but how youve lived. Great video as always
Don’t like how in the new phb I’m limited to certain ability boosts. For example a Noble gets Intelligence boost while a Farmer doesn’t. Why not? Nobles are always smarter than farmers? There are myriad examples in real life of how this isn’t true. It limits imagination and character creation
@11:35. I like the idea of renown- but would like a video on how to make it more engaging for your players; how we can bring them it’s something exciting and fun for them.
For me, it's the second best DMG, and the best for new DMs. I love the original AD&D DMG (not the one you brought up but the previous edition from 1979) but it certainly wasn't accessible. In my own experience I found that I'm using the 2024DMG more than the 2014 one, but sticking primarily to the 2014 edition for the PHB. I think that's something we're going to see a lot of going forward--people mixing and matching the two revisions. In many ways 2024 D&D reminds me of 2E, in that it's a more family-friendly revision with the edge taken out of the game. It's good that it's not offensive, but sometimes it comes across as too bland.
You mentioned your own rules for exploration and hexcrawling, I would be interested in hearing about those! Keep up the good work, your videos are amazing.
This is in response to like two sentences from the video but "beach episodes" are usually my favourite sessions in a D&D campaign. I'm willing to accept that big dramatic main plots are an important game draw for the other players at the table but I'm far more interested in lower stakes stories, relationship building within and around the party, and moments of characterisation. Big scary plots feel very restrictive and time-sensitive to me, while an short, low-stakes adventure gets you the satisfaction of getting it done nice and fast instead of drawing it out over months or years, and gives you more wiggle room to bugger around for fun. On top of that, even in like TV and stuff it's really important for me to see the characters hanging out and having a good time sometimes for me to feel invested in them. It actually shows what they're fighting for instead of just assuming the audience, or in this case the players, trust that something good is there. For the same reason, showing the consequences of pc actions on the world (and having well-meaning actions turn out positively more often than not) is important to my enjoyment of a campaign.
Oh totally! That latter West Wing episode we clipped has them all throwing a basketball around the campaign headquarters, I just love that sort of vibe. I gotta get better at those sessions! - Daði
I don't really comment that often but I have to say since your channel popped up I watched almost all of your videos. Just wanted to say you're doing an amazing job reaaaally consistently. 😁
How I implemented a "Loyalty System" in my games: NPCs have a memory of all the things they've experienced from the party. Yes I tie it to the entire group as it's easier to manage than associating it to individual characters. It also makes the players care about and take responsibility for every party members actions not just for their own. If said character is not with the party anymore for some reason, they may be able to convince the NPC to "forget" about this memory. Then you just stroke it off. Simple. These experiences have an impact on their opinion with no value associated. How much it impacts their opionion of the group basically comes down to how I feel the experience relates to the things this NPC believes in. Basically their world view and how they view themselves. So to really implement this system it forces you to really understand your NPC. Which I always find really helpful. Depending on their character you record memories, as not all the things they experience about the group will stick as not everything is important. Only record the important stuff. This makes it easier to fly over it when the group interacts with said character and helps you adjust your behaviour on the spot. Example: Greg is an NPC. He is a super greedy merchant. At some point the parties rogue stole from them and they found out about it. Now they are furious with the party. They also bought some really expensive things from him. But this can never outweigh the theft. His other memories of them are insignificant. Whenever I read over it I get how my NPC feels about them in an instant even though it's like only one of a load of NPCs I have to manage and I immediately feel like my NPC does about them. So whenever Greg sees them walking into his shop he's immediately alert and on edge. He's uncomfortable around them and wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. But he's also greedy and wants to take their money. As he can't prove the rogue stole from him, the only thing he can do is make sure it never happens again. So he immediately sends his guards on them to watch their every step, maybe even throwing the rogue out of the shop if they are with them and whenever they buy something he sells the stuff up for as much as he can get away with. Haggling is impossible for the party with him.
> "I cannot believe I have to say this but you have to read the rules" I think the big problem here is that 5e (and this .24 version) seperates out these rules into another expensive book. Which effectively paywalls this sort of guidance in a way that pretty much every other RPG product *doesnt*. So I'm not surprised people don't read what they don't have immediate access to. When the engine the game runs on isn't accessible by default, should you be surprised by the lack of a modding community for that game? It may seem obvious to just "read the rules", but this extra hurdle is clearly enough to encourage players who wish to transition into GMing to actively seek out advice and guides online - rather than go folk over more money for a confusing and generally unhelpful book (ymmv with this new DM guide, from what you say, but I've not read it myself so can't comment). When folks are looking for answers elsewhere, that should tell you that the means in which you're dispensing that information currently isn't adequate enough. I'm surprised (well, im not, because *profit*) that they're even still keeping this 3 core book format for this "new edition" when they could've taken the oppotunity to consolidate all the core elements into one user friendly book.
@@quillogist2875 I'm not claiming that no other systems have their GM rules separated. Just that many don't, and it helps a great deal for players to transition to GMing when everything is consolidated into one place. Although choosing to mention a system that evolved out of a 3.5e fan spinoff, and a semi-stand alone system that is explicitly meant to be 5e compatible is hardly casting the apple far from the tree here. It's not really surprising that both would follow the organisational format of their progenitor. The question isn’t “do other companies do this?”, but “does doing this help people play the game?”. I was suggesting that perhaps if there are many potential GMs seeking aid and guidance to start, then regardless of if the rules exist - they’re clearly not presented in a way that makes them accessible and useful to those players. Simply telling people to read the rules (whilst I am a big fan of the RTFM approach) may be ignoring the fact that the manual in question may actually be the cause of the issues.
The home constructed spreadsheets spoke to my heart. We're currently playing Pathfinder, and I was *still* thoroughly absorbed by your review of the new DMG. Thanks for continuing to do these videos. As many others have commented, super high signal(high) to noise (nonexistent) ratio. Also glad that Iceland has more than EVE developers (as much as I love that game).
I think the 2014 DMG killed my campaign. I‘m serious. Back when I started to DM, I of course read the DMG and felt exactly what you described: the overpowering burden of everything that book put onto me. I thought I had to create a whole world beforehand, I had no idea of how to take notes etc. and I overprepared, resulting in many hours wasted, an amount of work I couldn‘t shoulder and crushing insecurities before actually playing. That made DMing unenjoyable for me and I feel like that lead to the campaign slowly fizzling out, now being dead. I really hope I will some day play some DnD again (I played and GMed Call of Cthulhu for a while, that was a much more enjoyable GM experience) and pick up the new DMG. Also: thank you for your videos! I feel they‘re always very well structured, you know which story you want to tell and of course, visuals are top notch. Love being a subscriber, keep up the good work and cheers for 2025!
Nice review. I've been leaning away from 5E in favor of simpler systems as a DM personally. However, it's good to know that the new DMG is worthwhile. The girlfriend high five was a definite upgrade from the waving hand.
Love your videos. I'm glad you only did this video now, cos right now is when i am deciding if i should buy this, and you have convinced me. I still hate HAsbro and WotC for the evils they commit, but like you said, this book ain't that. And i just realised the picture on the cover is Venger! The villain from the old D&D cartoon!
I've had to hold off on buying it because I asked for it for my birthday/Christmas, so I have to wait and see if any of my relatives buy it for me, but if it's not under that tree on Wednesday, I'm buying the first copy I see for sale. Chase rules are something I want to see a game focus on the way 5E focuses on combat. Like, I don't know, a Speed Racer-inspired game where the whole setting is focused around racing to an absurd degree. That's the only way I can see a rule set for chases feeling more necessary and interesting than just "Whatever rules you already use for scenes that can't be resolved by just one or two die rolls." Advice on note-taking is something I was begging for when I first started running D&D. I'm so psyched that it's something they put in the books. It may not be necessary for me now that I've adapted my own approach to it, but for anyone who's new in the way I once was, I'm glad it's there.
It's great to hear that the new book is more effective at teaching and conveying the rules. Layout and organization are such an underappreciated part of game design. You can have the greatest game in the world, but it all goes to waste if no one can parse how the game is meant to be played and how to get the most fun out of the mechanics. Also, that story about the adventure for the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords was hilarious. The more tidbits you share about your own games, the more interested I am in hearing more about the setting and adventures.
As a Very Neurodivergent, ADHD-Infused Human Unit, I appreciate the bit about how the new book is way more accessible for people like me. I wasn't gonna bother with it because I more or less already know how to DM and hate reading textwalls, but now I might consider it.
Is it better then 2014. yes. But also to all dnd players. I urge you to try other ttrpgs. Especially the ttrpgs who have free rules online. Takes 1 session to learn the basics and make characters in World of darkness. And it does things dnd can't, hyper story based modern day environment. Dnd is good, but one of my main mistakes was trying to crack the system into doing something it's not designed to do. Pathfinder might seem complex. It kinda is, but lv 1 it's equal to dnd, but the all the ruels are open source, free online and supported by the developers. , so you can just try it and decide if you like it or not.
I got the combo set (PHB, MM, DMG) when starting out and your analysis of the issues is spot on. I started and dumped it within minutes. I only used it for magic items and missed all the great tools in it. (I ran Lost Mines, so just kind of went with what was in that)
20:03 Three to five levels? That seems an exceptionally long time to go without a "break" session. I recently ran a 10 month long campaign that ran from level 1-6 with 5 or so "break" sessions.
I keep watching these videos to try to get into dnd. Even spent a bit to get the books before the dnd remaster. It's sooo hard esp after starting with pf2e.
I wasn't planning on buying any of the 2024 books, but this video changed my mind about the 2024 DMG. It's true, the 2014 DMG is pretty much a big wall of text that is mostly useful for inspiration, magic items, and tables. With your review or sounds like the "guide" aspect of it is massively improved, and I'll probably pick it up.
Since I started running games back in 3rd edition. I've always approached DM'ing like an open book exam. Read and understand the reference material (The Manuals) so that when you take the test (Play the Game) and you don't know the answer off the top of your head, you have an understanding of the reference materials so you can quickly find the information you need in the moment.
I have a copy of the 2024 DM’s Guide sitting next to me right now. It’s great, I love it. You mention the multiverse chapter from the 2014 edition, and I will say that when I need to look up info on the planes of existence, I still go back to 2014 5e for its much more detailed content. But it should have been an appendix, not freaking Chapter 2!
Please please please, do that video on Domains and Kingdom wars rules and style of play please! I am currently running that kind of campaign and I didn't find much joy in the MCDM manuals, so would be great to hear your take on it!
I'd be surprised if the major D&D channels aren't reaching out to you for collabs. Thumbs up to your future - hope you keep sharing LEARNED good tips, love it.
Here is my homebrew for chases. .... Everyone starts by rolling against a specific DC such as DC13. Each character tracks a separate DC. So, when someone succeeds a skill check vs the DC, their own DC drops by -1. That character now rolls vs their adjusted DC. So, if your DC drops, you increase your chances of succeeding. If a player rolls less than the DC minus 6, they add +1 to their DC. When the DCs of a pursuer and quarry are 3 apart, the one with the higher DC loses the chase. Either the quarry is captured or escapes. ... The best part of this homebrew is that it is fast with lots of roleplay describing the skill checks. The worst part is tracking separate DCs. If you want a longer chase, instead of reaching a difference of 3, simply make it 4 or 5.... A nice story element is that the separate DCs begin to chase each other which mirrors the chase.
DM for me please? ☺️ BTW, I know a good voice is not necessary to DM but it does make a difference, and I really like Dadi's voice. Reason why I love the sections of videos in which he "pretends to be DMing". I haven't read the whole DMG yet, but I like the parts I read. One thing I miss is a guideline for creatures including proficiency, hit die etc. that is expected for each CR. I know the calculations in 2014 were terrible but a table to compare against is good. Now the advice is "pick an existing one and reskin it" which works for some things, but not for others. I'm a long time player but a new DM, and I'm still learning a few things. Oh and you're videos won't be obsolete, don't worry. You always bring an interesting insight.
The idea behind bastions is great, but it ended up being severly undercooked. However, the tiniest bit of homebrewing can make them fantastic, and that's honestly something I'd like your opinion on (even though you already said you had your own super complex system already). The main issue with the system, to me at least, is how impossible it is for a bastion to be attacked, and how minimal the consequences when that finally happens.
Thanks for making all these videos, you're a gem. Your world sounds great, do you have a lore video planned? And if not, would you be open to doing one?
There are a few improvements to layout, with some new tips and mechanics for mobs, fear, AC/HP for doors, etc. The magic item award tables are better, and of course they added bastions which seem cool. However, it took me forever to find the currency award tables, which are not in the Treasure section but are at the end of the Adventure chapter (p120-120). Make it make sense. The Settlements section is a few small paragraphs and a page of mediocre tables. What!? No world building help there. In fact, most of the book is fluff. If the '24 DMG had a section on trees, it would read: "Trees are a vital part of any adventure. They can be big if it suits your world, or they can be small. They could be short, or if it fits better into your campaign, they can be tall. Invite your players into a wooded area and describe the bark as being smooth, or perhaps rough. Maybe the leaves are thick and green, or dead and dried." End. Nothing of any real value, and it just fills the page. Maybe a table for rolling the color of the local foliage. Come on! Cram that thing full of world building tables and huge pools of ideas. Every section starts to feel this way. Just fast-food, all oil and grease and no substance. The more I read the more it feels phoned in. I don't want expansion books, modules, or 6-7 volumes across my bed so I have some real DM resources at my fingertips. I already do this and most of the books are off brand. It's supposed to be the damn DMG! All in all, it is an improvement on the '14, but other than a few bookmarks, this will still be a book for magic items. Massively disappointed.
You mention that you have your own house rules/system for a hex crawl? I am curious what it is and would love to see a video on this. (Looked through your videos and couldn’t find one already, but maybe it is buried in one?)
Im glad this New DMG is so good. For years I've mostly just done what I call "a training game" with new dms that want to try and run something. I'll co-dm with them, leaving them to do the creative leg work, offering advice when I feel it critical, and explaining how I do things when asked. It works well, but its a technique that requires someone who, you know. Knows the god damn game. Some guy who saw Matt Mercer mean mug the camera and make funny voices for 100 hours and wants to do that isn't always going to have a gm with 20 something years of experience in gming to guide them. They'll have the DMG. And man, that was a fucking ask with the 2014 one.
Would you do videos on the 2024 PHB and Monster Manual? I really like your ego-less presentation of your opionions and I would love to see your thoughts on those books as well.
I think 3/3.5e was a lot easier to DM for as it provided much more scaffolding and guidance on things like magic items, prices, encounter design, monster and NPC design, custom classes. It was much easier to homebrew because the designers showed you how their monsters, magic items, encounters and classes were designed. It is a very transparent and consistent system. I do like the simllifications that Star Wars Saga and Fifth edition made to yhe initial d20 system. But DM support is a lot worse. Ans I’ve bern playing and DMing since 1995.
I agree that 5e is the best system for "experienced" storytellers because it doesn't tell you how it wants to be played. I'm glad that they seem to be leaning into that strength while also specifically catering much more to new DMs
@@laef5642 this is one of the things I personally love about 5e. Compared to earlier editions, especially 1e and 2e, the framework is streamlined and simplified in a way that really seems to unburden the game. Rather than leaning into the technicalities of rules, the current system is designed with a lot of spaciousness that allows stories to run more smoothly.
5e tells you how it wants to be played in so many distinct ways, from levelling, to how HP works, to how rolls are structured, and in general what the system wants you to do. In that way it is no different from the overwhelming majority of RPGs, you'd be as well saying that Traveller doesn't tell you how it wants to be played.
@@finlaygilfillan7963 (tl;dr I didn't define well what I meant by "tells you how it wants to be played" to me it's about the intended experience and how malleable that is) I think you're arguing against a point I didn't intend to make. I meant to say that 5e doesn't as specific of an intended experience as, say Blades in the Dark, which says "you will have non-heist scenes, they will look like this, and then you will have heists which act this way" in a way that's so much more specifically structured. I would consider this significantly different than 5e where some people say you should structure an adventure as scenes with three clues that connect them to other scenes, other people say you should prep only the situation and let yourself improvise where the scenes are in front of the players, and some parties like a specifically on rails adventure. It's this fundamental versatility that I find makes me more and more fond of 5e as I accumulate DM experience but had me fully lost in what exactly I was supposed to be doing outside of combat when I started. Your comment does make me think that it is much more of a spectrum then I was thinking of it as, ranging from a blank page where any structure must be imposed by you to a boardgame where every action you can take is predefined.
YES! DMs: Do a beach episode every once in a while. This fills the same purpose as in cinema. The players need to explore who their characters are when they aren't fighting for their lives! EDIT: Correcting autocorrect.
Ok my friend you sold me. I've been DMing since 1984, started playing in 1979, This is the one DM's guide I wasn't going to buy. I enjoy your channel, you and your girlfriend are doing an excellent job, I consider you and your approach to the game a good successor to Matthew Colville.
I agree with this review a lot. The new edition incites inspiration. 5e never inspired me to make the game system my own in a way that 5.5e did. I enjoy taking the ideas given and expanding them, altough i will admit that they could have done that themselves and just created 6e. But i think the pressure was to much to stick to the "running system" A lot of players would have been even more displeased to see something like metamagic adept in origin feats. But i love it.
I'm very interested to hear a comparison between this new DM guide and the two DM guides published for 4th edition, which were some of the best books ever made addressing the DM role among all the game systems I know or have played. If you haven't read them already, I strongly suggest it.
Thank you for this. Ive been debating for a while on if i should get this or not, and my DM friend convinced me i didn't need it (based on when he bought the 2014 edition) Im gonna go get the new DMG because all of the pros seem very much directed toward players like myself.
One thing I prefer about the 2014 DMG is all the tables, even the old treasure hoard rules. I'll keep using those when I need them, no one's forcing me to burn the old book, but I do wish it had brought them through. I still use the random dungeon tables and treasure tables and NPC and adventure tables and it's really nice; but it really is better as more of an "advanced DM" guide, where the new one is a better first time DM guide.
I would definitely like to hear more about building kingdoms, warfare, and running mass combat. Curious to know which books you use, homebrew you did, etc.
Just in case it takes a while, check out 2nd edition of D&D. 🤔 There are about three different books that might fit your needs, I sorta remember two, ¿Castles and keeps? And I think the other one is ¿Bloodlines? Or something like that, it has you roleplaying kingdoms rather than groups of adventurers.
I really appreciate your thoughts on why you use D&D 5e. I personally agree with you and was looking for a system with similar things. Eventually, I decided that combat in 5e was a little too rigid for my tastes and that Pathfinder 2e has more of what I'm looking for. Plus, Paizo as a company is a while lot better than WOTC.
I recall this conversation I had in my head when first reading the AD&D DMG. Me: "Hi I want to become a Dungeon Master." DMG: "Good luck with that! Go out there and learn how to do it!" Me: "But you're called the 'Dungeon Masters Guide' - doesn't this mean I can learn it from YOU?!" DMG: "Psyke!" Me: "You're as old as I am and you behave like a child." DMG: "I'm not listening." Me: "This is exactly what I mean." DMG: "..."
Thank you for making this video! Makes me want to buy the books for the tools they are, not just for the new content. I actually don't want the new content, lol. I was hesitant until now. The old 2014 DMG does suck for newbies like me.
new(ish) DM here--and somewhat experienced player. loved the video! as per! systematic, sensitive. all the attributes a DM should encourage in themselves and their table too! One q, tho (for a possible future video? ha!) but I find the 2014 book a little stubborn on how to track Initiative and in-game battle info. I find myself....wobbly....on keeping initiative order, stat block specs, character actions, terrain, timing, and fairness on a reasonable--and visible--grid. It's mostly theatre of the mind for me, still. But do have any recommendations!
Since Dadi called it out: people in the comments, tell me your favorite non fantasy systems and why, please!! I'm trying to tknow more about other games than just my usual D&D 5E and similars
I've got too many recommendations to list, but here are a few:
Monster of the Week (a monster hunting game in the Powered by the Apocalypse tradition) is great fun for one-shots, and it's simple enough that after an introduction to the game it's a great opportunity for non-DMs to try out GMing too.
I also love Paranoia (which is roughly like if 1984 was played for laughs) for one-shots, although it requires a little more buy-in from the group and a bit of mutual trust and respect so that people don't get mad when their "teammates" laser them in the face for committing treason.
For something longer, Lancer is incredible, it's a sci-fi mech game with a lot of tactical depth and character customizability. It's a lot to learn, admittedly, but there's an excellent official (and free!) character creation software called COMP/CON that really aids the process.
I'd also be remiss not to mention Wildsea, which is technically fantasy by definition but completely distinct from the elves and dwarves, swords and magic type fantasy one would expect. Instead, you're sailing chainsaw-powered ships across a sea of swiftly growing trees, with playable ancestries including cactus people and a hive mind spider swarm inhabiting a single body. For full disclosure, I haven't played this one yet, my group's trying it out for the first time on New Year's Eve, but I've heard great reviews and just reading the book has been such an enjoyable experience with the imagination that went into it!
I've had loads of fun in Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars from Fantasy Flight, and Paranoia myself!
Best campaign I ever played in was a three year Star Wars campaign using FFG's Age of Rebellion/Edge of the Empire system. It uses custom dice that take a bit to get used to, but the system works quite well overall. Lots of incremental character build options, tons of gear/vehicle/ship customization. In the hands of a DM who really knows the setting, it feels just like being in a Star Wars movie.
I played as a heavy weapons droid who carried around a giant turret that was supposed to take two people to use, it was great. I made life hard on the DM by being too damn strong and beefy, but he gave me that turret, so this was his own fault. 😂
Secondary shoutout to Exalted, which was originally a White Wolf system. The mechanics are sorta finicky, but the Asian-inspired setting is really cool. Very flashy, over-the-top abilities with a totally non-Tolkien-esque lore and flavor.
It depends what you are looking for but if you are wanting something nothing like DnD (TTRPGs that are not tied to a fantasy setting) I recommend the following:
- Monster of the Week (MotW) is a system based around investigating paranormal happenings a la X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or even Scooby Doo. It works on a 2d6 system, and is less mechanically dense compared to 5e. Overall, the game is way more focused on its narrative and how characters interact with each other and a rules light system really goes a long way to support that.
- The Walking Dead Universe TTRPG (TWD) is based on the TV show/comic of the same name but you don't have to run games in its universe. All in all, it's a solid zombie apocalypse system that aims to capture the humanity of survivors and test the content of their character. There's a stress mechanic, and the margin for error is big enough to be a constant threat always hanging over the players. Despite this, roleplay and character connections are incredibly important too (the anchor mechanic my beloved). I highly recommend this system, and it also has a whole section on solo play so if you want to try it out for yourself you can no GM required.
Now I have played both of these systems so I feel pretty confident in recommending them, but i'll also throw out some names of systems that I like but just haven't played:
- Utopia TTRPG
- Blades in the Dark
- Candela Obscura
- Shadowdark
- Liminal Horror RPG
Cheers, and I look forward to hearing about any other systems from other commenters!
It's honestly just silly how consistent the quality of this channels videos are. I get so much out of each upload, even with the stuff I thought I was already rather well-versed in.
Hoping to see more longer videos like this one in the future! The both of you seem to put so much love and care into every detail of the script, editing and lighting, and it really pays off - I'll sometimes throw on one of your vids as background noise while I'm doing stuff around the house, only to find myself drawn back to the screen to watch intently.
Keep it up, gang!
🥹 You got it!
P.S. The little hand cameos from behind the camera during the outro of each video always makes me chuckle 🤭
"You have to read the rules." an extremely controversial opinion, good luck with being cancelled! /s
One of these days, they'll come for me and my opinions... - Daði
@@samfowler2073 🤣
I was once involved in a discussion on a ttrpg forum where a few people actually argued, that you only have to read about 20% of the rules, because the rest never comes up anyway. But how are you supposed to know before hand which 20% will be relevant for you? You don't have to memorize it all, but read the whole thing for crying out loud!
The bit that got me baffled was this poster's readiness to search for tips and tools online, including to read. Just as long as it WASN'T the rules! I don't know where to start! - Daði
@@Mystic-Arts-DM as a GM of 15 years, I read through every book to steal ideas for my own party's homebrew that matches our needs. Part of the reason for this is; literally ONLY 1 person out of ~70 of us(excluding me), has actually read the phb and dmg. Another 2 have read about half of the phb. Everyone else couldn't even be bothered to read through the whole character creation or even their class abilities 🙄 most of them just grab a random RUclips video or tiktok short and ask the GM to help them "make this." One of my players told me they came to game, not to read, which left me bewildered because how were they supposed to know how to game if they hadn't even an inkling of the rules? 😅
This can't possibly be your first youtube channel, right? Nobody comes out the gate swinging this hard and hits every single mark flawlessly every time. Great audio & video quality. Confident and well-paced cadence, volume, and tone of voice. Frequent uploads of videos with consistently high quality. When I subscribed, I was shocked at how new the channel was. Keep up the great work!
Like Triple H used to say (and as Dadi should say) " I AM THAT DAMN GOOD! " That should be his catch phrase,
He said he's a director. Experience in video, actual video not just recording, sets someone up really well.
He has also said he gets help from his girlfriend. Every now and then her hand even makes it on camera! But I suspect she has at least as much to do with it as he does. That's a true partner right there! A proper team.
@@4saken404 💯💯💯
I manditorily gush on every video for the algorithm but I really can’t help but be blown away by how consistently useful and professional every one of your videos have been so far. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks! We're trying our best!
I am also here to feed the algo!!! Nom nom nom
engagement? ENGAGEMENT!
@@laef5642 I engaged twice!
Your channel is so incredible. It may blend in with all the others I send to my friends who don't watch a single one of them, but you stand out.
I appreciate how often you stress in your videos that just because something might be bad in a 'general purpose' way, doesn't mean it can't work perfectly well in the right situation or with the right group. So much sensationalist content out there, it's refreshing to hear nuanced takes that encourage people to think outside the box and do what works for them.
You pointed out that other d&d tubers have already made DMG.24 videos which I have already watched, and while your video didn’t have any groundbreaking new content it did present it in a new way and with a new perspective that I found valuable. The highlighting the ease of access differences and your genuine excitement for the update helped reframe this reprint for me. I won’t be buying a copy since I’ve already got the info in the DMG.14 and have learnt to navigate its idiosyncrasies.
As always a fabulous video, got some burst out loud laughs and Dadi’s voice is smooth the listen to.
I very much concur on the whole Chase scene mess, I haven’t found something that feels great over the years but normally end up with a hodge podge Skill Challenge.
I LOVE "So you want to be a Game Master" by Justin Alexander!!! I guffawed when you held that up at the end. But tbh, if WotC didn't release Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, I never would have come across him as early as I did. Justin is a great mentor for DMs who want well-defined tools for running games! Really love your channel and I look forward to seeing more content from y'all! Peace!
The Alexandrian might be my biggest influence, tbh. - Daði
I thought that was hilarious, too. I just finished reading that book about a month ago - cover to cover - and I'm not surprised Dadi gave it a shout-out. I have the new PHB and DMG, too, and am just finishing reading the PHB. I'll be starting the DMG within the next few days, I imagine. Great video as always!!
I honestly can’t believe your channel is so new! The quality of content is incredible, and somehow it feels like your videos have been on my “need to rewatch this again later” list of DM videos for years. Not sure how I DMed before these 😂
My 2 cents:
• Great review and thank you for the timestamps. It makes it easier to go back and watch sections I want to see again.
• If you playing another fantasy system, the DMG is still a fantastic resource of ideas. Worth reading even if you're playing Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl, 13th Age, etc.
Amazing improvement, from worst dnd book to best dnd book
All of your videos are so useful to new GMs and I love how you find that important, thank you very, very much. An excellent quality video like all the others!
To the note on chases, I recommend looking into the one featured in "The Fiend of Hollow Mine" adventure in Journeys Through The Radiant Citadel (A horribly underrated adventure anthology in 5e that has one of the coolest worlds i've seen)! That was the one that made them click for me and I have enjoyed running them in my games.
Edit: The lack of homebrew rules is troubling for me, esp as someone who experienced the OGL crisis firsthand. I won't go too deep into what that is (there are plenty of vids out there that do), but I have a feeling that these methodologies were taken out so that another Pathfinder situation (where DnD creates its own competition) is less likely to happen.
I came a Long way watchin thousands of d&d youtubers and beeing bored of the same advices over and over again.. you‘re on a whole nother level! Every 10 seconds comes an advice thats worth of pure gold!
Thank you for your cozy & lovely Videos!♥️
Great video! You mention you use your own hex crawl system and will stick to using that over the journey stages approach introduced in the 2024 DMG. Curious what your system looks like.
@12:50. I run chase scenes as mini skill challenges. making contested rolls like Dexterity(Stealth) fleer to avoid detection vs Wisdom(Survival) chaser to track; Charisma(Deception) fleer to evade vs Wisdom(Insight) for chaser anticipate the next move; Dexterity(Acrobatics) parkour for fleer vs Constitution for chaser to keep up; etc
You know what's better? The intro section is also part of Beyond's free rules. You can just show it to your friends with any worry (maybe except when they can't read English).
love you Dadi and Anna!!! you two make amazing content. I'm always stoked to see when you post another video!!! I'm a newish DM (Been running my first campaign about a year now) and ive been considering getting the 2014 dmg a while but i kept hearing how messy it was and now that ive seen your review of the 2024 book im totally sold. getting it for myself as a christmas gift.
More players mentioned!! This video has a longer runtime than the others but the care put into the pacing was excellent. You guys are doing excellent work!
Your insight is fantastic, and your videos are well-presented! Plus, you have a soothing voice XD
Glad to see your channel getting lots of attention!
I'm really on the fence about whether I'll buy into this rules revision, as I'm sorta transitioning from D&D 5e to Pathfinder 2e at the moment. I am the sort of guy who would just buy a rules/setting book just to steal ideas for my world, though. Thanks for another excellent video, and I certainly do not feel like a book could replace your insights! That high-five at the end put a smile on my face. Keep up the good work you two :)
As someone who regularly makes spreadsheets for fun... Id love a peek at your domain rules
Hah! You might be the market audience for the Worst Domain System - Daði
@@Mystic-Arts-DM ah yes the WDS
I love that you are so positive compared to so many DnD streamers thank you!
@@KentHarkey agree!
Holy shit, even when you don't supply direct advice (like with complaints about Chases), I find myself lost in my imagination, inspired and brainstorming.
Another brilliant video to watch 3-4 times
My favorite change from 2014 is the change to make background more important in character creation than species or “race” because it doesnt matter what you were born as, but how youve lived. Great video as always
Don’t like how in the new phb I’m limited to certain ability boosts. For example a Noble gets Intelligence boost while a Farmer doesn’t. Why not? Nobles are always smarter than farmers? There are myriad examples in real life of how this isn’t true. It limits imagination and character creation
@11:35. I like the idea of renown- but would like a video on how to make it more engaging for your players; how we can bring them it’s something exciting and fun for them.
For me, it's the second best DMG, and the best for new DMs. I love the original AD&D DMG (not the one you brought up but the previous edition from 1979) but it certainly wasn't accessible. In my own experience I found that I'm using the 2024DMG more than the 2014 one, but sticking primarily to the 2014 edition for the PHB. I think that's something we're going to see a lot of going forward--people mixing and matching the two revisions. In many ways 2024 D&D reminds me of 2E, in that it's a more family-friendly revision with the edge taken out of the game. It's good that it's not offensive, but sometimes it comes across as too bland.
26:15 I bought the 2024 DMG just for the Bastion system. Been a forever-gm since 1991. Just saying, your analysis seems spot on. 🥳
Im running Kingmaker and oh boy, I would love to get a hold of your more complex Kingdom Rules!
Id be down to pay for it honestly :>
Really wonderful review and work on these videos. Looking forward to seeing what else y'all decide to tackle!
I'll have to check out this book, bought my DMG many years ago. Cheers for the heads up!
You mentioned your own rules for exploration and hexcrawling, I would be interested in hearing about those! Keep up the good work, your videos are amazing.
I’ve been using 5u instead of 5e to clarify that it’s the official update edition
This is in response to like two sentences from the video but "beach episodes" are usually my favourite sessions in a D&D campaign. I'm willing to accept that big dramatic main plots are an important game draw for the other players at the table but I'm far more interested in lower stakes stories, relationship building within and around the party, and moments of characterisation. Big scary plots feel very restrictive and time-sensitive to me, while an short, low-stakes adventure gets you the satisfaction of getting it done nice and fast instead of drawing it out over months or years, and gives you more wiggle room to bugger around for fun.
On top of that, even in like TV and stuff it's really important for me to see the characters hanging out and having a good time sometimes for me to feel invested in them. It actually shows what they're fighting for instead of just assuming the audience, or in this case the players, trust that something good is there. For the same reason, showing the consequences of pc actions on the world (and having well-meaning actions turn out positively more often than not) is important to my enjoyment of a campaign.
Oh totally! That latter West Wing episode we clipped has them all throwing a basketball around the campaign headquarters, I just love that sort of vibe. I gotta get better at those sessions! - Daði
I don't really comment that often but I have to say since your channel popped up I watched almost all of your videos. Just wanted to say you're doing an amazing job reaaaally consistently. 😁
Thanks for sharing your opinion on this!! I'll consider picking it up actually
How I implemented a "Loyalty System" in my games: NPCs have a memory of all the things they've experienced from the party. Yes I tie it to the entire group as it's easier to manage than associating it to individual characters. It also makes the players care about and take responsibility for every party members actions not just for their own. If said character is not with the party anymore for some reason, they may be able to convince the NPC to "forget" about this memory. Then you just stroke it off. Simple.
These experiences have an impact on their opinion with no value associated. How much it impacts their opionion of the group basically comes down to how I feel the experience relates to the things this NPC believes in. Basically their world view and how they view themselves. So to really implement this system it forces you to really understand your NPC. Which I always find really helpful. Depending on their character you record memories, as not all the things they experience about the group will stick as not everything is important. Only record the important stuff. This makes it easier to fly over it when the group interacts with said character and helps you adjust your behaviour on the spot.
Example:
Greg is an NPC. He is a super greedy merchant. At some point the parties rogue stole from them and they found out about it. Now they are furious with the party. They also bought some really expensive things from him. But this can never outweigh the theft. His other memories of them are insignificant. Whenever I read over it I get how my NPC feels about them in an instant even though it's like only one of a load of NPCs I have to manage and I immediately feel like my NPC does about them. So whenever Greg sees them walking into his shop he's immediately alert and on edge. He's uncomfortable around them and wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. But he's also greedy and wants to take their money. As he can't prove the rogue stole from him, the only thing he can do is make sure it never happens again. So he immediately sends his guards on them to watch their every step, maybe even throwing the rogue out of the shop if they are with them and whenever they buy something he sells the stuff up for as much as he can get away with. Haggling is impossible for the party with him.
Another great video. I definitely appreciate your honesty about this book. I really dig your vids. Keep em' up!
> "I cannot believe I have to say this but you have to read the rules"
I think the big problem here is that 5e (and this .24 version) seperates out these rules into another expensive book. Which effectively paywalls this sort of guidance in a way that pretty much every other RPG product *doesnt*. So I'm not surprised people don't read what they don't have immediate access to.
When the engine the game runs on isn't accessible by default, should you be surprised by the lack of a modding community for that game? It may seem obvious to just "read the rules", but this extra hurdle is clearly enough to encourage players who wish to transition into GMing to actively seek out advice and guides online - rather than go folk over more money for a confusing and generally unhelpful book (ymmv with this new DM guide, from what you say, but I've not read it myself so can't comment).
When folks are looking for answers elsewhere, that should tell you that the means in which you're dispensing that information currently isn't adequate enough. I'm surprised (well, im not, because *profit*) that they're even still keeping this 3 core book format for this "new edition" when they could've taken the oppotunity to consolidate all the core elements into one user friendly book.
All fair and good, except all the relevant rules are free online in the Free Rules. - Daði
Pathfinder 2e, Tales of the Valiant, etc. All have a separate gm book, but they cost more
@@quillogist2875 I'm not claiming that no other systems have their GM rules separated. Just that many don't, and it helps a great deal for players to transition to GMing when everything is consolidated into one place.
Although choosing to mention a system that evolved out of a 3.5e fan spinoff, and a semi-stand alone system that is explicitly meant to be 5e compatible is hardly casting the apple far from the tree here. It's not really surprising that both would follow the organisational format of their progenitor.
The question isn’t “do other companies do this?”, but “does doing this help people play the game?”. I was suggesting that perhaps if there are many potential GMs seeking aid and guidance to start, then regardless of if the rules exist - they’re clearly not presented in a way that makes them accessible and useful to those players. Simply telling people to read the rules (whilst I am a big fan of the RTFM approach) may be ignoring the fact that the manual in question may actually be the cause of the issues.
The home constructed spreadsheets spoke to my heart. We're currently playing Pathfinder, and I was *still* thoroughly absorbed by your review of the new DMG. Thanks for continuing to do these videos. As many others have commented, super high signal(high) to noise (nonexistent) ratio. Also glad that Iceland has more than EVE developers (as much as I love that game).
I think the 2014 DMG killed my campaign. I‘m serious. Back when I started to DM, I of course read the DMG and felt exactly what you described: the overpowering burden of everything that book put onto me. I thought I had to create a whole world beforehand, I had no idea of how to take notes etc. and I overprepared, resulting in many hours wasted, an amount of work I couldn‘t shoulder and crushing insecurities before actually playing. That made DMing unenjoyable for me and I feel like that lead to the campaign slowly fizzling out, now being dead. I really hope I will some day play some DnD again (I played and GMed Call of Cthulhu for a while, that was a much more enjoyable GM experience) and pick up the new DMG. Also: thank you for your videos! I feel they‘re always very well structured, you know which story you want to tell and of course, visuals are top notch. Love being a subscriber, keep up the good work and cheers for 2025!
You really are a director: these videos are thoroughly engaging. Keep it up!
Nice review. I've been leaning away from 5E in favor of simpler systems as a DM personally. However, it's good to know that the new DMG is worthwhile. The girlfriend high five was a definite upgrade from the waving hand.
I'm still partial to the Flurry of Blows from a previous video, myself. - Daði
I would love a video or two on how you do Hexcrawls!
Love your videos. I'm glad you only did this video now, cos right now is when i am deciding if i should buy this, and you have convinced me. I still hate HAsbro and WotC for the evils they commit, but like you said, this book ain't that. And i just realised the picture on the cover is Venger! The villain from the old D&D cartoon!
As a dyslexic the new dmg is also just way more readable with the text. Everything else like you said is a cherry on top. Fucking love this new set up
I've had to hold off on buying it because I asked for it for my birthday/Christmas, so I have to wait and see if any of my relatives buy it for me, but if it's not under that tree on Wednesday, I'm buying the first copy I see for sale.
Chase rules are something I want to see a game focus on the way 5E focuses on combat. Like, I don't know, a Speed Racer-inspired game where the whole setting is focused around racing to an absurd degree. That's the only way I can see a rule set for chases feeling more necessary and interesting than just "Whatever rules you already use for scenes that can't be resolved by just one or two die rolls."
Advice on note-taking is something I was begging for when I first started running D&D. I'm so psyched that it's something they put in the books. It may not be necessary for me now that I've adapted my own approach to it, but for anyone who's new in the way I once was, I'm glad it's there.
Your channel is great and I love your work.
It's great to hear that the new book is more effective at teaching and conveying the rules. Layout and organization are such an underappreciated part of game design. You can have the greatest game in the world, but it all goes to waste if no one can parse how the game is meant to be played and how to get the most fun out of the mechanics.
Also, that story about the adventure for the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords was hilarious. The more tidbits you share about your own games, the more interested I am in hearing more about the setting and adventures.
I live the timed high five at the end when aknowlging your GF.
Great work you two! Always look forward to your uploads.
As a Very Neurodivergent, ADHD-Infused Human Unit, I appreciate the bit about how the new book is way more accessible for people like me. I wasn't gonna bother with it because I more or less already know how to DM and hate reading textwalls, but now I might consider it.
Is it better then 2014. yes. But also to all dnd players. I urge you to try other ttrpgs. Especially the ttrpgs who have free rules online. Takes 1 session to learn the basics and make characters in World of darkness. And it does things dnd can't, hyper story based modern day environment.
Dnd is good, but one of my main mistakes was trying to crack the system into doing something it's not designed to do.
Pathfinder might seem complex. It kinda is, but lv 1 it's equal to dnd, but the all the ruels are open source, free online and supported by the developers. , so you can just try it and decide if you like it or not.
Had to subscribe, great video!
The goat blesses us again
I got the combo set (PHB, MM, DMG) when starting out and your analysis of the issues is spot on. I started and dumped it within minutes. I only used it for magic items and missed all the great tools in it. (I ran Lost Mines, so just kind of went with what was in that)
gawd damn that high five made me subscribe!
20:03 Three to five levels? That seems an exceptionally long time to go without a "break" session. I recently ran a 10 month long campaign that ran from level 1-6 with 5 or so "break" sessions.
I keep watching these videos to try to get into dnd. Even spent a bit to get the books before the dnd remaster. It's sooo hard esp after starting with pf2e.
I wasn't planning on buying any of the 2024 books, but this video changed my mind about the 2024 DMG. It's true, the 2014 DMG is pretty much a big wall of text that is mostly useful for inspiration, magic items, and tables. With your review or sounds like the "guide" aspect of it is massively improved, and I'll probably pick it up.
Since I started running games back in 3rd edition. I've always approached DM'ing like an open book exam. Read and understand the reference material (The Manuals) so that when you take the test (Play the Game) and you don't know the answer off the top of your head, you have an understanding of the reference materials so you can quickly find the information you need in the moment.
My favorite part of this entire video was your passionate optimism and unironic love for this game!
This pairs well with Mike Shea’s recent Lazy RPG Talk Show
I have a copy of the 2024 DM’s Guide sitting next to me right now. It’s great, I love it.
You mention the multiverse chapter from the 2014 edition, and I will say that when I need to look up info on the planes of existence, I still go back to 2014 5e for its much more detailed content. But it should have been an appendix, not freaking Chapter 2!
I am very excited to learn what changes you made to the Kingdoms and Warfare rules. I've only used them for a few sessions
Please please please, do that video on Domains and Kingdom wars rules and style of play please!
I am currently running that kind of campaign and I didn't find much joy in the MCDM manuals, so would be great to hear your take on it!
I'd be surprised if the major D&D channels aren't reaching out to you for collabs. Thumbs up to your future - hope you keep sharing LEARNED good tips, love it.
Here is my homebrew for chases. .... Everyone starts by rolling against a specific DC such as DC13. Each character tracks a separate DC. So, when someone succeeds a skill check vs the DC, their own DC drops by -1. That character now rolls vs their adjusted DC. So, if your DC drops, you increase your chances of succeeding. If a player rolls less than the DC minus 6, they add +1 to their DC. When the DCs of a pursuer and quarry are 3 apart, the one with the higher DC loses the chase. Either the quarry is captured or escapes. ... The best part of this homebrew is that it is fast with lots of roleplay describing the skill checks. The worst part is tracking separate DCs. If you want a longer chase, instead of reaching a difference of 3, simply make it 4 or 5.... A nice story element is that the separate DCs begin to chase each other which mirrors the chase.
DM for me please? ☺️ BTW, I know a good voice is not necessary to DM but it does make a difference, and I really like Dadi's voice. Reason why I love the sections of videos in which he "pretends to be DMing".
I haven't read the whole DMG yet, but I like the parts I read.
One thing I miss is a guideline for creatures including proficiency, hit die etc. that is expected for each CR. I know the calculations in 2014 were terrible but a table to compare against is good. Now the advice is "pick an existing one and reskin it" which works for some things, but not for others. I'm a long time player but a new DM, and I'm still learning a few things.
Oh and you're videos won't be obsolete, don't worry. You always bring an interesting insight.
The idea behind bastions is great, but it ended up being severly undercooked. However, the tiniest bit of homebrewing can make them fantastic, and that's honestly something I'd like your opinion on (even though you already said you had your own super complex system already). The main issue with the system, to me at least, is how impossible it is for a bastion to be attacked, and how minimal the consequences when that finally happens.
Check out the Chase rules in the Tales of the Valiant Game Master’s Guide. That GM guide is one of the better ones
Thanks for making all these videos, you're a gem.
Your world sounds great, do you have a lore video planned? And if not, would you be open to doing one?
There are a few improvements to layout, with some new tips and mechanics for mobs, fear, AC/HP for doors, etc. The magic item award tables are better, and of course they added bastions which seem cool. However, it took me forever to find the currency award tables, which are not in the Treasure section but are at the end of the Adventure chapter (p120-120). Make it make sense. The Settlements section is a few small paragraphs and a page of mediocre tables. What!? No world building help there. In fact, most of the book is fluff. If the '24 DMG had a section on trees, it would read: "Trees are a vital part of any adventure. They can be big if it suits your world, or they can be small. They could be short, or if it fits better into your campaign, they can be tall. Invite your players into a wooded area and describe the bark as being smooth, or perhaps rough. Maybe the leaves are thick and green, or dead and dried." End. Nothing of any real value, and it just fills the page. Maybe a table for rolling the color of the local foliage. Come on! Cram that thing full of world building tables and huge pools of ideas. Every section starts to feel this way. Just fast-food, all oil and grease and no substance. The more I read the more it feels phoned in. I don't want expansion books, modules, or 6-7 volumes across my bed so I have some real DM resources at my fingertips. I already do this and most of the books are off brand. It's supposed to be the damn DMG! All in all, it is an improvement on the '14, but other than a few bookmarks, this will still be a book for magic items. Massively disappointed.
Great video ! Big fan, keep it comin’ !
17:11 as the rare 2014-5E Challenge Rating defender, I take pride in having used Easy encounters! hahaha
You mention that you have your own house rules/system for a hex crawl? I am curious what it is and would love to see a video on this.
(Looked through your videos and couldn’t find one already, but maybe it is buried in one?)
We haven't made one about hex crawling, though lots of people have been asking for it. We might make one next year :) - AB
Im glad this New DMG is so good. For years I've mostly just done what I call "a training game" with new dms that want to try and run something. I'll co-dm with them, leaving them to do the creative leg work, offering advice when I feel it critical, and explaining how I do things when asked.
It works well, but its a technique that requires someone who, you know. Knows the god damn game. Some guy who saw Matt Mercer mean mug the camera and make funny voices for 100 hours and wants to do that isn't always going to have a gm with 20 something years of experience in gming to guide them. They'll have the DMG.
And man, that was a fucking ask with the 2014 one.
Another great video
Would you do videos on the 2024 PHB and Monster Manual? I really like your ego-less presentation of your opionions and I would love to see your thoughts on those books as well.
I think 3/3.5e was a lot easier to DM for as it provided much more scaffolding and guidance on things like magic items, prices, encounter design, monster and NPC design, custom classes. It was much easier to homebrew because the designers showed you how their monsters, magic items, encounters and classes were designed. It is a very transparent and consistent system.
I do like the simllifications that Star Wars Saga and Fifth edition made to yhe initial d20 system. But DM support is a lot worse. Ans I’ve bern playing and DMing since 1995.
I’d love a video about your hex crawl exploration system
Oh, we'll totally do a big deep dive on that one day! - Daði
@ thanks I’ll look forward to it
26:42 I would love to have a video to explain massive combat rules for huge battles
I agree that 5e is the best system for "experienced" storytellers because it doesn't tell you how it wants to be played. I'm glad that they seem to be leaning into that strength while also specifically catering much more to new DMs
@@laef5642 this is one of the things I personally love about 5e. Compared to earlier editions, especially 1e and 2e, the framework is streamlined and simplified in a way that really seems to unburden the game. Rather than leaning into the technicalities of rules, the current system is designed with a lot of spaciousness that allows stories to run more smoothly.
5e tells you how it wants to be played in so many distinct ways, from levelling, to how HP works, to how rolls are structured, and in general what the system wants you to do. In that way it is no different from the overwhelming majority of RPGs, you'd be as well saying that Traveller doesn't tell you how it wants to be played.
@@finlaygilfillan7963
(tl;dr I didn't define well what I meant by "tells you how it wants to be played" to me it's about the intended experience and how malleable that is)
I think you're arguing against a point I didn't intend to make. I meant to say that 5e doesn't as specific of an intended experience as, say Blades in the Dark, which says "you will have non-heist scenes, they will look like this, and then you will have heists which act this way" in a way that's so much more specifically structured. I would consider this significantly different than 5e where some people say you should structure an adventure as scenes with three clues that connect them to other scenes, other people say you should prep only the situation and let yourself improvise where the scenes are in front of the players, and some parties like a specifically on rails adventure. It's this fundamental versatility that I find makes me more and more fond of 5e as I accumulate DM experience but had me fully lost in what exactly I was supposed to be doing outside of combat when I started. Your comment does make me think that it is much more of a spectrum then I was thinking of it as, ranging from a blank page where any structure must be imposed by you to a boardgame where every action you can take is predefined.
You and your wife continue to produce excellent content. Thank you.
YES! DMs: Do a beach episode every once in a while. This fills the same purpose as in cinema. The players need to explore who their characters are when they aren't fighting for their lives!
EDIT: Correcting autocorrect.
Ok my friend you sold me. I've been DMing since 1984, started playing in 1979, This is the one DM's guide I wasn't going to buy. I enjoy your channel, you and your girlfriend are doing an excellent job, I consider you and your approach to the game a good successor to Matthew Colville.
You’re doing the gods’ work
I agree with this review a lot. The new edition incites inspiration.
5e never inspired me to make the game system my own in a way that 5.5e did. I enjoy taking the ideas given and expanding them, altough i will admit that they could have done that themselves and just created 6e. But i think the pressure was to much to stick to the "running system" A lot of players would have been even more displeased to see something like metamagic adept in origin feats. But i love it.
I'm very interested to hear a comparison between this new DM guide and the two DM guides published for 4th edition, which were some of the best books ever made addressing the DM role among all the game systems I know or have played.
If you haven't read them already, I strongly suggest it.
Thank you for this. Ive been debating for a while on if i should get this or not, and my DM friend convinced me i didn't need it (based on when he bought the 2014 edition)
Im gonna go get the new DMG because all of the pros seem very much directed toward players like myself.
One thing I prefer about the 2014 DMG is all the tables, even the old treasure hoard rules. I'll keep using those when I need them, no one's forcing me to burn the old book, but I do wish it had brought them through. I still use the random dungeon tables and treasure tables and NPC and adventure tables and it's really nice; but it really is better as more of an "advanced DM" guide, where the new one is a better first time DM guide.
I would definitely like to hear more about building kingdoms, warfare, and running mass combat. Curious to know which books you use, homebrew you did, etc.
Just in case it takes a while, check out 2nd edition of D&D. 🤔 There are about three different books that might fit your needs, I sorta remember two, ¿Castles and keeps? And I think the other one is ¿Bloodlines? Or something like that, it has you roleplaying kingdoms rather than groups of adventurers.
Birthright!
I really appreciate your thoughts on why you use D&D 5e. I personally agree with you and was looking for a system with similar things. Eventually, I decided that combat in 5e was a little too rigid for my tastes and that Pathfinder 2e has more of what I'm looking for. Plus, Paizo as a company is a while lot better than WOTC.
I recall this conversation I had in my head when first reading the AD&D DMG.
Me: "Hi I want to become a Dungeon Master."
DMG: "Good luck with that! Go out there and learn how to do it!"
Me: "But you're called the 'Dungeon Masters Guide' - doesn't this mean I can learn it from YOU?!"
DMG: "Psyke!"
Me: "You're as old as I am and you behave like a child."
DMG: "I'm not listening."
Me: "This is exactly what I mean."
DMG: "..."
I wasn't sold, but now I am, Thanks Dadi
Yeah, nice review. I must say I tend to rely more on system mechanics to support the narrative otherwise I can't see value on a core RULEbook.
Could you share your hexcrawl rules somewhere?
We'll talk about them in a future video, I promise! I've got too much to say! - Daði
Thank you for making this video! Makes me want to buy the books for the tools they are, not just for the new content. I actually don't want the new content, lol. I was hesitant until now. The old 2014 DMG does suck for newbies like me.
I was planning on not buying the new dmg, but you totally changed my mind. I feel I need this book now
new(ish) DM here--and somewhat experienced player. loved the video! as per! systematic, sensitive. all the attributes a DM should encourage in themselves and their table too!
One q, tho (for a possible future video? ha!) but I find the 2014 book a little stubborn on how to track Initiative and in-game battle info. I find myself....wobbly....on keeping initiative order, stat block specs, character actions, terrain, timing, and fairness on a reasonable--and visible--grid. It's mostly theatre of the mind for me, still. But do have any recommendations!
As someone who hates 5/5.5:
This is a seriously good video! I put a hold on the new DMG at my library to take a closer look!