I know this is older now but this first time, ADHD-er DM loves three things about it: 1. You speak quickly and don't ramble so I don't get bored. Thank you. Hugely. 2. You use visuals in almost all your explanations so I don't get lost. 3. You don't patronise, just teach. Honestly, brilliant. Thank you!
Thalassicus01 I'm thinking up a Thri Kreen adventure right now, no idea who the boss is. I was thinking that they came across the party while they were resting and waited at the campfire until the party awoke, then they'd comment on how sleep is for the weak haha then they'd tell us about a problem they've been having in one of their ore mines. Turns out to be an Umber Hulk at the end but I can't figure out how to justify it being there...
I love this guy for two reasons. One is he talks really fast but you can still understand him perfectly well. Two, the information is explained very simply and easy to digest.
As the dungeon was being explained, I realized I had actually played this exact encounter in a group of new players! Our DM must have found your channel and ran this as an intro adventure, and it worked great! He put his own twists on it, but it was kind of surreal realizing I had literally played this out as a character before.
This may be a bit late, but if you don't have friends locally, you can use Roll20 to play online! It's not a perfect simulation or solution, but it works. If you all want to get a bit more crafty and have better computers/internet connections, I've heard that Tabletop Simulator works well as well. If you don't have friends PERIOD, then you should check out your local game stores and see which ones have Adventurer's League, and when they host those games. If that's too nerve-wracking, or you don't have a way to get to your LGS, OR you don't HAVE an LGS close enough, you can always look online! There's a LFG subreddit (/lfg), Roll20 even has a feature for this, or you could use meetup dot com (not sure on youtube's censoring rules, I never post comments)! There's other sources too, but those are just the one that I know of- so, hopefully by now you've found some friends or found some of this out yourself; if you haven't, well, go forth and adventure! :) Edit: Also, I know this was probably a joke post, but I couldn't resist posting some helpful info that MIGHT help someone else too.
@@ragnarokgaming7802 I've done many Theatre of Imagination games over discord that have been successful! Unfortunately I don't know a good way to specifically find DnD groups on Discord and I know -I'm- pretty lazy and want things as convenient as possible so I tend to just suggest things that give that kind of "all in one" experience but that really is a good and 100% viable solution as well. The thing that gets tricky with TOI for me is combat; I have a hard time keeping track of everything and prefer a real-time interaction with the map (and it can make your gm's job waaaay easier depending on the gm- it definitely does for me, at least)
@@ragnarokgaming7802 if you're DMing and setting up a game, I suggest looking up a guide and learning about it. If you're joining one, I'd still look up a list of useful tools on it :p
How fucking cool it is that there are probably more people who have run the Delian Tomb than most of the official 5e dungeons. I'm a DM today because I was convinced 5 years ago by Matt's pitch at the beginning of this video. "You can run D&D, *tonight*, for free, with an adventure that you made". I'm coming from Questing Beasts last video. The 5e community has put DMs on a pedestal. DMs get burnt out because they think they need to be as skilled as screenwriters, professional actors, and AAA game devs. Players never try DMing because they think it's out of their league. Matt, you've done such a service to the TTRPG community with this video by lowering that pedestal. The legacy of the Delian Tomb will live on the generation of DMs who actually felt like they could give it a shot.
Okay, so I ran this adventure with my friends last night (we’re all new to the game so we were shaky on some dice rolls and such, but it was fun!) and when they reached the goblin boss, they got him down to his knees, and I made him beg them not to stop the sacrifice. They immediately asked “what’s in it for us?”, and the hobgoblin said “If the sacrifice succeeds, many goblins will flock to my cause and I will build a stronghold here. As allies, and for sparing my life, I can offer you 50% of any loot we find as we grow.” They accepted the deal (one of them fuming because they really wanted to save the girl, but couldn’t go against the others), and the goblins actually completed their mission, haha. So now my new group of players have bonded with the goblins, and helped to partially resurrect the goblin god (they had the chance to swear fealty to get some bonuses, but were too nervous). One of them cracked that riddle afterward and found the burial site of the knights. They opened Varius’s coffin and saw the sword, but when they tried to take it, I decided he would be furious with them for p/much corrupting his tomb, so they had to fight his enraged ghost. It was really fun, and completely improvised! I’m grateful that you made this whole scenario though, because it was definitely easier to start off with a predetermined setting. Oh! When they went back to village, the blacksmith was there, drinking heavily to deal with his worry. I wanted them to see the consequence of not saving his daughter. They had to break the news to this grieving father, and he almost attacked them out of rage. The bard in our party had to talk him down. It was great. Very dramatic. :D
@@edcellwarrior maybe by lying about what happened. "I'm so sorry, we arrived too late! We did everything we could but unfortunately the goblins had already completed their dark work."
Sounds like it was a good time. But I would suggest that you create scenarios without an always constant "Option B" where they can just agree with the bad guys, unless behind the screen you are tallying up their obvious but negative alliances and then decide they are now considered bad guys in league with disruptive and destructive/disruptive powers.
My father used to take me with him to his D&D games every Thursday night because he couldn't find a sitter. 36 years later, I'm contemplating trying to DM for the first time, and your videos have come just in time for me to use them BEFORE making a fool of myself. You've got a new student. Thank you for doing this!
I've long thought someone like me, who has Aphantaisa, (the inability to create mental images/pictures) could never create a dungeon from scratch since I have no capability of planning before hand how it's going to look. But the bean method for continents, the dice method for dungeons, the rice method for world's, and simple drawing tools allow me to just fuck with stuff until it looks good. Even without the ability to picture things, I can bring my descriptions to life. Thank you for this video, because after spending about 4 hours looking at references and guides, I think I've finally got the courage to run my first game for my buddies.
Wait I'm confused. What are those things? I don't think he mentioned a bean method, dice method or rice method. I feel I've missed a part of the video.
@@writershard5065 These are things from other guides that aren't on Matt's channel. The bean method is something that people use to generate an area map, by pouring dry beans out onto a piece of paper, and shifting them around to shape their landmasses, then tracing around them. I cant remember what the dice method is or the rice method, but I'm fairly certain they're similar ideas for similar purposes.
@@algotkristoffersson15 Nope! Well, at least that is *one* way to do it, but I have seen a number of videos of people dropping dice onto a piece of paper, with each dice having different attributes tied to them, and then (similar to the beans dude mentioned above) grouping close groups of dice together and letting the random chaos of where the dice land tell a story.
Used this for my baby bro's very first game. He's 8. Total party k.o. in the very first room after a series of unfortunate events that ended with crit 1s, like the accidental slashing of his barbarian ally's manhood (played by my neighbor). They sucked so bad, it was beautiful, we laughed so much, thank you Matt!
Your players may really enjoy planning. If so, LET THEM! dont be upset if you're players take a bit longer than what is expected. If they have fun, you'll have fun!
I thought this as well, but after rewatching this video a year later I see that he mentions encounters including puzzles etc., not just combats. That sounds more about right for my party at least.
Remember, encounters include anything they interact with, not just combat. A puzzle counts as an encounter, a particular NPC that is more than just 1 or 2 lines counts as an encounter.
Officially a first time DM here! I started by watching this video. It went so incredibly well that I really want to share something that happened. I am DM for 3 players. 2 of them brand new and the 3rd has only played a few sessions. A Druid, Barbarian, and Ranger. (I am going to end up using the dungeon in the video for session #2, but I opted for "giant rats below a tavern" as the first encounter.) The PCs met a dwarf that worked at the tavern. The Dwarf has been feeding leftover scraps of food to the regular size rats in the cellar. He fed them so much that they have become Giant rats, and he's worried they are going to cause problems, so he needs the PCs to deal with them. The dwarf and the PCs headed down to the cellar where they encountered 4 giant rats. (They didnt attack because they saw the dwarf that had been feeding them) The Druid immediately used Speak with Animals and learned the rats wish to escape, but they can no longer fit into their burrow because they have grown too big to get into the crack in the stone wall that they used to get into the cellar in the first place. The Barbarian and Ranger both failed their strength checks to widen the crack enough for the rats to be able to reach dirt and dig out. They struggled for a bit to figure out a way to help these rats escape. Then someone had an idea. The cellar was filled with a bunch of empty crates. What if they carried the rats out of the tavern in these crates?? The druid convinced the rats to go into the crates so they could be set free. Then they convinced the dwarf who hired them for this task to be the one to carry the 4th crate out of the building. (The dwarf of course questioned if the PCs were really actually asking him to help with the job he is paying them for. He agreed to do it for a 50% discount on his payout). They opted to take a shortcut through the kitchen and back door instead of carrying their rat crates all the way past the busy dining area. In order to avoid being stopped and questioned by the kitchen staff, the 4 of them decided they would burst out of the cellar and into the kitchen as fast as possible, yelling about how "There's been a contamination! We need to get these crates OUT IMMEDIATELY! CONTAMINATION! GET OUT OF THE WAY!". They let the dwarf lead the pack since the kitchen staff would recognize him. The staff were caught off guard by the yelling and chaos in front of them and I decided to give advantage on the performance/persuasion check. The 4 of them managed to successfully relocate the rats into someone's back yard. The rats absolutely destroyed this guys yard with Giant Rat sized burrow holes, but the PCs had successfully dealt with the rats! Absolutely none of this crate nonsense was something I had considered the players might attempt. I had just put a bunch of empty storage crates in the cellar because I figured it made sense. Somewhere in one of these videos, it was said that things will absolutely play out differently than expected. That was so true, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I ran a home-brewed campaign with my AL friends with a temple to Leira, goddess of illusion, which has a portal to the Realm of Mist. Beyond the gateway the mist forms a labyrinth that is different every time. I know I wanted to have a small mimic disguised as a spell book, so I had to tweak the mimic's stats from the Monster Manual, along with several doors with sphinx-icons that asked riddles, which forced me to look up riddles to ask. Then I used dice to randomly generate a dungeon. The response was almost universally positive, the riddle-doors went over well and the baby mimic was a surprise. What I'm getting at is: don't be afraid to be daring.
@@chloestorer1235 - I'm aware of that toolset. However, the OP may have a different methodology. Something they either found or came up with on their own. I find the random generation system in the DMG to be... sub-optimal and generally not very believable. A 'dungeon' should have certain bits of design logic to it. (Unless designed by a complete lunatic with too much money/time/resources.) This is going to sound snarky, but I promise it's not - Were you there when Leo Nielson rolled their dungeons up, or help them do so? - If 'no', then how would you know what they did or did not do, did or did not use? I appreciate the input, but only people who were there can answer the question. (Unless you actually were. In that case, great! Thank you! ^_^) I'm also interested because, as much as the DMG is a great toolbox, I would like to find something that is more useful. I'm considering determining the number of chambers and their details before dealing with passages, and arranging them where I want then making the connecting passages. You actually see this in dungeon generators like with DonJon, but I'm afraid I don't particularly like how those are made. I can almost always tell when someone has used DonJon to make a dungeon map as soon as I see the first few bits. The other idea is using a scatter/splatter mapping process. Much like has been developed for making a map of an area or region. (Take a bunch of dice and drop them on 1 inch grid paper, say three feet by three feet. Each die type represents terrain, and the number indicates certain things about it.) This might work for a dungeon, with some tweaking. And then from there it's a simple matter of connecting the 'rooms' or spaces and making sure they are populated. There are a few other systems out there as well. So, I'm always curious to see what people do for generating dungeons with dice. Do you have a particular method, or do you use the DMG random gen? (Which is still quite a useful tool, especially for doing stuff underground.)
@@tearstoneactual9773 oh, right haha I didn't think that you were asking for their system - and no i don't particularly know what system they used. I haven't designed many dungeons in my time, the first two i did by hand without anything being randomly generate, the most recent one i've used the DMG, and i gotta say it looks a lot better, but that's probably because of the scale that its drawn at, at least at a glance. I don't tend to use them all too much because my players don't have minis (and neither do i for that matter ^^;)
@@chloestorer1235 - Understood. I might see about drawing out a new dungeon with the DMG random gen tables, maybe in DungeonFog or something, or Roll20. I can do it in Photoshop as well, but it tend sot bog down when things get too big. Wish there was a way to start a thread on RUclips so we could show off dungeon designs.
Your speed through approach to teaching not only gives me the info quickly but it’s perfect for my ADHD and allows me to absorb the info without getting lost in my brain
The first five seconds of this video is why I subscribed, and it still gets me pumped every single time. It's still true, 3 years later and you are still trying to find and elucidate every shaded, obscure corner and grand misunderstanding in this great hobby - you have never deviated. You truly are a river to your people, Matt.
These videos are so well edited/paced. There's so much meandering, back-peddling, and over-explaining in DND tutorials. This is a clear front to back explanation of a dungeon. Well played, Matt.
Wolf Blaze 22x If your a gamer you can run a game on Table Top simulator, get people online or in the steam community to play with you. Also you could always play with our group.
Just ran this, this evening with a few tweaks. Kobolds instead of goblins (one of the party is a dragonborn, so it added extra flavour), and over my temple spanned over two levels, with a couple of extra rooms. Can't say thank you enough for all your guidance. I would never have thought I could do it, I have gained a lot of confidence and tips from all of these videos. Myself and three new players have all gone away very pumped about the hobby. Thank you.
8 years later and finally one of my PCs wants to DM. This video is the first advice I gave them. Thanks Matt. Forever grateful for what you do for the game
My local library's been trying to get a youth D&D club going. I offered to supervise/DM so I'm gonna be keeping this video in my backpocket if it goes through.
This series is awesome so far! I've always feared becoming a GM because of the overwhelming amount of worldbuilding it appears to require. After seeing this, and hopefully you'll do an episode on worldbuilding, I realized some things don't need to be overly detailed and complicated. I've just started DMing the Lost Mines with a group of friends, but have been contemplating making my own adventure to follow it up. I appreciate you doing this, and it's so much easier to watch because of how passionate you are about it! Shout out to Liam O'Brien who tweeted/retweeted/other-twitter-function'd this series for me to find!
+Jeremy Curry You really don't need to do *any* worldbuilding! Gary and the guys in 1974 played a lot before they had anything resembling a "world." We'll talk about that in another episode!
Matthew Colville I appreciate the reassurance. Watching Matt run Critical Role is awe-inspiring when he mentions the many towns and cities that he's fleshed out. I'm still very interested in your advice for worldbuilding, but I'll certainly try to think on a smaller-scale!
+Jeremy Curry you inspire me to make a new video! Sure, Mercer has lots of detail, he's been running that campaign setting for years! Add a little detail every week, it adds up!
I'm pretty sure I was making characters for D&D long before I ever played a game. I loved rolling up D&D characters with a friend of mine using my parents old AD&D books (they played a couple times in college but never stuck with the hobby) back when we were like 8 years old. Neither of us really knew how to be a DM, though, and we didn't have anyone else to play with so we just read the books obsessively and created lots of characters. It wasn't until a couple years later when I started making friends with older kids who ACTUALLY PLAYED that I could start really playing the game. Why did I type all this? Just to show that for some types of people, the breadth of choice available to making a PC is a significant draw to the game, and could be what hooks them in the first place. Skipping that investment and wonder by just pulling out a pregen that someone else created would have been a real bummer for myself.
Ghost I too, have not yet played d&d, but have thought up at least half a dozen characters. Or ideas for characters, at least. I reckon I’m gonna have so much fun when I find a group I can play with, cos some of the stories I’ve heard (wild surge! Oh no!) are hilarious. Like a lvl 6 party who accidentally woke a tarrasque.
Thank you for these videos. I played my first game in 35 years and first time DMing ever tonight for my daughter and her boyfriend and used your tips. The kids (18 & 19 years old) had a blast. Thanks so much 😊 (Leaving this comment on several channels who aided in this evenings adventure)
i really love how you talk. it's quick, to the point, and great with some of your jokes. the humor doesn't detract or draw out what your trying to say though. Great video. found it very helpful myself.
I ran the Lost Mine of Flan-deliverer my first go. I also wound up making up an improvised side quest a couple sessions in, because apparently I like to throw caution to the wind.
have heart; they aren't very long and are mostly non-sequential. Watch them as you might need them, and you can always come back for the ones you don't need and just feel like watching.
I'm making my own series on DMing, but I'm in awe of yours! Your presentation is so crisp, I love it. You're filling a real need in the youtube DnD community.
I know!!! I subscribed after watching halfway through this video!!! (actually, this is my second time through the playlist looking for anything I may have missed) I love this guy's presentation!
I love having RP heavy starting adventures, like about an hour or maybe 3 for a first adventure that's built around RP to let the players build their character and set things up mentally. I like this especially for new players.
This is a fantastic dungeon to start with. I adapted it a little for using in a birthright campaign. I couldn't leave it alone and so I crafted the dungeon from foam core with accessories. It made a good starter set of modules to be added to for future adventures. The grand finale takes place in the sarcophagus room with undead being activated from the sarcophagi as the players reach a certain point in this room. It is also where the main artifact is. The riddle is a cool idea to expose the secret door. The Goblin patrol outside has to be ambushed first and then the guards at the entrance door taken care of. All great fun. Great dungeon and ideas Matt.
This is great. I remember scouring the internet for help learning to DM. Finally, not just tips, but actual useful information for starting as a DM. Just a point on making characters with a new group. No, they don't like it. Never made it to session 2.
Wow, this has been SO helpful. I'm relatively new to D&D, I played a few one-shots with friends and got hooked so now I'm introducing my family to it. This helped me make a one-shot adventure that fits all of the levels and the group's level of understanding of the game and should get them all interested and wanting to play more. Especially a lot of your examples on writing twists and turns to the story have helped tremendously. For anyone who wants to know, the one-shot goes like this: A wizard asks the party for help to find a magical necklace to defeat a bully half-orc that's stolen lots of gold and relics from him. They know it's somewhere in the tavern. They have to ask tavern regulars to find it, then go through a small three-room dungeon and collect the necklace then bring it to the wizard. Then he reveals that there never was a half-orc and he just wanted the necklace, big boss fight, done. Thanks a lot!
I'll be using this tonight if one of my party fails a check while on watch and falls asleep. If they do, the goblins kidnap the smallest / weakest member of the party and take them off to the Knights Tomb to be sacrificed. I really hope someone fails their save so I can run this mini dungeon. With five players standing watch throughout the night, the odds are at least one will fail. If not, I will be using this at some later opportune moment. I love it! Thanks Mat. Critical Role got me into D&D again. You got me in to DM'ing and I'm having so much fun. Thank you.
Whenever I start a new campaign, I come back to the beginning of this playlist. It just puts me in that state of mind back when the hobby was new to me, and talk of saving throws and hit dice was like hearing someone speak another language. I have a deep fondness and appreciation for them.
Matt this whole series is still so helpful all these years later, I’m rewatching videos to get back into DMing and this whole series is nothing but helpful
OMG I think I love you! You are about to make a DM out of a 20 year player. I am soooo making some calls tonight. (gulp) Here's to hoping that my buddies are open to a painful yet, hopefully funny, experience. LOL I just picked up a copy of Dread last week. I think I am going to start with that to just try my hand & get comfortable with being the story teller. ;) Thank you, thank you, thank you for making these! :D
This was the first adventure i have ever played 4 years ago. Today i am going to play it again with the new group of people that never played DnD. You made the hobby way more accessible with your videos, thanks.
Mate you're awesome. lol. You speak quickly, however, very clearly. You do away with a lot of fluff, and give good solid information. Been Dming a long time, know the real deal when I see it. Kudos.
Hello there Matthew. New kid on the DM block and I'm all scared and lost. Got myself PlayersHandbook and DM Manual and getting ready for my first run but without any idea of how to keep my players interested in the game or engaged, let alone immersed. Some of them played little before, but mostly all are a new player so I have this big stress on my shoulders that if I don't make the game interesting for them they might give up on the game entirely. Luckily for me, I have found your channel and your videos. They are such a treat to watch and are keeping me to look forward to that first run. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos. They are encouraging me day after day. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Hey Matt, this series is awesome! I've decided to try my hand at DMing and am trying out this mini adventure with my own twist tonight! I have a question for you, what program are you using to throw the text on the map? Paint is not the best program to use =P
I ran D&D this past Saturday night for the first time ever (actually, everyone at the table had was a first time ever player, including me), because of this video. I created the adventure from scratch, using a lot of elements from this video, and without exception, everyone at the table was extremely engaged!!! Even the one guy who said that he probably won't come back (because he has a short attention span and doesn't like any game that takes more than about 1 hour) later told me that this was far far more fun than say, a video game. You've successfully created at least one group of D&D nerds. Thanks! (Now creating a homebrew world :D)
Holy crap, planning an adventure for a few friends and been watching your videos, and this is EXACTLY what i need, you're awesome, hope to see alot more of these videos!
Mathias Jönsson alternatively, they come on special sometimes from Sears, you just need to do some assembly yourself. Although nowhere near so much as when you buy them from IKEA, which requires a bit more work.
I remember my roomies at the time,(two girls who I grew up with and are practically my sisters, but are real chic) were interested in trying out D&D when I told them I was getting into it. It surprised me and I scrambled to learn as much as I could before DMing a one-shot that night. In the 3 hours we played, I think we used dice a total of 5 times and it was purely theater of the mind. It was awesome! We laughed a ton and had a good time, mostly. I say mostly because my best friend didn't roll too well for a ability check and didn't like what played out, so I could tell by her body language she was losing interest. I noted that and threw in something I knew she'd appreciate a little later in the dungeon (A pet puppy to find!). It was such a rewarding feeling, reeling her back in and the emotions I was receiving from the players. I remember thinking how awful I thought the game I ran for them was, but my best friend asked if we were going to play some more the next day. Unfortunately, none of us could really sit down and play due to our schedules after that, but it'll be a memory that I won't forget.
Whenever I need some quick inspiration to get me in the mood for Dm'ing/preping for DnD, I always come back to these first few videos. They really inspire me and get me in the mood.
Know this video is quite old, but I wanted to thank you Matthew for this series. I'm about half way though it now, but I actually used this dungeon you created in my campaign with some small changes to fit within the setting we're running. The riddle was a lot "tougher" than I estimated, but the players enjoyed it never the less! So thanks again, and looking forwards to going through the rest of your backlog of content~
That's what I was thinking, but maybe his goblins aren't clever enough for a trap. If it didn't work where it was, I would have put it directly after the secret door.
The trap seems too complicated for goblin squatters, it probably makes more sense to be built in "Why else would it weight sensitive for them to bypass it?" It might be old and kind of stuck with time, needing a higher weight to trigger. Or maybe the knights had it set up so that they could only get in the last room without any weapon or armor for religious reasons and the goblin just happened not to trigger the trap, never really noticing it but equipped players would (unless halfling). There are so many ways to tell that story (if you get the chance and one of your player has the correct proficiency xD)
Been DM-ing for a couple years now. Watched this video when my friends and I were really starting to play...and have been watching most of your videos since! Re-visited these intro videos last weekend and ran this “Module” for four friends that have basically never played before. One guy never ever played....this is a great intro adventure for new players! Pretty perfect! Everthing you need in these first two videos...interesting running for brand new players and super fun...they were so creative and also moments when they realized that could do anything....magic. At the end of the session they asked me to run another for them next week....sooo I’m pretty sure they got hooked! Bug bear almost murdered them...but I did a bug bear chief... either way thanks Matt! This intro adventure got people hooked....now i can bust out my Ad&d campaign world....hopefully
that's an absolutely atrocious pace. you must have 1. a lot of goofing around. 2. very slow playing players. or 3. absurdly long encounters. I've gotten through 15 encounters in a 6 hour session before. with fairly heavy RP as we.
At our worst we can spend an hour on one round of combat. People figuring out what they want to do, looking up all the rules around it, and then repeating the process for the second half of their turn after waiting to see the results of what they've already done. Times four.
It sounds a lot like the games I've had where I, the DM, and maybe one other person had actually read even half the rules. For the books for the other people's characters.
This was the best video I've watched for helping a DM learn how to make a session. Even if one considers that a session can go awry, if you make a bunch of these situations, which take like 15 minutes each, you are prepared no matter what, and it took practically no time. Amazingly helpful, thank you.
Kingpin1880, absolutely. One-on-one D&D games happen all the time. They have the benefit of being fast-paced, since you don't have to wait for a lot of players to make up their minds about actions, and you can really custom-make it just the way you and your friend like. I've been a DM for over 25 years, and that's very often how I'll start a new campaign: I'll do a one-shot adventure or two with one friend, then we'll get other people to join in. Sometimes, too, if you have a group - but for whatever reason everyone else can't make it to game night that week - you can do a solo side quest with that one person who was able to make it.
actually, you can. especially if you want to make things really cool, you can do a campaign in the same world, but with different friends/family members at different times. for example, I could do a campaign with my brother in a world called zakhara. then, a day later I could do a campaign with my other brother in the same world (zakhara) and then, a day later, I could bring them together and do a campaign where they meet each other. you could also just do a campaign with one friend and you could use NPCs. NPCs can be super helpful when you only have one friend, because, lets say you wanted your friend to fight two bandits, but you knew they were to powerful for one person, you could use NPCs, or you could just level up your character more. having several NPCs to play at the same time can be hard, but even a single NPC can help. D&D can be whatever you want it to be. Dont think you cant play if you only have one friend.
Not only are your videos immensely, but your benevolent charm and smooth speaking helps you execute in a catching way. I've been looking at so many D&D Tuts n how to be a DM and you are BY FAR the most lively and energetic I've ever seen. Thank you for your work, I am a whole-hearted faithful believer in your work Matt. Keep up the awesome vids!
Matthew, Stumbling across your channel and this playlist is one of the best things to happen to me as a D&D player. I teach at a high school and some kids hounded me into to sponsoring their Dungeons and Dragons Club. I had only been playing for about a year when they asked me and I was really worried about running the club and possibly being a DM. Your channel has helped me with so many resources, great pieces of advice, and the confidence that I can do this. As practice, I ran my own version of this one-shot with 3 friends and it went amazingly. I made it more my own with a more twisted plot, the players acted in incredibly unexpected ways and twisted it even more, and we all had a blast. I've purchased your books on Amazon as a thank you and I look forward to reading them. Thanks and keep up the good work!
I'm coming back watching this in 2020, the first time I ran D&D was 2016 this game. This is a textbook perfect entry game. I would recommend this for any new DM. It was the beginning of a life changing hobbie. Good luck new DMs, you'll do great!
The board game Roll Player is a great way to create your character. The first expansion also gives you character record sheets to record your final scores on to transfer to your D&D game. Thanks for this video! It's a very fun look at getting started with being a DM/GM!
Someone linked me to your page, as I am trying to start D&D soon, and I have started watching most of your videos! I find that you are great to listen to and have decided that I can't wait to start thanks to your great help. Thank you.
I know this is older now but this first time, ADHD-er DM loves three things about it:
1. You speak quickly and don't ramble so I don't get bored. Thank you. Hugely.
2. You use visuals in almost all your explanations so I don't get lost.
3. You don't patronise, just teach.
Honestly, brilliant. Thank you!
Dude fr I was about to comment this! No need for 1.5x speed 😭🙏
"You'll need some friends, between three and four,..."
Damn. All my friends are much older than that.
Lol! :D
RIP Mitch Hedburg :P
sonan333 lol
Lol
found this comment late but well stated :)
Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is 6 years old, and here I am yet again for a new round of binge-watching.
You and me both dude 😂😂
@@nosleep6239 count me in also
@@sybrenkruijf8570 No I'm Spartacus
Wait till I tell you in the future, this video is 7 years old and still just as good
my 7th time, at least.
And now we're going to add some happy scythes, and happy little goblins.
And ya know what? We're gonna give that bugbear some goblin buddies. Everyone needs a friend.
....you Said something about Goblins?........
Thalassicus01 I'm thinking up a Thri Kreen adventure right now, no idea who the boss is. I was thinking that they came across the party while they were resting and waited at the campfire until the party awoke, then they'd comment on how sleep is for the weak haha then they'd tell us about a problem they've been having in one of their ore mines. Turns out to be an Umber Hulk at the end but I can't figure out how to justify it being there...
Now I totally wish someone make a youtube-series a la 'Bob Ross: The Joy of Dungeons' :D
Hoots I feel for ya, no one got the Goblin Slayer reference
This is like Kahn Academy for D&D. Matt, you're killing it, man. Great work.
Yeah but, unlike Khan Academy, Matt tells you how to do stuff.
@@josephmort4039 And tells you to not necessarily do what he says.
this guy is hardcore, did you see his eraser?
I actually couldn't tell that he was hardcore until I saw it.
I onestly can t understand what you could be talking abOOOOOOOOH that s hardcore, fuck
I love this guy for two reasons. One is he talks really fast but you can still understand him perfectly well. Two, the information is explained very simply and easy to digest.
Jeremy Amo Not a bad thing, but WOW is his style an homage to Zefrank, to the point where homage might be too lenient a word.
@@holographicbunny3297 I think if you watch all his videos you’re seeing the real person, or a shockingly good actor.
I think he may be a gnome. Beard, talks really fast, +2 to Int
Reason 3: His voice is amazing.
As the dungeon was being explained, I realized I had actually played this exact encounter in a group of new players! Our DM must have found your channel and ran this as an intro adventure, and it worked great! He put his own twists on it, but it was kind of surreal realizing I had literally played this out as a character before.
Ehm, yeah.. I got a question...
Can you provide us with link where to download 'friends' too?
Thanks
This may be a bit late, but if you don't have friends locally, you can use Roll20 to play online! It's not a perfect simulation or solution, but it works. If you all want to get a bit more crafty and have better computers/internet connections, I've heard that Tabletop Simulator works well as well.
If you don't have friends PERIOD, then you should check out your local game stores and see which ones have Adventurer's League, and when they host those games. If that's too nerve-wracking, or you don't have a way to get to your LGS, OR you don't HAVE an LGS close enough, you can always look online! There's a LFG subreddit (/lfg), Roll20 even has a feature for this, or you could use meetup dot com (not sure on youtube's censoring rules, I never post comments)! There's other sources too, but those are just the one that I know of- so, hopefully by now you've found some friends or found some of this out yourself; if you haven't, well, go forth and adventure! :)
Edit: Also, I know this was probably a joke post, but I couldn't resist posting some helpful info that MIGHT help someone else too.
@@stef4981 Most of my friends IRL aren't into tabletops so I just use a discord server and there's games that they run on there
@@ragnarokgaming7802 I've done many Theatre of Imagination games over discord that have been successful! Unfortunately I don't know a good way to specifically find DnD groups on Discord and I know -I'm- pretty lazy and want things as convenient as possible so I tend to just suggest things that give that kind of "all in one" experience but that really is a good and 100% viable solution as well.
The thing that gets tricky with TOI for me is combat; I have a hard time keeping track of everything and prefer a real-time interaction with the map (and it can make your gm's job waaaay easier depending on the gm- it definitely does for me, at least)
@@stef4981 Fair enough, I'll try a game on role twenty and see if I like it then
@@ragnarokgaming7802 if you're DMing and setting up a game, I suggest looking up a guide and learning about it. If you're joining one, I'd still look up a list of useful tools on it :p
"in the blah blah down below."
welcome to my subscription list.
I would have liked but it had 69 likes and I couldn't disturb the peace
@@panstan8499 *shudders*
*Oh*
Haha as soon as he said that I was like “Well I gotta hit that subscribe button now!”
That killed me too! lolol
How fucking cool it is that there are probably more people who have run the Delian Tomb than most of the official 5e dungeons. I'm a DM today because I was convinced 5 years ago by Matt's pitch at the beginning of this video. "You can run D&D, *tonight*, for free, with an adventure that you made".
I'm coming from Questing Beasts last video. The 5e community has put DMs on a pedestal. DMs get burnt out because they think they need to be as skilled as screenwriters, professional actors, and AAA game devs. Players never try DMing because they think it's out of their league. Matt, you've done such a service to the TTRPG community with this video by lowering that pedestal. The legacy of the Delian Tomb will live on the generation of DMs who actually felt like they could give it a shot.
Okay, so I ran this adventure with my friends last night (we’re all new to the game so we were shaky on some dice rolls and such, but it was fun!) and when they reached the goblin boss, they got him down to his knees, and I made him beg them not to stop the sacrifice. They immediately asked “what’s in it for us?”, and the hobgoblin said “If the sacrifice succeeds, many goblins will flock to my cause and I will build a stronghold here. As allies, and for sparing my life, I can offer you 50% of any loot we find as we grow.”
They accepted the deal (one of them fuming because they really wanted to save the girl, but couldn’t go against the others), and the goblins actually completed their mission, haha.
So now my new group of players have bonded with the goblins, and helped to partially resurrect the goblin god (they had the chance to swear fealty to get some bonuses, but were too nervous). One of them cracked that riddle afterward and found the burial site of the knights. They opened Varius’s coffin and saw the sword, but when they tried to take it, I decided he would be furious with them for p/much corrupting his tomb, so they had to fight his enraged ghost.
It was really fun, and completely improvised! I’m grateful that you made this whole scenario though, because it was definitely easier to start off with a predetermined setting.
Oh! When they went back to village, the blacksmith was there, drinking heavily to deal with his worry. I wanted them to see the consequence of not saving his daughter. They had to break the news to this grieving father, and he almost attacked them out of rage. The bard in our party had to talk him down. It was great. Very dramatic. :D
The Blacksmith needs to come back for revenge at some point. Also, how do you “talk down” someone who’s child you basically just killed?
edcellwarrior critical
That's a fantastic start! It really sets the tone for the party, and it sounds like you'll do wonderfully.
@@edcellwarrior maybe by lying about what happened. "I'm so sorry, we arrived too late! We did everything we could but unfortunately the goblins had already completed their dark work."
Sounds like it was a good time. But I would suggest that you create scenarios without an always constant "Option B" where they can just agree with the bad guys, unless behind the screen you are tallying up their obvious but negative alliances and then decide they are now considered bad guys in league with disruptive and destructive/disruptive powers.
I know literally nothing about D&D but it's Matt so I watched the whole thing.
+Dylan Rushbury Well now you know a lot!
Like 3 times...
My father used to take me with him to his D&D games every Thursday night because he couldn't find a sitter. 36 years later, I'm contemplating trying to DM for the first time, and your videos have come just in time for me to use them BEFORE making a fool of myself. You've got a new student. Thank you for doing this!
I've long thought someone like me, who has Aphantaisa, (the inability to create mental images/pictures) could never create a dungeon from scratch since I have no capability of planning before hand how it's going to look. But the bean method for continents, the dice method for dungeons, the rice method for world's, and simple drawing tools allow me to just fuck with stuff until it looks good. Even without the ability to picture things, I can bring my descriptions to life. Thank you for this video, because after spending about 4 hours looking at references and guides, I think I've finally got the courage to run my first game for my buddies.
Wait I'm confused. What are those things? I don't think he mentioned a bean method, dice method or rice method. I feel I've missed a part of the video.
@@writershard5065 These are things from other guides that aren't on Matt's channel. The bean method is something that people use to generate an area map, by pouring dry beans out onto a piece of paper, and shifting them around to shape their landmasses, then tracing around them. I cant remember what the dice method is or the rice method, but I'm fairly certain they're similar ideas for similar purposes.
Well the dice metod is probably using the random dungeon generation table in the DMG.
@@algotkristoffersson15 Nope! Well, at least that is *one* way to do it, but I have seen a number of videos of people dropping dice onto a piece of paper, with each dice having different attributes tied to them, and then (similar to the beans dude mentioned above) grouping close groups of dice together and letting the random chaos of where the dice land tell a story.
As a fellow human with aphantasia I understand the struggles 😅
Used this for my baby bro's very first game. He's 8. Total party k.o. in the very first room after a series of unfortunate events that ended with crit 1s, like the accidental slashing of his barbarian ally's manhood (played by my neighbor).
They sucked so bad, it was beautiful, we laughed so much,
thank you Matt!
You nailed it; make the failure fun and it will become a legendary intro to a deeply bonded future crew
Wait. Hold up. Stop. 5 encounters in 4 hours is normal speed? My party must be under a permanent slow spell if this is correct.
Your players may really enjoy planning. If so, LET THEM! dont be upset if you're players take a bit longer than what is expected. If they have fun, you'll have fun!
Unfortunately its hard for us to play for more than 3-4 hours. We're lucky if we get 2 combats in one session.
I thought this as well, but after rewatching this video a year later I see that he mentions encounters including puzzles etc., not just combats. That sounds more about right for my party at least.
Remember, encounters include anything they interact with, not just combat. A puzzle counts as an encounter, a particular NPC that is more than just 1 or 2 lines counts as an encounter.
Same here, unless you count conversations with NPCs and planning as encounters.
Officially a first time DM here! I started by watching this video. It went so incredibly well that I really want to share something that happened.
I am DM for 3 players. 2 of them brand new and the 3rd has only played a few sessions. A Druid, Barbarian, and Ranger. (I am going to end up using the dungeon in the video for session #2, but I opted for "giant rats below a tavern" as the first encounter.)
The PCs met a dwarf that worked at the tavern. The Dwarf has been feeding leftover scraps of food to the regular size rats in the cellar. He fed them so much that they have become Giant rats, and he's worried they are going to cause problems, so he needs the PCs to deal with them.
The dwarf and the PCs headed down to the cellar where they encountered 4 giant rats. (They didnt attack because they saw the dwarf that had been feeding them) The Druid immediately used Speak with Animals and learned the rats wish to escape, but they can no longer fit into their burrow because they have grown too big to get into the crack in the stone wall that they used to get into the cellar in the first place.
The Barbarian and Ranger both failed their strength checks to widen the crack enough for the rats to be able to reach dirt and dig out. They struggled for a bit to figure out a way to help these rats escape.
Then someone had an idea. The cellar was filled with a bunch of empty crates. What if they carried the rats out of the tavern in these crates?? The druid convinced the rats to go into the crates so they could be set free.
Then they convinced the dwarf who hired them for this task to be the one to carry the 4th crate out of the building.
(The dwarf of course questioned if the PCs were really actually asking him to help with the job he is paying them for. He agreed to do it for a 50% discount on his payout).
They opted to take a shortcut through the kitchen and back door instead of carrying their rat crates all the way past the busy dining area. In order to avoid being stopped and questioned by the kitchen staff, the 4 of them decided they would burst out of the cellar and into the kitchen as fast as possible, yelling about how "There's been a contamination! We need to get these crates OUT IMMEDIATELY! CONTAMINATION! GET OUT OF THE WAY!". They let the dwarf lead the pack since the kitchen staff would recognize him. The staff were caught off guard by the yelling and chaos in front of them and I decided to give advantage on the performance/persuasion check.
The 4 of them managed to successfully relocate the rats into someone's back yard. The rats absolutely destroyed this guys yard with Giant Rat sized burrow holes, but the PCs had successfully dealt with the rats!
Absolutely none of this crate nonsense was something I had considered the players might attempt. I had just put a bunch of empty storage crates in the cellar because I figured it made sense.
Somewhere in one of these videos, it was said that things will absolutely play out differently than expected. That was so true, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I ran a home-brewed campaign with my AL friends with a temple to Leira, goddess of illusion, which has a portal to the Realm of Mist. Beyond the gateway the mist forms a labyrinth that is different every time. I know I wanted to have a small mimic disguised as a spell book, so I had to tweak the mimic's stats from the Monster Manual, along with several doors with sphinx-icons that asked riddles, which forced me to look up riddles to ask. Then I used dice to randomly generate a dungeon.
The response was almost universally positive, the riddle-doors went over well and the baby mimic was a surprise.
What I'm getting at is: don't be afraid to be daring.
What was the dice system (if you remember) that you used to make the random dungeon? Or was it the system in the DMG?
@@tearstoneactual9773 you can find it in the 5th edition DMG, page 290, under "Random Dungeons"
@@chloestorer1235 - I'm aware of that toolset. However, the OP may have a different methodology. Something they either found or came up with on their own. I find the random generation system in the DMG to be... sub-optimal and generally not very believable. A 'dungeon' should have certain bits of design logic to it. (Unless designed by a complete lunatic with too much money/time/resources.)
This is going to sound snarky, but I promise it's not - Were you there when Leo Nielson rolled their dungeons up, or help them do so? - If 'no', then how would you know what they did or did not do, did or did not use?
I appreciate the input, but only people who were there can answer the question. (Unless you actually were. In that case, great! Thank you! ^_^)
I'm also interested because, as much as the DMG is a great toolbox, I would like to find something that is more useful. I'm considering determining the number of chambers and their details before dealing with passages, and arranging them where I want then making the connecting passages.
You actually see this in dungeon generators like with DonJon, but I'm afraid I don't particularly like how those are made. I can almost always tell when someone has used DonJon to make a dungeon map as soon as I see the first few bits.
The other idea is using a scatter/splatter mapping process. Much like has been developed for making a map of an area or region. (Take a bunch of dice and drop them on 1 inch grid paper, say three feet by three feet. Each die type represents terrain, and the number indicates certain things about it.) This might work for a dungeon, with some tweaking. And then from there it's a simple matter of connecting the 'rooms' or spaces and making sure they are populated.
There are a few other systems out there as well. So, I'm always curious to see what people do for generating dungeons with dice. Do you have a particular method, or do you use the DMG random gen? (Which is still quite a useful tool, especially for doing stuff underground.)
@@tearstoneactual9773 oh, right haha I didn't think that you were asking for their system - and no i don't particularly know what system they used.
I haven't designed many dungeons in my time, the first two i did by hand without anything being randomly generate, the most recent one i've used the DMG, and i gotta say it looks a lot better, but that's probably because of the scale that its drawn at, at least at a glance. I don't tend to use them all too much because my players don't have minis (and neither do i for that matter ^^;)
@@chloestorer1235 - Understood. I might see about drawing out a new dungeon with the DMG random gen tables, maybe in DungeonFog or something, or Roll20. I can do it in Photoshop as well, but it tend sot bog down when things get too big.
Wish there was a way to start a thread on RUclips so we could show off dungeon designs.
Your speed through approach to teaching not only gives me the info quickly but it’s perfect for my ADHD and allows me to absorb the info without getting lost in my brain
You just made a 20 - 25 minute video only in 12 minutes. GG Matt GG
Why am I religiously rewatching this entire plays list every couple of months? I think is just your smooth buttery voice doing it for me
The first five seconds of this video is why I subscribed, and it still gets me pumped every single time. It's still true, 3 years later and you are still trying to find and elucidate every shaded, obscure corner and grand misunderstanding in this great hobby - you have never deviated. You truly are a river to your people, Matt.
These videos are so well edited/paced. There's so much meandering, back-peddling, and over-explaining in DND tutorials. This is a clear front to back explanation of a dungeon. Well played, Matt.
Alright time to run dnd! Oh... I need friends? Hmmmm, that's a toughie.
Roll20 has a lot of players looking for DMs. If you want to run in person I recommend mingling at the comic book store.
Wolf Blaze 22x
If your a gamer you can run a game on Table Top simulator, get people online or in the steam community to play with you. Also you could always play with our group.
Just put more points in charisma
Walk into the local game store with swagger and simply shout,"I AM A DM!"
Instant friends.
that sad
Just ran this, this evening with a few tweaks. Kobolds instead of goblins (one of the party is a dragonborn, so it added extra flavour), and over my temple spanned over two levels, with a couple of extra rooms. Can't say thank you enough for all your guidance. I would never have thought I could do it, I have gained a lot of confidence and tips from all of these videos. Myself and three new players have all gone away very pumped about the hobby. Thank you.
8 years later and finally one of my PCs wants to DM. This video is the first advice I gave them. Thanks Matt. Forever grateful for what you do for the game
My local library's been trying to get a youth D&D club going. I offered to supervise/DM so I'm gonna be keeping this video in my backpocket if it goes through.
Give us an update!
@@RealMisterDoge Well, I haven't heard anything since so I'm assuming things didn't end up working out :(
@@fearjunkie unfortunate!
Thanks for being so helpful!
Thanks for watching!
This series is awesome so far! I've always feared becoming a GM because of the overwhelming amount of worldbuilding it appears to require. After seeing this, and hopefully you'll do an episode on worldbuilding, I realized some things don't need to be overly detailed and complicated. I've just started DMing the Lost Mines with a group of friends, but have been contemplating making my own adventure to follow it up. I appreciate you doing this, and it's so much easier to watch because of how passionate you are about it! Shout out to Liam O'Brien who tweeted/retweeted/other-twitter-function'd this series for me to find!
+Jeremy Curry You really don't need to do *any* worldbuilding! Gary and the guys in 1974 played a lot before they had anything resembling a "world."
We'll talk about that in another episode!
Matthew Colville I appreciate the reassurance. Watching Matt run Critical Role is awe-inspiring when he mentions the many towns and cities that he's fleshed out. I'm still very interested in your advice for worldbuilding, but I'll certainly try to think on a smaller-scale!
+Jeremy Curry you inspire me to make a new video! Sure, Mercer has lots of detail, he's been running that campaign setting for years! Add a little detail every week, it adds up!
Jeremy Curry it's DM
Dungeon Master
This video is still my go-to recommend for on-boarding new DM’s. Very well done.
I'm pretty sure I was making characters for D&D long before I ever played a game. I loved rolling up D&D characters with a friend of mine using my parents old AD&D books (they played a couple times in college but never stuck with the hobby) back when we were like 8 years old. Neither of us really knew how to be a DM, though, and we didn't have anyone else to play with so we just read the books obsessively and created lots of characters. It wasn't until a couple years later when I started making friends with older kids who ACTUALLY PLAYED that I could start really playing the game.
Why did I type all this? Just to show that for some types of people, the breadth of choice available to making a PC is a significant draw to the game, and could be what hooks them in the first place. Skipping that investment and wonder by just pulling out a pregen that someone else created would have been a real bummer for myself.
Ghost I too, have not yet played d&d, but have thought up at least half a dozen characters. Or ideas for characters, at least. I reckon I’m gonna have so much fun when I find a group I can play with, cos some of the stories I’ve heard (wild surge! Oh no!) are hilarious. Like a lvl 6 party who accidentally woke a tarrasque.
Thank you for these videos.
I played my first game in 35 years and first time DMing ever tonight for my daughter and her boyfriend and used your tips.
The kids (18 & 19 years old) had a blast.
Thanks so much 😊
(Leaving this comment on several channels who aided in this evenings adventure)
I love it, making great strides in making d&d more accessible for the layman
i really love how you talk. it's quick, to the point, and great with some of your jokes. the humor doesn't detract or draw out what your trying to say though. Great video. found it very helpful myself.
I ran the Lost Mine of Flan-deliverer my first go. I also wound up making up an improvised side quest a couple sessions in, because apparently I like to throw caution to the wind.
reddit cannot stop recommending this series so here i am, but i was NOT expecting it to be almost 8 years worth of videos 😭
have heart; they aren't very long and are mostly non-sequential. Watch them as you might need them, and you can always come back for the ones you don't need and just feel like watching.
I did it! I ran my first session of D&D last evening! We had loads of fun. Thank you SO much for your advice and encouragement. 😀
"...down in the blah-blah..."
This video is so funny, and lots of good information. Thank you!
Thanks for the video. I am a new GM I didn't have much time to prepare my adventure and your introduction dungeon gave me a good idea.
I'm making my own series on DMing, but I'm in awe of yours! Your presentation is so crisp, I love it. You're filling a real need in the youtube DnD community.
Dude. These videos are sick. :-) Subbed.
+BeABetterGameMaster aye Dice what brings you to these parts
+Sub Norman A.K.A. Shade Learnin' da ways, bro. Learnin' da ways. :-)
Barker your videos are sick too. If you made them..... BURN!
IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!
I know!!! I subscribed after watching halfway through this video!!! (actually, this is my second time through the playlist looking for anything I may have missed) I love this guy's presentation!
You are such a friendly face to look at with such a welcoming voice. Thank you so much for simplifying this!
I love having RP heavy starting adventures, like about an hour or maybe 3 for a first adventure that's built around RP to let the players build their character and set things up mentally. I like this especially for new players.
This is a fantastic dungeon to start with. I adapted it a little for using in a birthright campaign. I couldn't leave it alone and so I crafted the dungeon from foam core with accessories. It made a good starter set of modules to be added to for future adventures. The grand finale takes place in the sarcophagus room with undead being activated from the sarcophagi as the players reach a certain point in this room. It is also where the main artifact is. The riddle is a cool idea to expose the secret door. The Goblin patrol outside has to be ambushed first and then the guards at the entrance door taken care of. All great fun. Great dungeon and ideas Matt.
This is great. I remember scouring the internet for help learning to DM. Finally, not just tips, but actual useful information for starting as a DM.
Just a point on making characters with a new group. No, they don't like it. Never made it to session 2.
Wow, this has been SO helpful. I'm relatively new to D&D, I played a few one-shots with friends and got hooked so now I'm introducing my family to it. This helped me make a one-shot adventure that fits all of the levels and the group's level of understanding of the game and should get them all interested and wanting to play more. Especially a lot of your examples on writing twists and turns to the story have helped tremendously.
For anyone who wants to know, the one-shot goes like this:
A wizard asks the party for help to find a magical necklace to defeat a bully half-orc that's stolen lots of gold and relics from him. They know it's somewhere in the tavern. They have to ask tavern regulars to find it, then go through a small three-room dungeon and collect the necklace then bring it to the wizard. Then he reveals that there never was a half-orc and he just wanted the necklace, big boss fight, done.
Thanks a lot!
Haha. I laughed out loud when you said you were hardcore with your cool art eraser. :D
I'll be using this tonight if one of my party fails a check while on watch and falls asleep. If they do, the goblins kidnap the smallest / weakest member of the party and take them off to the Knights Tomb to be sacrificed. I really hope someone fails their save so I can run this mini dungeon. With five players standing watch throughout the night, the odds are at least one will fail. If not, I will be using this at some later opportune moment. I love it! Thanks Mat. Critical Role got me into D&D again. You got me in to DM'ing and I'm having so much fun. Thank you.
I love how every cut brings a slightly different hair style :-D
Whenever I start a new campaign, I come back to the beginning of this playlist. It just puts me in that state of mind back when the hobby was new to me, and talk of saving throws and hit dice was like hearing someone speak another language. I have a deep fondness and appreciation for them.
This video is amazing. In 12 minutes you made me feel like this Dm'ing lark is much less intimidating!
Matt this whole series is still so helpful all these years later, I’m rewatching videos to get back into DMing and this whole series is nothing but helpful
OMG I think I love you! You are about to make a DM out of a 20 year player. I am soooo making some calls tonight. (gulp) Here's to hoping that my buddies are open to a painful yet, hopefully funny, experience. LOL I just picked up a copy of Dread last week. I think I am going to start with that to just try my hand & get comfortable with being the story teller. ;) Thank you, thank you, thank you for making these! :D
This was the first adventure i have ever played 4 years ago. Today i am going to play it again with the new group of people that never played DnD. You made the hobby way more accessible with your videos, thanks.
Mate you're awesome. lol. You speak quickly, however, very clearly. You do away with a lot of fluff, and give good solid information. Been Dming a long time, know the real deal when I see it. Kudos.
This is the video that started me DMing. Been playing for almost a year now!
Shit. You're telling me I need to have friends to play this game?!?!
XD
Yeah, I wish I had known this before I got in too deep :
I think its cool that matts first running the game vid (proper) is an adventure for dms to run. Right to the good bits from the jump.
"The only good goblin is a dead goblin. Now let's make these goblins good!!!"
Goblin Reformation
Hello there Matthew.
New kid on the DM block and I'm all scared and lost. Got myself PlayersHandbook and DM Manual and getting ready for my first run but without any idea of how to keep my players interested in the game or engaged, let alone immersed. Some of them played little before, but mostly all are a new player so I have this big stress on my shoulders that if I don't make the game interesting for them they might give up on the game entirely.
Luckily for me, I have found your channel and your videos. They are such a treat to watch and are keeping me to look forward to that first run. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos. They are encouraging me day after day. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Hey Matt, this series is awesome! I've decided to try my hand at DMing and am trying out this mini adventure with my own twist tonight!
I have a question for you, what program are you using to throw the text on the map? Paint is not the best program to use =P
Based on the icon showing in the top left it appears to be adobe photoshop elements version 14
I ran D&D this past Saturday night for the first time ever (actually, everyone at the table had was a first time ever player, including me), because of this video. I created the adventure from scratch, using a lot of elements from this video, and without exception, everyone at the table was extremely engaged!!!
Even the one guy who said that he probably won't come back (because he has a short attention span and doesn't like any game that takes more than about 1 hour) later told me that this was far far more fun than say, a video game.
You've successfully created at least one group of D&D nerds. Thanks! (Now creating a homebrew world :D)
Goblins are easy..... Yeah, there's a show you should watch...
Great video by the way!
Holy crap, planning an adventure for a few friends and been watching your videos, and this is EXACTLY what i need, you're awesome, hope to see alot more of these videos!
Where do you buy friends from?
It's a monthly subscription service, from some shady place called "real-world.scary"
Mathias Jönsson alternatively, they come on special sometimes from Sears, you just need to do some assembly yourself. Although nowhere near so much as when you buy them from IKEA, which requires a bit more work.
Level 1 mage spell
The fact this guy speaks fast enough for my adhd brain to understand makes me smile.
"I put the link in the blah-blah down below"
I remember my roomies at the time,(two girls who I grew up with and are practically my sisters, but are real chic) were interested in trying out D&D when I told them I was getting into it. It surprised me and I scrambled to learn as much as I could before DMing a one-shot that night.
In the 3 hours we played, I think we used dice a total of 5 times and it was purely theater of the mind.
It was awesome! We laughed a ton and had a good time, mostly. I say mostly because my best friend didn't roll too well for a ability check and didn't like what played out, so I could tell by her body language she was losing interest. I noted that and threw in something I knew she'd appreciate a little later in the dungeon (A pet puppy to find!). It was such a rewarding feeling, reeling her back in and the emotions I was receiving from the players.
I remember thinking how awful I thought the game I ran for them was, but my best friend asked if we were going to play some more the next day.
Unfortunately, none of us could really sit down and play due to our schedules after that, but it'll be a memory that I won't forget.
I'm starting this, and Matt has the same aura that Jack Black has
I ran this as a first time master 2 years ago, now I have a 1 year old campaign and having a lot of fun, thanks Matt.
Between 3 and 4 friends? You mean I can't play with myself?!
Joking aside, I like you!
Whenever I need some quick inspiration to get me in the mood for Dm'ing/preping for DnD, I always come back to these first few videos. They really inspire me and get me in the mood.
Love your stuff! Subbed! Also, I love your hair!
Know this video is quite old, but I wanted to thank you Matthew for this series. I'm about half way though it now, but I actually used this dungeon you created in my campaign with some small changes to fit within the setting we're running. The riddle was a lot "tougher" than I estimated, but the players enjoyed it never the less! So thanks again, and looking forwards to going through the rest of your backlog of content~
Ok
Rules check
Adventure check
Friends...aww...wait ROLL20 HERE I COME
I really appreciate the fast talking speed, dense content, and lack of time consuming fluff. Thank you so much!
I was thinking that the goblins set the trap up. Why else would it weight sensitive for them to bypass it?
That's what I was thinking, but maybe his goblins aren't clever enough for a trap. If it didn't work where it was, I would have put it directly after the secret door.
The trap seems too complicated for goblin squatters, it probably makes more sense to be built in
"Why else would it weight sensitive for them to bypass it?"
It might be old and kind of stuck with time, needing a higher weight to trigger. Or maybe the knights had it set up so that they could only get in the last room without any weapon or armor for religious reasons and the goblin just happened not to trigger the trap, never really noticing it but equipped players would (unless halfling). There are so many ways to tell that story (if you get the chance and one of your player has the correct proficiency xD)
Ahhh!! I'm running this adventure for some friends tonight!!! *Nervous* First time DM! This video is so great, thanks for putting this together Matt!
Bold of you to assume I have friends.
Been DM-ing for a couple years now. Watched this video when my friends and I were really starting to play...and have been watching most of your videos since!
Re-visited these intro videos last weekend and ran this “Module” for four friends that have basically never played before. One guy never ever played....this is a great intro adventure for new players! Pretty perfect! Everthing you need in these first two videos...interesting running for brand new players and super fun...they were so creative and also moments when they realized that could do anything....magic.
At the end of the session they asked me to run another for them next week....sooo I’m pretty sure they got hooked! Bug bear almost murdered them...but I did a bug bear chief... either way thanks Matt! This intro adventure got people hooked....now i can bust out my Ad&d campaign world....hopefully
Flap-doodle :D
ALLxISxLOST Claymore J Flapdoodle
This is definetly one of the better/best explenation series on d&d. Ever.
How do you get through five encounters in one evening? The game I'm in (playing, not DMing) gets through one or two encounters in a six hour evening.
that's an absolutely atrocious pace. you must have 1. a lot of goofing around. 2. very slow playing players. or 3. absurdly long encounters. I've gotten through 15 encounters in a 6 hour session before. with fairly heavy RP as we.
At our worst we can spend an hour on one round of combat. People figuring out what they want to do, looking up all the rules around it, and then repeating the process for the second half of their turn after waiting to see the results of what they've already done. Times four.
+ShadowKick oh good God. there's no way on earth I could begin to be around that. I'm glad it works for you guys though. tabletop needs all kinda.
Well, it doesn't work for us so much as we like hanging out enough to deal with it. We aren't sure why we can't get things moving faster.
It sounds a lot like the games I've had where I, the DM, and maybe one other person had actually read even half the rules. For the books for the other people's characters.
This was the best video I've watched for helping a DM learn how to make a session. Even if one considers that a session can go awry, if you make a bunch of these situations, which take like 15 minutes each, you are prepared no matter what, and it took practically no time. Amazingly helpful, thank you.
So... can you play if you only have one friend?
Kingpin1880, absolutely. One-on-one D&D games happen all the time. They have the benefit of being fast-paced, since you don't have to wait for a lot of players to make up their minds about actions, and you can really custom-make it just the way you and your friend like.
I've been a DM for over 25 years, and that's very often how I'll start a new campaign: I'll do a one-shot adventure or two with one friend, then we'll get other people to join in.
Sometimes, too, if you have a group - but for whatever reason everyone else can't make it to game night that week - you can do a solo side quest with that one person who was able to make it.
actually, you can. especially if you want to make things really cool, you can do a campaign in the same world, but with different friends/family members at different times. for example, I could do a campaign with my brother in a world called zakhara. then, a day later I could do a campaign with my other brother in the same world (zakhara) and then, a day later, I could bring them together and do a campaign where they meet each other. you could also just do a campaign with one friend and you could use NPCs. NPCs can be super helpful when you only have one friend, because, lets say you wanted your friend to fight two bandits, but you knew they were to powerful for one person, you could use NPCs, or you could just level up your character more. having several NPCs to play at the same time can be hard, but even a single NPC can help. D&D can be whatever you want it to be. Dont think you cant play if you only have one friend.
hope this helped!
I'm all of the intro and 1:07 into this playlist and I'm LOVING the energy and pace! I can feel the overwhelmed-ness fading - thanks friend :)
"The lost mine of Flapdoodle. Flapdoodle? Phandelver. Whatever."
Not only are your videos immensely, but your benevolent charm and smooth speaking helps you execute in a catching way. I've been looking at so many D&D Tuts n how to be a DM and you are BY FAR the most lively and energetic I've ever seen. Thank you for your work, I am a whole-hearted faithful believer in your work Matt. Keep up the awesome vids!
I can't play it
I have no friends (I am not joking :-(. )
sans the skeleton we can do it together if you want. Also you can find other people out there
sans the skeleton Roll20 is browser D&D, very good stuff
I'll be your friend anon
trust me, roll20 is your answer, it was mine, and I DM there.
Thanks for the tutorial and the new program to use for my maps. Making dungeons has just gotten a whole lot easier for me.
Back when the description was still called "blah-blah".
Coming back to the entire playlist after years of playing to get a refresher.
Matthew,
Stumbling across your channel and this playlist is one of the best things to happen to me as a D&D player. I teach at a high school and some kids hounded me into to sponsoring their Dungeons and Dragons Club. I had only been playing for about a year when they asked me and I was really worried about running the club and possibly being a DM. Your channel has helped me with so many resources, great pieces of advice, and the confidence that I can do this.
As practice, I ran my own version of this one-shot with 3 friends and it went amazingly. I made it more my own with a more twisted plot, the players acted in incredibly unexpected ways and twisted it even more, and we all had a blast.
I've purchased your books on Amazon as a thank you and I look forward to reading them. Thanks and keep up the good work!
You're fast-paced, no time for bs style of delivery is funny and yet still easy enough to follow.
I'm coming back watching this in 2020, the first time I ran D&D was 2016 this game. This is a textbook perfect entry game. I would recommend this for any new DM. It was the beginning of a life changing hobbie. Good luck new DMs, you'll do great!
After 8 Years it is still the best Video on RUclips and the best video to start for every DM!
The board game Roll Player is a great way to create your character. The first expansion also gives you character record sheets to record your final scores on to transfer to your D&D game.
Thanks for this video! It's a very fun look at getting started with being a DM/GM!
Thank you for being so organized! You get to the point and you talk fast so I don't waste time. You're awesome!
Someone linked me to your page, as I am trying to start D&D soon, and I have started watching most of your videos! I find that you are great to listen to and have decided that I can't wait to start thanks to your great help. Thank you.