Really nice video on the topic!

Basement full of spiders run by a cult of evil clowns sounds like a great funhouse dungeon

I discovered that I was involuntarily unsubbed from your channel when I loaded this vid. It's happened to me once before on another channel. Weird. Anyway, I'm resubbed!

Mutant year zero is another

Thank you Aten, your video makes me want to try the game system out

My only interaction with people demanding safety tools be used were poor, in both instances they attempted to use the tools to seize power at the table and hold the game hostage until they got their way, I also find the terminology for these tools to be overly dramatic, they don't provide safety, they provide comfort at best. At the end of the day the only tools I need are common sense and clear communication, people who are lacking in either are not welcome at my table, be an adult and verbalize your discomfort and take responsibility for it, you're more than welcome to step away from the table if you need to, nobody will look poorly at you for it, but I'm not a therapist and my game is not therapy so don't try to use it as such.

Love it. Definitely gave me some insight into The Book of Vile Darkness. Wish they did another edition hopefully a good 3rd party one.

Thanks Aten. This was a fun video and urges me to run something similar to it :)

This may be the single greatest video I have ever seen on traps. I greatly appreciate the effort you put into this video.

I am 60 years old and had never heard of lines and veils and made the mistake of running a VTT without learning about them. I run adult themed RPG's and stated this and insisted on being at least 21 in order to play in the game. I ran into two players [who were supposedly adults], that were constantly arguing with each other and with me about rules and what their characters would do and not do. I couldn't believe I was running a game for adults because they acted like children. I will not run a game without a session zero in a VTT ever again. I always state the content types in my campaigns so people can decide whether they want in or not. While I will not change my game for others, I am understanding enough to at least let them know what they are in for if they play in my campaign. It's kind of like lines and veils in that I am not surprising them with the content. Enjoyed your video.

What a fantastic review, so in-depth, and with a great philosophy on playing games from that past that we can use in reading old books or watching movies from ‘before’ modernity. A great life lesson in being a Grown Up!

I discovered your channel recently and have been going back through and catching up on your videos. I'm really enjoying your perspective and overall vibe. Good, well reasoned advice in a clear and entertaining manner. Thank you.

Loved this. Genuine and sound advice. I'm currently running a Mystara game using the old Gazetteers and 5e and it has been so much fun to revisit that old material with modern eyes.

Fantastic video! Loved this show and man did I love d20 Modern/Future, ran some amazing sci-fantasy games back in the day.

All the politics, safety tools, and other nonsense arguments is why I am tempted to quit the hobby all together. Why would I want the liability of dealing with someone who can't deal with an imaginary game? There are better hobbies out there that don't require me to deal with this BS. I now understand why more and more people are solo gaming.

Probably in Ohio

Charts and tables from the 80's... did you ever play Battletech?

I really got to dislike 5e from running AL. I'm also not a fan of WotC anymore. It's mostly from AL, though. No thanks.

You sir deserve more views

Found you just now and watching all of your content. I hope to see more.

A skull of a Tarasque?? That would be one hell of a mythical legendary marilith. Even most demon princes would have a very hard time taking on a tarasque.

I played some yrs with 3.5 and now, after 10 yrs stop, I wanted to try the 5th. I started enthusiastic but after few sessions I realized dnd is like turning into a superhero-videogame: less rules, less realistic dynamics, more user-friendly --> less immersive/harder to "believe" to be that character. Imo, the most realistic version is 3.5 just with the 3 basic books (-->no build)

🤘 In my opinion, D6 Star Wars is Proper Star Wars, and 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded is its ultimate form. (REUP may be just fine, but its foreword is titled "Foreward" and I cannot abide that. I have standards.) And, yes. Rather than hate on stuff, just take it to heart, grab an RPG, and do what you love with it. Well said.

Thank you making this video. I love this show and I'm happy that you made this 😁

I definitely love this idea!! It’s a great concept I never even remotely considered. I’ll definitely be using in some future session. I’ve combined Daggerheart and D&D, and because of that, I’ve found that the Stress mechanic in Daggerheart is beautiful for traps as it’s not damage but produces dread as the players watch their tactical resource slowly deplete. Draw Steel could use a system where you lose Victories when you fall victim to traps, and thus creates severe repercussions for that encounter. Those are just two systems that I am very familiar with and I’m sure there are other ways to make traps use monster stat blocks while also making them “feel” different than monsters that deal Dmg. But on the same note, if traps are just non-sentient monsters, it is a completely new form of combat that is unique while not requiring any of the things I just mentioned… so I must say again, greag advice!

I always think of it this way: A TTRPG is just a bunch of folks sitting around a table playing "Let's Pretend" like they were kids. The best game for any group is the system that best helps them live out their shared fantasy. Some people want rules to help them tell better stories. Some people want rules to let them fight, be it on an army or small-unit scale. Some people want political drama and chess games over the fate of nations. Some people want nautical adventures. Some people want to travel to distant galaxies. There's as many "perfect games," honestly, as there are players, 'cause we're all different. D&D is a game which is the best at some things (not the same things for each edition, of course), "good enough" at others, and kinda bad at yet others. But at the end of the day, all game systems are just a mechanism for us to best live out the kind of fun we want.

Gygax or bust.......1st edition and 2nd are my favorite......more specifically the black books of 2nd edition. I too own most of the 3.5 and 4th and much of the 5th......the later D and D version tend to make the game feel like an MMORPG........ prefer Immortal and Master and the battle system which later games veer away from.

I couldn’t agree more with you! Every edition has its ups and downs but if the rules work for you and your group are having a good time, then what is the worry? If there is a rule that all of you have an issue with then establish a house rule and use it. Have fun that’s what it’s all about and don’t get bogged down in the minutia of edition arguments.

I love your game reviews as I’m looking for other game systems to play. I remember you recommending Traveller to me on another video I wait in anticipation for your reviews of Star Wars D6 and the Marvel game (forgot its actual name). I will be buying and playing those games

after watching this, I kinda wanted to add a new creature to the campaign I'm making. so far I tried separating the definition of Witch & Hag (so far a Witch is simply a female magic user, synonymous with Wizards or Mages, and aren't explicitly any features related to attractiveness/ugliness, meanwhile a Hag is specifically a fey creature described in the monster manual, and CAN, and often is a magic user, but not always), but after watching this, thinking some sort of "Thread Hag" or "Fate Hag" would work, although I think that's already in other editions. thinking about making it so their the only ones that aren't explicitly evil, but more of a neutral party, as a way to keep the archetype of the "evil witch brewing the cauldron" which the other hag types lean on, whereas this type is more like the Fates or Norn's of Greek & Norse myth respectively, as well as live in often calm, quiet, & secret locations, instead of just areas that are considered putrid.

I grew up on 1st and 2nd with a little bit of third. Haven't ever played 4 or 5. But I agree with you.

Warhammer the miniatures game came out in 1983. Warhammer FRP came out in 1986.

Did you ever get the Blueholme book?

I recently ran Bodaks in a new campaign, and oh boy did they get the Terror across. They were the Bodyguard sentries of a Necromancer’s lair, and to reach the Necromancer’s Lair to stop a ritual for him to transform into a Lich, the players had to navigate a sprawling cavern with five Bodak sentries walking through it. I created a music que for whenever a Bodak began to come closer, and after the party saw Bodaks turn Ents into boiling pools of rotting wood, they were sufficiently terrified whenever the que started. They failed to evade the Bodak’s twice, and each time one character was almost instantly kill and only passed the Saving Throw by matching the DC.

Hey Aten, keep the videos coming! It has been a while, you're the man!