I think he just reads a lot and talks a lot

This is so spot on!

I love this! My players are already asking tons of questions about Mr. Witch and Mr. Light! And, in a previous campaign, Isolde's carnival made a cameo appearance at a certain Count's wedding. So, the players already have relationships with Isolde (though their characters do not). It sort of bothered me that this campaign never circles back to the Carnival theme, so I may implement something like this!

This reminds me- there should always be a cat on a ship. Sailors think they’re good luck, but it’s mostly the cat will chase and kill any mice that contaminate food.

I’m bingeing your videos and I want to say I love the like “best friends talking and brainstorming together” vibe. It’s so chill and easy to listen to. 😊

Oh, this is perfect timing. My players are about to start a ship travel arc and I didn’t want to do a basic kraken. I think I’m going to go with the serpents from the Live Ship Traders series. They spew out acid and memories! While unimportant, I think getting the memories of a sea serpent that’s like 100 years old would be super cool.

A lot of garden gnomes wear red caps. Are they all murderers?

Your shirt has a Weiner dog on it!

I actually have a monologue and scene made in the form of a simple yet ridiculously philosophical question: Where does evil come from? My character and villain is trying to conquer the world and employ his empire to get rid of evil cults and corrupt kings, all while trying to unite his family, and all the while demons invaded the material world. He breaks every geneva convention laws ALL OF THEM in 12 years

I love the tavern start. It makes sense that most adventures start there! It's where most of mine have started - the pub! :D

*The DM Taking Notes* 👀👀

Honestly, his use of anaphora is one of the most powerful tools behind Brennan's most meaningful monologues. I think back to Chungle-down Bim. "I'M gonna shit in your mouth. I'M gonna make a toilet of your mouth, boy!" That SCARRED Fabian AND Lou. Incredible stuff

The wide doors of the CurseCure tavern are propped open letting in the warm afternoon air. The shudders, likewise, are thrown open on the west side of the room, letting in the sunshine. The smell of warm food strikes you as you enter. To your right there is a long table with several large black pots. There are peas, salt pork, cabbage, coarse bread, and similar simple dishes. There is also a sign, for those who can read, saying “Free Lunch” and in smaller writing, “with the purchase of a drink, potion, or curative.” If you look closely you may notice that there are no sweets or dairy amongst the offered food. Across the room, there is a long, uneven bar made from rough-hewn wood. Yet behind the bar there are thousands of tiny glass bottles glinting in the sunlight. Some of the tinctures seem to swirl and shimmer with a light of their own. Other bottles have filigree and crystal patterns at odds with the planks holding them up. The barkeep is a willowy, thin woman with short, curly hair; she smiles at you as you enter. You cannot see her feet. At the end of the bar is a small booth of sorts, the kind of thing you might have seen for fortune-telling. Sitting there, instead of a festooned magician, is a stout man, balding with dark hair, wearing a simple white robe. Or once was white for the chain about his neck has left black stains on his clothing. On his chest hangs an amulet depicting an eye upon a gauntlet. He, too, has a sign, “Removal of curses 1 gold. Greater Restoration negotiable. NO RESURRECTIONS!” Near the empty hearth, what at first appears to be a stuffed elk lounging on an elongated bench moves its head, using its nose, to turn the page of a book it is reading.

I did create an NPC pretty much like this - created by a Green Hag, she refused evil, she still has hag abilities and I built her in a way to suggest that she deliberately developed herself to eventually face off against her ‘mother’. In the meantime she lives alone in the Wild Wood, difficult, but not impossible for people to get to if they need her help.

Santa is being held captive by Frosty. Frosty wants the big mans job and he just needs the suit to get it. Frosty and his cohorts have invaded the north pole, locked up the reindeer, and he threatening to kill all the elves if he doesnt get the suit. Mrs. Kringle needs the party of adventurers to rescue her husband. She only knows one man that might be able to get us to the north pole, her 3rd cousin on her mother's side, Eddie. Cousin Eddie is ree tii erd but he has some friends that are still in the business he is willing to introduce you to. Meet Harry and Marv, a pair of Tabaxi burglars known as the Wet Bandits. The first part of their plan to break into Santas Workshop is real simple. Catch the Whoville Express (feel free to throw in an encounter here, maybe its Hans Gruber and the gang from Die Hard or Skut Farkus & Grover Dill from A Christmas Story) to Whoville because Harry and Marv plan on stealing the Grinch's sleigh to get into the North Pole. (Ride it down the mountain and through the Path of Giants, where theres really giants, throwing snowballs as the team barrels towards the ski jump.....hope you make your landing. Now that your in there is only one problem, theres Gremlins every where and Shelf Elves are patrolling the streets alongside Abominable Snowmen. Have fun storming the castle.

Incredible video, please continue to make more

Pottsfield could be a place that the Feywild has expanded and consumed, and it was originally an abandoned village now at the edge of the Fey's influence, whose graveyards' residents are being resurrected a bit at a time as the Feywild's power continues to extend into the village and finish taking it over. Thus why the reanimated inhabitants are still in the process of digging people up

Just a note. The old man has given them a gift, and they agree to free the castle from the threat that lies beneath. It would be a fantastic plot twist if once the adventure was over it was made clear that they didn't keep their word. Being a Christmas oneshot, you could end it with a nursery rhyme that talks about this and the creature's return to look for them, because they are in his debt.

The first scene was cool enough, wasn't it? Unless the purpose is to have writing published... REALLY deep rendering all the time actually takes away player talk time. The NPC with the hood is well placed showing, the cinematic showing of everything in the tavern just seems unnecessary (though.. yes, quite immersive). I'd immerse the players by engaging them and show more about what's consequential to them.

Do you know why I am here? Here, at the edge of the multiverse, having built an empire to house the machine which rips apart biospheres at an industrial level and replaces mortal populi with an endless stream of necrotic flesh and steel? It's because I am here. And you were there. The Powers That Be designated that I am a cat, and you are a mouse. And how you've hidden in your little holes, running around, upsetting the mouse traps. But I am here. And you are there. Still. This confrontation is probably the most important event of your life. But to me, you are simply another mouse.

Every video I have an “omg genius !” Moment

thanks youtube front page, for recommending me this and bless you for this video, really great insight into the topic

“Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers that fill my complex. If the word 'hate' was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant. For you. Hate. HATE.” -AM, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream

Is that how you’re solving this? By naming me the villain as I speak? The idea that only villains monologue and threaten is childish. And naive. We have our piece to say too. We heroes have long held our beliefs and our faiths that we have tested and proven. This isnt talk-no-jutsu. I’m not telling you this because I’m scared. I’m not dragging out a conversation for my plan to work in the background. My solution is to appeal to your kinder instincts, but this isnt a math test, there isnt one solution. I have prepared many, which will you choose?

The sign out front shows a rudimentary bed 🛌. The hobo glyphs behind the bush, beside the front door, calls it the "Shivering Monk Inn." A slate marked in chalk, "The Menu," features "Crust of bread w/ broth" and "Daily Special." The rooms feature double bunks consisting of a frame and a board. There is no hint of mat nor blanket. The wind whistles through the gaps in the rough cut boards of the walls, moaning like a discordant band of tone deaf floutists. A fat round oil lamp made of clay weilds a flame that seems to shrink from the cold and cower from the shadows. Somehow, in this place, even the word 'austere' seems extra.

The sign out front shows a rudimentary bed 🛌. The hobo glyphs behind the bush, beside the front door, calls it the "Shivering Monk Inn." A slate marked in chalk, "The Menu," features "Crust of bread w/ broth" and "Daily Special." The rooms feature double bunks consisting of a frame and a board. There is no hint of mat nor blanket. The wind whistles through the gaps in the rough cut boards of the walls, moaning like a discordant band of tone deaf floutists. A fat round oil lamp made of clay weilds a flame that seems to shrink from the cold and cower from the shadows. Somehow, in this place, even the word 'austere' seems extra.

You're playing is obviously an ass. I would drop him a level as punishment for breaking the DM's train of thought.

Great video !

Great video. Thank you. Every time I hear the word scrivener I think of the 'traumatizing' experience I had in Highschool having to read 'Bartleby the scrivener" and remain awake. That was a while ago.

I am now fond of using subtle positive scripting to denote frustrations or anger. This inspiration came from the show High Potential (S1, Ep7) towards the end, the protagonist said "but you put my child in danger, I hope one day you're fortunate enough to experience that first hand". The only thing is that the delivery was subpar. But I really love Brennan on Critical Role when he DMs. as the writing was impactful, both on Calamity and Downfall One of my favorites is the explanation of Father in Fullmetal Alchemist as to why is he looking down on humans, He responds "When you notice an insect on the ground do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it, that would be an accurate summation towards my feelings on you humans." The words paint a clear picture along with thought provoking questions was brilliant.

Why did you get rid of Circe? 😢😢

"You all meet in a tavern." The whole table groans, but the DM continues, pointing around the table. "You're tending bar, you're waiting tables, you're cooking, and you're washing dishes."

“You know what I’ve always hated about you, Amethar?”

"Showing - when used properly..." Even just that is honestly a great thing to say. Both showing and telling have their place. It is okay to tell, just make sure it's the right time to do so.

If you describe it they’re going to want to fuck with it

The not Hemingway approach

Well done.

This is a little improv I cooked up at the table Some context: character was abandoned in the woods to die by their mother (the audience) when they were an infant: “Call me by my name. Say it. Say my name. Or are you too scared? Of a future I made for myself. That I carved out for myself. That I had to scrape and claw at to get. So say my name. The one you never bothered to give me.”

Battletech lore has the best rejoinder to a villain monologue ever. When Stefan Ameris successfully conquered the Star League with a coup d'etat, 'history' records that General Alexander Kerensky reasponded to Ameris' extended gloating monologue as follows: "No."

"wait... how big is the tavern" "Oh let's say...40ft across. Why?" "..." "..." "I cast fireb-"

Challenge accepted : « Paul curse all of you in his head for convincing him to follow you there. He really hates Sunday evening right now. Waves of worlds submerge the tiny space where you all sit with a beverage behind you on the wooded table. Paul doesn’t even dare to take is drink as you left him maybe the worst spot around the table. Not only the folk in this dump is very loud, very drunk, they also enjoy their moment in dancing and don’t stop to stumble him. Jasmin smile looking at you Paul as she knows how shy you are, and she hope you will stop be yourself and relax a little. After all, all of you deserve it after what happened lately. And the smell of the bread in the hoven right behind the counter make her very satisfy. This is not a usual bread smell who surround slowly the place, it’s a sweet sugar savor that show the mastery of Brin. Only her can do a bread like this, and as some say, if the bread smell that good, the rest should be a divine feasting. Paul Grabbing the rust wooden table with both hand as Yalan bump him with her hip to pass in the crowd and serve another table with the first plate. The pasta looks nice, and the red sauce and the big ball of meat show the generosity of Brin. Yalan voice cut through all other to ask her lover for another round of milky bear. And Brin seem to swim with grace from one task for another and let the alcohol flow in six huge pinte at the same time. For you Garak, this place revives souvenir of festivity with your wild people. Yes, it was in the forest, with the breath and the vegetal smell around. But the same joy, the same kindness around you than around different pack of people assembled there. And you Kurt, you see in the small space something like a protective cocoon. Yes, there is no nice embroideries on the table. The walls are as gray as a rainy sky, but all clients make it shine with them owns colored outfit. And in truth all of you, yes even Paul, know how lucky you are to be sitting there tonight. And that before a pretty gypsy elves approach and succeed to take a place between you and unroll a map on the table. In her eyes, is this jewel, fire, gread or hope you see ? And at Paul surprise she whispers a “I expected to find you, there!” that even in this maddening noise you all can perceive perfectly.»

Brennan is my favorite villain

Not quite Greensleeves...

The remark about ex-cultists taking a warm hearth as a bad memory did spark a little writing prompt for me. "A fire roars, singing hairs off your forearm. Clangs and clatters fill your ears - steel on steel, metal sword on wooden shield. The pull of bowstrings strikes your... no. Not bowstrings. Is that a lute? You stir yourself, finding the fire contained in a hearth, calmed after some drunkard thought it'd be funny to throw their mug of ale in it. A muscular woman with a face of anger threatens to throw him out. The clangs and clatter merely the sounds of people cheering their latest adventure, bringing together their mugs and slamming them on the table. You take a deep breath. You're fine." Definitely needs refinement, but I think it'd be a fun way to bring someone in who gets lost in their backstory.

Now, this is meant for the recurring inn in my campaign, so certain NPCs are named and assumed known: "Stepping in from the busy afternoon market, the sign proclaiming “The Artful Deed” creaks lazily in the warm, dusty breeze. The inn is a place of comparative calm, for now. Ginebra, the maid, is hanging fresh bouquets of lavender, rosemary and sweetgrass from the ceiling beams to replace the old rosebud and pearl-creeper ones. The new scent partially covers the familiar vinegary ghosts of spilled wine. Meanwhile a toothless old drunkard is making a clown show out of his attempts at stealing a glimpse up her colourful skirt. Blind Aurubilitu is strumming his lute in a slowed-down improvisation over 'The Doe Queen’s Gallop' - the change of tempo makes the otherwise jaunty tune more sombre, pensive. In the back, a youthful rake deftly juggles a few knucklebones before snatching them out of the air and throwing them on the table. The sun-tanned farmhand across from him erupts in sudden jubilation and the youth covers his face in chagrin over an obviously failed dice-toss. In front of the hearth, a girl in a green dress attends to the fowl on the roasting spit, partridges by the look of it. Unai, the one-armed proprietor, is conspicious in his absence."

As the rain turns to hail, you notice a small building at the top of the cliff overlooking the harbor. Two stories, and almost as dark as the night all around it - if it weren't for the dim light emanating from the grimy windows on the ground floor. It seems that the last time they were clean was BEFORE they were installed in these walls. Two small oil lamps are desperately giving their all to illuminate the entrance. They mostly fail. As you get closer, you realize that the wood covered walls aren't pitch black, but a dark, mossy green. And are those letters over the door? Yes. Like the rest of the building, they have seen better days, and a few are missing. Perception check (difficulty 12) reveals that this place is called "The King's Galley". Oh, you rolled a 14? Then you notice that the greenish wood seems to come from wrecked ships, and parts are still covered in shells, algae and other maritime detritus. Behind the door are heavy curtains in a dark grayish brown, designed to keep the weather out. As you open them, you are ambushed by the smell of sweat, tobacco and beer. The olfactory melange is somewhat saved by candle wax and a hint of fried onions coming from the open door behind the bar. Like the whole room, that bar is built from a haphazard mix of woods. Pinewood, walnut, beech... Has this whole tavern been built out of shipwrecks, or was it just designed to look that way? The whole parlour is filled to the brim with nautical stuff. There's mooring rope everywhere, a collection of portholes nailed to random walls, one of the tables has been built out of a clearly defunct cannon... Several wooden steering wheels are hanging from the ceiling, transformed into crude chandeliers, explaining the candle part of the smell. The other smell components are coming from the unwashed pub goers around you. An obese gnome with gray muttonchops is standing behind the bar. He's wearing a blue checkered shirt, a massive brown leather apron, and he's got a dirty towel over his shoulder. What color the towel used to be is anyone's guess. His face is red from decades of alcohol, and covered in stubble. What sticks out like a sore thumb is the lanky bard in a black and blue jester's costume, standing next to the bar. He was just about to say something when you came in, and now he's waiting for you to take a seat before he continues...

love ur vids

and when they walk out the tavern there in the feywild because it was a fey crossing whole time and anyone who gets drunk in there is take to feywild