I'm only here because you are using my family's name be more accurate my clans name and now I say good day

First!

Knowing that now makes me excited for the one shot I am about to run, which basically makes it so the mosters cannot be blinded because they rely on tremorsense and blindsight.

Excellent. I look forward to collaborating with and promoting you.

I had a table of spectators. Only one of the three had watched any tabletop podcasts. At least part of the issue was their characters. They had all made what I call "tag alongs", character's that are designed either through mechanics or personality to be more of a background role. One had amnesia, the other was a socially aloof lean in the corner of the tavern type, and the third was just along for the ride. They were all character's that needed to be dug into but none were designed to do any digging. But also when I had NPCs do the digging, nothing really came of it. That said I'm also not great at pinpointing what my players like to engage with or how they like to do it so that also plays a part. I think in a lot of cases spectators may be born more from the circumstances of the specific game than anything else.

Wow this is great news. Way to go!

Congrats! 531 at the moment to write this.👍

I'd be interested in hearing your take on some of the older race options from previous editions. Like the Half-Gnomes in the Races of Ansalon book from 3.5 canonically have neurodivergencies and it's presented as a mechanic that changes how their proficiencies work. They're not discriminated against for this either, which is nice, though the entry has some poor word choice like calling the parents of the the half-gnomes "unfortunate" for not knowing how to relate to or nurture them. Having ocd myself I like the mechanics but I think it would be better as an optional thing that you could tack onto any character. The half-goblins from the same book would also be a good one to discuss. If you're willing to tackle more controversial ones there's the Gully Dwarves from the Dragonlance setting and the Remade from Dragon Magazine #352. God damn, the presentation of the remade is a mess.

I would change rule 39 to: If you do not tell me of any changes in your spell list. I will only allow the spells from the list you had the day before. It doesn't help with the trust issue, but it might make players use their spells more creatively and also doesn't punish players to hard.

My immediate thought was that Silvery Barbs is about to get waaaay more popular with players. I'm hoping that if they release a new monster manual then the monsters will have more tools to deal with this stuff but I doubt it. We can give certain monsters player levels, so at the very least anything they do we can do back to them, but it requires a lot more effort than just using the stat blocks. DMs don't necessarily need that. Although if that's the rout we're ment to take, it would be nice if they brought monster and npc levels back so they could give them exclusive feats and stuff to counter some of the bs from the player options.

Most people playing level 7 or lower isn’t a “lie” because SOME people play above 7. just how the avg medieval age being 35 doesn’t mean SOME people didn’t live past 35….do you know what “average” means?

Second 😅

First!!!

This commenter sounds like they don't define Cataracts, all Retinopathy types, Macular Degeneration, or severe cases of Myopia, Hyperopia, and Astigmatism as being blind, in spite of most organizations considering them as types of blindness.

I absolutely agree. As someone with an ASD, I would struggle with the 44 rules, and with some of my anger issues, might throw rule 44 back at him as a "Frigate" Around and Find Out moment should he ever threaten to action that rule, but find your 8 tenants would be something that could be used by any DM to help get rid of "That Guys" and other rpg table riffraff.

I absolutely agree. As someone with an ASD, I would struggle with the 44 rules, and with some of my anger issues, might throw rule 44 back at him as a "Frigate" Around and Find Out moment should he ever threaten to action that rule, but find your 8 tenants would be something that could be used by any DM to help get rid of "That Guys" and other rpg table riffraff.

Ableistic is the most southern way of saying it, and I absolutely love it.

I started thinking they were the assholes... Regardless, it seems they were not alone.

I don't think it's ableist to demand to act out persuasion checks. Mind the fact that he isn't asking for them to act it out well. He's simply asking to make an attempt. I would also consider that it's a rule made for a specific group, not in general, and with what we know about the group, they don't seem like the kind of people who are too awkward to roleplay. But they do seem like the kind of people who are too lazy to bother roleplaying. "I'm no longer being nice" is not adversarial DMing. The DM isn't supposed to be nice, the DM is supposed to deliver an interesting adventure, and if it means that the player characters should struggle, then it's the DM's job to make them struggle. The rule is simply stating that the DM will keep doing so, and that him being punishing in-game should is separate from his real-life relationship with his friends. "When we play, I'm not your friend" simply means "don't expect in-game favours because we're friends in real life". It's a little rude, but it's necessary for the game to function.

Based

The GM definitely had one or more really difficult players. As a 40+ year GM I have had players that triggered these responses with me. In particular, the player that moves, then realizes that someone that moved later 'ruined' his action and wanted a redo. For many of the others, it is a culmination of many sessions of annoying players. Rule 37 is a situation where a player expects special treatment because he or she is is a friend of the GM.

Third!

Second

First

i think you forgot to add the text

As a roleplayer I'd say the main function of backstories is less about making a goal and more about giving the dm more tools to keep you invested. You're not always going to have a sword with missing stones and it helps for them to have something extra to fill out the world, especially in between adventures. Some great npc's can be accessories to a backstory. Those npcs in turn make it more meaningful when you use your completed infinity sword to kill the bad guy and save your hometown or whatever.

As someone who struggles with ADHD, I'm generally not fond of the whole "this entire race/species of beings suffer from/exhibit traits of a specific mental disorder," but I will freely admit that this stems from my own perception of ADHD, and my fervent distaste of its recent romaticization. While things are certainly better than they were when people didn't think it existed, I've had people tell me they're jealous of my ADHD, or that I should be grateful of my "superpower." While being able to hyperfocus on certain tasks had helped me in life, I'd trade it away in a heartbeat to not take medication that causes rare seizures, and to not have to deal with issues like "I started editing something that nobody but me would ever notice, and I wasn't aware that I spent 8 straight hours making microscopic adjustments until I realized that I was dizzy due to not eating or drinking anything in that period." I think your interpretation of these races are perfectly valid, but I balk at ascribing them the label of "ADHD" when what you're really doing is giving them a list of positive traits that are frequently touted to align with ADHD without considering that for many, ADHD isn't just having a nonstandard mind, it's a real disability that significantly decreases their quality of life. This isn't to say that I find your content objectionable, quite the opposite. I've only just found your channel, and while the few videos I've seen of yours paint you as someone I'd broadly disagree with, your academic approach and measured tone mark you as someone who is both well-read and reasonable, which puts you well above the grand majority of people discussing disability and/or tabletop games

This whole channel is excellent and I figured I would post a comment on the most recent video to say this! Keep this going! Your videos help me as a DM because all my players have ADHD or Autism and It helps me (as someone who is Neuro-typical, and has more physically disorders rather than mental ones) understand my players. For this video specifically, I love the idea of fixing something toxic into something healthy. Please keep making awesome videos! Request/Side Note: A video on managing with chronic pain would be really awesome, I really struggle with that, especially getting to a game or preparing for it. Thank you so much for making such awesome content, keep rocking on!

Rule #1: It's a game, and a game is supposed to be fun for everyone playing. If it isn't, there's a problem. Rule #2: If you're not having fun, and no one else cares- stop playing the game, go play with someone else. Rule #3: Your D&D group is not your therapy group, no one is likely equipped to be your therapist and even more likely- they didn't sign on for that. Rule #4: Don't be a coward, talk to people directly if you have an issue. You know, like an adult. Rule #5: Don't poop in anyone else's dice bag.

This ABSOLUTELY sounds like a DM AT WORK, so he HAS to DM. And he made his own stupid rule book because he is tired of DMing. I would bet on it at this point

I really enjoyed both parts of this discussion. Thanks!

I'll probably add more to this after actually watching the video. This entire subject has greatly diminished any amount of respect I held for pretty much any person I've seen who posted a video on it. It was clear from the start that the list of rules was NOT a list of rules some crazy guy thought every table needed to follow. It wasn't someone trying to be the Martin Luther of TTRPGs posting his 44 Thesis on the front page of the internet. Rather, it was in response to a specific group of players. There were too many "rules" with specific grievances for it to be anything else. Yet every KZbinr seemed to be treating it like the rules were for everyone, instead of as a response to a very specific table. And apparently further info confirmed that this was exactly the case. The rules were essentially a list of demands if a group the DM had already left wanted him back. I've only just started your video though, and at least so far it seems a more reasonable take than most any I've seen. Edit: So, after watching... yeah, you two were making far too many assumptions here. This wasn't a group that needed to disband. It was a group that had. In that context, there is a very wide range of less diplomatic phrasing that, while perhaps not the wisest, is understandable. That said, I appreciated the attempt at fairness and enjoyed the atmosphere of your channel. Including the neurodiversity perspective stuff. (Autistic myself and have a good number of friends with ASD and/or ADHD.) Looking forward to watching more of your stuff.

To be honest, there are some rules that you put into "reasonable" that are meh (especially from a disability pov) One rule in particular is the "if you complain about the music, make your own, whole playlist" one I, for example, am very sensitive towards music and sounds, in particular high pitched music (that goes over a long time) If my DM used such a song/music for longer than a minute, I'd really struggle I guess it depends on why the music choice is criticized, but the situation I mentioned would be reasonable criticism

First!

So I just found this video and I feel like it is interesting

I don't care what the DM went through: These rules would make any campaign miserable. Cry for help or not, some of the rules just seem cruel for the sake of being cruel, as if the DM wanted people at this point to quit and/or be dismissed. Some clarity by the way: Emergencies being dismissed, actual emergencies: I had to quit an campaign session because I literally got news one of my dearest friends in the world committed suicide: I classified that as an emergency, and the DM I played with didn't agree it was... I was permanently exumed from his group... When I told the players in his group why I had to quit, and that "now isn't really the best time to bring that up", the ire of the players aimed at me, refocused on the DM. Basically, the developer of SJSM, scorned my friend so hard, and got my friend harassed so much, that my friend took a dive... I texted the group what had just happened, my entire world was flipped upside down in a second... I explained how it was an emergency, I spent weeks reminiscing and being just outright miserable, cursing Akuma Kira's name (The dev of SJSM) as a murderer, I was in a lot of distress... When asked "Why did I leave the game?" since the private message was between me and the dungeon master: I explained my case, copy pasting our message history for good measure... The fire in the players eyes turned to the dungeon master, pointing fists and fingers and shouting out with no more reason for concern or assumptions... That made my day, seeing players who shunned me become friends with me, and what was essentially an tyrant getting dethroned...

Hey all, thank you for all the great comments! Usually, our videos go ignored. We talk about niche topics here on the channel, so thank you for participating. Please stick around and keep up the good work!.

First video of yours I’ve seen! When I looked at the views and subs I was shocked! I would’ve thought you guys had at least a few tens of thousands of subs!

You lost me by bringing a guy who is obviously obsessed with race and gender in to discuss if so ething is racist. His entire livlihood, ( self proclaimed,) is predicated on finding problematic issues. His arguments are done in bad faith and is ultimately a grifter. I have been playing since the 90s and learned from guys playing since the 70s. This guy is from his abstract a post modernist, ( cultural communist,) and should be rejected like we shoukd reject facist.

if you felt like this list of "rules" was more like a legal document, that's because it was. it was a list of demands that had to be met if _that_ group wanted to play with that DM again.

Honestly this video was one of the most reasonable and nuanced takes I’ve seen for this rule list so far. Well done gents

Almost one minute per rule. Brilliant

Gary’s professed excuse for demihuman level limits was that it showed why humans ruled the world and built all the current empires. I suppose playing in a world where elves ot dwarves were the movers and shakers would necessitate those races having unlimited advancement and possibly unlimited class selection (but possibly limited multiclassing)

That sad piano!

I think when you put the game above the people at the table, that's when things go wrong. Also, punishing a player in game is punishing everyone.

It's worth noting that before the post was deleted, the OP of the post stated that the 44 rules were created by their DM who had been on *hiatus* and that they created the rules after returning from hiatus, and funnily enough, many people who commented on the original post agreed that these 44 rules in the end was just a VERY angry and spiteful 'break-up' or 'I quit' letter, as all of the rules are all *incredibly* specific, and way too specific for the DM to be played as the 'bad guy' In fact, the OP never specified *why* their DM in question went on Hiatus in the first place, with how some of these rules were worded, some of the commentors noted how it seemed as if the DM had been dealing with these issues from their players for a long time and never did anything about it, as it would explain not only why the 44 rules were worded with such vitriol and utter spite, but it explains WHY the DM went onto their hiatus in the first place. The DM didn't do anything about it, until it got too much for them and resulted in their hiatus, if anything the DM should've just gotten a new group at that point, because it was obvious that the DM just _didn't_ match with their players

I agree with your final verdict that this group should just disband. I get the feeling that the GM and players are extremely antagonistic to each other. So many of these "rules" seem to be specific callouts for player behaviour (getting intoxicated, cheating, breaking stuff). The GM is just dealing with them in an unhealthy way by making the most extreme threats they can think of.

Let's see how many views this monster gets. I bet the editing sucked.

The level cap was a fun killer for my Halfling Thief in AD&D 2e.

Reading the AD&D PHB, I see that the 9th-level limit was for the fighter and the assassin classes. The thief class was not mentioned as having a limit. This is reinforced by an earlier table showing unlimited advancement for all thiefs, regardless of race (except half-orcs, who could advance without limit as assassins, instead). Additionally, the Rules Cyclopedia (1991) was a continuation of the Basic-Expert-Companion-Master line, not part of the AD&D line. In the line with Basic and the Rules Cyclopedia, races were classes. In the AD&D line, race and class were separate choices, where non-humans had multiclassing and level limits and humans had single classes (with "dual classing" available) and no level limits. The video makes it seem like the Rules Cyclopedia was being used alongside the PHB. (Though I may be mistaken in that interpretation.) In neither case was retiring a character just because they had reached the level limit particularly encouraged. In BECMI/RC, you could continue earning XP and gaining abilities, while in AD&D, the freely-available thief multiclass was an option that hard-prevented true stagnation. (In fact, all of my non-human characters included the Thief class just to always be able to continue advancing some class.) In both games, a significant portion of your character's power was financial/political and magic-item driven.