I will never like rolling for stats I see the regular option of rolling 4d6 take away the lowest dice. I tested it now and got the following. 16,15,15,14,12,8. So day 1 of a campaign I could rock up with a level 1 varient human fighter with a 16 in STR, DEX and CON and the Polarm master feat but also decent with CHA and WIS. It's just to much. Point buy works so nicely. The only time I like it is if you roll the dice, then design your character around that. Personally only works with one shots as well

Nice! Often what you call "crosstalk" comes from soemone being slow to react, act or get somthing done. Then others start doing..something while they are really waiting no?

I really appreciate no cross talking.

DM of 10 years, great video guys. I love "new dm" videos, always more to learn

Played my first session last week had how the characters meet all mapped out only for the first person to instantly turn around walk out of the building I planned and rob the next door baker

i am an old DM; I started with the D&D basic books in the 1981 (yes the red one) and then got into advanced and went on from there, and am trying to get into it again but i think if you think you a an expert you have lost the plot but if you constantly think well what can learn here you learn so much

It surprises me that you consider barbarians and fighters to be the overpowered damage dealers of the group... I've always felt like it's the casters

Why do I feel like bro on the left does not know the rules for material components? Also sad that the component pouch wasn't mentioned. "You can just make it so you need a spellcasting focus to cast it" - that leaves the player with only one solution, if their focus is taken away. Even if you do not require your players to actively collect them, it helps a lot with believing the world is real.

Nah,play a grunt with telepathy. (Either one level of Aberrant Mind, or take the feat). Then have your grung talk, and/or act like Animal from the muppets, but have his telepathic speech be perfect, posh common.

1. D&D is a game about archetypes. Everything is an archetype, and thus has tropes and conventions that it falls into. If you don't like that style of play, or prefer to be able to build into anything, then perhaps the game system isn't for you. A point buy system, like GURPS for example, would be more your speed. 2. DMG is good, but half baked. Many of the systems put forth feel incomplete, or like they needed further iteration on their design. Encounter design, for example, needed a few more passes. 3. Wildshape is debilitating, and offers little more than flavor and some utility (size change, and fly/climb/swim speed, as well as an hp bump). A Druid is primarily a spellcaster, and wildshape completely cuts that out of available options. You have to pick one or the other, and it really kills the class imho. 4. Different races are good or bad, depending on a) the flavor of game you want to play, and b) the world you're playing in. If you're trying to play a gritty political low magic/low fantasy setting, yes a rabbit person is going to completely break that immersion. But if you're playing in an "Alice in Wonderland" type whimsical or nonsensical setting or feel, then they're enhancing to the experience.

Rolling stats came form first edition of DnD where stats didn't matter, 5e is balanced around point buy for example the fighter or the rogue, and a party does more damage when they are working together then any single character.

Lots of good points here, i’d love to have some longer episodes to listen to, though i know that’s more taxing on you guys to sit down for an hour vs cutting it into several videos. I think i railroad quite a bit, i know where the players have said they want their stories to go so ill make sure that the things that need to happen for that to work happen. That being said, it’s always disguised as choice. back to your example with the hallway and locked doors, there could be 4 doors in there, but the first 2 they check are locked and all 4 go to the same location until they decide to check out more than one door. railroading and guiding the session are two different things, but i think that the former gets a bad rap; it’s one thing to straight up say “no, we’re going here because i prepped it” and another thing to guide the story where it needs to go. You could call them both railroading

Literally going in for my first proper dnd game in like an hour, and I feel like I’m cramming for a test lol. Thanks of this!

On respecting the DM: 100% but if you are a DM who bends or breaks the rules regularly you are a weak DM. Now and then, fine. House rules sure have a few. But if you are regularly breaking the rules.... why are you playing this game? Find a better game that suits what you want to do. Collaboration: WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR MY "FRIENDS"? Cross talk: Yuuup.

This is a CRIMINALLY underviewed video. I love this debate, and I love the reasonings behind both sides of it. I am personally a pro spell components DM and player. WOW this channel is dope. You got a subscriber out of this guy

Generally, point buy us way better. Systems like Fantasy Hero allow the creation of exactly the characters you want to play. You can also gain more points by buying Flaws. Unique characters with psychological or physical problems, what's not to like?

Really, holding up pens to indicate you're uncomfortable, in a fantasy role playing game?

My DM uses passive perception constantly, but lately hasn't had us do any skill checks. Leading up to my first forray as a solo dm in my own homebrew, I find myself taking note of everything I don't like about his style. I feel bad about it, but I don't have any other opportunities to observe another dm in game.

No hourglasses? I can highly recommend getting 6 for different times. I use one for 30 sec, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes and when my players are stuck on a riddle with time constraint, I can whip out a 10 minute hourglass and let them see squirm!

Our last d&d session I started using ambience music with a Bluetooth speaker and added the condition rings and it was really well received. The music actually kept people engaged and bumped up the pace. Of course I was using KZbin videos so when ads would come on it would pause so it kind of serve to start an encounter but then it faded away so that we could focus and we didn't even notice the music stopped so I kind of liked it starting off setting the tone and then fading away as we started going through the encounter.

This isn't even just good for DMs, this is some advice I can take for other creative endeavors! Really awesome and insightful advices!

All Attack Acton make an attack but not all make an attack are Attack action.

I can't believe how good quality and how much work you put in for your small amout of subs❤

The characters do not live in a vacuum Simply call the new character some else they know.

At :40 -ish, you describe a study that it forms memory the same way you would with real experiences, can you link the study? I found three but I dont think it's as you described. A 2018, 2019 and 2020 study.

I remember playing D&D 40 years ago. Everyone around me bought minis left and right whereas I bought i think Ral Partha Wizard Stdy furniture and a tavern furniture. My pieces got used the most as the furniture and props like that gave the theater of mind over the exotic stuff today like rooms and walls. We used the Chessex Battlemat then and loved the size and flexibility of it with minis. I did have a cardboard dungeon tiles and the battlemat just worked better for our group. I would revisit the furnitures or even rocks for outdoor prop.

Solid video. Returning back to D&D after decades. Love your audio quality and great voice work!

Great video 👍

Back in the 1e days of my youth, I would have been *horrified* if I'd seen someone putting stickers on their PHB or DMG, but 5e is such a disposable low-grade product now, I'd say you actually increased both its utility and its value. Even tho this may be the last physical edition, it's still not worth trying to be precious with. (Besides, the rules are free.) Tho tbf I doubt the books themselves are as fragile now as they were bitd. My first copy of Unearthed Arcana, for example, fell apart at the spine almost before I could read thru it. And my first DMG (the orange spine) had the same problem, only it lasted a bit longer before totally collapsing into loose sheets.

What the hell is with people thinking that having "flaws = fun"? When did this become a thing...more when did this become a thing that people feel the need to push onto other players. Cant you just make and play a character you enjoy and allow other people to do the same?? Really...lol. This whole characters need to be flawed is BS...not saying they might not have a low stat but if they dont does not make it a worst character. At least not to his/her player and really its THEIR character.

The arcane focus rule was added to the game specifically because most tables don't want to spend any time on the lame material components system. There's no consistency in the rules, no real way to account for it directly, and no one wants to rp gathering components. The only time it ever matters is the rare -- inconsistent -- case of a spell that is restricted, not by level, but by the arbitrary application of an expensive component. The D&D material components rules are a bigger mess than the old earth-centric model of the solar system full of epicycles to account for how wrong the premise is. It would be cool for flavor if that was all it was for, or useful for spell control if it applied equally to all spells, but as it is, it is the worst kind of rule, one that is comprised almost entirely of exceptions. And the official "fixes" are just putting patches on the patches, not actually fixing anything. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it would start with stripping away the current "system" and replacing it entirely with something sensible and consistent. If you want to nerf the characters, stop playing 5e. Or at least stop playing it RAW.

Such an incredible idea there with pens, thank you!

This was an amazing conversation. Amazing advice. Surround yourself with good people, but even that isn’t enough. You’ll always get a little better.

I'm 2 years late but still loving your content!! Thanks

IM SO EXCITED, I’ve been playing for a couple of years now and am actually starting a business with a bunch of other ladies, several of which watch Dimension20, listen to Naddpod, have made characters for fun but haven’t played in a campaign before, so I’m FINALLY planning my first campaign for them and I’m so excited! I’m planning a “backyard critter campaign” where everyone is playing little forest critters who play in an epic story of finding fortitude, solace, and companionship in the mask of tiny critters in a vast expanse of…. Suburbia? Idk still working through it but either way, v stoked

I think the entire concept of a "problem player" is one of the most toxic aspects of the dnd community, people use the label and simplify others behavior based on what they perceive. In truth all a dm (new or otherwise) has to do to remedy the situation is communicate. You describe the identifying process as centered on behavior, and yet seem not to gather that all behavior has a cause and a purpose. Instead of shrinking away in fear of people's behavior, it's healthier to address them as a person (separated from their behavior) and find out what's causing the behavior in the first place. Additionally I completely disagree that playing dnd is a skill, I think to most it's a form of entertainment (and by extension media.) And you wouldn't say watching a film takes skill, would you? In general it's my opinion that there's too much pressure put on storytelling within dnd campaigns. What I mean by this is the player's involvement in the narrative, all contribute and all have their own preferences and passions. This is often talked about as a problem, but I don't think it is at all?? Dnd has more than enough creative space (or room) to be collaborative under agreed conditions. TLDR: anyone can play dnd, no player is a problem, dnd is something innately shared and the over pursuit of various things (realism or character motivations or detailed setting or any specific style) is what hurts the game most. Collaboration is give and take, and is founded on communication. Without the fundamentals in place you can call anything you like a "problem" and leave it up to others, as if you have no responsibility as a member of that dnd group or party. To any dm or player that has read this far; before deciding something or someone is a problem, talk to them as an equal, ask them questions and get them involved! That way THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS!!!!

No. Problem players can be dicks from day one. You need to tell them to change or piss off.

i am not a new dm but was lookinh for a guide to dnd since i mostly played cyberpunk red, an yet this video was useful

🔥🔥🔥

Don't fudge. Don't balance. Telegraph danger and allow running away.

can you say how many times the red pen has been used

Independent of opinions, I like how you guys affirm and build on what the other says. You've obviously put a lot of work into fostering healthy discussion.

I know I'm late to the party, but i just wanted to say thank you for making this video! You make extremely pertinent points and discuss such a controversial topic in a very productive manner. Right now, I'm working on a homebrew system for my table to help define the difference between race and culture. This is most likely going to be by making race more akin to describing the biology of the PC and culture working to describe the geographical/societal upbringing of the PC. It's still a WIP and might get outmoded by whatever the WotC have planned in the near future; however, I'm impatient and want to rectify this dissatisfaction at my table ASAP. Also, since you posted this video, have you reworked races at your table at all? I'm curious to see how your view of this problem has affected how you play

Thank you for sharing! I'm a new DM I've been wanting to gather my friends up to play but I've been afraid to mess it up and bore them. This video had good advice thanks so much

I'm my world, race MATTER. I wrote a whole thing of what race hates the other (in game lore why they hate one another) or which races likes one over the other. And some races can't go into some Classes or even subclasses. Yes I lost a lot of players doing this. But the ones that stay... I can't not tell you how much the story and interaction flow out.

The argument for rolling was Terrible no offense. Point buy characters have flaws, and if they don’t? They still do! Because they have nothing they’re good at or only good at one thing.

To the simplest question, "What class is Gandalf?" or "What class is Conan?" three different people will give three different answers. Classes are too big a brick in the character building system.

I wish I found this video a year ago so I could show it at every session zero since I’ve been running games

You don’t have to balance well. Sometimes the players need to know when to be careful or when to retreat.

Rolling for stats is a relic from old Dnd when there weren't really builds. Your stats informed the shape of your character and you got to know them as you played. Check out OSE to see what I'm on about. That is a game where you roll your stats and decide what class your going to be based on your best rolls and then you start building a mental image of them. 5e is not that game. At all. DnD has since evolved into a game where building your character is half the game. It invites to you come up with with a rich charater concept that is ripe to adventure and develop. Rolling stats can fuck with this in many ways. First of all, a 20 in anything out the gate is broken, not just mechanically but conceptually. A character with a 20 in strength is stronger than a troll or Strahd. A starting level 1 adventuer. Not only is this busted but it mean that player no longer has to worry about using ASI on their primary stat, part of their mechanical development is just done already and they can just load up on feats, not balanced but also not rewarding. If a fighter or Barb starts at level 1 with 20 or even 18 it will be a long time before the rest of the party can do anything interesting in combat besides watching their super strong team mate cut all their enemies to ribbons. I've been that level 4 Goliath Barbarian with 20 in strength and GWP. It was funny initally how strong I was but I soon volunteered for a nerf after making the rest of my party irrelevant onlookers in combat. The game was not made for that to happen. 5e gives different amounts of ASI to different classes for a reason, there is an intended stat curve that rolling completely obliterates. Fighter and Theives are supposed to have higher base stats that the other classes, it's how the game was made both mechanincally and flavourfuly. Maxing your core stat is something you should want to work towards and get excited about, not something you can do with a lucky roll and a racial bonuss before session 1. Furthermore you don't need to be over powered or underpowered for a game to ruined. You just need to be uneven. If everyone is overpowered thats fine, if everyone is underpowered thats fine, but rolling means what is a good spread or a bad spread will be determined by what other people get, there will always be a disparity and that disparity between players is what feels bad. Do you know how much it sucks to be Bard with less charisma than the fighter who rolled really well, or the wizard less intelligent than the ranger? 5e has builds and optimization built into it, not just for gameplay but for rolepay too, what your character is good and bad is informed by their origins and informs their personailty, you can't randomise the stats but not the story behind them. All these 'solutions' or 'fixes' for Rolling just seem like patch jobs, the more you try to balance rolling you might as well just use point buy. Either go random or go balanced. I love rolling for stats in games designed for that, particulalry old school games with high fatality and frequent character turn over. 5e just isn't that kind of game. Point buy lets you use your stats as a paintbrush to form the basis of your character concept. If you want to be really good at some stuff you have to be bad at others, it forces you to choose strengths and weaknesses, it leaves room for others in the party to shine and form a team that covers all it's bases. You are always capped at 15 which neatly prevents maxing your main stat without a minimum of two ASI. There are no such creative or strategic limitations from rolling unless you mean scrapping or reworking your original character idea because the dice said something different.