Would be an interesting premise for a campaign- instead of "You meet in a tavern", it's "You meet during jury selection"

I do like the Frontier aspect & not being all "Lawful Good". But I personally don't like the Grittiness or other excessive lawlessness aspects. Although, I do like long coats/dusters:) Interesting video like usual though.

This is GM level 10+, for players still getting usd to GMing, this is way too complicated, it is far easier to start out linnearly and throw in some various things as they come.

Nobles traveling with a jousting tournament, then there was monthly market day, or tax day. Then went to hold Court of Fools, .. were locals and travelers bring Silly Faux false charges at each other, then some random pull charge, reason why you did it, and punishment. You get a catch phrase crime, and you are judge by how entertaining the abi lib tale is. Example, you are accuse of witchcraft and causing duck eggs to hatch cows that put out goat milk. The court Wants to Know the reasons why. Witchcraft wasn't something to laugh silly jokes about, until it was fun to mock the belief of witches, or mock those who believed in harmful witchcraft spells. . Peasant women stop being accuse of witches when they called the names of noble women or church leaders. Political rivals and cancel culture is nothing new. The .. other .. can burn. There was a stories about a person how had hiccups, they hiccup so bad that bull frog, toads and yes, even geese sang crip intune and dance on their back legs with arms/wings weaving in the air. Then you get the scene of village men dancing like geese with sheets flapping off their arms. Familiar with ballet, the Dance of the Cranes ?

Courtrooms, .. verses Peire Masson, .. half an hour of strait to the point plots. Attention spans of veterans ? Law And Order, hour of over emotional lawyers .. to me at least after years of Star Trek watching Vulcans. Judge Judy, .. learn at a young age to avoid people that show up in her court, they cost you money in the short/long term. Star Trek: The Next generation. " Drum Head, " what happens when you start chasing paranoia for spies not there. Then you got to like TNG Klingon law courts. I love Klingon lawyer from DS9. .. deep sigh, .. Night court ? Judge Harry ?

So what was the verdict!?

Interesting ideas, though it also depends on the Campaign & Setting. Instead of a more modern Trial by Jury/in a Courtroom it could be more logical (fit better in the setting) to have it be a "Trial by Combat", especially because the traditional view with that historically was that if innocent God would intervene or allow them to be victorious. Since in D&D the God(s) tend to be actually active in the Multiverse & visibly doing things, it could be extra plausible that a Deity could intervene or guide/aid the person and grant them victory. 2:35

I suspect this should be considered more for urban based adventuring and at higher level as part of the diplomacy, politics and fighting by other means that should be more often the player characters intiating. At lower level in the wilderness it might be better to leave it as a threat for off the rails banditry and abuse of villagers but maybe plot hooks for them to clear a favored npc through actions or quests, etc. For me the ordinary Bandit is just a peasant mostly robbing merchants and travelers with a price on their head (but not identified as the locals) by the Lord so a moral ambiguity for PCs who can turn some coun but alienate the common folk and Brigands being the bad guys everyone wants killed for gold but invoke their patrons as enemies that include other Lords or a villain, a guild, etc. In that one might bring thrm back alive for trial and that might reveal more depth. A fast beheading of the brigand leader who actually just wirks for the Lord to terrorize the populace is a plot. The shametrial if a poor sympathic peasant bandit might stir a revolt!

I have had great fun using Tribunals to rule over a court (3 or 5 judges). Add some political intrigue and shifting alliances, and for players that like Machiavelli maneuvering, it can be awesome. Add appeal directly to the Duke / Prince / King / Bishop, and a sprinkling of Quid pro Quo. The opportunities are endless.

Not all dungeons are literally dungeons. Some are strongholds, lairs or even giant puzzles.

I usually have a general perception to find a secret door at a few points higher than an Investigation of the wall section (10 ft.). Once detected, the secret door can be broke down (with unknown AC and HP, or opened with a INT roll. If the PCs destroy a seret door, it remains that way unless someone rebuilds it (unlikely).

I'm a big fan of Fantasy Ground. The software, support (both here and on discord) and community is all top notch. They have sales often that allows customers to save big money. The new update is great.

I gave you a Like for effort, and just listen to your video as background noise while playing Bejeweled. Big difference from narrating a video compared to explaining software use. Your voice was easy on the ears, an hour passed before I knew it. Next hour long video ? Find the missing cat.

wizard's really should hire you to do GM videos that you can download with each purchase lmao

Will there be more content to the last map ?

Your old mate Daniel won’t be happy with your 3rd tip 😊… I remember his video advising 1st time GMs that’s it’s easier to create their own adventure from scratch!!!

your videos should be include with the module

Once I signed up for a new campaign at a game store (so no one knew each other) and when the GM got there, the GM had a new 5e book (might have been Descent into Avernus) and told us "I just bought this, Haven't opened it yet." Needless to say, no one came back. I don't think he was a new GM, but it wasn't a great way to start.

thanks, K.R. It's so hard to get some people to take the leap. Any advice helps.

Great video as always!

K.R. i know my first rant was long. (Still having morning coffee😅) but just let me say that im grateful for you content creators out there who take the time to get in front of the camera & share their knowledge & experience. Most of you all are genuine, honest & great to watch. Thats why i became a patron sir. Please keep doing what you're doing! 😃👍🏻🫡

K.R. i know this gonna sound cynical, & conspiracy theory.. Imo, WoTC is slowing phasing out DMs so their A.I. DMs can take over in the next 5-10 yrs. W/ the success of BG3 AND the fact they hired an Italian A.I. company AND how 2024 DnD rules are looking, it only makes sense to think this. 😮 Yeah, they're still selling books, but the trends are pointing in this direction. Ive been at this all my life & Im approaching 60. What we need as a community, are these new companies springing up. They will eat into the marketshare WoTC has but it wont be enuff to take them down. Our in-person game will be a very small market in 10 yrs. Maybe 1 day in the far future the pendulum will swing but not anytime soon. But as long as we have people like you who are taking their time to help new DMs there will always be hope!

Absolutely love your videos. I'm starting my first campaign as DM at the end of this month, going to be doing Dungeon of the Mad Mage!

Old school sand box of multiple characters for each player adventuring in different parts of the campaign map. Mimi game/ or side trek can be nothing more than a vermin hunt or find the lost sheep, boar hunt. Over the years you still have people looking for EPIC at low levels. Honestly the thing about ego and the sin of pride, learning how to just get over yourself, is a part of mature human development which is always lacking in the general population. My first game shop was at the right time & place during the late 1990's, .. Nintendo 64 Zelda Ocarina of Time and Castlevania along with the gaming map book magazine. Then WotC3e rolled in. Castlevania took about 6 to 7hours to play through if you are well train and in the zone. Or a week of dice rolling. Redo the 2nd-level spell Rope Trick and you have a hallway storage closet save point. AD&D enchant item was a 6th-level spell , 13th-level spellcaster effect. WotC it could be made by a 3rd-level wizard.

First time GM compared to being a long time or Short time player trying to GM. Even while watching the other person .. try .. to run the game/story. Other than interrupting the game with negative or constructive criticism. Sometimes you have to tell the GM to back up, look at that given moment flow of speech while talking, canton rhythm. Look for the brief moment of being relax in talking and go with it. First Rule, learn to relax. One time the new GM had a stutter in talking, we smiled and look at him and asked, " Is that you, or you are now doing N/pc voice acting ?" Some lost their cool being made fun of, others laugh it off. Other than a few walkouts over the years, we sat it down and talked it out over a cigarette or two. Late teens or early twenties we are still trying to figure ourselves out. As for the young angry player/DM, we ask them to role play impop an N/pc yelling at a pig for not wiping its feet before walking into the pig stye. Their facial expressions were funny, ( .. what did you just ask me ?) then they went into voice play of six people complaining. It was bad back then, still bad now, players with a background of video game hack & slash or larp role playing with little combat trying to run Ravenloft .. gothic horror. Even with Vampire larp people still can't grasp gothic horror. Then you have Lovecraft, if the adventure doesn't in with TPK or some PC in a mental hospital then the game wasn't run correctly. Second Rule, if you are running a game for the first couple dozen times. Don't trying a plot line to make a lawful GOOD paladin or cleric have alignment change or fall from grace. It is just so F-cking RUDE ... Third Rule, running a game for other players the GM multiple times, Expect Criticism or nit picking or rules/actions. They are wargamers. They make random dice rolls off of charts so they don't have to decide everything off the top of their head. Or odds or evens , high vs low for yes or no action results. They are letting the new guy run so they don't have to make any hard desertions in gaming that night. I was .. trying .. to run a variant on hill giants in one game. A little bit too much N/pc giant action. So one player/GM asked IF the rest of the group wanted Him to take over and I could just relax from running the action and PC a hill giant ? The others chirp in that it was a group action and I/WE was trying to build an outline on to run a giant game. Ever step on a Lego ? After around 90minutes, I really needed a break from running the game and new players walked it. A very new guy to AD&D knew nothing about the game asked to play a Hill Giant. Other than Those Types of gate keepers that say what you can't play, That guy that asked to take over told the new guy, " Yes you can PC a hill giant, I help walk you through it." The others in the shop said we spent the pass two weeks trying to figure it out. Stander play, kill the giants. But humans being humans, we would have wipe out giants during the bronze age and by the time of the fall of Rome, no giant would be left a live by the time of the Ottoman empire invading eastern Europe. So how do you run survival horror of giants dealing with the next current wave of human hunters ? I was at the point of stuttering slurring my speech, so I was stuck with a bard/rogue where weird stuff happens. The spell scroll as written stated to cast the spell, after uttering the words You HAVE to Slap yourself in the face .. hard. Well the spell didn't quit worked as stated, so another player ask if they help Slapping my PC .. HARDER .. the spell will work better. Roll for random Chaos magic effect.

The rules are a guideline As long as everyone is happy and having fun, it’s all good

Excellent points in this video. As for a 1-Shot in case the main group in this scenario mentioned doesn't want to use Pre-Made Characters or create a new Character, have the classic "It was all just a dream". Perhaps; in the middle of a long-term campaign when the party is all asleep at an Inn/Safe Place, they all dream this 1-Shot Campaign. Then after they wake up when the main campaign continues it could be considered a fun occurrence, or when the regular GM has come back, they could maybe incorporate something from the 1-Shot Dream. Perhaps, each player gained a level "mysteriously" and as a side quest in the main campaign perhaps there is a "Dream Deity" running around either blessing people with good dreams or punishing them with bad dreams.

Kiss Keep it simple stupid That’s an old adage Yes preparing for a session is important. Yes have fun always

i only have 2 players and me

i make up it up i keep it simple, build

Hope it inspires the curious to try!

Keep it simple, build on your successes, learn from your mistakes, keep at it.

I wish I could remember my first time. I do remember that none of us knew much about the game. This would have been about 1978ish I think and it was AD&D.

This is good 👍 thanks for the idea❤

1:20 laughs in New England 🥲

main easy thing for a new dm, to thinkof most time all you need to do is pick a skill and think of a number conice someone lets go 14 sokmekind of soial skiil combat, just pik a number for enemys defense (Ac) or probably the most usefull thing ive learnt froim any ttrpg, . Blades in the dark we donty even need to say waht skill to use, more often than not instead of saying, ' Give me an Athletics check' ill say sure just roll for it and you tell me what skill your using, as long as it make sense why not, often i have aplayer use perfomance instead of acrobatics or deception,s and the=ir reasons was 'circus performances coud do the same , or acting is lying, so perfrormace would work sure, makes sense to me

Great vid sir Totally agree I came back to the hobby only in the last 3 years and due to the shear amount of games to look at and not really too keen on 5e i decided to write my own game. This helped me to refresh rules from my og game of adnd, and help me memorize my own games rules, very light comparatively, but still helped. Even still, i do have to have references to my own game guide as even durimg a game i may gap and forget something. Part of the fun of playing. Cheers Keep em rollin

Why buy a book then? Just make stuff up

RAW, rules as written. Yeah, back in the day of AD&D dealing with people, if there aren't written stats for a creature character class you can't do that. Along with limitations on multiclassing and non-human class levels. Even Ed Greenwood and Gayxz said/printed in the DMG, the rules are mere suggestions. I blame in on the Usa school system and religion, the book can only be interrupted a given way. If you are not doing this way, then you are wrong and can't play. Then WotC 3e D&D/Star Wars came out. Lol, how long does it take for a PC to gain 7levels or reach a 9th-level PC ? 4years for Luke Skywalker to become a 2nd-level Fringer/7th-level Jedi guardian. But his green lightsaber shows he is more a Jedi councilor than a guardian in nature. Problem from AD&D that went into WotC and now current D&D. Old editions had limitations on nonhumans in class development. If you do away with those limitation what makes humans .. special .. in the campaign setting. Or current problem as now everything is just a human with a video game skin throw on top of it. I blame it on religion, B.s. patriotic borderline nationalism and snowflake culture of everyone is .. special .. What makes being an American special than the rest of the world. Or the B.s. cancel culture where if you are not in this or that group with their group think, you are not .. special. It carries over into gaming involving .. rules, .. CANON .. limitations what you can or can't do. What .. FITs .. the campaign setting. AD&D, players couldn't Role play giants because there were NO printed books on rules for RPG giants. WotC3e everything nonhuman took hard hit to their skill points/ranks. To a point giants had no skill craft talent to create their own equipment. " Thats not how giants are listed in the monster manual, you can't do that ! " Gate keeping players to DM or back and forth. D&D or any RPG is abstract dice game, being a tactical wargame or not. In regard to tactical wargaming, over the years getting to hear, .. " .. THAT ... IS .. NOT .. HOW .. PHYSICS .. WORK ..!" Or the current Official edition .. canon .. book of the game setting doesn't allow spaceships to be built that way. So I just tell people, " I don't play games with teenagers under thirty years of age. I just turned 48 this month. How did I get .. old .. ? Hope you had a good weekend.

over 40 years as a GM. I reduced the character sheet to a 3×5 index card. I am running a mixed version of D&D (Ad&d, 3.5 and 5e). 6 months into the campaign and I have yet to bring a single rule book or module. and NO - I don't have the rules memorized. simply make a decision and keep playing!

Great video, K.R.. I run a lot of "Intro to" games for players new to a TTPRG system (as you know), and in those cases I feel like I should know most of the basics of the game, because the new players will ask me questions and I don't want to have to stopp and look up every answer. But I don't know all the rules, and ultimately i'll make reasonable rulings in games to facilitate the flow of the story.

Great video as always KR!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you bring a pragmatic wisdom that I appreciate so much. Thanks for another excellent video!

The average rule book of modern wargames sit between 25-40 pages. The only thing that makes the rules stick is playing the same game over and over again. You will eventually pick it up. Do you need to know them when you first get started? No but you should be picking them up after several plays. As far as TTRPGs go you absolutely need to know how the game works otherwise the game isn't going to function. You should know the ins and outs of the core mechanics of the game to run it. Obviously its nice if you know obscure rules that cover swimming or underwater combat but if you never do either you won't know that. I expect the game master to have a good grasp of the entire system and if not I am seeking another game.

'Pretty much the only rules a player needs to know are:' Modifiers & how they are created by the stat system your DM uses, the different Dice used & how/when to roll them, their character's racial benefits, and the general Social Contract rules. 'As a DM:' You just need to know those same things I mentioned above and the general/basic details of the campaign. Everything else as long as everyone is having fun & being respectful then there aren't any other rules that need to be truly known.

I only GM rules light games nowadays. I like them more and learning them is less investment and therefore it’s easy to try something new.

Haha, good old SPI - by the time you played Terrible Swift Sword and North African Campaign, you had earned your master's degree in War-gaming. D&D can easily at that point for me. The nice thing is that if you have a good group, everyone is responsible for their own skills and abilities and the GM is responsible for the overall flow. I think having a good grasp of Combat is essential.

A Player should know the mechanics and rules for playing, specifically including those for his character. The GM needs to know the rules enough to run an encounter, resolve things and make rulings that apporximate the intent of the rules. Outside of a simulation or tournament, the rulings should be enough, the narrative and immersion at the table more vital than looking for a rule and its precision.

The rules exist to support your roleplay. Really if you’re using rules it’s because you have run into something which can’t be determined through roleplay. Even in combat though roleplay should come first.

I lost one of my favorite characters to this module in the 80's. I'm still salty about it. Great module and love the analysis!