Be The Best D&D Player You Can

[@iremainteague5653]

Always happy to see a Bandit's keep video appear in my feed!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks!

[@devildog2023]

As a player: Take notes. It’s the single most important thing a player can do.

[@Pyromanemac]

What kind of notes? I struggle to balance recording literally everything and the "important" stuff.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@CaptCook999]

​@@Pyromanemacall kinds of notes. Rumors, places, names, items and treasures left behind, noises, voices, smells and anything else of note. Make notations on the maps if possible. Write it down on a card for the "XYZ Adventure" with a list of the characters perhaps for reference. Most anything could be important but even if it is not it could remind you of something else that is.

[@razorboy251]

Great actionable advice! A lot of advice (that isn't character builds) for players centers around writing a backstory, coming up with quirks, letting other players have the spotlight, engaging with other players' backstories, all of that. And that's not to say that that sort of advice isn't important, but it's not always actionable, and it's not always applicable to all kinds of RPGs.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure that is all good advice if applicable to the game you are playing

[@helixxharpell]

Great video Daniel! And I'm enjoying the discord as well! Players, ALWAYS, ask questions about the DM's world. They love that kinda stuff. It's what drives them to create for you. As a long-time DM, I love players who are always asking questions. I'm a "wordy" DM but when players ask me tons of questions that tells me they want to become fully immersed in my world.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@TheLoveTruffle]

As a DM I leave it entirely up to the players how they approach a fight, but as a player it feels a lot better to have other players who are willing to set up a fight so the party has tactical advantage more often than not.

[@sgtbigballs666]

But as a "solo player" I find that to be far more difficult, unless you're experienced

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@CaptCook999]

Lots of Great ideas here. As a player I try to use tactics and not just run in guns blazing. That's a good way to get your group killed. See a T intersection ahead? Send the thief ahead of the party to check for traps and peek around the corner. Listen for a round or two and see if they hear anything. Then make your plans to advance. And yes, a good marching order or 3 for different situations is ideal. My thieves usually got the job of guarding the Mage in the middle of the group or guarding the flank where they could also slink off into the shadows.

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@SpiritWolf1966]

I enjoy all of Bandit’s Keep videos

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@BX_Disciple]

I watched yours and Todd's playthrough and it was awesome. You did a great job and I figured it was because of all your DM skills...

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@krinkrin5982]

My players spend 80% of the game discussing the situation and making plans. It is always awesome when all of that pays off.

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes!

[@teseus6416]

Only top-notch advice, as usual. It's a bit unrelated but I was wondering if you'd be willing to make an episode about rumors. I always find it difficult to give out rumors without it seeming contrived, especially when starting out a campaign.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks! Rumors is a great subject, I started a video on that subject a while back - never published it - I’ll see if I can finish it up and make it live

[@justinblocker730]

Never split the party, cleric in the back, keep those fighters hail and hearty, wizard in the middle so they can shed some light, and never let that dang thief out of sight~

[@BanditsKeep]

Sounds right to me

[@sebastianstark8517]

As a GM, I prefer above all else players that are passionate and excited to play. We can deal with everything else from there. Long as they are motivated and participate to the best of their ability, I've never had a bad game. It's when players had bad attitudes, or the worst of all - apathy! that I've had problems.

[@Andre99328]

Your advice sounds familiar to me, like old school advice. That was meant in a positive way. We did it particularly when we played BECMI D&D in the 1980s. We were very good in running away 😅. Sending the thief as scout in a dungeon is not a good idea in general as you said. I played thiefs occasionaly, and at first it mostly went wrong when I scouted ahead. However, if the thief has darkvision and is not scouting ahead for more than two combat rounds for his team mates to come to his rescue, and if the thief is really good in move silently and hide it can work. Anyway, combat tactics is mostly forgotten nowardays and people often decide in favour of roleplay instead of tactics, which is sometimes fun, but mostly annoying, when PCs die because of that.

[@BanditsKeep]

My advice definitely is inspired by 1980s D&D 😊

[@SapphireRidge900]

I'll be showing this to my players! Thank you

[@BanditsKeep]

That’s awesome

[@raff3486]

It's a great day when there's a new video from Daniel.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@parrarowlife2196]

I run into an issue when I try to be a tactician as a player at my tables because the other players at the table don't know the system and are not strategic in combat. For example (in 5e), the other players may not realize that you need to be alongside another ally in order to get sneak attack damage as a rogue, but I know this fact. But If I tell the player to "move here to get sneak attack damage" they'll blindly listen to me, following my orders/suggestions, and never fully apply themselves to understanding the tactics of D&D combat. In this situation I would become the backseat player who tries to optimize combat and takes away the great ideas that the players would come up with on their own. So to avoid this, my solution is to not say anything at all. I instead only do whatever my character can do to the best of my abilities, and let the other players make their strategic mistakes that I know they would make. But this is only an issue seen with a couple of the tables I play at, some of the tables are mastermind tacticians and excel at wargaming combat, I don't have the issue of being a backseat gamer at those tables because the players at those tables are willing to be strategic. If I muddied my point and made it hard to understand, here's my issue: I think trying to be a strategic player in combat specifically is a walking on a thin line between taking away the fun from other players and being the best player you can be. Which side one would fall into depends on the players and the table you play at.

[@BanditsKeep]

Good point. I think the other option here is to have some out of game discussions (in a positive not critical manner) about how the group as a whole can do better with tactics.

[@macoppy6571]

Rumors; note taking; emeralds; follow green glow; goal Resources; inventory; surveillance; investigation Movement; marching order; dark vision and armor to the front; defend the rear Procedures; roles of exploration; get a rhythm Breadcrumbs; draw maps Combat; understand tactics; speed kills, slowness dies Skill checks; investigation; clues; suggest how the clue will help the party reach the goal; out of the box hacks Meme-able moments; support the team

[@BanditsKeep]

🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@erichsandwell-weiss5878]

Work with the DM on character creation. Bugbears are a great race in 5e but would they even be allowed in a human settlement? Is your death cleric really going to be invited to investigate disappearances at a rival monastery? Do we really need three different warlock multiclasses? Conversely DMs should be communicating what the expectations are. "It's curse of strahd guys. Probably want a cleric and a paladin." "It's dragonheist, you'll want as many skills covered as possible and a super strong face." Then smack anyone who says they wanna be a plasmoid barbarian.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@edwardklein1610]

Great advice! Thank you!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks!

[@Sageofthedustypage]

Very thoughtful vlog. I enjoyed it.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank you so much!

[@emilyburkert7061]

I've searched a long time for such a video!

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome, I hope it was what you were looking for

[@emilyburkert7061]

​@@BanditsKeepyes! I've always wanted to get better/more creative in decision making but there are not a lot of resources on how to get better there. It didn't touch on the aspect of investigation getting closer to a mystery and on the aspect of how to move/be creative as a spellcaster, but the advice for exploration helped a lot!

[@BanditsKeep]

Those are both great topics! I may have to explore them in the future

[@jimmybrook7119]

The reason there’s more DM advice on line is because being a player is easy, and DMing is hard. Relatively.

[@BanditsKeep]

Not so sure I agree with that.

[@jimmybrook7119]

@@BanditsKeep ok being a good player requires some acumen. Being a good GM requires so much more.

[@vehemetipolygoniae2197]

Been really enjoying this channel ever since i got into osr. Do you have more videos talking about dcc? It's currently my favorite osr game, so i would like some of your insight on it

[@BanditsKeep]

I’ve got a few actual plays but not much if anything about the system - what type of things are you interested in?

[@vehemetipolygoniae2197]

@@BanditsKeep I'd love to watch you design a level 0 funnel, or other dcc adventures

[@pickpocketpressrpgvideos6655]

Great video, now I have to go watch the Hexed Press one!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks! Todd does a great job

[@sleepinggiant4062]

Playing is pretty free form. How to play and have fun is very subjective, and if you are having fun, it's kinda right. Scouts are invaluable in D&D. I'm surprised to hear you say rogues should not do that. If your noise makers are up front, you won't surprise anyone unless you're kicking in a door. As long as the rogue is not too far ahead, the party can catch up quickly. As DM, I sketch out a quick map for the players. This saves huge amounts of time in communicating. Everyone doing a map sounds like a nightmare. Some things that make a great player, not in any particular order: Have fun. Listen and pay attention, even when it isn't your turn. Take notes, be polite, and share the spotlight. Be prepared (be familiar with your character's abilities). Think outside the box, don't make enemies a bag of hit points. Don't cheat. Don't waste game time arguing.

[@BanditsKeep]

Some good ideas there for sure

[@ForeverYoungKickboxer]

Sent this to my table!

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome

[@BScalise97]

This is a petty request, but can you please narrate your section titles? When I'm listening to the video while working, the sound pauses and then you start talking again without knowing the context of the next section. Then I have to go back to the window, rewind, and see what the section is going to be about. As always, great video.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks! Good point, let me see if I can do that - I don’t actually make the titles until the editing phase so I’d need to do a voiceover - I’m sure I can figure it out. I appreciate the support.

[@emveeay]

Makes me want to play and not run the game, for once.

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome

[@wowieowie225]

This comment was made to appease the KZbin algorithm. What's your favorite movie?

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice, Logan’s Run

[@joergpleumann3025]

There is no Sanctuary!