Campaign Diary || Dael Kingsmill

After my TED video about my custom DM screens a lot of you wanted to see campaign diaries from me ala Matt Colville. Well, that almost killed me, and after four attempts this is what we're left with.
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Twitter: @DailyDael
Instagram: @daeldaily
Facebook: / monarchsfactory
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[@BeyondtheRecord]

WAITTTTTT I just realized that monarchs factory is a pun on "kings mill" THIS WENT OVER MY HEAD FOR SUCH A LONG TIME!

[@pivs]

WAIT HOLD THE FUCK ON

[@KBTibbs]

I think I speak for everyone when I say... Extreme Canoe Baseball needs a demonstration video.

[@MonarchsFactory]

I would be delighted to oblige! (Also the other day, without knowing, a couple of my players suggested we should have a game of it or of river jousting)

[@syntacticalcrab]

Also those maps are DOPE.

[@jgrayson1940]

Yay Dael! I wanna hear more about you putting in more work than is neccesary! :P More maps, more ridiculous handouts! :)

[@MonarchsFactory]

Wait til I get round to telling y'all about the first city the party will encounter - I've had it mapped out in detail for a good while now.

[@saetharion]

Yes! Love the video, love the story. From what you've described about all the little things you're doing with the tokens and the maps, you're going that extra distance to make the game more exciting and engaging. Some really lovely ideas!

[@TonyRobetson]

it's always been harder for me to get really immersed into dnd games. i think your use of great visuals is awesome. the map idea is genius, makes it exciting to explore. the idea for using props is pretty cool too, probably makes it easier to stay in character

[@mikegould6590]

Okay, amazing. My daughter has a Gnome Barbarian named Jinx. My Thöll campaign started in the Halfling village of Pumpkin Grove which was near a swamp... Very strange. And when it comes to starting campaigns, the single biggest problem for DMs is over planning, so don't get too down on yourself. If your players had fun, it's all good. Please note I am totally stealing the boat token idea, and likely water jousting. THAT, girl, is GENIUS. Great job! Keep it up!

[@TheJakeRoboz]

You have a real knack for releasing your videos right as I'm falling asleep. Of course I have no self control so wake up and get some more Dael in my life then and there. Once morning rolls around I watch them again and realise all I had missed during my stupor the night before. It's two videos for the price of one.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Haha, sorry! Usually I'm uploading the video just when I should be falling asleep, too, if it's any consolation.

[@StubbornProgrammer]

Good heavens you worked hard on that campaign! You could have a side job working for D&D magazines (are those still a thing?) with that kind of detail. Also: Your techno-pagan curse isn't all bad, you'll be safe in a robot apocalypse, so there's that. You might get stuck being humanity's last hope though, so I hope you're cool with that. XD

[@MonarchsFactory]

I will accept this burden on behalf of my species.

[@Iamawsomeazing]

I don't mind extra long dnd videos, I love it when people get really in depth about their campaign's

[@scienceguy8888]

Oh this sounds like it could turn into quite the campaign! Keeps us informed Dael!

[@MonarchsFactory]

Aye aye, captain!

[@MIIVI006]

This campaign sounds and looks really fun. All the effort you've put in really shows I hope it all goes mostly to plan.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Cheers! Thankfully, right now, there's not too much of an overarching plan to be thrown off course. I'm sure one will begin to form some time, but for now I'm kind of running with just a few adventure's plots planned at a time.

[@BakaGaijin66]

Props to your props

[@scruples101]

I just started my first Pathfinder campaign with my friends. I really enjoyed how your campaign is going. I love all the creativity that went into your campaign!

[@MonarchsFactory]

Ooh, have fun!

[@alexanderlundberg5644]

This makes me excited to try some more role-playing sometime soon. And those maps were really awesome.

[@xanthippepink485]

OHMYGIDDYAUNT, I should not have left this in my watch later playlist for as long as I did: THIS WAS FANTASTIC. Ever since I discovered what D&D was, I've been obsessed! I love playing so much, which was somewhat of a surprise to myself, being the very introverted & usually quiet sort I am. But just as much as playing, I adore hearing people tell their stories, and talking with people about their own adventures! So, I must say I can't wait for MOOOOOORE OF THIS! 8D Hopefully the techno-curses will wear off soon & you won't have so much trouble. xD YEA!

[@Aravan242]

The amount of work you put into setting up the world is INSANE. I always wing it a lot more than i should as a DM but we always boil out a story we want

[@Aravan242]

Also Awesome. In case that didn't come through.

[@ethankriegel5957]

So many fantastic points in this video and channel, and I never would have found it if I weren't running a Pathfinder game. Dael, you are an inspiration to a new DM in your planning and commitment to game preparation and a joy to watch.

[@graycow1]

you need to make this a regular thing and make a playlist of all the videos...otherwise wonderful. new to the channel and i am just loving it.....started with your Warhammer 40k mythos videos and now am watching the normal mythology stuff and rediscovering my love of mythology

[@JakubPoniatowski]

Amazing update! It sounds like you are having a great time as a DM. I am really impressed by the map and the effort you are putting into the world! Great job and I can't wait to hear more!

[@lordcandjk]

I really liked the individual map idea!

[@migmig360]

more D&D ^^

[@ninegreydaisies]

Love all the props & maps you made!

[@JM-oo5ko]

Congrats! Seems like you had fun and that's what it's all about!

[@CharlesStacyII]

Sounds like an awesome game Dael. Can't wait to hear more.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Thanks, Charles!

[@geeveelution]

Oh my gods the individual maps with fog of war you are a genius and also insane this is amazing

[@MonarchsFactory]

My favourite part is that I've told them not to show each other their individual maps and a few of them have different names for the same place. I'm looking forward to the day they discover that Tir Antor, the grand port city of Caeleryn's history books, is the location marked on Addie's map as Drowntown.

[@geeveelution]

Oh that is so good! Love it!

[@DeusViator]

Yay for all the DnD! Definitely more videos on this. I finally managed to play my first game the other week and it was fantastic. Playing a Dwarven sorcerer and we basically got into town and the city got surrounded by frost giants that we had to fight off. I then attempted to jump on an NPC's warhorse, enlarged it which then scared the horse so it bolted and chucked me off so there was a giant bloody warhorse running through the city whilst giants are throwing rocks in. And to finish things off I got the HDYWTDT on the lead giant by fireballing his legs through a hole in the gate on the run. Oh and also threatened a barman that i'm certain is gonna backfire on me later. Basically, just DnD is great.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Ahaha, amazing!

[@RaibDarkin]

Just discovered this and it's going onto my favorites. Good video, it does rather remind of Matt Colville, but I also felt like this would be a really enjoyable campaign. Your setting seems to have a lot of depth (my favorite type ) and unless I'm mistaken you're actually a good writer. Your people seem to have reasons to be how they are and those reasons are reflected in history. Kudos to you.

[@yarb7652]

Oh my I want to watch one of your campaigns Relics and Rarities style

[@dracoargentum9783]

Dude, your props are awesome!

[@nwavette]

Wow. I'm going to move to Australia so I can be in your campaign. Best DM eva.

[@gambent6853]

River jousting sounds fantastic! Your setting sounds like a ton of fun, and very creative. Definitely going to be stealing bits from it.

[@durrutimachado284]

You rock! your vids are so much fun! Consciessness of what you did right or wrong is something that shows you are becoming a better DM o/

[@haileenicolehenson4803]

I'm just getting into DnD and I really love your videos about it, I'd love to see more!!

[@dreddbolt]

Good gods... I have to get back into DnD at some point or another.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Firstly, you are the best thing going on youtube for D&D advice and inspiration. Secondly, I'd like to rip off your mechanics for festival mini-games. Please make this easy for me by making a video about them. Thirdly, thanks so much for making the videos you've made.

[@daviddevine6737]

The fog-of-war world map is super cool. I hate that I love it...*sigh* more work for me. Also I'm stealing the Competition games idea!

[@MatthewFinchest]

Nice shout out to Aunt Pol.

[@Smurfomancer]

Just a tip from one DM to another. If you want to be a little less dependent on getting combat in your combat, you could forget about XP entirely and do level-ups based on the story alone.

[@MonarchsFactory]

I think this particular group might just enjoy combat in their game, which is totally fair. I might wind up doing that level by story thing regardless, though, quite like that.

[@michaelsommers2356]

I am very impressed, though not at all surprised, at the effort you put into creating your world. Eons ago, when I played, one of us would take a few sheets of graph paper and whip up a dungeon, and the others would go in and whack monsters and grab loot until there were no more monsters or loot.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Which sounds like plenty of fun as well!

[@michaelsommers2356]

We had fun, all right, but maybe only because we didn't know any better. I expect it would have been even more fun with the kind of story you created, but none of us was much of a storyteller. I think the most fun I had as a player was when I completely ruined what was supposed to be the ultimate challenge in a dungeon. We, the party, came to a room with a dragon sleeping on its hoard. I think the DM had expected this to be an insurmountable challenge. However, I put on my flying ring and invisibility cloak, floated over to the dragon, and slit its throat before it had a chance to wake up. The DM was _really_ annoyed.

[@Shinimegami23]

Wow, we're going through the beginning GM journey at the same time! I just started running an Exalted game for my friends. I was worried because it was my first time running, and I jumped into the deep end by running a somewhat harder game system. :D They all seemed to enjoy the first session though. Hopefully I can keep it interesting.

[@MonarchsFactory]

We can do it!

[@TheMimiSard]

I find myself wondering if Polnedra's (is that spelling right?) player ever read the Belgariad and Mallorean series by David Eddings? Because that name sounds very inspired by some of the characters from that series - Polgara the sorceress aunt of the main character Garion, and by extension Polgara's mother Poledra, and Ce'Nedra, Garion's eventual wife, and by extension the god of her homeland, Nedra.

[@MonarchsFactory]

That IS how it's spelled and wow! I'll have to inquire because it seems like you're probably right with that mountain of evidence!

[@TheMimiSard]

MonarchsFactory Yeah, David Eddings was kinda the fantasy books I grew up on. The Begariad and Mallorean were what I read through grades 9-10.

[@comradeshmoo]

+1 for David Eddings! Some thoughts: -I'm positive that the yuan-ti are directly inspired by the Nyissans and specifically Queen Salmissra. Definitely worth reading Queen of Sorcery before running those baddies! - I'm pretty sure that, whether they know it or not, every D&D rogue PC ever is trying to be Silk. He's certainly my touchstone for everything a rogue/thief/spy should be. - relevant now: Matt Coleville is a huge fan of Eddings, too! He stole the Murgo gold for his home game.

[@MrRorosuri]

i love swamp towns in fantasy

[@MonarchsFactory]

So do I - was planning to run something beginning in a fantasy swamp town for years before this ever happened

[@blockprime3006]

An actual use for true strike

[@littlemikey46]

I wish I could play games with you, but sadly I'm from Perth. You seem like you'd be loads of fun to play with.

[@nymalous3428]

1:48 Polnedra? Isn't that a character from the Belgariad? By David Eddings?

[@dane7961]

It is very similar to Poledra, Belgarath's wife, and Ce'nedra, Belgarion's wife.

[@nturtaneme]

Great vid^^

[@marachime]

I think I might steal your idea to make campaign diaries. They seem really fun. I just need some video editing software >w

[@GazpachoTabletop]

Damn those techno barbarians of ancient Terra

[@chucklesthecrustyjuggler]

Damn you sound like one of the greatest dms to be blessed to play under

[@gartsur84]

wish I could play with you guys, you sound like an awesome DM.

[@michs342]

Not much of a basball fan, but Extreme Canoeing Baseball sounds like an interesting game.

[@MonarchsFactory]

It's certainly more dynamic! Haha

[@earganon]

From the video it seemed you were playing with real life maps (which looked great). But Dael, I would like to recommend checking out an online service like Roll20. It makes campaign/map building so much easier on the DM and includes so many quality of life options for the players as well.

[@ivarkrabol]

Ok, so I thought I was being clever and original when I planned this exact session as the introduction to my new campaign. Either we're both clever and original, and this is just the exact sort of thing that clever and original people would conjure up, or it wasn't as clever and original as I thought. Humph. It's literally the exact same thing, though. All the characters are, for various reasons, in a small, waterside town where there's a festival in honor of some god, and the town is holding various competitions. The competitions are designed to give the players a chance to show of what kinds of characters they've made. At the end, the mayor (actual mayor in my case) invites the characters to his office, and asks if they can help him with some problem that he has. It's almost creepy.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Let's go with the "we're both clever and original" option, haha

[@cornish_beachlover]

Oh Dael please can there be a campaign to get Extreme Canoe Baseball recognised as an Olympic Sport

[@MonarchsFactory]

I would love that so much, can you imagine the horror on the rowers faces?

[@turnipslop3822]

Please elaborate on Extreme Canoe Baseball...

[@cameronf5893]

Polnedra!!

[@Dresnat]

I'm totally stealing some of those ideas for my own campaign. I'm sorry, but that is your curse for being so creative.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Go for it! If you want some more detail on anything let me now. And if you work out way better ways of handling any of it also let me know.

[@UnfortunateFreakNo1]

More of these and longer. Ugh solo player antics. I'm a huge fan of starting campaigns (and sessions when possible) in medias res. Single player stuff can be fun, but I'd try and time that for late at night when players want to goof off anyway or like a food break so not everyone needs to be fully engaged at the same time.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Thanks for the tip, I think you're exactly right. I'll keep that in mind for the future :)

[@seb_dax]

Hello! Could you... elaborate what your recording equipment ist? =) I'd be mighty grateful! Kind Regards

[@hailthegoer777]

Cute!

[@oliviaemily5302]

Please come campaign with us!

[@MonarchsFactory]

Do you play?

[@oliviaemily5302]

Bren runs all different campaigns for us all the time, I swear you guys have the same above and beyond gene :D

[@NickySayahSina]

You're a much better DM than I am.

[@PantsStatusZero]

Does techno-pagan mean hacker? Because if so, magick is real!

[@Alefiend]

So he's part Mayor and part Sheriff, huh? He should make up his own title-the Meriff! No, I didn't steal it from Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel. YOU stole it from Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel. :p

[@joshtownsend8807]

sounds like you shoulda given your inactive players control of the NPCs you were having trouble wrangling

[@stikibunn]

You know you should stream D&D sessions on Twitch like Critical Role. It'd be fun to watch. You might have to get new players if your players are less keen to be on the internet...

[@stikibunn]

Although I know that being in Australia can make twitch streaming a little difficult.

[@miri64]

Dael, bring your camera to a camera-repair person. I think it might be broken.

[@MonarchsFactory]

I'm wondering whether I need to upgrade because it's getting a little old... But then again, I think it's mostly one of the batteries that's the problem. And cameras are spensive. It's be fine, it's be fine.

[@supermoose7994]

Gork and Mork? :3

[@marachime]

#ExtremCanoeBaseball

[@scottsmartky]

A half-orc Cleric? Why do I keep seeing Ash from Army of Darkness? "Did you say the words exactly?" "Well, I got most of the words right." Orcs aren't known for their elocution.

[@syntacticalcrab]

I ABSOLVE YOU OF YOUR SINS, MY CHILD! GO FORTH AND TECHNOLOGISE!

[@warriorwolf4600]

Who here is Australian