Engaging Your Players | Running the Game

[@RhysWalker2]

"if they care about their family, threaten that" - Matt Colville, 2021

[@commandercaptain4664]

Which is why, since the DM will find a way to threaten you anyway, you should at least control the creation of what gets threatened.

[@bluemonkey1886]

@@Madhattersinjeans don’t do the classic: I have no family so you can’t use them against me. The DM will find things to use against you, so create those family and friends you care about so it’s more dramatic and fun/frustrating? when it happens

[@Nechrome9]

When you realize he was talking about the player's family

[@Topo-Grigio1312]

Starting a Crime Family: Episode 1

[@sea_triscuit7980]

I laughed harder than I should have at this haha 🤣

[@wortrihanha5731]

"Take away (the murderhobo's) favorite retainer" Isn't that the plot of John Wick?

[@angryguy3000]

He was a retired murderhobo, but yes

[@matthewgallaway3675]

It works there

[@masondeross]

He was a landowning murderer, thank you very much.

[@Tiyev]

Actually... shoot, I guess I'm having a 'well, actually' moment, but actually, John Wick isn't a murderhobo. First, unlike a murderhobo, he lets NPCs that aren't hostile to him talk to him, he has conversations with other characters that are not his enemies, and if they continue to not be his enemies, he doesn't kill them. Second, he was previously a paid assassin, meaning he only killed people when requested and paid for by a client. Third, when he kills in the movies, it is for revenge, it has a purpose. He only kills people who work for the guy he is after, or later, the guys who are after him. He doesn't kill innocent people. Murderhobos often kill NPCs for no particular in-universe reason. They aren't paid to kill most, if not all, of the NPCs they kill, they aren't doing it to achieve some larger or long term goal, they just do it because they can, and their player is bored. Also, murderhobos don't have homes, they just move from town to town staying at inns, whereas John Wick has (or had?) a house, a permanent residence, that he continued to use, even after the first movie.

[@TrentR430]

@@Tiyev Hes a mass murdering hobo. Not killing literally everybody he meets does not change the fact that hes still a murder hobo. Your attempt to justify his mass murders is really pathetic. Murder hobos can have homes and a permanent residence why you think they dont is nonsense. Again you don't know what you are talking about. His reasons for killing are irreverent. Hes still a mass murderer who loves killing. The John Wick movie are about enjoying murder porn it's why I have watched it so many times, but don't try to pretend it anything other then what it is.

[@gmscott9319]

10:35 "...the Stone of Vincibility ... Who has it?" Vince. Obviously.

[@thisjust10]

Vince is really vincible

[@gcwyatt]

But it's inside Vince.

[@UncleGus007]

Vince and Billy Tee

[@ozzem]

The Stone of Vincibility, owned by legendary adventurer, Vince Ability

[@princessofglower3514]

Now I gotta make Vince Vaughn an NPC, wow

[@bookwormmaddy]

The longer his hair gets the more powerful he becomes

[@xlepermessiahxx4144]

He's on his way to super saiyan 3

[@Freshman01]

It beautiful. Who wouldn't want a head of hair like that.

[@evanscolton8281]

Like Samson

[@barlotardy]

Quest spell: Colville's Glorious Mane; Somebody flesh out the details..

[@jimgauth]

Who doesn't have a quarantine mop?

[@0_Body]

Viewer: How can I engage my players? Matthew: Have them learn your lore or perish!

[@mosesbentley9206]

Telling the edgelord he'll be shitting out his own entrails is my favourite piece of advice on this channel

[@josiahhopkins9188]

I swing by this video every year or so just for this.

[@burningflurber]

I do kind of love the reading that Bilbo risked life and limb because he was too polite.

[@dangermunkdelta]

A good tool for this is the clock, from Apocalypse World. It’s a list of six increasingly dire things that will happen, in order, if the players do not intervene. The first few items are warnings, the next few are issues in their own right, and the last few destroy things the players care about. When the story stalls or the players fail, the clock advances.

[@maratsverdlov3974]

I really like this. I've used something similar from the 3.5e sourcebook Elder Evils, which presents several apocalypse scenarios, and each one has that series of things that portend its coming, starting off relatively minor and then six months later anyone in the entire world who dies rises as a zombie.

[@Marpaws]

@@maratsverdlov3974 good sourcebook.

[@dracothief]

@@maratsverdlov3974 I'm running a campaign on the edge of multiple possible apocolypses and have been looking for something like this. Just a quick look through has given me tons of ideas so thanks for passing on the good books!

[@maratsverdlov3974]

@@dracothief my pleasure! Hope it helps!

[@nyarparablepsis872]

@@maratsverdlov3974 that is just what I needed, thanks for the info!

[@jackmonaco4503]

Huh, I'm having a bad day and I don't think anything cou- "Hey everybody, Matt Colville here." I've been saved.

[@Dem0n1337]

Huge snow day and i have to work on boring stuff....Matt saved the day

[@cypherix93]

What a way to fulfill my holiday stuck at home!

[@harjutapa]

2:46 - I'm glad my players aren't the only ones who use the Danger Flirt maneuver

[@RainaThrownAway]

I always flirt best with a weapon in my hands.

[@dylanmcd02]

I really like using old characters from my players in previous campaigns and using them as ways to get my players invested in lore. Matt does this in his campaign too. People like to know what happened to their characters after they left them

[@andrewcharlton4053]

Used this strategy to start a full blown war when the old party didn't realise they were being misled by a spymaster. Fun times. When the party realised that they were responsible for starting a continent scale war the looks were priceless.

[@russellstephens3580]

"People like to know what happened to their characters after they left them" Correction, SOMETIMES the players like to know what happened to them. For some reason they get upset when their characters corpses are used as avatars of evil entities. :-S Weird I know... xDDD

[@andrewcharlton4053]

@@russellstephens3580 Now this is an idea I can get behind

[@kertisjones2092]

@@russellstephens3580 so far, I’ve turned two past PCs into vampires. They both belonged to the same player. In fact, the two vampires are currently at war with each other on opposite sides of a schism in an evil cult.

[@Madhattersinjeans]

The best Idea I've seen is using a situation the players have played in before with their old characters and having their new characters witness it and actively help the old party. I think Matt talked a little about this before but I forget what video it was. It's such a cool idea but it's very hard to pull off. It's not necessarily time travel but it's kind of in the same ballpark.

[@danielhale1]

I have several categories of lore: 1. Solutions: Lore the players need in order to progress. This is knowledge, an item, an NPC, etc that will get the players through some problem and I'll build the adventure around it. 2. Interests: Lore the players can learn and engage with if interested, but I won't push it on them. I write it because I know I have players who eat this stuff up, but others don't care. 3. Foundations: Lore that I establish secretly, if only to create a consistent world. Even if players never learn about it, this is important for the way it shapes everything else.

[@ahrims7]

Like the infamous Matt colville tweet: “Lore isn’t interesting, Writing is.” (paraphrasing)

[@jakekwalsh]

Here’s an idea: someone make a playlist of running the game videos in “new DM” order. This video for instance is last chronologically but should be early for new DMs. Now I’m realizing that I should do this...

[@charleybrett1663]

I've been running the game for over 5 years and I still found it useful. You're right, it would've been lovely to know earlier.

[@ApprenticeNick]

EDIT: This comment was originally a compliment about his appearance but he really dislikes when people focus on that so instead I'm editing it to be something more relevant. I really love when GMs are able to find ways to motivate players using the characters' backstories, but as a GM, I *love* it when my players take it upon themselves to try and find reasons why their characters would care about something new instead of just "I wrote down that I care about my family and the forest when I first made my character, why should I care about anything else?"

[@grantdixson1442]

He also hates people talking about/ focusing in appearance.

[@BlueFlash215]

@@grantdixson1442 and does he hate when people talk about people talking about appearance?

[@kinghorker8010]

@@BlueFlash215 I forget the exact reasoning, but I remember I watched a stream one time where he was talking about it. If I recall correctly he feels that in the D&D community or KZbin / Twitch in general, there's too large of a focus on people's appearance rather than their content. Especially when it comes to women, and it can be kinda demeaning at times. He's sort of just opted to avoid talking about appearance all together because of it. Edit: Oops. I kinda misunderstood your comment, so this isn't really relevant.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@BlueFlash215 Sounds like Matt has been chased up a tree of his own making.

[@fidgetthescout9142]

MCDM: Hey everybody, Matt Colville here. Me: *Monkey noises*

[@tafa_matai3184]

*motions at your chest, then mine* Ape together STRONG

[@simongissler]

I connect to this comment on a primal level

[@thiccler1127]

OOGA BOOGA BROTHA

[@whokilledkenzi]

TRUEEEE

[@tylerhock106]

@@simongissler ,,,,,, Zaza,,

[@cheshira2646]

“To flirt with npcs... or threaten npcs... or both...” literally all of my players-

[@bellossoms]

Guilty.

[@lai6551]

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm running Phandelver and I'm brand new at D&D and being DM. I used some of your advice and instead of having them come back to turn in their quest and get the reward, they found the quest giver had been beaten unconscious and left to die in his burning house. They had to save him from the house and put out the fire that was spreading to the orchard, and heal the NPC. When they found out what happened to him and also that their reward was stolen, they were super motivated to go fuck up the redbrand ruffians. The module has the redbrands pick a fight with the party in the town, and there wasn't really any reason for it. So that made it a lot more fun for them to act on behalf of an NPC and save the day. They also had to be careful in the tavern and not hurt regular villagers or cause property damage, so they had to use a little more tactics than usual, and roleplay calming down the barkeep and Townmaster after they murdered 7 of the ruffians in it. I got a lot more "that was really fun!" Comments after the session instead of just "thanks for running the session" so that was really satisfying.

[@MegaAgamon]

I think that when dms/gms say "I wish my players were more engaging" they mean "I wish my players engaged with the plot instead of trying to meme and goof around for giggles"

[@kevinz8554]

@@Vedexent_ I don't think that's true. I actually think not engaging with the "plot" is precisely the point of the video. Is the plot doesn't have any ticking clocks or immediate threats.... What's the point for the players? If they don't do anything and there's no consequences... Well you're not doing a good job of chasing them up a tree. Dnd with a "plot" doesn't mean anything when there's no consequences for "fooling around" or not being serious. That's the point of the video right?

[@jarradtait5322]

Plot is just code for world and lore which is exactly what this video is about. If they're giggling, goofing around and having fun... What's the problem?

[@commandercaptain4664]

Has anyone ever tried introducing Monty Python Holy Grail elements in a serious manner? Eldeberries would have a whole new meaning then.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@kevinz8554 But there's still the matter of whether the players only want to goof around while the DM wants to be serious. If the DM confronts and punishes the players in-game for goofing around, that can have drastic results. Session Zero is your friend.

[@samouriyo5626]

my players, now up a tree: "Now what?" I, the DM: "I don't know"

[@markbaker465]

Sounds like a player problem! The DM's work is done - sit back and see what they come up with!

[@pokemon1895]

I can't thank you enough for all your help. You're doing Pelor's work.

[@UberMathNerd]

Fifteen birds in five fir trees, their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!

[@aqacefan]

After multiple repetitions of "chasing the heroes up a tree", my mind flashed to "Fifteen birds In five fir trees Their feathers were fanned By a fiery breeze" 🤣

[@usernumber4735]

This is the exact advice I just gave to a friend of mine that is being a DM this week for the first time and I told her if the PC's don't want to engage in your adventure, MAKE the want it. I love your content and hope your all doing well. Stay safe!

[@budakiarcher]

This series is so in depth it feels like it's a college course on Dungeon Mastering. Keep up the good work!

[@Mithros6030]

The fact that each of Matt's videos is the best so far says a lot about his dedication to his content. Thanks for making my table more fun as always

[@tranklin007]

Just DMed my first session ever last night this vid and it's series SUPER HELPFUL!

[@bloodlustrous]

Time to think, relax, ride the river for a bit.

[@Scryyn]

"If your players can solve every problem with their character sheet then they don't need your world" Thank you.

[@Stormwrench]

Huh, this is something I feel I needed to hear. A lot of games I try to run feel weird for me because I put the priority in the wrong place. I want players to engage with the world properly, but in doing so I feel as though I work less with their characters and their story as I unfortunately make it my story with guests, not their story of whether or not they ever engage with the lore I have. I need to really sit myself down and work on these things for whenever I run a new one for sure

[@johnnybigbones4955]

I think it's also a two way street. You are all playing together, and your players should be cool with engaging with the game they've agreed to play with you as much as you engage with their characters.

[@Jan-gh7qi]

Do it, it's soooo wotrh it. Started out like you, seven years agor (and had a really murder Hobo-y group for a long time). Nothing compares to that sweet sweet feel, if they start to ask Questions for themselves about your lore, because they need it. One time they were just chasing some plot item in a big city and learned, that it was in the hands of a noble family they couldn't reach on their own. They had to find an ally. At first they worked with another family and were like "Who cares about that city, as long as we get our Item." But then a third familiy appoached them and told them "Your allies are like... the worst. They are gonna betray you. Works for us instead." And my Murderhobos were like "Why? Di you give us a betetr deal." And the third family was like "Nope. We will pay you muuuuch less. This is how you know, we won't betray you. If we did, we'd offer you the wildest things." And suddenly all my "I just want that big sword" and "can I loot it?" boys were like scheming, planing, and overthinking their choices. They couldn't just compare numbers, they really had to overthink it and take my world serious to win. I really loved that.

[@nabmcfeegle]

Great video, Matt. I think my proudest DM moments have been when my players have used my world's logic to solve problems without prompting and, in one case, theorised something entirely seperate to the plot using the world's logic....something irrelevant but also correct! I've started trying to teach the logic in small pieces until it's absorbed as a part of an adventure solution until it's assimilated (like a video game tutorial so they learn it bit by bit) which has led to larger eureka moments. Big thing for me is not overloading new players with learning the system and the world at the same time. Let them learn the D&D 'physics' of the world and then slowly introduce them to my own idiosyncrasies. Mainly I've found it important to map out my own logic so, like a 'hard' magic system, it's something that they can bank on working and they can work out why things don't work if they make a mistake. Mostly I loved the opening thesis statement. I world bit for my own benefit, it lets me be more reactive to the players doing weird stuff because I understand my world. I also really enjoy it but that's why I DM a lot more than I play.

[@jayreese8522]

Oh thank god, a Matt Colville video that I needed.

[@j2dragon109]

I think there already quite a few of those

[@chickeneverythingisfine9338]

If Matt Mercer is the “king” of DMs Matt Colville is definitely the guru.

[@michaelduke9057]

There is a type of genius that you think if I only thought of that first I could of done that the other you just step back and realize you couldn't of done that in a million years. I think Matt Colville falls into category A and Mercer into category B. Just personally I will never be good at voice acting as Matt Mercer but with practice I can make use of Colville's methods.

[@chickeneverythingisfine9338]

@@michaelduke9057 Well I meant in the fact that Mercer is all over the community (considering you can’t breath without hearing his name) but Colville I feel is not as well known but has some REALLY unique and cool stuff

[@michaelduke9057]

@@chickeneverythingisfine9338 also accurate I guess I went a little far with the metaphor

[@dmscrap1571]

This is exactly how I present things to my players. There always needs to be a motivator, at least one. While they are working on the "over arcing" story, they meet likable, and wonderful NPC's whom they enjoy and repeatedly visit. So when that NPC ends up kidnapped, they scour the world for the "How" to get them back, working with other NPC's, making more branches. Then when there is a lull in the main story, inject the NPC back in. "Here is where they are, I know you've wanted to find them so I am coming to you." Which is what is happening right now in one of my campaigns, the time is here for them to jump into a pocket realm to find their lost friend, and uncover some more secrets of their own backstories. Glorious days ahead.

[@Belegor]

Another good way, when you are just starting out, is to give every PC a connection to the world and the Adventure.

[@Belegor]

In my experience players want to be part of the world the trick is to not overwhelm them with to much information but to keep it simple and give them things that reinforce there characters fantasy or things that excite them.

[@geraldaugustus739]

I've definitely played with DMs that were so obsessed with how interesting and intricate their world was, and so mad that we didn't just WANT to learn everything there was to know about it, but created the world absent of our characters mattering or being necessary to it. If you don't know what motivates your players characters, or what they care about, it's a huge ask to just say "play through this world of cool stuff I made". Don't forget you're asking these people to "roleplay", and good Roleplaying is knowing when and where your character would engage with what's happening.

[@xxdamiandxx]

Mr Colville's ability to convey thoughts and scenarios is amazing! Thanks again for a great video!

[@TheNerdySimulation]

Another great way for the players to care about your world is to build it with them and/or have their characters directly connected to it. Easier to be fascinated with Excalibur when you're the one getting it from the Lady in the Lake. Although sometimes (as Matt touches on) the simplest way to get the players to pursue a course of action, is to steal some of their valuables. I've literally had players blow up a ship *they were on* because of what the party _perceived_ as the captain "stealing their treasure," so imagine what players do when that gemstone is their +1 Longsword.

[@m.m.1301]

Last time i was this early we had THACO

[@FishoD]

@@adamgrey268 This person THAC0-s.

[@candiedginger8729]

Ah THAC0, those were the good old days.

[@m.m.1301]

@@candiedginger8729 Tbh it was a fucking mess

[@commandercaptain4664]

And subdual damage.

[@AschKris]

THAC0s con carnitas

[@norl55]

Great video Matt. 1 addition that I've found to chasing them up the tree. If you have a long enough campaign and you can be patient, have the party plant the tree. Set them up with something so their previous decisions are what forces them into the situation. If they have a feeling of ownership of the problem, they are more likely to be engaged in the solution. Think if the movie "The Mummy" (1999). O'Connell , Evelyn and Johnathan are coaxed into the situation with the lure of adventure and treasure. But they end up releasing Imhotep. Then Imhotep captures Evelyn (and threatens the world) which forces the rest of the party to be engaged. They learn they have to read from the book of the dead, got to the city of the dead etc - all aspects of the world created. Also, bonus points for the fact that the character of O'Connell had in his backstory that he had been to the city of the dead before hand. Backstory tie-ins help pull people in too (but your mileage may vary on this one).

[@ronocthewonder]

Loving this, Matt you always seem to release a video that speaks exactly to the issues I have with the games I run. I run two campaigns for the last three years, and I didn't even know how to play until I found your first running the game video. Thanks for the lessons and help all these years.

[@MissAnimegrl]

As soon as I made my players proper parts of the lore (i.e., part of the political and religious interests of the world), they became interested. In my longest campaign- 5 years and 2 mini-adventures- our Cleric and our Fighter were tied already to the religions and politics of the world: the Fighter earned his training (level 3 start) in the war the nation was involved in, and the cleric, obviously, was on a pilgrimage because her mother-supierior told her she was too vain and selfish and needed to find her own purpose for the goddess they served. Easy to continue weaving them in. But as soon as our Barbarian decided to marry the Banshee that their first adventure came with, and inadvertently got himself a Lich Wife, this unlocked something for the Cleric: the knowledge that the church is on a crusade against all undead and any Necromancers. All of the party rolled, and they all made the their History rolls-- this is a well known FACT of the nation....and now their Barbarian is married to a Lich who is quite taken with him because the Barbarian gave her what she wanted-- a wedding. And the party actually likes the Lich because she's funny, witty, engaging (I had fun Roleplaying her). And she was the Barbarian's Follower. So, the party now has an active reason to care about the world. They want to protect their new friend who, quite literally, is public enemy #1

[@gregoryrussellakainfinitet6682]

Matt, I can't begin to tell you how useful this was to me, even at the 2 minute mark. The rest just reinforced it all. Enough with me forcing lore on my nerds, I'll just give them what they want. Except when they need to care about something in my world. Brilliant, sir.

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

Knife theory baby! (from reddit, not my idea): have your characters add knives to their characters backstory. Each thing the DM can evoke to force a player to react, like a named character, an unpayed debt, a dead family member (just make them come back like a zombie, that'll make'em hate the evil necromancer), is a knife. Experience suggest between 7 and 15 knives makes functional but exploitable backstories. DM's, use this, explain and make the players add them as a buy in.

[@imperialadvisoraremheshvau3788]

I was on the exercise bike warming up and I read the KZbin vid as “ENDING Your Players.” And let out an audible “Hells Yeah !” I thought we were about to get a Batman’s contingency plans to Kill off the Justice League type of video.

[@christopherpouler5698]

Please make this video!!!

[@dwdillydally]

I LOVE that JLA story arc!

[@manatillia]

In my last session, I *literally* backed my players up a tree because a demon bad guy was chasing them through the woods, and they were out of options. They were out of spells, and low on HP. Suddenly, my players wanted to roll their knowledge skills and see if they could learn anything about this demon that would give them an edge. Sadly, I didn’t have a lot of info ready to give them, but it would have been a fantastic opportunity for world building!

[@soldyne]

I find the easiest way to engage the players is to make the world about them and their characters. all of my encounters/adventures/places/world building is focused around the player characters and their backgrounds/desires/flaws. now they have no choice but to be engaged.

[@SamWickens]

One hook like that I worked into my game which I'm pretty proud of was, when the party were about level 3 and a little directionless as the world was starting to open up, all Light-related magic stopped working. This had two notable effects - the Cleric could no longer access his main damaging spells, and a magical barrier held up by the local Sun-based religion around an undead city temporarily disappeared. Suddenly, they had a clear goal: fix whatever is wrong with the magic. This led them to learn about and get invested in a huge part of my world - that religion's role in society, the history of the Lich in that city, the dwarven terror cell that disrupted the magic in the first place, and especially the fundamentals of how magic works in the world. They're level 10 now and, while light magic is back, there's still an undead horde led by an increasingly powerful Lich wreaking havoc, which they now care about dealing with.

[@chedruid]

I'm just happy you still are making this kind of videos, warms my heart. Take care.

[@SundayKnightDM]

In my lvl 8 Gnomish Campaign, in the first session, their underground city was invaded by goblins. After escaping to the underdark, and running around for a few days game time, they were captured while they rested after fighting a powerful foe in a pocket dimension. They are now back inside the city, which has been deserted mostly apart from scouting parties of goblins and their mounts. They have most recently discovered the remaining city population is being held near the mine, guarded by a large number of hobgoblin and goblin minions

[@thedarkone246]

The only time I ever took away a character's powers I expressly told them at the beggining that it was temporary and I think it worked well as it wasnt for very long either.

[@fishiest3539]

My favorite unintended consequence came recently in a game. there's a plot to overthrow a prince and the party is hired to figure it out, but they had to be incognito. Their first night there, they hear someone call for help and they see a child has fallen down a well, and the nanny is all but hysterical. they save the kid and the nanny asks for their names, and they give her EVERYTHING. She's a member of the resistance, and she knows where they sleep, AND that they have a child with them. I'm so pumped to drive my whole party up this tree!

[@markgregory3213]

Outstanding advice Matthew! We appreciate hearing from people who are great at what they do, love doing it, and love sharing what they know! You are a river to your people!

[@teresae9249]

This is great! I'm actually having fun with worldbuilding right now, because I've made it somewhat cooperative with one of my players. The party is in a place his character frequented a lot in backstory, so we've chatted and laid out NPCs and places for him to be able to show off and go to, and as he catches up with people they can tell him about the world and what he's missed, so I can sprinkle in my favorite lore without needing to do too much chasing up trees 😄

[@Mirekluk]

Another way to make players care. If they are partly the authors, then they will care about that section.

[@jibbyjackjoe]

Creating the world is for DMs. The second you let go that the players should "love your world" and realize you do that work for you, the better.

[@commandercaptain4664]

It also helps for a smoother experience when they're used on the spot, but yeah. That.

[@Mico-Xiyeas]

​​@@commandercaptain4664that part. World building to me is a guideline to putting the narration down.

[@hp2xp425]

I'm so thankful for your video on Cult of the Reptile God! (And this one!) I have adapted it to change the beginning of Hoard of the Dragon for my players. Instead of arriving in Greenest to see the Cult attacking with a dragon - they arrived to investigate the cult. They run into kobolds in the woods. People are acting strange. They investigate a strange mist that the local apothecary convinces them is caused by a dragon's lair. The cult kidnaps a PC. They avoid being charmed/poisoned by the thralls in the village. Turns out the apothecary is a vampire whose lair they are *actually* in, (and have a 1.5 hour conversation with the vampire,) before making a deal with her to screw over the Cult she has grown to dislike in her territory and accomplish their initial mission they were hired for. They are a very roleplay heavy group and providing them with a ton of options has meant we have had a ton of fun while I've backed them into a corner. They wouldn't invite the vampire in when she arrived at night and asked to talk over wine with the 2 PCs standing watch - so one of her thralls opened the door for her. Checkmate. They now have a vampire as their group patron, investigating the Cult of the Dragon. :)

[@zigmundfroyd3306]

Dude, this was exactly what I needed. Thank you Mr. Colville, for introducing this life to me so I can introduce it to my friends :)

[@JohnvanCapel]

Another example from The Lord Of The Rings. No-one would have cared about the One Ring having been forged in the fires of Mount Doom, if returning it to those fires wasn't the only way to destroy it (and thus defeat the BBEG). The Delian Tomb could have a good example as well - the secret door to the powerful magic item opens only if the party cared to find out the knights' oath and spoke it out loud. Consider making that obvious. Instead of a riddle, the door literally says to "speak the Oath, and the Knights will answer."

[@bobbobbing4220]

matts lockdown hair is GLORIOUS! Aslan is gonna sue someone.

[@theKurtAnderson]

No comments on KZbinrs’ appearance, please

[@bobbobbing4220]

@@theKurtAnderson HE HAS THE HAIR OF A BODICE RIPPER PROTANGONIST!

[@AlVainactual]

Hey Matt Colville, everybody here! Thanks for the great video 😘

[@flcon16]

I've been watching "Running the Game" since before I started running the game, and I had such an enjoyable feeling watching this of "I already know this, I'm already doing this." It's not that this episode was not helpful, but that I've been practicing the craft long enough to start drawing many of my own conclusions of what works and what doesn't. This feeling was so much one of validation. I had a similar feeling a few weeks ago as well. I've been running D&D for a few years and felt so self-conscious about my abilities for so long. Over the holidays, one of my players had their child on our D&D day, when they usually wouldn't. We invited her to play with us, and I built a short sidequest that I thought we could start and complete all in one session. I warned my party in advance "Sorry, this might be the most railroady session I've ever run, but I don't want us to run out of time." ...As soon as we introduced the daughter's character she started just dumping piles and piles of backstory. Most of it had nothing to do with the campaign as it had been going, but none of it was out of the realm of possibility. It actually had some themes that tied to other players' backstories. Her dad tried to interject to get her to dial it back and keep the session on the rails, but I stopped him and told her it was all canon by just playing off of it. I threw all my session's planning out the window and started from scratch. I knew I could work with it. I had no battlemaps (playing online), no NPCs, no monsters, no encounters, no magic items... but I wanted this girl's first experience with D&D to feel like she just spoke the world into existence. It took me a little longer, but I made NPCs on the fly, and made up quirks and voices so they'd be memorable. I threw battle maps together and designed an encounter and some lore while the players roleplayed (of course, uncovering more new lore to throw some of my plans out the window and give me a good line on creating another). In the end, we had a session that fits into the campaign with lasting concequences, engaged all the players and their characters, focused on this new player, engaged her, and gave her the experience of helping to create this fictional world, and left me with the greatest sense of accomplishment I've ever felt in D&D. It was an intense night, and I was so exhausted after. But in the instant that I had to decide between forcing the story onto the rails, or rebuilding something magical from the ground up.... I knew there was no question. I knew I could handle it and it was the only choice. That feeling of confidence in my abilities as a DM is one of the best feelings I've ever felt.

[@EtherealNature]

Returning to this video after running a megadungeon for the past few years. Matt is right. If you want players to engage, you have to back them into a corner and use the setting as the key to success. I ran an old school megadungeon with Dark Souls aesthetics. It wasn't difficult like Dark Souls, but the idea of Dark Souls lethality made players disengage because they could die and lose their character at any time. I didn't want to make a 100% dark souls clone, so I didn't include bonfires and resurrection. Finally, I gave up and said, "fine. A necromantic artifact curses you with undeath. The more you die and reanimate, the more you go hollow. You lose memories and levels. No spell in the players handbook can cure it." "That's evil, ithirial! Losing levels is insane! Now we have to figure out how to rid ourselves of this curse!" Joke's on them. They would never lose levels if they died. I was bluffing! They paid attention to the lore more because any plot thread could lead to a coupon they can turn in for the cure. And they took combat seriously because they thought there were mechanical consequences. I guess losing levels is worse than making a new character?? I don't get it, but it worked! They care about so many NPCs now, and even their characters. One player is cosplaying as their character in Elden Ring now!

[@dreadmorg]

Matt nails it again. This video has some really great content and is communicated perfectly. Really great stuff!

[@Danmarinja]

When one PC died, she asked to be revived. Reviving her gave her a curse that regularly summons increasingly powerful werewolves. I gave the player 3 options to remove that curse - 1) Cut off her arm (which has a 50/50 success rate), 2) Ask a PC who can transfer it (but who will only do it to the backstory-important Prince, or 3) Ask the BBEG to take the curse away. They immediately took option 2, met the Prince who dispensed a lot of lore that caused the players to literally change their minds because they liked him. They then met the BBEG, who they asked to remove instantly before finding out that he was collecting these curses to summon creatures for his own army. Their decision literally empowered their biggest enemy, and they hadn’t even asked why he was so keen. The regret around the table was palpable, and I loved it.

[@littlebeazle6692]

So excited to finally have another one of these

[@felipeuseche332]

Mysteries are another great thing to engage players. The way to solve them is to learn about characters, motives, locales, histories.

[@andrewshandle]

Some players still need the hook to want to get engaged with the mystery though, so it really comes back to the main question. Why should your players _care_ about the Mystery?

[@felipeuseche332]

True. But, then again, Matt's advice works. Kill their favourite character. No one wants to get involved. Is up to them to solve it. And you shouldn't be able to solve a mystery with your character sheet, that's just dumb. Other times players love mysteries, specially if you're playing a game about being a detective or something like that, the way some players in DND jump to the opportunity to kill goblins. There's a lot about players expectations relative to engagement. Power fantasies are like action heroes, but some other fantasies, like noir or detective stories, put the players in a different mindset to engage. I find it fascinating and learned a lot about DND just playing a bunch of other different games.

[@UCFElCarnicero]

Matthew,this video, amongst ALL the "advice" videos on D&D on youtube, is amazingly refreshing and hits certain REALLY important marks. One can tell you are a writer on top of being a DM ^^

[@UCFElCarnicero]

Addendum: Who in the nine hells downvotes this for what reason?

[@thekenyonsquad5672]

"i was going to make a video about different kinds of players and how to engage your players, but it started to get long. so you're going to get 2 videos; different kinds of players, and engaging your players" stoked to finally see part 2.

[@SkullDixon]

This is one of the elements you get out of Runequest - Glornatha Adventures. Runequest is a game designed to reflect the setting of the game. to submerge the players in the world and lore of the world. The adventures are designed similarly. When you go on an adventure in Glorantha, it is often steeped in the lore of the setting. This helps give the player motivation that the player can use for their character - to give the player a reason to care. It should be said that in runequest, when you create a character - that character always has attachments and the new rule set really does a lot to make this work with the rule of the game. I just finished reading a short essay Written by Robin Law, called "The Kraken Chapbook #1 - Sharper Adventures in Heroquest Glorantha. Good stuff, well worth the read.

[@The_JLav]

So much of your content will have a teacher (or at least one who is thoughtful about their craft!) nodding their head the whole way through. Source: I teach elementary music 🤗

[@alecchristiaen4856]

"We do world-building because we like it; it's for us" Agreed. When I make a world, I try and have as much attention to detail as I can. The players will likely never know, but it's important to me.

[@michaelralphs5593]

I wouldn't 100% recommend this but last session my DM allowed me to earn a castle as a base through a quest which worked for my exiled noble back story, and because of that I have a reason to care about the world. I have to engaged diplomatically with the rest of the surrounding area and later on with the whole world. I have never been more invested in a character

[@jcmartin1978]

Best video I’ve seen yet on this topic! I stumbled upon this technique several years ago after running a campaign that I could not seem to get my players to care about at all! This approach has made me a much better DM all around. Now, I take this a little further in that my session zero is just working with the players to develop robust backstories and goals that I build my adventures and lore completely around. I threaten everything that they care about often and it works!

[@campbria4225]

It was foretold in the scrolls of old.

[@OmniverseGamers]

Awesome video and information as always. So great to see the series continuing. Great points! Not letting plan A (I.e. find the best square to stand in and roll dice) be the most optimal tactic is really the only way to make players do things outside the optimal 5e design of a slog of flat "matrix white-room" combat. I recently made a video about using terrain effectively and it boiled down to basically the same concept. "Why won't players utilize my terrain?" Just like story-hooks, cover and rocks and trees and landslides mean nothing unless you force players to use them to their advantage or avoid them to their detriment. Always have a plan to spur/entice/eventually force action! Making players "solve problems without their character sheet" sums the concept up perfectly. Thanks again, Matt! For everything you do for this game community.

[@coughsyrup6065]

It's a good day when Matt uploads.

[@robintheviking8990]

I think I view my world as my "character" in my games. That way, the lore and backstory comes into play naturally as the players interact with the world. If I'm really proud of something, I'll weave it into a quest and let them come across it and interact naturally. Especially if it's something secret, like the hidden mountain home of the Grey Elves, who are slow to trust, but possess all of the knowledge of the world in their vast libraries. There is a clear reward to engaging with the world in having access to the libraries, and the clear challenge of finding and befriending the Elves to get it.

[@bardicmage9292]

alright here we go!

[@PrimordialNightmare]

"People are one of the most powerful tols you have." That's great to quote out of context.

[@PlanWithEmm]

So wonderful. Also I feel the need to say this... I can't wait to read Fighter!! :)

[@MemphiStig]

with this one DM i knew, part of his world lore was "do not accept this particular plot coupon. it's very bad." then he shoved the plot coupon up our collective rectum anyway. then the debt collector showed up to make us pay. then i regretfully had to quit. and he couldn't understand what the problem was.

[@TheRabbitPoet]

This video helped me understand why a lot of cosmic horror stories are structured the way they are. Most protagonist in those stories don't go chasing after the unknown willingly. Instead, it slowly creeps its way into their lives until they have no other choice but to react, hoping life will go back to normal afterwards (spoiler alert: it never does)

[@finnmcgrath5857]

Infecting your players with a killer virus is a great idea but... probably not right now, right?

[@tiarnano8878]

Thank you

[@buckwheatgwg]

I always preferred "Plot Elementals" as in "He summons a huge plot elemental!"

[@matthijsclaessen8152]

Awesome. I’m a DM with 35 years experience and this is the first time I heard this said so simply en helpfully. Thanks!

[@mrblopsfiner]

We’re entering into the Superman Mullet era of Matt Colville.

[@inappropriateperson6947]

If you see him fly towards you. FTLOG, except the plot hook or he will threaten your family!

[@gendor5199]

This is the video that has the "Chase the characters up a tree, throw stones at them, then send a bear up after them." And "The silen killer with no fixed abode" Which are two quotes I frequently want to send to people!

[@entheo302]

I’m a hot year new to TTRPGs playing 2-3 times a week both VTT and PBP with multiple systems. It seems like a good number of the GMs I’ve played with could really use help understanding the things you talk about. Yet the official resource for this in most systems (ie Game/Dungeon Master’s Guide) are generally bereft of any real world brass tacks info on how to RUN a game. Again, I am new and perhaps don’t understand everything, but it seems like a no brainer that if these companies want to stay in business, they would focus a hell of a lot more than they do on cultivating, training and supporting the people who run (and therefore promote) their game. Thanks for filling in this much needed gap in the industry. I’m just starting to run games and your videos feel like a good college class on how to do that ✌🏽

[@Reformedhillbilly369]

Brilliant stuff. I did this to my players without realizing. They are all loner types with no living friends or relatives. So I “made” them have some. - For my bard who was a pirate captain until the whole crew (and fiancé) was lost in a storm. I had some survive. Caring for the fiancé who had been stricken with a curse. They had been hold up in an abandoned warehouse for months. Hiding from a former pirate (now crime boss) who wanted revenge against the player for an old slight. They had to protect their crew, fight the villain, and discover the source of the curse. It got them very engaged with the world and care a lot about these NPC’s. I did stuff like this to all of my players. Hehe

[@JoshIsMerry]

Something I've been doing recently that's worked really well as an alternative to requiring lore to solve a problem is to write little lore books - and put them in shops. I've found that as long as the books are short and flavoured as if a slightly silly NPC wrote it (about half a page seems to work, think elder scrolls books) the players will be really excited to read it: because they either got it in loot or bought it. I think having to spend resources for small chunks of lore makes engagement more enticing and I've gotten very good player feedback on it

[@darryla.armstrong3364]

I feel like this is an interesting lens on "The Hero's Journey".

[@vermidian_]

Freaking genius. Exactly what I needed at the stage I'm at in DMing. Matthew, thank you for inspiring me to start this. I'm having fun so far, and so are my players. What a practical perspective.

[@memyselfishness]

I didn't realize this was the norm for many years. My first group included many creative writers and imaginative people. I was a player and we were all so engaged in the lore. We all started collectively making the lore! We then switched between different GMs for various small games. When I finally ran for a group that didn't involve these people, the three most common rolls were Arcana, History, and Religion. (Yes, that includes attack rolls.) I've always had these lore ingested individuals in my games and still do. But everything changed when they stopped being the majority of the party.

[@efreetheawesome]

Matt is the last frontier of quality "wholesome KZbin".

[@DarkVeghetta]

I once spent an entire one-on-one DnD session (me and my awesome DM) ordering tavern food for my party of nubile monster-girls and drinking the local barflies under the table; zero combat. One of the best sessions I've ever had. I learned a lot about DnD food, my party's food and drink preferences, and quite a bit about the NPC orc that lasted the longest in that drink-off besides myself. I wasn't put into any corners or up any trees - the content was just there and I went for it. SOME players will actively engage with your lore/content without being pushed into it. Not all - maybe not even most, but I probably will, if there's no looming threat I need to worry about/fire I need to put out asap. Then again, this may be in no small amount due to the above being a one DM and one player experience. If I had a party of other PCs around me, I wouldn't be able to engage with the world like that, because everyone has a schedule and we have important things to do both in-game and out of it - and RPing with NPCs in a tavern would probably count as being selfish and wasting everyone else's time.

[@Zedrinbot]

Who would've thought that directly Involving your players with your lore and story would be so effective at engaging them? :y

[@doomrooster]

I made the characters in my last campaign the retainers to a famous and beloved retired adventurer. Session 0 was spent getting the party to fall in love with her. Session 1 opened on the BBEG killing her in front of them while they watched, helpless to stop him. In response, they all swore oaths to the Death Goddess she worshipped to seek out their vengeance against him. Worked like a charm.

[@jakebruce11]

I badly want to disregard this advice. That's how I know it's important to consider.

[@johnnybigbones4955]

It's good advice if you end up in this situation. But I think you only end up in this situation if your players are being obnoxious to a certain extent. I don't mean that players need to engage with all my lore and other stuff, but if I have to chase them that much to interact with a basic hook to get them to do anything, then I think that's a them problem not a me problem.

[@jakebruce11]

@@johnnybigbones4955 Yeah I tend to feel that way too, but I've seen it so often that I wonder if it's me, the proactive player, who's in the minority.

[@johnnybigbones4955]

@@jakebruce11 It's a very common trope in fiction that I think a lot of people want to play out, kind of cementing themselves as the "protagonist" of the story. But D&D is a game, not a piece of fiction, and engaging with the stuff in front of you is kind of the point of the game. I'm sure there are people who play Skyrim by sitting in Breezehome making tea, but that's not what Skyrim is primarily for. I think on a subconscious level it is also a kind of power play, making the DM work around you, and it is also a good way to always be the centre of attention. Every adventure becomes about you, as the rest of the group tries to figure out ways to get you to engage with the adventure. Like most things, a little bit of this is okay, but I'm a bit burned out on it as a trope personally and don't have time for it any more.

[@Haunted_Gallows]

As it has so happened throughout my entire journey as a DM, Matt, you've released the perfect video at the perfect time with the perfect advice I needed most. Just last night I was running my homebrewed Frostmaiden adventure and I was struggling because my players didn't seem to care about the settlements of "Ten-Towns," concerning an event that may involve their destruction. But now I have ideas to MAKE them care. Once again, you've given me a new perspective and new ideas to solve the problems I face as a DM. Once again, you've helped make me a better DM and storyteller. Thank you.