How MCDM's "Flee, Mortals!" Uses Monsters' Core Fantasies to Inspire New Designs

[@SupergeekMike]

Which part of this book are you most excited to deploy in your games? Thanks so much to Dscryb for sponsoring this video! Visit dscryb.com/supergeek and use the code SUPERGEEK at checkout to get 10% off of your first subscription payment. dscryb.com/supergeek

[@dig7987]

Hey I'm one of MCDM's contract testers, it's super cool to see you talking about Flee Mortals we worked real hard on it! I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the cool video.

[@matthiashavrez]

Hey Dig ! Nice to see you here :)

[@dig7987]

Glad to be here, Mike's stuff is pretty great!

[@rosemarywhitney7156]

Well done! I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK!!

[@FriendsCallMeBunkers]

Hi Dig!

[@wiredconversations2969]

How does one become a contract tester? I would love to get into that line of work.

[@thecurlylockes4069]

I threw monsters (and retainers) from the packets each time they came out, and my players were delighted with the new variety and types! The art in the finished book is gorgeous.

[@Gibbons3457]

Ah, gotta love Flee Mortals, it's a treasure trove of useful statblocks, lore and inspiration and I don't have to guess how it works or how strong it is because MCDM are so diligent in their playtesting.

[@joealbers6370]

Ik you weren't sponsored but you literally sold this book so well I bought the pdf while I was watching

[@Zr0din]

Yeah, that first chapter with all the general changes is super important. Individual monster stuff is great! The Environment stuff in the back of the book was Great! The Teams were really something new for me and they were great! And I expect to get a Lair hardcover book soon!!! Probably the best kickstarter I backed.

[@zacharydavis9574]

I've fallen in love with "Flee, Mortals!" I recently ran a zombie horde encounter using their minion zombies with a couple tankier non-minions sprinkled in. All my players had such a great time feeling like heroes as they cut through swaths of the undead--especially my barbarian! And another, where I reflavored MCDM's shambling mound to a truly vile amalgamation of corpse-parts. The secondary combat goal (which many monsters in this book have baked in!) of "free my friends from the engulfing sack" in addition to the regular "smash down this bag of hit points" added some fun extra tension to the fight. I hghly recommend this book to everyone. You're getting far more than your money's worth out of it!

[@maxslater8929]

The last month or so i have basicly exclusively been using the monsters for this book. My players are all vetern players and they love seeing all the new abilties. Especially with Villionus Actions and the Companions for certain creatures.

[@Draakhart_961]

I had the pleasure of purchasing the PDF somewhat recently and I will be honest, even just the companions by themselves felt to me as an amazing way of pursuing the fantasy of having a animal or monstrous sidekick who could keep up with the party, without having to specifically choose a subclass that would grant you one. They and retainers are both very well done. The rest? I'm very excited to throw at my players as they dive deeper into my Descent into Avernus game. I can say the lower CR Gnolls (barring my incredibly poor rolls) are a much more narratively engaging approach that doesn't double down on punishing players already on the losing side.

[@blooddonutstudios]

Oh damn, this video came out at the perfect time for me! I've been binging a bunch of Matt Colville's videos because I'll be DMing for the first time soon and was debating picking up Flee Mortals. Thanks for the review Mike!

[@iPivo]

I’ve been using Flee Mortals! since the first packet was released. I can say these monsters are so much fun to run, and they also pack a nasty punch. I had a group of players facing a Rotbeast, a lowly CR3 monster, and they had to run!

[@Ryusei1986]

I learned a lot from this book and Matt's videos. Most importantly, based on that, I found a way to mitigate Action Economy being NOT in favor of a big boss enemy. I recently ran a final boss encounter of a long campaign, and the boss I set up was a single entity. So I had my 5 player characters roll Initiative, and based on that, had 2 of them act at once, and then the Boss took its turn. After that, the next 2 characters would go, then the boss again, and so on. Due to the odd number of PCs, the acting pairs of PCs shifted from round to round, but if you have event PC numbers, you COULD have an "End of Round Lair Action" force the players to reroll initiative to reshuffle the order every 2-3 rounds. The fight of MY Boss only lasted 6 rounds, and the constant shift in who was acting together with who, made for a very dynamic fight that my players liked very much. And it was super easy for me to keep track of everything. Overall, this was my idea on how to change the Legendary Action mechanic.

[@Stephen-Fox]

Layout - Ultimately I don't think it matters if a bestiary book is laid out entirely alphabetically or entirely categorically, but it needs to pick one or the other _and_ provide an index listing in the other way. If I decide to throw a spider encounter at a party, having all the spiders grouped together (either as spiders or in an 'arachnids and insects' category) is invaluable, while if I need to suddenly look up a particular monster, alphabetical is always going to be easier than remembering if the giant spider is in the giants or spiders group (which... Hopefully spiders, but I might brainfart and get it wrong) - For something like WotC era D&D or Pathfinder having an index by challenge rating is also going to be useful in some cases, though I think categorization is probably more useful for most situations. I'm rarely going to be wanting "A CR3 monster" - I'm likely going to be wanting something that would thematically make sense within whatever location I'm building and then the CR is... Not unimportant but less important (Though... You can always reflavour a stat block) Basically, give me one order, I don't really care which order, and then multiple indexes (with the other information if you want to do it as a table, that definitely makes it more useful) in the other logical orders.

[@bosh6604]

The intro with subtitles is great, That definetly is *spooky music*

[@nickbrown638]

I love the vein idea for orcs, because it implies that they’re receiving a shock of electricity like a defibrillator.

[@JamesIntrocasoMCDM]

Hey! Thank you so much for this wonderful, in-depth look at the book!

[@leahwilton785]

I am so glad this book has been getting so much love. It has made me so much more comfortable with my monster-related game design/homebrew. Plus, the art alone deserves so much praise.

[@risperdude]

Love that you are taking on more of the third party content. I'm curious to hear your read on the Talent. It was interesting in term of flavor and using that to make mechanics, I'd love to play one eventually. I'm a sucker for psionics.

[@AAAndrew]

I've played the minion rules including the group attack and check and it works great. I've been really impressed with what MCDM is pumping out these days. Matt's found a great group to work on all of this so it's not just him anymore.

[@Arcon1ous]

For context, its my understanding that originally a Lich's phylactery was the same type of thing as the Phylactery boxes that is important to Jewish Faith, a small sealed box with important text written on parchment or other types of paper, and as the game and the lore behind it evolved, it became something else, and makes much less sense to call it one. As for whether it is rude or insensitive, or appropriation, I'm not of the faith so I don't know, but its definitely possible, especially as its moved from the same type of object to being basically any sort of thing, and its definitely worth thinking about using other names for it.

[@k3rvyn]

That sponsor plug deserves special mention, like you added the music to the background and so on. ++ for it and you deserve a raise for it. rest of the video: cool stuff. More please!

[@braddalrymple8615]

I got mine a few months back. I love it ❤

[@rosemarywhitney7156]

Thanks for covering the book, Mike! I supported the kickstarter too and have been LOVING my book! The challenge chart alone makes it totally worth it, but my players have really enjoyed battling minions as well. It makes them feel like they have really grown as adventurers and still he challenged as a party, while drastically reduscing the amount of battle prep and in-game work that i have to do and allows me to focus on overall battle strategy and roleplay. A great introduction to a great book! 😆

[@justinsinke2088]

Speaking of gnolls, I loved when they got player writeups in 4th with reasons and rationales for how and why they could be player characters, and giving them some really cool racial feats (and I think special paragon paths). I honestly feel like 4th edition gets dunked on unnecessarily harshly. I feel like it had a lot of cool ideas going for it, but at the same time I can understand the criticism that the way the classes were structured, most notably the use of encounter and daily powers, made it feel like it was an MMO adapted to tabletop play. I loved theorycrafting a lot of fun synergies and character ideas with how the classes were structured, paragon paths, racial feats and magic items.

[@valoriandmafer7509]

I backed Flee Mortals and used the book after I got the product and it is the best monster book I have used, when I used one of the Dragons my players had a lot of fun, every creature is fun to run and easy to use.

[@nathanlee2942]

That CR calculator is SUPER handy. It's tuned very well and has produced very tactical and dramatic encounters every time I've sued it. It should be noted that the Flee Mortals CR ratings aren't in parity with the MM... they're in parity with the actual levels of play. So using the FM calculator with MM monsters, you'll get some weaker encounters.

[@w4iph]

Freaking love this book, and I'm super excited to actually get to play them in a real game. I've only done the goblins when they were released, and the orc hoard challenge yhey made

[@jameseustice7144]

Yes! I just got it too. It's great!

[@jameseustice7144]

It's cool, I actually just happened to be wearing my Overmind Shirt while watching this too :)

[@chrisarguin1630]

I've used MCDM's stuff in my current campaign. The CR system is the only one I've seen that actually seems to work! The challenge is remembering to use all the special abilities and the occasional incredulous "what, they can do that?" from the players.

[@ipeconick]

You sold me so hard on this book, I will have to get it now.

[@joshuabonesteel2303]

Feels like a simple fix for the hydra would be to give it a legendary action it uses at half health to tear off its own heads. If the players know what it can do then it only makes sense that the hydra does as well and knows it needs reinforcements.

[@andyspillum3588]

Love the new Lich mechanics, it kinda turns them into Hottis, the Rakshasa from Vox Machina

[@gabrieleprotopapa]

Fantastic breakdown. I already own the book, but you made me all giddy about it I almost want to buy a second copy...

[@mystic-malevolence]

You can really hear Matt's cadence come through in some of these quotes.

[@johnnye87]

"Shtriga Nonna" sounds like it's based on a corruption of "Vampire Grandma" in a mix of Romanian and Italian. IIRC Baba Yaga means something like Terrible Grandma too, in Russian.

[@raymondharnack4160]

Count Rhodar is one of the best designed monsters I have had the pleasure of using. He gutted two of my players and party had a heck of a time with him. They’re all level 12

[@FrostSpike]

09:18 Humans, named as a monster type of "Men", were in the AD&D 1e MM too, with a variety of roles and recommended group structures; "classed NPCs", bandit, brigand, berserker, buccaneer, caveman, tribesman, dervish, nomad, merchant, and pilgrim. They were also in the 2e MM (as "Human") with an expanded set of roles & structures. Seems to have dropped out of 3e, maybe as it then seen that any creature could fulfil those sorts of roles and there was the ability to make mostly any species a playable character.

[@edwardwalter3100]

You're gonna love these monsters Mike! I've been using them to great effect in my game and I'm sure you'll find the to be fun as well. Kiona the Dread Lord almost TPK'd my most powerful PC's!

[@shweppy]

I wish I had this book 18 months ago when I started my campaign. I'm heading into the last 6-8 sessions now, so it's coming a little too late, but I will definitely like to have it on hand if I ever DM 5e again. I may just get it for the lore and advice anyway!

[@bristowski]

This is a good channel. I like Mike.

[@Mattocon757]

Let’s be honest, WOTC added the “spell like abilities” to the recent stat blocks as their way of countering counter spell - they are all salty DMs about counterspell’s functionality doing what it’s meant to, even if it’s a little too well. The smoking gun for me is Vecna’s dread counterspell. Literally an uncounterable counterspell which can be done multiple times a turn. They had/have zero intention of making them interactable with counterspell, the reason they existed was so your/their npcs could cheat the system. So glad MCDM just bypassed that shitty DM behaviour with a simple fix.

[@alalessia]

Shtriga Nonna sounds like the italian words strega (witch) and nonna (granny) making her the witch granny and I wholeheartedly approve of this

[@Keovar]

15:23 - Barrow-wights are wraith-like creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-Earth. A "barrow" is a tomb built inside a hill, so the name roughly means "barrow-folk", referring to the culture's burial practice. In The Lord of the Rings, the four hobbits are trapped by a barrow-wight until Tom Bombadil rescues them, but they do obtain ancient swords from the grave goods in the tomb (Frodo's sword was broken upon a Nazgul, but was replaced by Sting.) Tolkien derived the idea of barrow-wights from Norse mythology, where heroes of several sagas battle undead known as draugr. Bombadil and the barrow-wights don't appear in any adaptation I know of, besides the satire "Bored of the Rings", which has Tom Benzedrino as a drug-addled hippie.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

Hydra doesn't multiple her heads in mythology. She just does have 9 heads, each can regenerate. And she's a SNAKE. She doesn't have legs.

[@leahwilton785]

There is also a free spreadsheet including all of these monsters on MCDM's website, so you can sort by any criteria you want/need

[@penzancepirate]

Phylactery is not such a controversial term, the meaning you refer to is only one of many, arguably the most specific. Phylactery more simply means "amulet" or "reliquary". The word "phylactery" in fact comes from the ancient greek "phylacterion" which simply means "(protective) amulet/safeguard". It is true that for most of history the word referred to the Tefillin (the Jewish prayer box you refer to), but it is by no means it sole meaning. In fact, it came to refer to the Tefillin precisely because the Tefillin is an "amulet" a "protective safeguard" that holds prayer scrolls.

[@chaqalaqalaqa]

This has been one of my favorite D&D books ever! Do you also find the CR calculations per encounter (i.e. the multiplying table) to be useful with non-MCDM monsters? I've been using it for all my encounter building and it's worked pretty well

[@MisterFizzer]

From my home games (level 17, Tier 4 and level 3, Tier 1) the encounter guidelines stack up really well.

[@TheSoling27]

koodos for a seamless transition into your sponsor -- you do it the best of all 'tubers

[@miniman6565]

Jewish viewer here. Regarding the phylactery thing. We…. Don’t call it that. They’re “T’filin”. As best I understand, the term phylactery is Greek in origin? It’s one of those things where I learned about the term *from* fantasy stuff like liches. I can’t say I find it *particularly* offensive, as it feels like such a removed concept that it just feels unrelated to me, though admittedly I do think I’d rather an alternative (or at least a different word be used, just given the evident association).

[@mystic-malevolence]

Dictionary websites do seem to define phylactery as the same thing as t'filin or tefillin. But more notable is how the 3rd Edition _Monster Manual_ *describes* the phylactery: "The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. This typically has a leather strap so that the owner can wear it on the forearm or head." (p. 217) And by the 5th Edition _Monster Manual,_ this has evolved to: "A phylactery is traditionally an amulet in the shape of a small box, but it can take the form of any item possessing an interior space into which arcane sigils […] are inscribed in silver." (p. 203) So the the _Flee, Mortals!_ use of Soul Stone at least divorces it from the 'box containing knowledge' description. I have pulled these quotes from a Tumblr post on the subject by David J Prokopetz (I was able to find a PDF of the 3E MM to verify that one) which blames the 1993 _Van Richten’s Guide to the Lich._

[@miniman6565]

@@mystic-malevolence You're definitely correct with all that. I more meant that the term phylactery was used by another culture/language to describe something from our culture. It's just something I've noticed in recent years and felt like chiming in on. What I mostly meant with it feeling removed was that since nobody in my culture refers to them as that, and I rarely see anyone else even knowing what tefilin are in the first place, it's more one of those frustrating things to me where it *is* antisemitic, but it's also so archaic that I suppose I'm more numb to it. Not that it's a reason *not* to change it, more just like, the nature of living with these things, I suppose.

[@mkang8782]

If I hadn't just dropped about $200 on Mongoose Traveller 2E rulebooks, I would be picking this up right away. Also, one of your smoothest segues to the sponsor ever.

[@cyphon34]

This book was an amazing purchase for me, my campaign has human enemies, and the ones in this book have terrified my players.

[@michaelpinkston2602]

Flee, Mortals has the best encounter builder. IMHO

[@ZeroSaberOmega]

Wow, as a fan of the TTRPG 13th Age, I heard a lot of stuff that reminded me of 13th age in this book. Like the term "save ends" is identical, as is monsters having combat roles (which shouldn't be surprising considering Rob Heinsoo, the lead designer of 4th edition I one of the creators of 13th age) even the concept of overflow damage killing multiple minion. (Called "mooks" in 13th Age)

[@ashra8281]

I love the codices in this series

[@mcolville]

Hey nice shirt!

[@SupergeekMike]

Hey, thanks! 😁

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

I don't know how I feel about the Flee Mortals version of the "Kraken" being a carbon copy of the Leviathan from every Final Fantasy game. I kinda need there to be countless Krakens in the sea. I've always used "Kraken" as a general term for gargantuan and colossal sized squids and octopuses that can pop up anywhere. By contrast, there is only ever one Leviathan (a colossal serpent), and only ever one Dandan (the largest fish in the world) in my campaigns. The MCDM kraken might work out for my leviathan needs, but I'll still probably need to use the base 5e kraken often. Though when I need to spice it up I give krakens a legendary action that summons 1d6 low HP Fathomless warlock tentacles per player.

[@Lurklen]

Really liked this book, even when the lore wasn't to my taste, it was cool. And so far, the mechanics have been very tight. I did miss the lack of Were-creatures, I would have liked to see their take on that. Would like to hear your take on those villain parties. And I am for sure going to have those dragons get up to mischief in my world. I think, and your mileage may vary on this, what makes Kobolds cool is how pathetic they are. Like, goblins are insane and sneaky and nasty, bad ideas incarnate, but they are usually having a very good time being that way. Kobolds are also sneaky, and nutty, and can be very nasty, but you really get the sense they are terribly aware of their place in the ecology, and are desperately trying to survive, with a few bold leaders trying to punch way above their weight. They are (in my favourite incarnation) rat-lizard-dogs at the very bottom of the monster food chain, a race of prey who got cleverness, fecundity, and nothing else, and who paradoxically have a deep and innate connection to creatures at the top of the food chain. And some of them are just deluded enough (or faithful enough) to believe that one day they too can be dragons.

[@TruSpectrez]

I'm going to put together a D&D Starter kit for someone who's just getting into D&D. What things should I consider? I am looking to spend around $50. Here are some of my thoughts: A Dice Set (or 2) D&D User Compendium Some minifigs? Maybe a Dice Tray? Any help with thoughts would be great!

[@firelordeliteast6750]

Pretty sure Medusa was 100% the victim in the original myth. She and Perseus were both pawns in the god’s silly games, Perseus just happened to be cast as the hero in the Gods’ eyes

[@TheOprative9]

Orcs in my setting are like the Krogen from the Mass Effect series where they have "backup" organs and internal systems. That's the reason for their relentless ability in my setting anyway lol

[@SupergeekMike]

I like it!

[@andyspillum3588]

I've heard (but have not, in any way, researched personally) that in the original version, Madusa was a completely innocent priestess that just got Jacked Up by a jealous goddess. Man, why are so many "gods/goddesses" just Horrible people?!?

[@robbietoe]

Not the original, but the most iconic origin, written by Ovid, a guy with a well documented hatred for any and all authority figures back in ancient greece, which came through in his tellings of multiple myths as the gods being spiteful jackwaffles who only make mortal lives worse, most notably Athena, as her characterization in his stories of Arachne and Medusa are very different from her typical presentation. Pre-Ovid, Medusa was just one of a handful of monster sisters, whose origin didnt matter for the purposes of Perseus defeating her.

[@MatthiasClan]

Layout is such a weird thing in the DnD community, particularly on reddit. Seems no one can agree with what the proper layout should be. It's always an argument of type, CR, habitat, or alphabetical. So I don't really blame WotC for making a call people don't like, because it seems that's always going to be the case. The community itself can't agree. I'll also so while Flee, Mortals! CR chart is most excellent, I do wish the chart included a page number for each creature on their chart line. I absolutely love the companions rules. It's a very neat way to add a pet to a player without having to be a beast master, while also including some neat tools that can have an RP component in the ferocity system.

[@markkajc]

The ideas, and flavour from this book definitely sounds awesome! Theres something about the art, that just kinda feels off though.

[@RatOrchestra]

Love the sound of this book and sounds like a lot of improvements on some of 5e's monster design failings, and this video alone has me sold on it Also just a random note, and just my perspective, but I have heard plenty of that note on phylacteries being attributed to judaism and it's always confused me because the actual hebrew term for what people are referring to is "tefilla" or "tefillin" while phylactery is just a word from either ancient greek or latin that seems to be have a history of use with any sort of reliquary or case for something of religious significance. Soulstone is probably an improvement both in being culturally respectful as well as actually being indicative of what the name is meant to represent, but I'm just not sure if I missed something that caused people to so heavily associate phylacteries with judaism over the actual hebrew word for the thing they are describing

[@Heavensrun]

Just because Demons don't have a combat ability to possess someone doesn't mean you can't have them possess someone, it just means it's not going to happen in a combat encounter.

[@avoral98]

The npcs in the humanoid section are by default all human, just different variations of them

[@tonysladky8925]

I've heard that "Phylactery" is the Greek (or maybe another language?) translation of the Jewish ritual object and not a term that is actually used in Judaism. Probably still wise to use something else, but I think it's not quite as clear cut. Still, I'm not crazy about "Soul Stone". I like the implication of an old, important container that you get from "Phylactery", so I'd probably want to fish around for something from an ancient Mediterranean or Middle Eastern language that fits that vibe.

[@T_Peazy]

The basilisk never made sense to me. Because looking away from it doesn't stop it from looking at you. Eye contact is 2 ways! If im behind it, I shouldn't have to look away!

[@Yaratoma]

The hobgoblins just seem too infernal with their new abilities. But I'll reflavour it so they aren't as much

[@Callimachus33]

A monster the translation of which to D&D always bothered me (back from 2nd edition) is the vampire. Draining levels (or worse negative leevels) is just not the same as drinking blood.

[@f.a.santiago1053]

I think you just sold the book for me.

[@notDionysis]

First! Hell yeah huge fan

[@XanothAvaeth]

The thought that the 2024 Monster Manual will be fully alphabetical with no grouping does indeed sound miserable. I already hate that spells are fully alphabetical with no grouping by level. It's just a tedious experience with a physical book to check "what spells can I cast at this level and what do they do" hope you enjoy flicking pages back and forth more than you do answering that question.

[@joshricks1273]

MCDM does better at making D&D content than WoTC is

[@SnowmanInHell]

Pretty low bar

[@OfMaceAndMen]

Lets fuckin goooooooooooo