INSANE Allegations Against Wizards of the Coast

[@dungeonsanddiscourse]

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[@mban2748]

I heard Not Z. If Ytube has an issue, send them a screenshot of this comment and you'll be fine.

[@garhent]

Well seeing as Perkins has zero history of being political on twitter or social media and about a year ago in a D&D interview he said: "We find the concept of half being inherently racist" when discussing Half Elf and Half Orcs being pulled from the 6E version of the PHB as having unique stats and being in the universe. I can't imagine Perkins liked saying that with his history. Might as well be talking about how a race should be kept out of school and dang that mixed marriage thing needs to stop. I'd imagine that was a directive from WotC to state that.

[@johnwolf2829]

Have never bought anything at Beyond. Now that I know the WOC Mafia is trying to force me to, I never will. Period.

[@Paintchipsrocks]

For those of you wondering, the accusations start at like thirteen and a half minutes in.

[@MasterShake9000]

This video was more discourse than dungeons

[@McLovinTTRPG]

Thanks, you saved me 20 minutes of my life.

[@yyc1643]

MVP

[@marcgravatt1051]

13:31 for anyone wondering

[@NielsMulvad]

thanks man, once again her videos are 90% shit and 10% bull.

[@Ozgarthefighter]

With how busy Mercer is with his own company and projects, I see an almost zero chance he'd take on another big job.

[@anthonyjones2153]

It would be in their best financial interest to get him on board he would have to stop his own system in a non compete agreement but he's way too smart for that 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@laurab7049]

There's VERY MUCH that and there's also that they've been having non-stop scandals for, what, two years now? If Matt EVER did decide to do that, I highly doubt it would be while Cox is there. More likely Hasbro is going to pick up a lead designer who is fully on board with the AI stuff and is willing to lean into it as a focus.

[@pyropaul2408]

They also have their own system(s), they develop with darington press. I think they will distance themselfes even more from D&D in the future.

[@YoutubeIsRetarded689]

Wasn't there some controversy between D&D and CR back when they were being all grabby about their IP? I would think Critical Role would try and move away from D&D as much as possible with how much they keep shooting themselves in the feet.

[@OBEYTHEPYRAMID]

He's a woke piece of shit...Those guys wili never say no to the opportunity to inject even more woke shit around, like dogs pissing on every tree..

[@SodapopKevin]

Dungeons & Discourse: Help me I'm getting demonotized. Also Dungeons & Discourse: Here are my top 10 places in a Bastion to put a glory hole.

[@dungeonsanddiscourse]

we are all slaves to our nature :(

[@SodapopKevin]

@@dungeonsanddiscourse Life is too short to not do what you love, be it seeking glory or seeking holes. Wait.

[@jeffrey.p.thornton]

@@SodapopKevin There's a hole in your metaphor, you didn't really cover yourself in glory there.

[@POTATO-pl8kt]

Why should that get some demonetized? I'm willing to bet WotC/Hasbro have some pull on Alphabet to get criticism demonetized

[@nunyabusiness9433]

@@jeffrey.p.thornton You have to be on the other side of the hole for that.

[@eflarsen]

I honestly feel as though Matt Mercer won't go be the lead game designer for WotC as the CR cast doesn't really have the time to take on a major corporate job like that. They have their own company, their own tabletop games they're developing, and they're all still working VAs. WotC would probably demand their new lead game designer move to their HQ in Seattle, and Matt's life is pretty centered in LA.

[@Hathur]

I don't see it happening at all. Consult? Sure... but lead designer? I'd bet good money that he NEVER does it. With his own campaign setting / books HE has basically 100% control of it, he has creative license to do as he wishes... Lead designer for D&D? He'll have so many corporate overlords breathing down his back he'll lose his mind and quit in frustration over the amount of control they try to press on him. Frankly, I doubt Chris Perkins made anywhere NEAR the amount of money Mercer does, not by a long shot... so taking the job and diverting his energy and time away from his own projects would literally be a money loss for Mercer - the man is a multi-millionaire, Perkins was probably pulling in $150k a year at best... Mercer makes drastically more.

[@Shinmsl]

If anything I think anybody else but the CR guys are more likely to take the job at WotC. They successful built their own Characters,Ips, games, etc. Why would anyone wanna leave behind all that after they out in all the work and love , and already own it fully to be another mere cog in the corporative machine of WotC today?

[@Vampster19CockedD20]

Yeah no freaking way Matt Mercer is going to wotc. They are like totally living their best life right now with cr being their passion and a company and they do a lot of voiceover work too. No way are any of them going to or this least of all Matt, but hay I could be completely wrong.

[@catherinecrawford3058]

HQ is not in Seattle. It's near Renton in the South Sound, near a swamp and a shopping mall.

[@SolStJohn]

​@@catherinecrawford3058 It's east of Olympia and west of the Cascades. It's Seattle. Unless you're asking for directions, nobody who lives here cares.

[@jeremyglebe4050]

Maybe I'm crazy but any rule that says the GM doesn't get to interact with a portion of their world is going straight to the garbage. That just isn't how RPGs should work.

[@h8uall66]

The DM doesn't get to control most of the things about a PC, just limit them. This is no different.

[@alexmehner8224]

But the responsibility of setting those boundaries are on the player, the DM can’t help/enforce for them unless they know. Also the other players knowing those boundaries help avoid situations entirely. As for the world, I only wrote enough that I can run fluidly with who I’ve got and where + just considering their boundaries while “filling in the blanks”

[@-Loketta-]

Keep the drama reporting coming. I can't paint minis while relaxed so having this in the background while I paint keeps that edge highlighting crisp.

[@TheTerrainWizard]

😂😂😂

[@dantuck5552]

This is peak comedy.

[@Silversmith70]

Love it lol.

[@mrkrunch4340]

Edging

[@raymondharnack4160]

Fueled by outrage

[@scareypete13]

The idea that negotiations and consent were stolen from other RPGs is silly. They've been a staple of the BDSM community since Gary Gygax was in diapers.

[@LordRenegrade]

The accusations aren't that the abstract ideas were stolen, but rather specific implementations. Here's how Paizo handled the same thing in the GM Core book (pg 7): > Some methods you can use are lines and veils, *developed by Ron Edwards,* and the X-Card, *developed by John Stavropoulos.* [ goes on to describe these things ] If Paizo can afford eight extra words in their tiny budget, I think WotC (armed with Hasbro-scale budget) could have made some acknowledgements too.

[@jeanannd]

The accusation isn't that Negotiations and Consent stole anything. It's that the New A D & D Players Handbook stole their Consent rules from Negotiations and Consent and didn't even acknowledge Negotiations and Consent.

[@conspiracypanda1200]

I'm sure the BDSM community was also in diapers at that point, but for a totally different reason.

[@aurawilming6047]

There's a notable overlap in the skill sets of both types of dungeon masters....

[@cassandrawasright1481]

I mean, sure, but if WOTC got this stuff from "the broader idea of negotiations and consent, as seen in the BDSM community" rather than "specifically ripping off Lines and Veils and the X Card," they might have used, I don't know, some kind of safe-word or something instead of an X gesture. Would have been more practical for their pivot to VTTs as well.

[@titaniumteddybear]

So Mercer and some other DMs were consulted on the new DM's guide, the one that's good. That makes sense. But I think it's more likely that Daggerheart has poached Chris Perkins than that Matt Mercer is joining WotC.

[@Wolfcreatesart]

Or he realized the company isnt good and wanted to work for a better company we dont know

[@interrobang8645]

According to the source article on Polygon (which the CBR article references) "Matt Mercer, Deborah Ann Woll, other professional DMs helped write the new Dungeon Master’s Guide" (15-Oct-2024), WotC contacted them with a clarification (18-Oct-2024): '“Not to worry, Chris isn’t going anywhere,” the individual added, “he’s just taking on a new role for D&D. We’ll share more details when we have them.”' So it could just be more of the personnel reshuffling that WotC do every release...

[@commandercaptain4664]

@interrobang8645 Hopefully, he's becoming CEO of Cocks Blocking.

[@fenrir607]

"Sir. The muscle men from the bastion are trying to unionize." "I see. Call the Pinkertons."

[@Kaotiqua]

I agree about Mercer. I think distancing himself from WotC would be the wiser path. I also think it's long since past the time when we as a gaming community recognize that it's _our_ game, and that HasBro is a HasBeen.

[@phloog]

The reason safety tools are “oddly” controversial is that adults don’t need them, and in EVERY group I’ve encountered them they weren’t used for safety, but to allow the most delicate and irrational to control everything. Don’t be stupid…don’t be an ass. Grownups know what this entails.

[@Thorn99855]

Exactly.

[@heyimbilliejean]

I find it a little funny that they straight up use the same term for limits as the BDSM community instead of the family friendly, TTRPG terms. 😂

[@jamindavey]

Where do you think they got the term "dungeon master"?

[@commandercaptain4664]

Well, before Chain met Mail, roleplaying games used to mean something kinky.

[@HeavyTopspin]

The difference being that BDSM is an activity where someone can be actually injured due to a lack of communication, and not simply have their little snowflake feelings hurt. Remember, always get consent before you put your players in a man-sized cage.

[@Just-Yap]

@@HeavyTopspin clean rage bait

[@orokusaki1243]

@@jamindavey Dungeon crawls, the referee was the Master of Ceremonies. A la: Dungeon Master Other systems use Keeper of Arcane Lore, Game Master, Master of Ceremonies, and several others as titles for the person adjudicating and running the game session. Oddly, I don't recall there ever being a Wilderness Master, in D&D. Dungeon/Wilderness were like core places to adventure since the old days - they even have such differentiated DM screens for 5e. But yeah..BDSM is where the Safety Tools sprang forth. Nerdy adventuring hero "Role Playing" VS "Role Playing".

[@kingsfan2099]

If Bastions weren't meant for the DM, then why are they in the DMG?

[@Pee-z9n]

Because WOTC have been giving less and less of a shit about the DM. Players get all kinds of fun things, DMs get... sheets.

[@orokusaki1243]

The best answer might be: it is optional. Not all groups will want to use them, so forcing them to be a main part of the game by being in the Player Handbook may cause divisiveness at any given individual group's table.

[@kingsfan2099]

@@orokusaki1243 I can see that.

[@jeffrey.p.thornton]

Because they serve a metagame purpose: where does a player character perform a downtime action? Metagame defaults to the DMG.

[@Pee-z9n]

@orokusaki1243 Feats and Multiclassing were optional and they had no reservations about printing those in the 2014 PHB

[@Orodben]

I don't like the bastion system. Why give every player their own bastion? I want to give my players an old castle ruin they can rebuild to their liking.

[@Bruce-ez6zd]

That's how the original system evolved. This Bastion thing is actually a de-evolution of the system

[@vonkug]

My players got a bar they didn't own and liked it! (Under penalty of death)

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

That's actually a major part of the Vaesen rpg. Improving the castle buffs the characters too. Might be worth adapting this concept to a D&D game.

[@Singe0255]

​@vonkug my players stole the bar they didn't own by forging some signatures and making a few people disappear. Then they had it enchanted for teleportation. Last campaign, they got their hands on a Spelljamming Helm,.. so you know where this is headed.

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

@@Singe0255 NGL, that sounds awesome!

[@LoveProWrestling]

Everyone gets a Bastion eh? When VTT launches they will be microtransaction factories..£9.99 for fancy couch, £9.99 for witches cauldron, £9.99 for animated magic mirror.

[@greedowins]

Found the big brained thinker, of course they will. Good call-out.

[@diegotartaglia]

Nailed. They probably will, indeed. The " no DM involvement required" thing is quite convenient.

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

You're speaking the truth. That being said, I'm not against people prettying up their sims house in a VTT, so if monetizing that keeps the wheels turning then good for WotC.

[@yurisei6732]

Excellent assessment. I was very confused about why they thought individual bases would be a good idea, or why they would be untouchable by the DM. Now we know.

[@pdpandion4931]

That would explain why DMs can’t touch them.

[@GeryonM]

Bastions hale back to first edition where each class would "build" something i.e. A theives guild, church, tower, or a keep etc. depending on their class.

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

Exactly. I am confused on why she has no grasp of that concept. 🤡

[@FlameQwert]

except the way it's described in both mechanics and its (non)-relation to the campaign world make it completely different

[@majbloodnok]

@@ChurchofCthulhu In AD&D a character was able to attract followers, build Keeps, Churches, Wizards Towers, etc around level 9 - also known as Lord Level. Level 9 was also when you were expected to retire your character. What they could build and the followers they could attract was based on their class.These places were not a base of operations for the party but it were a home for the character at the end of their adventuring life. This is not the same as the D&D 2024 Bastions.

[@Boonedale]

@@FlameQwert Not really. In the 1st ed DMG there is a table that has a price range for castles and towers.

[@GeryonM]

@@majbloodnok only the end if you were played only for the murder hobo aspect. as the Lord, Guild Master, or High priest you could gain exp through administration and protection your area from invasion, raiders, or quests from your superiors. don't remember if it was the D&D Companion or Master set that had rules for that but when Birthright came out official AD&D rules had arrived. Lord was not the end of the adventure if it was the tables wouldn't have gone to 20 and H series could not be completed.

[@volcano3493]

You don´t need outdated adventure plot points listed in a book. Here is a guideline for every D&D game: 1. Replace the Tarrasque in your campaign with a hot giantess. 2. Make each session revolve around the hot giantess. 3. Done.

[@TheTerrainWizard]

😂😂😂

[@alphadogg5682]

Death by Snu-Snu is valid

[@anochron1]

Player guide: Step 1: Assemble a team of Bards....and Dwarves.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

The McGuffin is a device that can make the giantess human-sized every full moon. After this, the campaign writes itself.

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

Nah, our guys are set. The stronghold has succubus hookers and fantasy blow.

[@Skeloric]

This is about as close to DnD as I ever want to get. I'm happily playing any other RPG, especially one with no connection to Hasbro or its products.

[@Dyanosis]

And yet here you are. If you don't care, then go elsewhere. See how simple that is? Wow!

[@Skeloric]

@@Dyanosis 😂 There is also the infinite joy of mocking the people who still push DnD as some sort of great RPG, despite it not being such since somewhere in the 1980s. I get my fun wherever I can. I still got my old DnD Cyclopedia for the BECMI rules if I feel like getting into it. Good old TSR stuff, back when the game was good.

[@orokusaki1243]

@@Skeloric Yes to the old TSR stuff. Even 3rd edition wasn't horrible. Once Hasbro bought WotC, it's been almost all downhill (like Disney buying Star Wars).

[@middlemonster]

@@orokusaki1243 Star Wars was ruined long before Disney bought it.

[@orokusaki1243]

@@middlemonster I don't necessarily agree with that, from certain point of view. Allegedly, part of the reason GL sold it was because he was being negatively criticized for everything he was doing. So he stopped wanting to do more with Star Wars. The novel and comic writers did as they do, and while they contributed to expanding lore, they also tended to kill the verisimilitude by having the core heroes be everywhere doing everything and with increasingly outlandish "abilities" and gimmicks. The plot armor and one-upsmanship was unreal and ruinous. The GL stuff was as it should've been, the so called "Fandom" (AKA the negative-minded Dark Side Fandom) be damned. The approval of stuff in the Novels and Comics was far too lenient. The divisiveness in The Fandom (between Dark and Light Fans) ultimately gave the appearance that Star Wars was ruined - from some people's point of view, but not everyone's. Far too easy and tempting to ally with the Dark Side, and they were far more vocal in their complaints - their (potentially misguided and un-realistic) expectations of Star Wars was devastated. So, If you believe it was ruined before Disney, I can agree to that in the specific I described, but I get the feeling that it isn't likely to be the same reasons as you may have.

[@bobshewmake5369]

All I could do is laugh at this video. That guy saying 'that is off limits to DMs...' NOTHING is off limits to me! Safe spaces? I build warriors out of my players, not soft-witted sissies. I create personalized stories on real fears (to a limit, of course). If a player is afraid of clowns, they will face off against a tag team of Pennywise and Sweet Tooth. If they have reservations about the carnival, they will be thrown headfirst into a Rakdos style, demon-infested carnival of the macabre. My players know this, and while they might be scared initially, or anxious about the week ahead, they enjoy every minute of it. One of my players was scared to death of the carnival...so I ran him through a Rakdos blood show, then a more Witchlight scenario. He actually went to a carnival in real life and told me it had been 10 years since...and it was much easier to deal with than my depictions of them in the game. When you use fantasy to depict real situations and allow your players to talk through it, it creates an easement, a sense of conquest over that subject. I have some psychological knowledge, so I don't recommend that for every DM, but some sessions can be very therapeutic, if done correctly, of course. On the Matt Mercer thing, I love him as a DM. He is entertaining and creative. HOWEVER, I can do without the messed-up pronouns and everyone being gay and non-binary. I think CR forgot it is ok for men to have wives and females to go by she/her...that doesn't make you weird...it makes you normal. I understand there are some goofy people out there, some with severe mental issues. We should help them, not cater to them.

[@ErikErosa]

Yup, bastions sound to me like something made specifically to sell cosmetics and decorations as microtransactions. I'll pass. I was not planning on ever touching dnd again anyways

[@alderaancrumbs6260]

I salute thee, man of good taste.

[@entilzha1283]

Time to 3d print? Is DnD going into wargaming? It's very out of the blue

[@Boonedale]

@@entilzha1283 Not really, D&D Minis have been around for ages.

[@raziel482]

Yeah, same. I've played D&D since 1995 and I'm pretty much done with it.

[@j0nasbs]

Wow, I hadn't considered that they might have designed Bastions to have rooms and layouts because they will put out the 3d VTT. They will probably try to seel it as a Bastion tracking/sharing app. Makes total sense.

[@jasondarbe80]

So they're a call back to 1st edition when after like level 5 you had more going on than just adventuring, you had keeps, thieves guilds, churches, and wizard towers

[@daemonflayer]

9th level was "Name" level.

[@axel8406]

Just another thing WOTC has taken from older editions and clilaim that it is a new mechanic. Look at how they said they created the bounded system when THAC0 was the origional bounded system.

[@thomriley1036]

Safety tools? I miss the good ol' days, when Module D3 featured a secret door to a Drow priestess' play room (Edit: Room 53 in the Fane of Lolth, to be precise) with an insane naked human male chained to the wall. They sold this Module at Toys-R-Us.

[@campbellmaggs4384]

Personal gripes with the bastion mechanic aside...IF the DM explicitly cannot interact with the bastion, then why in pale hell is it in the DMG?

[@Nemmy-sys]

It's insane that real world things such as negotiating or consenting is being considered as anything having to do with any games

[@Artystrique]

It's also funny how the word 'adult' has been removed from negotiating and consenting in this context. If you're adult about what's going on, and honest and respectful, there's no need for 'tools'. You just talk things out.

[@TryssemTavern]

So the new DMG just took a bunch of charts/forms from the internet and put them in a book...? AD&D had a few books of mini hooks to kick start adventures. It was pretty neat. Also, isn't a bastion just a different way to reference "Strongholds" from AD&D? (There were rules on building your strongholds.)

[@Bruce-ez6zd]

It's exactly that

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

Strongholds were in BECMI too. WotC isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before, and they still can't write lore anywhere near as well as the writers for 2e.

[@ZachSeineVideos]

If the players are given a HQ, it is the duty of the DM to make it ‘unsafe’ at one point. This is the way.

[@chaos.corner]

The people I played with, we used our ill-gotten gains to build up a town. Our DM's little brother's antagonist character from a previous campaign that got away, came back, got a lucky roll and murdered us all in our sleep. That was fun.

[@ZachSeineVideos]

@@chaos.corner A player of mine once cast "Magnificent Mansion". I described the interior, including the old cellar door. "I don't think I would have included a basement," he said. "You didn't." I said. I never got so much mileage out of a single door.

[@jeffrey.p.thornton]

It's all fun and games until a player doesn't get to use a feat or class feature because the DM won't give him a place to spend his downtime quietly . . . But I'm sure that's not what you're proposing. 😇

[@yurisei6732]

Exactly. What's the point of building a castle if no one's trying to invade you?

[@ZachSeineVideos]

​@@jeffrey.p.thorntonActually I would like to suggest to try a RPG, where you don't wake up with full health after you have been beaten within an inch of your life the day before.

[@baddaysbasil5376]

Wait, what? You you're not supposed to burn down the bastions of the players just when they feel safest, sending them on a murderous countryside-destroying campaign of vengeance? What's the fun in that???

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

How about this? While the PCs are away, have the local lord or king's guard show up and discover this heretofore unknown and very expensive property within their borders. Have them return to find the building barricaded, with a note nailed to the door: a summons to appear before lawful authority to assess their property tax. Failure to comply will result in an arrest warrant.

[@baddaysbasil5376]

@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 I like it... fire or taxes, it's either way ;)

[@baddaysbasil5376]

@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 Oh, oh..! Or this: two words: ghost squatters.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

@@baddaysbasil5376 Let's think big. How about lich squatters?

[@commandercaptain4664]

@homebrewisthebestbrew5270. signed by Baron Walter Peck

[@marianpetera8436]

Nuh uh. If my tough muscular guy NPCs start unionizing, I'm sending Pinkertons after them. Problem solved. But seriously, how long is it gonna take before DnDBeyond starts offering cosmetic purchases for furniture, decorations, NPC skins, tile sets, custom buffs, various body parts of Vecna, and other stuff in their live service VTT bastions the DM allegedly has no say in. Isn't it crystal clear what's going on? You can't unsee the truth, once you realize there is no spoon. It's Hasbro, casting lvl 10 Bigby's Disrespectful Middle Finger.

[@Merchant074]

Pay 20 bucks to get the phallus of vecna. Grants advantage to any charisma based check and acts as a spell focus for bards.

[@jeffsmith5436]

Oh no, it’s still Bigby’s Giant Clenched Fist…you just don’t wanna know where they’re planning on shoving it

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

Okay so how players prettying up their sims house takes anything away from you? It gives people what they want and makes WotC money, so everyone wins.

[@YAH93]

@@tuomasronnberg5244 It means they turn DnD into a microtransaction live-service bullshit service. Is that what you want?

[@yurisei6732]

Yep. WOTC are already very against DMs limiting the player options in their games, next up we're going to have people whining that their DMs won't let them bring in their homebrew house and then WOTC stating that any DM who curates player bastions is evil.

[@jayspell179]

I agree that Daggerheart should be Matt Mercer's focus, rather than WOTC. WOTC needs the competition to keep their quality in check. BTW, you're a charming host to watch, and I feel like you could use more compliments.

[@notmousse]

What quality?

[@yurisei6732]

What quality?

[@calebwilliams7659]

If you've been playing AD&D since 1e then the Bastion thing is actually more of a throwback to that. Most young players don't know that a big part of the 1e game was attaining 10th level (for most classes) which was when you could start attracting followers and cohorts and so on that you would generally end up housing as your entourage in some sort of bastion, such as a keep for Fighters, or maybe an archery school for Rangers, or a dojo for Monks, or a tower for Wizards...et cetera. Earning the right to get a land grant from your feudal lord somewhere on the continent of Oerik on the world of Geyhawk campaign setting and build a base of operations to bulk up at for all those upcoming brutal modules for levels 11 & up was a big deal back in the day.

[@orokusaki1243]

Reminds me that XP was from how much Gold Piece Value in loot the group could haul off from dungeons. The depth of role playing games has become shallower and shallower over the years, not exclusively due to the system, but more due to the watering down of Players to be reactive zombies to the DM's grand story.

[@calebwilliams7659]

@@orokusaki1243 it used to be the point of the game was to have character classes that could do something the other character classes couldn't. Now they've watered it down to the point where pretty much every character class can do everything which defeats the whole purpose of the game. This isn't a game about superheroes this is a game about people who have a specific set of skills working together to defeat progressively more difficult enemies.

[@josephpurdy8390]

The concept of player armies battling it out among themselves. The referee can just handle adjudication without having to tell a story. Which, no referee that participates in any sports game every has to do.

[@orokusaki1243]

@@josephpurdy8390 Thus the "emergent story from gameplay". The GM still has to provide the feedback from the setting/game-world - whether senses, roleplaying NPCs, or environmental effects.

[@draquela96]

Yeah I don't know bc I started at 2e

[@kylestark1800]

Your riffs were unhinged but on point this episode. 😂 The news content was heavy enough that we needed those to ease the hits.

[@soeffner6833]

Sounds like wotc wants to turn dm's into unlicensed therapists. What a joke.

[@scottchristofersen2367]

You say that like they have not been that the whole time.

[@soeffner6833]

@scottchristofersen2367 True. Wotc is all about manipulation. TSR was fun though. Been playin RPG's since the late 70s. There wasn't any hand holding or safety words back then. If you didn't like the game, you were free to leave the table

[@scottchristofersen2367]

@@soeffner6833 that’s crazy talk. I’ve been playing since it was mimeographed pages of chainmail charts and there was talk of how to handle your playgroup even then. It isn’t WOTC it’s the hobby.

[@soeffner6833]

@scottchristofersen2367 Handling your group. I.E. keeping them engaged or dealing with a primadonna. Is nowhere near the same as a consultation session about their issues and taking notes to keep track so you dont risk offense. Doing a phych profile is way beyond what was talked about early on in RPG's

[@scottchristofersen2367]

@@soeffner6833 you say potato I say it is the same. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t like it don’t use it. There are lots of other game systems. Complaining about aspects of D&D you don’t like is a classic hobby in and of itself I realize but maybe not as productive and fun as actually playing with friends… assuming that is something you do.

[@CooperativeWaffles]

03:13Advert · Incogni 04:29Humor 04:51DM Guide Info 05:08~ DM Basics 05:54~ Wanky Tracking Sheets 07:01~ Ex. NPC Tracker 08:04~ Focus on Providing Tools 08:41~ Thnx, Chris Perkins! 09:06~ NEW! Bastion System 12:25~ Other niggles.... 12:49~ Online Opinions 12:58【Demonization Section】 13:32WarGamer Accusations 13:38~ Safety Tools Plagiarized 14:27 · Player Limits Tracker 15:07 · X Sign 15:43Discourse's Opinion 16:15【Tolkien Reference】 16:37Matt Mercer News 17:09~ Chris Perkins 17:41~ Mercer Involvement 17:56~ Suggestions 18:07~Discourse's Opinion ※※

[@jshricks]

Off limits to the DM? Yeah, no. I've been done with WoTC since 2018 when Mearls fired me. Been playing since 1979. Didn't know I could be fired as a player. I'm only here for the WoTC bashing. Its fun.

[@JAG19d]

Saying “safety tools” is stolen or implying they are copyright is insane. They have been around forever. Used at conventions and public spaces…. And if anything they ripped off the S&M community lol.

[@jamindavey]

On behalf of the BDSM community, safety tools are open source and creative commons.

[@alderaancrumbs6260]

Safety tools in TTRPGs are stupid. Be mature.

[@IllTractatesIll]

Yeah, we don’t need to communicate boundaries. Just ask Adam Koebel about that.

[@IllTractatesIll]

I think the controversy isn’t so much that the concepts were lifted, but that WOTC takes game concepts in general and tries to monetize them to the detriment of the gaming community. If I use your idea in my game, that’s one thing, but if I use your idea and present it as “the world’s greatest RPG”, make it appear that I created everything, and sell it for $59.99, that’s a different story.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@IllTractatesIll $59.99? What happened to the spine chilling MSRP of $79.99? There should be TV commercials about how Indie Game X is better than than the "World's Greatest Roleplaying Game", much the same way how detergent ads operate.

[@DoinItforNewCommTech]

I GUARANTEE Bastions were chosen for the DMG because they can be easily monetized. You can sell maps and minis to DMs on Sigil. Every encounter, every week. NPCs, monsters, random wilderness, city streets, dungeons, the whole shebang. DMs practically print money on Sigil. But players? Players will only buy minis of their own characters. And maybe if they're serial character creators, you can get some cash from additional cosmetics. But that's it. So, how do you sell the big-ticket items to players? You offer them maps that THEY can control. Bastions!

[@janartoos2744]

JFC. Perkins didn't and won't quit, and I guarantee Matt Mercer isn't going to become Game Architect at WotC. When the manufactured fake drama exceeds any real goings-on several times over, you have to question what in the name of Gruumsh you're doing with your life. Shee-eeesh.

[@AllanHoltzmann]

Loving the extended evolution of the "new" Edition name.

[@Pfhreak]

Half of episodic television's stories kick off with the villains sneaking into the protagonists' lair and either sabotaging it, stealing something, or kidnapping one of the hero team (and probably replacing them with an evil duplicate), so WOTC are going to just take that away completely by making bastions off-limits to DMs. Ok.

[@Dyanosis]

Don't forget that it's off-limits to the DMs BUT it's not in the PHB. Yep, totally makes sense.

[@Taricus]

I have a 2nd Edition AD&D game that I run and a few months back, the archnemesis of one of the characters attacked him at home. It was pretty spooky and dramatic... Why should a place be off limits?

[@commandercaptain4664]

Re: hero base invasions: "SOMEBODY TELL THE FAT LADY... she's on in five...• -- Riddler.

[@ProfArmitage218]

When a book contains introductory material like "How to Run a Game" the unfortunate response I often see is "I've been playing RPGs for 20 years. I already know all this. These are wasted pages that could have been used for something else." Every game is someone's first game and the hobby can't survive without new players.

[@jeffrey.p.thornton]

Especially hard on D&D as the "market maker" in the D&D economy - almost everyone's first game is some variant of D&D. They have to find ways to onboard newbies, but any gesture in that direction takes intense heat from oldheads and fanatics. Not a WotC fanboy, but they have a harder job than any other RPG designer.

[@vladimirserpov6773]

About Bastion. I gave a whole base of operations to my players once as part of a reward for saving a whole country. They said: Nuh-uh, we're vagabonds. We'll rent this building to be a foreign embassy. And I know for sure, even if I make them have this bastion thing, they'll ask me to narrate it all, whole interior design, number of pots in the cupboard, voice the pet cat😅

[@jengibs]

My tin foil hat theory is that Chris is stepping down because D&D is going full digital after this, and instead of an old school ttrpg pen-n-paper guy like Perkins they are going to get some mobile game-esque or video game adjacent development team to move forward with their fully digital, microtransactions to h3ll n back, future products.

[@dehro]

well.. no.. that's nonsense... Chris Perkins is getting a promotion/stepping in a more managerial position. Matt Mercer is neck deep in the production of his own rpg gaming system, producing and voicing 2 Amazon cartoons, voicing all manner of characters (latest I saw him listed was a role in the new Dragon Age)... Critical role as a company, the show... the notion that Mercer would become lead designer at WOTC is ludicrous. for crossover between the two kinds of dungeon masters, check out a certain short of the show gamechanger, starring Brennan Lee Mulligan, his wife and Erika Ishii

[@garrettmorgan4430]

oh they say the DM cant use the bastion???...... we will see about that.... its seems like a great way to hook players... "Who attacked them?" "You need a special item to complete construction of your lab" "you return to your bastion only to be warned its no longer safe and a strange heraldry is flying over the gate." .... nothing in the world is outside the DMs reach.

[@Varg235]

I'm a regular dude who played all sorts of TT-RPG's over about 35 yrs with other regular dudes and women. And I NEVER needed and/or used any safety tools. You know why? Treating others with respect is nothing I needed to learn for TT-RPG I was taught that by my parents/grandparents. And that's not a one-way-road. It goes both ways.

[@angrybellsprout]

this is all results of commies infiltrating and then subverting the hobby.

[@thesonofdormammu5475]

Yeah, same here. Super weird that people would do some of the things I've heard about from other groups/players.

[@angrybellsprout]

@@thesonofdormammu5475 it is what you expect when commies infiltrate and subvert your hobby.

[@Boonedale]

Those tools are mostly geared towards public gameplay in public venues, not for a closed group of friends.

[@angrybellsprout]

@@Boonedale they were made for tourists who have no investment in the hobby to bully others.

[@atomwyrm541]

That “I’m a sex offender” thing is a weird joke.

[@middlemonster]

It catches you by surprise, but the punchline makes it worth it. Her whole schtick is that she's a socially awkward nerd with eccentric tastes.

[@angrybellsprout]

@@middlemonster i guess you can call 10 year olds a taste.

[@KoljaWolfi]

i dont like it either. the content+info is good, and many jokes are ok, but some cross a line.

[@LeMayJoseph]

The joke is that she fucked a platypus, it’s not that serious.

[@atomwyrm541]

@@middlemonster what’s the punchline exactly? I’m missing it evidently.

[@chrisbricky7331]

Once again another great update and analysis with tons of humor. Thank you for the hard work. Chris

[@zwidowca1]

By design off limits to the GM. Eh? Hey, WOTC, do you know that the GM is basically... omnipotent? They can do what the hell they want with the game world? Dafuq you mean off limits?

[@functionatthejunction]

That's what Im saying. The DM has no limits. People need to be reminded of Rule Zero.

[@CathrineMacNiel]

@@functionatthejunction is Rule Zero even in the DMG?

[@monkibro]

DnD: Let's get rid of alignment! It's cumbersome and reductive, and...stinky! Also DnD: Let's add a tracker system that categorizes NPCs by random adjectives! TOTALLY not cumbersome, reductive, or stinky at all!

[@justanerd1138]

Bastions are 100% WotC getting players and DMs ready for a digital equivalent where they can sell the players upgrades for their personal hall. Keep in mind WotC has explicitly said they want to monetize players. No way in heck I'm going to DM at a table where there are limits on my world building. I am a very mindful DM either pulling punches or adding difficulty to keep it engaging but not punishing. Players only die if they really aork hard at it. Yet there is no way that were going to have a rule based space that the DM cannot engage with. Don't play with people who think that is a good idea, they will absolutely ruin your enjoyment.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

I can imagine some clown saying, "I made my armor in my bastion, so it's part of my bastion, too! So you can't hurt me, you big meanie dragon!" I swear, we're gonna see something like this in r/rpghorrorstories before six months is out.

[@Grensid]

Ah, yet another D&D affair, sweet, time to relax and listen another unfolding story 😁

[@grognardgaming8952]

No chance in hell players are dictating my game. My game. My table. You want to dictate by negation via safety tools you and your lines and veils can pound sand. If something bothers you have a side conversation with the DM about it like an adult or find another game. Theres a Dm shortage, not a player shortage. Im routinely having to tell people my game is already full.

[@arakuss1]

Yea I never understood this new mentality. Every group of role players I have been with it has been the GM creates and makes the world, including the content in the world. If it was something that well tested limits on something they usually would warn the players hey I put this in the game. Players can chose to opt out if they wish to or not. Most of these groups, I been roleplaying since the 1980s, we would rotate GMing. We come up with ideas and pitch them. See what players wanted in or not. For me lately I have been opting out of two things. D&D 5ed games and super high fantasy worlds. Walking into towns were almost every other house is filled with a different race just makes no sense in a world were you have to travel by horse back. However if a GM wants to make that more power to them I just don't play that campaign. That is the players option and choice. GM creates players chose to play or not. Maybe its because I have been playing for so long I can tell what group I want to play with and what GMs and games I wish to play. Never though would I tell a group or GM hey I have these limits you have to change. It might sound harsh but most of the groups I play in we scout out players and then give them an invitation to play. If we several people asking to join we often have someone run a one off with new players to see how they play and what their playing style is. This would be something we would often do back during the days of text based online chat room roleplaying days.

[@MisterVyle]

Thankfully I dont need WOTC. My group writes better lore than this flavorless slop.

[@Pee-z9n]

Gotta love how the DMs guide contains a large amount of content not intended for DMs.

[@functionatthejunction]

All content is intended for DMs though.

[@yurisei6732]

@@functionatthejunction No content is intended for DMs. WOTC hate DMs because DMs gatekeep their ability to monetise players. All content is aimed at players, the DM is treated as a slave to the player's whims. Note how safety tools are always presented as "Your DM must obey your choices", and absolutely never "The player must decide whether they want to play the campaign".

[@sunbleachedangel]

@@yurisei6732 what an unhinged take

[@yurisei6732]

@@sunbleachedangel Ignorance is bliss.

[@Pee-z9n]

@sunbleachedangel No the DMs being a barrier to monetisation thing is real. You can look it up, they aren't shy about it.

[@verrenos5825]

Quote of the Century: "My God, I just had the chance to play Batman, and I chose to play the penguin instead"

[@vriskaserket8058]

Npc secrets can be anything such as a fear, a neighbor they hate, an embarrassing story, a hidden tool or weapon, a cherished trinket, a crush so on so forth. Not every secret has to be earth shattering. Also not every npc needs a secret. If your game is centered on secrets you can find or make a secret roll chart for lesser NPCs.

[@proxy90909]

Not every npc needs a secret, that is very dependant on GM to GM, but that sounds like overpreparing, only add secrets to npcs the players care about, otherwise you wasted time on the 25 guards, fish merchant and perfumer that they never interacted with or limited themselves to "I'd like to buy X, do you have it?"

[@vriskaserket8058]

@proxy90909 Yeah I didn't think to include that. Most certainly not all npcs need a secret. And if you really need that many secrets you can find or make a chart for it instead of doing so with every npc. Edited my post to reflect your suggestion.

[@ticozayas6430]

As long as wotc has its hasbro corporate overlords it doesn't matter who takes over for chris... they will continue to squeeze as much profits as they can from the stone that is dnd, wether than means mass layoffs to turn a profit, or squeezing as many transactions as possible into thier "new" vtt

[@CaraesNaur]

Analog, dead-tree d&d is kaput. Perkins knows this. He left because his position was eliminated. The entire tabletop team is vestigial to Hasbro. But the hobby will resume cosplaying as decapitated chickens every time a designer's departure hits the news. These are not individual stories. They are the continuing saga of the story that broke in January, 2023. A little thing known as the "OGL Scandal". The VTT is coming, hearkening the demise of d&d and Hasbro. No one should be surprised when it happens.

[@kredonystus7768]

The one player description that is actually useful is the stances by the Forge. Rather than being about what a player wants or behaves it's about how a player pilots their PC and constantly changes. "Actor stance" is when you go "this is what my guy would do". This is your embodiment of the character. "author stance" is when you go "i am doing this to push the story to go in this fun direction". Many DM players sit in author stance. Generally I have the most fun with players in author stance because they understand how to push the game forward. Burning Wheel assumes you're in author stance. "pawn stance" is when you go "I am dong this because it is strategically/tactically a good idea". While generally players want to be in actor they tend to sit in pawn, especially in a game like D&D.

[@captainthorrek262]

Bastions were called strongholds in 1st and 2nd editions, and you got them at around... 7th level I wanna say? Makes me pine for Named Levels again... hitting Named Level was something back then!

[@Merchant074]

What are named levels and how did they work?

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

@@Merchant074 Give you an example: in 1E, the level title of a 1st level cleric was "Acolyte", "Adept" at 2nd level, "Priest" at 3rd level, to the "named level" title of "High Priest" at 9th, where the title stopped changing and you no longer gained a new hit die upon gaining a level. ALL 1E classes had these titles at each level.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

I get your soft spot for named levels; reaching them was indeed an achievement. The ones below them, however, I always found pretentious and clunky somehow.

[@ieshadover]

However strong holds were still very much suppose to be part of the game and diffently under DM domain. They were just concider something the player was the leader of. So if you had a secret hideout a dm could have the baddy find it and attack.

[@Taricus]

9th - 10th lvl

[@PilotSun-rg9bh]

I truly enjoy the humor you add to your videos. Keeps me hooked all the way to the end just to hear your jokes. Keep up the great content!

[@randallblack9519]

Who has ever propared a detailed script only to throw it all in the trash 5 minutes after the group sits down?

[@jeffrey.p.thornton]

Steps to running your first session as a DM: 1) Prepare an adventure 2) Prepare five other adventures

[@proxy90909]

My greatest 2 preps never got that glory: 1. (Players joined the adventure under the premise of a wizard who would grant them a wish each for doing the thing) Started to envision dungeons inspired by their individual wishes that they would embark upon finishing the "starting" town: inter-player shananigans campaign fizzled 2.Made maps of a town with sidequests rewards and even bothered to map out the "walls" and "lighting" on the main towns so the fog of war would acurately block movement outside their "view" , made tokens out of a bunch of planned monsters, set traps and made the very buildings from scratch (as in picking the floor texture and placing each bench, torch and desk, some with interactible prompts for their contents), prepare each players "token" with some special features they had so they would light up for casting certain effects or to iluminate their sorrounding when they light a torch: campaign fizzled out session 2 (This was all done on MapTools, a tool for... Well map making and a form of Vtt)

[@bringthedoom]

What a weird standup routine. About 2 minutes of talking about DND , 17 minutes of bad jokes

[@choczynski]

Some of those safety tools predate the creation of dungeons & dragons by at least 20 years. They go back to the BDSM seen in the 1950s if not earlier.

[@tehlolercaust]

Oh... and they're a sex offender. Makes sense.

[@DanFromHali]

Your videos are becoming increasingly more disengenuous by the post :/

[@scottchristofersen2367]

It’s a challenge to continue to have a successful channel and it must be tempting to constantly talk about “scandal” and increasingly lean into criticism.

[@DanFromHali]

@scottchristofersen2367 trust me I suffered that problem, I get it. But I used to love this channel. But now it's just more destructive than actually being constructive with criticism. Which there is definitely a time and place for, it's not the sole problem. It's more so that they are being obtuse about the facts and go out of the way to leave out pieces of information that don't fit the narrative. I'm not a WOTC apologist by any means, but there's a difference in making videos to inform and offer constructive criticism, and it's another thing entirely to just be destructive for the sake of "what am I going to say next views". The fact that allegations and scandal come up in the same minute that they joke about keeping players captive in dog cages is wild. I just don't find this channel to be of value anymore, and it's sad.

[@Ryotbh]

You’re right, safety tools shouldn’t be an issue. But I’m afraid this video triggered me, so I’m going to have to ask to X-card it and ask you to take it down and make a more sanitised version. Thanks.

[@tay-dor7147]

Sounds like Critical Role creating Daggerheart freaked the heck out of WoTC as they realized Critical Role and their fans pivoting from D&D would really hurt WOTC's balance sheets. I could see them trying to court them back into the D&D fold by offering the job to Mercer.

[@Ozgarthefighter]

I can't see any scenario where Mercer takes that offer.

[@dhaisley]

"Small boys might ask that no one play a cleric", 😂

[@TrueKoalaKnight]

Sounds like an overly complicated version of the castles/towers/guilds/etc from early D&D.

[@BARRI39]

As always - informative and enterntaining! Thank you!

[@michaelolsen7000]

Save yourself the headache, just play AD&D 2e and be happy with life. Use the Player's Options rules to enhance your fun. Ignore new WotC stuff.

[@greendragon4444]

Bastions are focused on in the DMG just to sell more online assets. Players will want to build their Bastion in the VTT, and will have to pay to do so.(Just a guess)

[@terryschmitt8050]

Every NPC is getting a secret, but half of the secrets are, "still wets the bed," or, "collects his boogers in a jar."

[@commandercaptain4664]

"Stores several severed heads... of lettuce in a Bag of Holding."

[@ironwarmonger]

In my military D&D 3.5/Pathfinder 1e campaign, I had over 100 NPC's with full character sheets created, with equipment, spell lists, relationship details, etc.

[@mcCrunch]

Mat... please don´t... just DON´T...

[@richardrieb9739]

I'm Richard not Mat silly goose

[@nekospaw]

man, i can only imagine what my PC tracker would say... "Joe had a bad day at work and is now employing shenanigans" "more shenanigans" "Joe RP'd really well today, very touching" "back to shenanigans"

[@brandonmoorat2263]

"Safety tools" for a table top game with zero physical contact. 🤣

[@greedowins]

I guess it makes sense for people who are emotionally fragile or have some unresolved trauma, although I'd hope that any tabletop group I joined would include only decent people, and if someone had a major issue with something in the story, they would feel free to opt out of the session, and could clarify their concern at that time (or privately with the DM) so that it could be taken into account (as appropriate) for future sessions. Are there really people who would freak out fighting spiders in a TTRPG? I'm very concerned with actual spiders in real life, but having a fantasy spider described to me wouldn't bother me at all - and I'd probably enjoy killing them. Just like how she mentioned every NPC will now have a secret, now every player will feel obligated to define their triggers - what a way to kill the mood.

[@orokusaki1243]

@@greedowins You may or may not have heard of "roleplay therapy". You may or may not have heard of "self medicating". My take is that there are some "Players" who are coming into the hobby under the impression that it will "cure" their social anxiety or other issues they may have (exploring sexuality/gender), and that is their goal so they need their space to be "safe". They make use of the BDSM safety tools to ensure that safe space. Authentic playing relaxes a person, and builds camaraderie, while satisfying social needs, which is good and normal. However, I strongly advocate against allowing a typical game group to become a "therapy group" - one's fellow players are not psychologists nor should they be treated as care workers. By pushing that "therapy group" dynamic, it makes that the core, and the actual gameplay is sterilized and suffers. Absolutely a mood killer. The only expectation at a normal play group would only need to incorporate (as a reminder): "be excellent to each other", "don't be a dick", and "work out conflicts respectfully and decently".

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

Tolkien didn’t invent orcs, he only popularized the word that already existed in European folklore. ffs

[@orokusaki1243]

🤣🤣🤣

[@MrMichaelJParry]

Bastions are a call back to original D&D way back in the day

[@Bruce-ez6zd]

A fellow old guy!🎉🎉🎉

[@Hathur]

And they died off rapidly because it's an extremely niche idea. It ties you down to one location heavily, when most players want to explore and wander, see the world etc... very few players ever say "Let's sit down in this province and have a 20 level campaign right here, where all our stuff is"... it gets old fast. It was poorly received in OG D&D and will be poorly received again. You might be lucky if the idea appeals to even 5% of players, let alone DMs who want to make all their adventures in 1 region close to the player's fortress.

[@orokusaki1243]

Back when the system and the Players had more depth.

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

​@@HathurThat is not my experience at all. Hitting your name level and building a fort was awesome because then you got to control armies on the map and fight mass battles. Exploring dungeons became an occasional diversion from the real game, which was controlling and expanding a kingdom of your own. I loved the shift in focus from personal to map scale stuff, and that has been lacking from the recent editions of the game.

[@dismaspickman773]

I am sure the art in the DMG is amazing... just like the Player's Handbook. Also, good for Perkins--get the hell out before the complete collapse of modern D&D. RIP 1974-2024

[@ToesToJesus]

Oh boy, an actor now stepping in to play the role of an actor playing the role of game creator! How many layers of Inception are we at now?

[@Gunsmoke1084]

"I know who I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!" Tropic Thunder (2008)

[@lemuntpicard7482]

No place is totally safe, only safer.

[@inkspitter13]

“Off limits to the DM…” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Yeah, good luck with that

[@TheVoltage2]

If a DM isn't respecting your boundaries as a player then leave that group. That person doesn't deserve to have any players. Period.

[@inkspitter13]

@@TheVoltage2 I was referring to the “bastion” rules, but yes, boundaries are important

[@TheVoltage2]

@@inkspitter13 You know what, I blame the video for being way too long and not getting to the point fast enough. I forgot about the bastion part.

[@bamboozledgreatcrowd8982]

In the words of Michael Scott "NOOO, GOD! NO, GOD, PLEASE, NO! NO! NO!"

[@Thkaal]

So the museum guide is basically the first edition DM guide without all the stuff that actually makes the DM guide worth it

[@orokusaki1243]

I remember the TSR slogan when it was "Products of your imagination". Now it seems that Hasbro/WotC's slogan might be "Products of AI's imagination".

[@rannxerox3970]

The DMG has been pretty useless for a while now.

[@lasselippert3892]

At this point, surely even the die-hards acknowledge that CR is scripted.

[@feelingfuzzied9942]

The book is good if you don't know how doors work. Hopefully you know how doors work.

[@leemurphy3499]

So they want me to write a full page of stuff for an npc that the party are probably going to kill and rob anyway?

[@BockwinkleB]

Can't wait for DnD to go broke.

[@VulcanWolf]

I'm rooting more for Hasbro/WotC to go broke and D&D to get taken over and reshaped by better people. Alternatively, they crash out entirely and all of it just becomes public domain.

[@orokusaki1243]

@@VulcanWolf So with quick google-fu, I'm seeing 2070 as when D&D stuff starts becoming public domain, so perhaps 2120 for current 2024 stuff to become public domain. Note that most things D&D were taken from folklore, fables, myths, legends, and religion. Do the same thing now (and don't plagiarize), and you'd be able to create your own game system and setting. You could even use existing game settings for your own personal use at your game table, and use whatever rule system you desire. FATE Core Forgotten Realms. Cypher System Planescape. Kit-bash any setting with any system.

[@DarthPoyner]

I have backed out of the DnD game years ago so I just sit and eat popcorn while laughing at this news. Now I am supporting DC20. Better DnD style game, even better than Daggerheart.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

9:51 Bastions as "safe spaces"? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Have them attacked. Make PCs endure a siege. If they are of a size that requires staff to maintain them, there will always be questions of loyalty, not to mention payroll. And each PC has their own? Really? How far apart, huh? Close enough for mutual support? Not to mention the EXPENSE of provisioning and maintenance. Far cheaper--and safer--to share one complex. ....Oh, yeah: how often are PCs going to be in the damned things? Or do you treat them as summer homes? And have you settled in an established political entity? Better be ready when the tax assessor comes! 11:47 "It's off limits for the Dungeon Master." This is a crock of shit. PERIOD. If I allowed this as DM, the players would know damned sure that there is a cosmic HOA in place, and that their properties come with all the headaches of homeownership. ONE in-depth examination of the 1E DMG would have squashed this notion like a bug.

[@HeavyTopspin]

Agreed, I can't think of any reason to make this not communal aside from potential microtransactions.

[@NemoOhd20]

Safety tools is a hard limit for me. I don't buy any game with it. I raise my X card and buy another game.

[@tazmokhan7614]

Umm anything that has to with anything to do with MY universe will be under my rules, that includes these Bastion Rules. i read the rules any the 2nd edition Castle guide is WAY better and the players get more specific rules and cost into building their base.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

No publisher is going to tell me as DM that ANY part of my setting is off limits. What are they going to do, sic the Pinkertons on me? Oh, wait...😛

[@leesimpson6334]

I have a feeling that bastions will feature heavily in the wizards digital offering ... Like an area of the VTT where you can buy the upgrades, furniture etc and instead of a bit of paper you can have a pseudo 3D bastion you can walk around.... Like player homes in Skyrim

[@RageQuitSon]

that sex offender joke(?) really didn't hit. like i kinda believe it...

[@matthewdaniel6158]

Yea, man sized cages and that joke was a huge red strove light.

[@JoshNoodleSoup]

It is not Chris Perkin's last book. He moving from Product Lead to another role, which he has done numerous times before. He has moved between Lead Editor, Lead Story Designer, and other roles since DND 3E multiple times.

[@orokusaki1243]

Good point.