Lazy D&D Talk Show: Witchlight, Strixhaven, Challenging Players

[@MrB_Chamberlain]

I just want to say thanks. Honestly, of the dozens of D&D and DM channels on YT, you really are one of the very few that give really good, solid, and usable advice. Like Matt Coville, you take it beyond top 10 videos and you help us think at a higher level for our games. I honestly can never wait for your next video. In a sea of crap, you sir, are a lighthouse of hope. Please keep it up.

[@SlyFlourish]

Wow, thank you!

[@salcashman195]

Levels of complexity is not synonymous with levels of fun. I think that’s the message you are trying to get across at the end of the video. Enjoyed it a lot thanks 🤘🏻

[@Nyogtha]

I’ve really enjoyed the MtG books. My current campaign has a very big theistic tone to it and the piety system and heroic feats. But it also had such a good road map to making good and bad gods your main villain. And Ravnica has a lot of fun ways to make a more Renaissance meets steampunk setting. And the guilds had so many fun themes attached to them. Because of them I’m always excited to see what they come out with for MtG.

[@razorboy251]

Same here. I'm running a Theros campaign and the players are loving it, even though I'm not strictly following the MtG lore. Ravnica has been excellent for my Eberron game (so many good NPC stat blocks, nevermind the actual monsters!).

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

Another D&D youtuber made a "top 8 list" or something video on under used monsters. One of the monsters on their list was the Nivex Cyclops in Ravnica. The entire part of the video talking about that monster was all about its charge attack and how spellcasters give it free reactions to charge attack when they cast near it. One of the comments under that video was all about how the nivex cyclops was a perfect stand in for the big daddy from bioshock. I picked up my copy of Ravnica and flipped through the monster section. The Cackler, mind drinker vampire, under city medusa, and the section on simic hybrids jumped out at me. Ravnica gives me everything I need to start my campaigns with the party freeing/hunting Little Sisters(Cacklers) and their Big Daddies (Nivex Cyclops) in the city of Rapture.

[@baronkimble5378]

Great content Sly!

[@greggiggle]

The discussion on monsters is so clearly indicative of just how poorly written wizards of the coast stuff is. People will throw themselves on the landline to defend it but it’s disappointing. I appreciate 13th age being so transparent with the math behind the game. I don’t need a stat block - , I can just write my own monster and put abilities, DPS, etc., all of it in there in the right range and it will have balance.

[@cloak5857]

Love 13th Age, I wish it was more popular.

[@ODDnanref]

I agree with the lack of transparency in Monster building for D&D. I think there was a person who wrote an article on how Wizards does an awful job on telling you how to build a monster. He spend four articles explaining how Wizards bud a monster, how to balance them using the DMG rules, and at the end, said that those rules don't properly balance monsters to player level. CR is badly calculated, does not account for special abilities. He even gave examples of monsters that do not follow the CR rules. Went on to say that most CR calculation is done by playtesting.

[@SlyFlourish]

blogofholding.com/?p=7283

[@sven3428]

I think a lot of the issue with wotc producing MTG setting books is that they are being done over settings more relevant to the "home" setting of D&D 5e (Forgotten Realms). A magic college? There's more than a few of those on Faerun with no coverage (yet Waterdeep has an entire adventure and multiple smaller releases); Silverymoon? A setting with 10 guilds at each other's throats? You mean Sigil? I think many people would prefer a new take on Planescape over Ravnica, for example. I say all of these things being fully in love with the Greek setting of Theros. And you make a perfect point about pilfering the pieces that enhance your game, and leaving the rest out - that's just my take on the MTG book drama. Great video as always!

[@josh___something]

I mean... here's the thing... it's also meant to appeal to magic players that aren't into D&D. Sure, you COULD have the 10 guilds dynamic that doesn't stray far from the forgotten realms... but Ravnica is a beloved setting in MTG, and can easily draw in a lot of new fans. It's an interesting way to introduce new content while making use of cross promotion.

[@sven3428]

​@@josh___something You are absolutely correct - it is a good marketing move to add non-d&d players into the core of their audience. Which, as I pointed out, also inherently alienates some who are already fans that have zero interest in MTG touching D&D for the very same reason I mentioned (lack of actual D&D home content). I would like to see the amount of MTG players who didn't already play D&D that actually shifted over due to these books being published; because I have yet to meet a single one in my gaming store or online.

[@razorboy251]

I have run into the problem of challenging my players a while back in 5th edition. Gradually I've come to realize that the way to solve it is to use a mix of monsters and add legendary and lair actions to appropriate fights. Adding a dozen thugs to an otherwise easy encounter for level 9 characters nearly wiped them (go action economy and pack tactics!). Taking a krake spawn (from Tome of Beasts) that has 9 attacks per round, and then adding a couple of legendary actions (move, attack, pretty basic stuff) made it a formidable foe for a level 10 party. Also, multi-stage encounters really challenge the players: a couple of waves of minions and/or sudden environmental dangers or traps (as lair actions) to deal with softens the PCs up and then forces them to adapt on the fly, especially when the final big threat enters the fight.

[@ljmiller96]

Adding to the level of complexity for CR season 1, they started the campaign using Pathfinder (an even crunchier D&D3.5E) and about the same time they started streaming it switched to DND5E. This puts an exclamation point on the highest possible level of complexity.

[@WalkOnNick]

Love the chats! But I missed your catchphrase "Hey, it's your pal Mike Shea" ;)

[@suerainey9250]

Finally got my kids (I say kids, ages 33 and 23 and 22. Lol) turned on to your content. All three have the Return of the Lazy Dm! I know you know because you use it. I just used your content from this video to build a deadly encounter for my ToA players. 5 level 7 characters vs. 1 froghemoth and 14 grung with maxed hp. It was lovely. And I just wanted to say thanks for all that you do. Terrific stuff.

[@SlyFlourish]

Sounds awesome!

[@andrewberkemeyer5486]

As an MTG player and a DM, I enjoyed Ravnica and Theros. I do, however, raise issue with strixhaven, Theros and Ravnica are both well-established planes before they became dnd settings. Both saw multiple blocks over two decades, but Strixhaven is brand new, and it already took half of the guilds gimmick from ravnica, which was cool in the set of cards because it felt like a return to the style of play I personally enjoy. But I think in dnd that will fall flat, being already done in the guild master's guide only a few years ago. Overall it just seems "Double derivative" with Harry Potter and Ravnica, add to that, it's brand new and fresh to everyone.

[@draco949]

Strixhaven also excludes about half of the classes from the interesting part. Being part of a magical college.

[@ODDnanref]

I guess the fact that is it an adventure book instead of a fully blown setting book is what is keeping people from hating the idea completely. I was disappointed that the half-caster classes did not get a chance. Paladins maybe would not work, but rangers could, and some magic oriented rouges. Specially with Lorehold. Those guys are more Indiana Jones than wizards.

[@VhaidraSaga]

Great stuff as always, Sly!

[@Giantstomp]

I have a simple solution to beef up monsters so they remain challenging. Starting at CR 2 add one point of damage to the creatures attack damage for each point of CR the creature has. So, a creature with a CR 5 would get +4 but a CR 21 would do an additional +20 and so on. And then tweak as desired. Not sure how that works with multi attacks, but its something to experiment with.

[@iododendron3416]

To be fair, you did miss the extra 11 necrotic damage the Nosferatu deals to already damaged creatures. Plus it regains some hitpoints with the bite attack as well

[@qquiver]

The encounter balance probably jumps with each Tier of play. 1-4. 1/4 5-9. 1/2 10 -14 3/4 15+ 1

[@SlyFlourish]

I think that's probably true.

[@gstaff1234]

Get MAD! Be MAD! For WotC’s budget should not TAX my time. Great video

[@chrishousenick6105]

On the MCDM game 'The Chain of Acheron," it was the most complex political game I think I have seen. Matt Colville is a 'Dune' fanatic, and his D&D games reflect that political complexity. But his characters are lower level (5th and 6th I think) which makes it a little less complex.

[@ODDnanref]

I doubt curriculum of chaos will bring the dragon subclasses and the draconic ancestry. For one, even when dragons founded the colleges, there is little focus on dragons in the entire set and story.

[@slycoop1997]

Can somebody point me to Lord Gazoomba's channel? I am really curious to see what his campaign looks like, but I can't seem to find him by searching on Twitch and KZbin. Am I hearing his name incorrectly?

[@SlyFlourish]

twitch.tv/lordgosumba

[@slycoop1997]

@@SlyFlourish Thanks!

[@herryoung]

Looked for “lord gazoomba” on YT, but no luck! Am I spelling the name right?

[@DigitalDishonesty]

kzbin.info

[@SlyFlourish]

www.twitch.tv/lordgosumba

[@dndshorts2750]

Are there any 3rd party monster tomes that people feel are more balanced than the WotC books?

[@SlyFlourish]

"balanced" is hard to define but the Tome of Beasts 1 and 2 and the Creature Codex from Kobold Press are excellent and have gone through a lot of playtesting.

[@dndshorts2750]

@@SlyFlourish A reply from Mr Flourish himself! I'm thrilled. I'll check out some of the creatures against the WotC books. Thank you!

[@Scutifer_Mike]

I play a ton magic the gathering. My favorite set was the Ravnica series. That being said, WotC could spend more time releasing adventures or modules. Stop making settings. We have a ton of fan favorite settings that they won’t give us in 5e, but they continue to release MTG settings that zero people are requesting. I have never seen anyone ask for Strixhaven, but I’ve seen post after post of people begging for Planescape...

[@benpuffer7891]

I was disappointed with the final Lucien fight for Critical Role. As a fellow DM I recognized that the battle was creative and had many moving parts that kept the party on their toes. But, from a viewer's perspective I found it muddled, hard to follow, and low-risk.

[@valterink8997]

Hit Point powercreep is ridiculous, Professor Dungeon Master from Dungeon Craft suggests turning off Hit Point increase by leveling.

[@davichon63]

How do I find "Lord Gazoomba"...spelling?

[@DigitalDishonesty]

kzbin.info

[@davichon63]

Found it...Gosumba

[@SlyFlourish]

www.twitch.tv/lordgosumba

[@Giantstomp]

My theory is that most of the complaining about the newer MTG worlds comes from established D&D fans who want to see more of their favorites before anything new.

[@jaykole5204]

You’d think that WoTC would learn from most of their books being leaked and what not to do lol.

[@baronaatista]

Is it possible to just accept that there is no good way to 'officially' determine the danger of an encounter? There is no good system that CAN be employed to solve this problem; there is so much variance involved; skill of the DM to actually use the monsters effectively, skill of the players to actually engage in combat tactically, the number of books used, system mastery of the players to co-ordinate skills, abilities and feats to create powerful characters, are we using feats or not? how many magic items do the players have? Let alone dice rolls..... and on and on and on. For sure, damage values could be adjusted for the official monsters, especially at higher levels... Must be honest, 'the 4 dials' aren't very good dials. - Increasing AC generally is not great, as missing more often isn't a ton of fun. If its a component of that particular monster, sure, but especially with the condensed math of 5e, even if you are going to adjust AC, you're working in a very narrow range. - Increasing HP straight up sucks, especially so if the monster you're adjusting is just sitting there and smacking players with a club. The fact that combat lasted 7 rounds doesn't make it a good combat. - Increasing damage CAN work, but again doesn't honestly in and of itself make for an engaging combat. - Number of attacks works the same way as damage. CAN work, but in and of itself doesn't do much to make combat more fun. If you want to make combat more dangerous but also be more fun, what you want to do is give your monsters extra abilities. - give them feats, features from classes, spells, other monsters unique abilities - where it makes sense of course, emphasizing particular qualities of that particular monster - give them reactions.... possibly, though you want to employ this sparingly, give them legendary actions, or mythic 'phases' You want your monsters to feel dynamic - not quite as dynamic as the player characters (both to allow players to shine AND to keep them relatively easy to run), but possessing interesting abilities that can challenge the players to think about the tactics they employ to defeat them. Truthfully, there isn't really an easy answer here, and any answer you give can lead DM's and players down the wrong path - the reality is, to make combat challenging, fun, and interesting - especially at higher levels - it requires skills as a DM, a pretty thorough understand of the game systems, and an understanding of your players and their general capabilities. I know your thing is 'lazy DM' and I'm not trying to knock it. I'm just genuinely not sure that this in particular is an aspect of the game that can be 'lazified' or even codified in any meaningful way.

[@ODDnanref]

I think giving them special actions or reactions works to make the fight engaging. Just recently fought a goblin pirate captain that as a reaction, could grab other goblins around him to block the damage. The damage was dealt to nearby goblin. The pirate captain was slightly stronger than a normal goblin, and the damage was not as big either. It was a fun fight. Granted the storm split the mast in the middle so maybe a changing terrain also makes things dynamic.

[@cloak5857]

The real lazy way is to just ignore balance like Mike suggested in his article. Do what feels right and see how it goes, eventually you'll get the hang of it.

[@baronaatista]

@@ODDnanref That sounds hilarious! Honestly coming up with some little ability that can make things more interesting, and emphasize particular aspects of a monster is one of my favorite things to do as I prepare sessions.

[@BarrasGalago]

I’m sorry but what dm worth their salt doesn’t just make their own monsters up or pump numbers up past like player level 5. Seriously it’s D&D WOTC isn’t going to come over to your house and slap you cause you changed the numbers on the monster manuals. Smh it’s a simple fix, double damage numbers and the players will figure it out

[@Loestal]

The implication that the Mercer Effect isn't a real problem is BS, sorry.

[@sven3428]

The Matt Mercer Effect doesn't exist - People are placing a name to a fear for their own lack of confidence in their own games by using a man who is performing the position in near-peak form following 20+ years of experience. Anyone who truly spends the time he did and cares as much as he does about improving his craft constantly, can perform at that level in their own way (because no two games are exactly alike). If you are not willing to put in that work, don't expect that result. It has nothing to do with Mercer and everything to do with individual perception of him. Play the game that is best for your table; and your table is not full of Voice Actors or made by professional crew - do not compare them.