The Chain of Acheron: Ep. 2 - Soldier Take Warning | Matt Colville's D&D Campaign

In which the soldiers of the Chain deal with Group Commander Vordokov, and experience life aboard the Rosso Cielo.
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🎲 Tactical Stream available here: • The Chain - Episode 2,...
#thechain #thechainofacheron #mcdm #mattcolville #dungeonsanddragons

[@gawayne1374]

I like how much like an actual game this feels.

[@emielpeper9248]

Exactly. A friend of mine was hooked into watching this when I told him that sometimes the game stops for a minute or two to clarify the rules

[@OtterrChaos]

This was a live stream if I’m not mistaken so definitely like to feel how Matt paces his game.

[@Sisaroth666]

I love it how Matt introduces everybody to Roleplaying slowly. Like when he asks how does Sweets Haymaker look like. At first he seems like a bit reserved about it, but the next second he gets more into it. Thats a awesome way to introduce new Players to Roleplaying.

[@worldsbuffestloremaster]

Absolutely! Masterclass

[@RPGSulSide]

DMs often don't realize the power of letting the power be creative with how their features appear to the others. It's always cool when i ask a new player "Soooo, what does your -shield- spell look like?" and they just kinda stop for a second, a little confused, but then they begin just voicing how they think it would look and they really get into it. Truly tremendous. 100% Agree with this. Really makes the character their own.

[@Amrylin1337]

Of course Phil is far from new at all but yeah, same idea.

[@MrSeals1000]

@@Amrylin1337 Maybe, but he still seemed confused about the question, and he was timid when he did get around to depicting the punch. It's a good way to start getting Anyone out of their shell and into it, new or not.

[@YouDonMessedUp]

@@MrSeals1000 I think he was just confused about how you “dress up” punching. It’s a pretty straightforward action to take with not a whole lot of opportunity to put a “role playing” stamp on it.

[@glew7832]

I really enjoy matts casual probing to get his players feeling out their characters, it doesnt feel forced either

[@raymonddeuel5212]

Yes, and I like how he seems to identify with his players' characters almost as much as they do. He invests in them. My experience so far with roleplaying has been minimal, but I had not realized that DM's could be like this.

[@Luraldir_Original]

Tom & Tom are actually the Halfling and Elf versions of the same person

[@g.b.c.3595]

When you change race but sliders are the same. That would be a serious ass character editor!

[@xsomeNOOBx]

King (the Cleric) asking judge to pick up Sweets is like being at a restaurant, someone faints, and the person next to them in a labcoat says: "Is there ANOTHER doctor here?"

[@joaosol7234]

Tom rarely speaks, but when he does it's always the funniest thing possible

[@tellguzzo9848]

I absolutely love Matt's world building in this campaign. It's phenomenal. I also really enjoy Judge's character and the fact that Matt allows players to be of Evil alignment. I need to sink my teeth in this campaign!

[@nocturnal242]

As someone who played regularly until the beginning of this year and only watched super narrative d&d actual plays I've got to say this is really hitting the spot for me.nice balance of narrative,gamesmanship,and table talk. didn't realise this is what I needed to scratch my itch while I'm unable to play.

[@surelylune]

idk why, but watching this fills me with the exact same kind of giddiness that playing dnd for the first time ever did. i love this so much

[@whatiskensworth]

The ship has so much atmosphere, great job!

[@anselmoffrisia2930]

Woot! Watching from Saskatchewan (4 years late)!

[@StarWindEnergin]

Having a badass mercenary company with a treasury is a great way to run a D and D campaign. Really cuts out the slow and the tedious, like the needing to buy food/drink/ink/potions. I love the idea of a gold supply being 1-6 and only large purchases are tracked. Really really streamlines the slogfest parts of the game. Not to mention having underlings to do things.

[@OnlineSarcasmFails]

Maybe Im weird but I dont mind needing to go eat or restock on supplies. Keeps it feeling more like a world Im in and less like a game. I suppose it depends on how strictly it's enforced.

[@orwin5445]

I think he took that from Burning Wheel, one if many great ideas in that RPG.

[@bryan__m]

@@orwin5445 I'm not familiar with Burning Wheel, but d20 Modern (*sigh*, still my favorite system ever) has an abstract money system as well. It's more complex than Matt's, but the same idea, you roll a check to see if you can afford something; smaller purchases may be automatic and larger purchases may permanently lower your ability to make future purchases.

[@Amrylin1337]

None of those things need to be slogs. They can be dealt with in all kinds of ways, this being one of them.

[@sheldoncarpenter6291]

watching this way after its original stream, it's a really fun look into Matt & co's D&D style. Also, Matt's easter-egg of lore injections are great fun.

[@BassManDanO]

Man! I love the cinematic way the end of this episode plays out from the appearance of the dragonflies forward. The only way to escape is through the terrifying maelstrom. Awesome work. I don’t know how it feels to be a player through this sort of thing but it was an awesome ride for me on KZbin.

[@zan917]

"I love when a plan falls apart."

[@twiztidloathe]

So, i just want to internet high-five Phil for his joke about the crew around 1:45:00ish. The delivery and subtlety of sneaking it in-priceless. Good job sir.

[@krisosphere9940]

Do you mean matt? Phil is the dude in glasses playing a pugilist

[@thetravelingbard9178]

@@krisosphere9940 No I think he’s talking about Phil’s joke closer to 1:48:00

[@StarWindEnergin]

2:46:00 I like this system for rolling to discover information. A lot of DM's (including certain ones *cough* *cough*) will limit a roll on something to the player who brought up a concept. The issue with that is it effectively punishes the players who thought of the concept because their character isn't suited to know that sort of information. It makes a lot more sense for a character (player) to bring up a concept and then others in the party who are proficient (knowledgeable) in that particular area to be able to roll to see if they know it. This avoids the trap of having 5 players at the table all roll and have a super high chance of making the DC because of probability, but also doesn't force characters to make checks they aren't suited for. Smart middle ground.

[@stevenfernandez4372]

This episode reveals the how rich and deep the world-building exists in this campaign: Well above fantasy RPG average! ☝😯 I also appreciate how elegant and organic the use of the captain's dinner table conversation was in revealing the nature of the campaign world - the city of Capital, especially 👏 Most feature films don't do exposition-type scenes this well! ✌👍😳

[@SgtReuster]

Yup... Judge rules. Much shade after Matt’s poor rolls he says “I can’t roll tonight” and she says “not on this side of the screen, you can’t”

[@MrCompassionate01]

Yup. Matt's die roll fudging gives him a reputation.

[@ashleyhoughton8592]

Anna/judge is probably my overall favourite to watch, but Tom kills it.

[@a.morphous66]

Tom or Töm?

[@richardmarriott-smith9517]

Loving this live play stream. Great job guys and gal. Awesome stuff. I'm rewatching it again.

[@MaverickLeePI]

"Welcome to the X-Men, hope you survive the experience" lol I see what you did there MC. greatness

[@thetravelingbard9178]

The “Phil the silence” joke at 6:30 and no one got it 😭

[@alistairclough674]

Now I want to play a character named Club. It’s a cursed club who takes over the minds of the people who wield it.

[@Gavarel]

SPOILERS AHEAD! 0:00:00 Recruitment 0:10:00 Many Nails on deck 0:17:40 Twitch Poll (not visible here) 0:40:53 Matt! Watch out! Snipers! 0:48:10 Pretty lights 1:02:45 At last, you notice me, Nails! 1:06:10 Orc down! 1:12:28 Announcements 1:16:50 What do 1:20:40 Good persuasion 1:27:50 Twitch break (not on youtube) with fanart 1:32:00 Promotion! 1:36:00 Two-Shoes the Treasurer 1:40:35 Dinnertime 1:50:00 Tabletalk 1:57:00 Heave ho! Calm stomachs 1:59:50 Pudding! 2:14:05 Customs, obviously 2:28:30 Worth of an orc 2:38:00 Personal Conference 2:49:00 Two-Shoes report 2:54:30 Whale eyeball 3:00:00 Dragonflies 3:02:00 The Seer 3:09:42 IN! THROUGH! BEYOND! 3:14:10 Nails? (Time stamps by Azur Aben)

[@0num4]

Great beginning to a session, and a *fantastic* end! This is a killer game and excellent production.

[@dice.brain.]

“i’m not doing any of that subdue shit” so fucking great

[@Evan345gdf]

just noticed the complete calvin and hobbes collection in the background, very nice taste

[@cassmith6370]

*notices that the DM screen is upside-down* *doesnt stop noticing the entire game*

[@averywyatt-luth1642]

Oh God . . why did I look

[@Savaris96]

How about giving the Chronicler a bonus to anything regarding figuring the chronicle out? Like History, Religion and perhaps Arcana-Checks? And perhaps let him have an additional Language as well? And in combat, perhaps he can force someone to make a wisdom-save?

[@MrDawnRise]

That’s a pretty great idea. I think he would have a passive ability to copy down spells faster like I think divination can give.

[@jasoncampbell1723]

Possibly have a character ability where he uses a history check and, if succeeds, knows a weakness or fact about the monster. Maybe only applies to non-humanoids (he studied)

[@ijimedia]

kinda wish the character portraits had backgrounds, there's too much going on there and it would help my dumb little eyes

[@chrisdogniez1725]

Cheers from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, far North and weird!

[@davewilson13]

Chris Dogniez at U of S?

[@RisaxTheImp]

Well, it's been two years since The Chain's been on and I can't believe how much I missed it... T_T So time to re-watch it all and hope The Chain will return later this year when everyone has their 5G injected.

[@brackagoo]

Super Tangental is one of the most underrated superheroes out there.

[@thedrmurchindise]

My campaign is on hold due to recent events. This is great.

[@laeclorentzen6111]

Me: I hope they recruit the ogre Them: Let’s recruit the ogre. Me: Yes!

[@chico6988]

"It's like we're going to California" LOL. I like Phil!

[@johncameron1935]

MCDM: High Definition Nonsense A tagline for the ages also, the skill of that ranger to hit the right buttcheek while shooting from in front

[@ADT1995]

I don't make my players do it. (Usually I'm the DM) but I have taken to Matt's method of rolling ability scores when it's allowed. That is 4d6 in order. Especially for one-shots. Then building my character around it, I think it's a lot of fun.

[@Talon5Karrde]

@2:20:20 - Right, they should take over the city with "The Chain" as the Regent... Then whoever the Chain appoints as the Acting Regent...

[@ashleyreid155]

I’m always so here for throwing shade at Saskatchewan 😎

[@oldrin1876]

Just found this campaign, really liked episode 1 and 2 , very excited to watch the rest of the campaign :) Was there a campaign before this that was recorded? I'd like to watch that too. Love the ending and the crew and seer so cool!

[@celeborn_of_lorien]

There have been several campaigns that Matt has run in this world with some of these players but most weren’t streamed. You can go listen to the Campaign Diary playlist to hear about the campaign he ran right before this.

[@jerrysmith3017]

Love your channel, super fun!

[@abot4029]

Just raised the like count to 969 and either way it reads "nice" Also, loved the vid

[@davidmoushey6185]

The lowly chain mercenaries were voluntold to clean the orcs off the deck

[@robsellers8416]

Mad setup, a knife sharpener but nobody in the party uses knives.

[@ChrisGeisel5000]

Has Matt linked to where he got the miniatures? I love the Commander!

[@colleenrutledge1375]

Chris G I believe they had them custom done at Hero Forge. www.heroforge.com

[@Ragnarok6664]

From Commander to King 👑 boom 💥

[@dacrook87]

In. Through! BEYOND.

[@ZorkFox]

Matt, I want you to know I got that reference at 3:09:44.

[@KalonOrdona2]

2:49:00 Two-Shoes

[@UncleGus007]

1:59:30 Gelatinous cube!

[@ROLLTHEMBONES]

"It's like we're going to California." BASED

[@hive_indicator318]

30:20 ORCS UNBOX!

[@UncleGus007]

3:01:00 America's cup yachts!

[@Jasonwfd]

Club gonna club.

[@bryces1934]

Club Club!

[@TheMarrethiel]

If I was playing a 5th level Sorc, I couldn't go past Subtle. Coupled with Dispel Magic means you can dispel silence and holds etc.

[@redflag1964]

Cool sear.

[@laeclorentzen6111]

Wait what happened to the huge ship from the last episode

[@rachow2371]

...did matt just describe a yugioh campaign??

[@kayderyn9273]

PRAYER OF HEALING HAS A CASTING TIME OF 10 MINUTES!!! You cant cast it in combat.....lol

[@jacobunderwood4957]

Can cast in combat, as long as you don't get interrupted... it just takes 100 rounds.

[@TheMarrethiel]

Matt should do what I do for initiate (as a DM), take 10s for initiative. It's quick and doesn't lead to a situation where all the npc's beat all the pcs. Especially for a live stream, waiting for Matt to roll a bunch of initiatives.

[@lexsmithee652]

I like to pre roll initiatives. Before each session i roll up a handful of initiatives, and then go down the list when different combats start

[@RLelling]

@@lexsmithee652 that's an incredibly useful tip! I'll definitely be doing that in the future!

[@theendicott2838]

Lex Smithee in the campaign I’m running for LMoP, I have an excel sheet with the combats laid out. I pre-roll the initiatives there, and then just reorder the initiatives column in descending order. It does save a few minutes of rolling 12 initiatives.

[@tiredjediknight3110]

@@lexsmithee652 that’s a pretty good idea actually, only thing I’d add is still rolling some dice behind the DM screen, maintain the illusion and all

[@DobbysDablloons]

For their “@“ what is their username for?

[@worldsbuffestloremaster]

Am I the only one who prefers "moxie" to "grit" ?

[@connerkubitz7208]

Stealing that line "now of interest only to historians"

[@ripper1157]

Love this but volume is low 🤬

[@craiggaulzetti2255]

there is so much fascinating information and interesting opportunities for role playing in this episode at the ship dinner. it's super frustrating to watch Matt offer up all these things on a platter to the players and their reactions. It just makes anyone want to jump in and actually play this game. there is so much opportunity to role play and represent the chain and what the chain would do and say. Instead the players need to be coddled and pushed to behave in a reasonable manner. With the exception of Anna- no one seems competent at all at playing their characters. It took Matt ten minutes to explain that "Prince Regent" is the title of the ruler of Capital-and the players just seemed dumbstruck. Matt is offering such a developed world and story and the awesome opportunity to jump in and make the adventure so big and amazing. He even seamlessly makes Two Shoes a more realistic character by depicting her as racist- the moment with the whale- the off hand remarks by Godesto- all of the npcs seem real and ripe with potential. It all seems wasted though. The players never asked which guilds are ascendent in Capital. They never followed up on how or why the Sheets would already know about them and their actions, they didn't use the opportunity of their potential "recruitment" by Ajax to get information- and beyond that they don't interact with any of the NPCs like any character in this world would I don't feel. It wasn't until the end of the session that there was any attempt at a logical deduction of events. I love this world and love this story- and I hope the players start learning their characters and their world as I watch more episodes- but this episode just felt like people with stats of 7 across Int. wis. and char from an entirely different universe were dropped in to this world without any ability to fake it at all. I know I'm coming across as an asshole- but it is always a challenge with playing any RPG. I know I couldn't do any better. Maybe it's just what happens when the story telling skills of-and ability to truly method act by the DM are so far out of sync with the players' abilities.

[@hangriat9376]

Run your own game then bruh?

[@paulharris6977]

@rogueteemo Yeah there might be an issue of "stage fright" too. I know I definitely wouldn't be comfortable RPing on camera for all of Internet history.

[@jessicabrown8913]

I can't hear Anna well :(

[@glew7832]

Anna sounds fine to me

[@jasoncampbell1723]

I feel like I really have to bump up this vid’s audio compared to Colvilles other stuff

[@joshuaarmstrong2445]

Is a Pugilist the same as a monk? Because that's the idea I had to make monks fit my setting. I prefer moxy for pugilists though. Grit is more for gunslingers, but I don't use the ki point thing because I don't like that monks have a ammo system for fighting moves.

[@davidmartin5145]

The Pugilist is very much the same as a monk, in a different genre with a different attitude. Moxie is the same as Ki, and a lot of the ways to use it will be familiar. You can find the Pugilist on the DMsGuild for about $5. It’s written by Benjamin Huffman.

[@michaelbell4930]

Quite a few martial classes have that though. Same with battle masters superiority dice. Makes the classes more complex by giving the limited resources to allow them things other than just hitting things. I think it’s better than just making them half or quarter casters with spell slots like Paladin, Ranger, etc.

[@OtterrChaos]

Matt is a bit too aware of the stream during the game. Feels like being interrupted by an ad but it’s just him talking about the stream.

[@hive_indicator318]

It's almost like the reason they're streaming is because it was part of the Kickstarter and he wanted to make sure folks were getting their money's worth. Almost.

[@RaphaelLamour]

I wish could have a intro of each character of a few seconds telling us about who they are. I m completly lost because they barely role play.

[@JEST3R_]

Watch episode 1

[@2Infinit2]

Getting better than the first episode, but since you guys don't use voices very much.. it's really hard to tell when you're talking in or out of character.

[@hangriat9376]

Most roleplaying is done without a voice

[@chaoticwriting6304]

Theyre regular people, they aren't entertainers. They arent professional voice actors

[@DrDeadlifts]

My favorite part of these videos is people don't use voices, they just play the game like regular people and their role play is actual role play (i.e., more than just a silly voice). No D&D game I've ever played have me or my friends ever used voices. Streams with voice actors feels so contrived and fake that rather than immersing me in the story it breaks the fourth wall.

[@андрейкопылов-л6ъ]

The lack of music is really preventing engaging into stream. So i want to ask, if you said before that music helps in most situations - why don't you use it here? Some problem prevents you from that or someone from players don't like it? I am just curious about the reasons. I donot critique you in anything, i like you, it is just a question.

[@larmoth401]

For Thunderwave the 15ft cube originates from the caster, meaning they're the centre of the 15ft cube.

[@nickadactyl]

Jeremy Crawford has actually stated that Matt has the correct ruling. He pointed out pg 204 of the PHB for rules on cubes

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

I wish they would edit out all the dead space when they are all just looking at the character sheets, deciding on their next move, or having side conversations.

[@cheapshot2842]

One of the goals of this stream is to show real d&d and what really happens at the table.

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

@@cheapshot2842 For example, there is no point in keeping in the 15 minute intermission. So even if you argue that the 10 times the players take 2 minutes to decide on an action is relevant, you cannot say the same about the intermission.

[@cheapshot2842]

@@AleksandrStrizhevskiy So why didn't you complain about the intermission? Why waste time complaining about them looking at their abilities, spells ect?

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

@@cheapshot2842 I don't understand this argument we are having. I complained about dead space in general and about everything else, with the point being that there is room for editing into a tighter package. I get the sense that you agree, to an extent. But you feel it is worth keeping in moments of research and second guessing, I do not. We understand each other's point of view. No reason to discuss this any further.

[@cheapshot2842]

@@AleksandrStrizhevskiy I wasn't giving you my opinion. I was telling you why they are there. The DM made this stream to give access to people to see real d&d. When I tell you the reason they aren't cut you find this other thing (the intermission) to complain about like it somehow validates your original position. If you don't like the show then ok. But if you're going to say something and then just not like the answer, that's on you.

[@anasb.8647]

"Insight should be Charisma" pfffhahahahaha how did she even come to this conclusion?? makes no fucking sense

[@marcusmanson4264]

ahhh what the hell is with people and wild magic it sucks its the worst subclasss you can pick but every one keeps taking it and a paladian that dosent relize that they are a freaking paladin and not a spell caster

[@RoboBoddicker]

errr because there is no freaking paladin. it's a custom class

[@alaiziarobin2318]

becuase people love random effects.

[@azuraben5128]

SPOILERS AHEAD! 0:00:00 Recruitment 0:10:00 Many Nails on deck 0:17:40 Twitch Poll (not visible here) 0:40:53 Matt! Watch out! Snipers! 0:48:10 Pretty lights 1:02:45 At last, you notice me, Nails! 1:06:10 Orc down! 1:12:28 Announcements 1:16:50 What do 1:20:40 Good persuasion 1:27:50 Twitch break (not on youtube) with fanart 1:32:00 Promotion! 1:36:00 Two-Shoes the Treasurer 1:40:35 Dinnertime 1:50:00 Tabletalk 1:57:00 Heave ho! Calm stomachs 1:59:50 Pudding! 2:14:05 Customs, obviously 2:28:30 Worth of an orc 2:38:00 Personal Conference 2:49:00 Two-Shoes report 2:54:30 Whale eyeball 3:00:00 Dragonflies 3:02:00 The Seer 3:09:42 IN! THROUGH! BEYOND! 3:14:10 Nails? Let me know if I missed anything. Happy travels!

[@Pfeifenkraut]

Damn, its Flandos second account !