Politics 101: The Central Tension | Running the Game

[@SA_Vengarr]

"By the end of this video, you will have...watched this video." Well, I'm sold.

[@Im_Fun_Size]

Well he's not wrong... :thinking: :thinking:

[@Woodledude]

This is an intriguing offer... Is this video you speak of at least 30 minutes long, and full of Content(tm)?

[@MWSin1]

Be sure to subscribe so that you will be subscribed.

[@ShengFink]

Here to report that after watching this video in it’s entirety, I have in fact watched this video

[@MrMichkov]

Wakes up 6 hours later, well that didn't work out as promised.

[@justingarcia7653]

“It’s election season here in the US,” Mathew said with playful tone. Little did he know that that election season would never end.

[@GeneralAceTheAwesome]

Damn, never really thought about it like that. But that so perfectly encapsulates the last 5 years

[@wilsan806]

Outlander here, what do you mean by this?

[@GeneralAceTheAwesome]

@@wilsan806 The election season Matt is referring to in the video is the 2016 election season, which is when Donald Trump was elected. The year leading up to a presidential election is always filled with news and campaign ads and debates and such. It's the election season! It's irritating and puts people on edge a bit since politics is front and center in the media. Usually, after the election, this all goes away and the election season ends. But love him or hate him, Trump certainly brought a whole new level of controversy with him, and so he was never out of the news. It has felt like we never got that reprieve from irritating amounts of politics in the news. Add in world events as of late (pandemic, Ukraine), and it's definitely been _a lot._

[@wilsan806]

@@GeneralAceTheAwesome Thanks

[@LordVader1094]

Only because no one wants to let it end lol

[@loadedcouchpotato6567]

I am reminded of a great quote by Henry Adams about Order and Chaos: "Chaos was the law of Nature; Order was the dream of Man."

[@williamsmith5049]

It's not a dream, without man all falls to entropy. The dream is that anything will ever be perfect, but a perfect order would be tyranny.

[@HenriFaust]

@@williamsmith5049 Order arises spontaneously from chaos. Dice rolls average out, and wavefunctions collapse. _D&D_ depends on the fact that entropy is an order unto itself.

[@rolandkushm.d.710]

So and so never observed an ant farm I guess.

[@rolandkushm.d.710]

@Beep Boop everything that exists in the universe is part of nature genius. You are drawing an imaginary line in the sand to separate yourself from the natural world.

[@rolandkushm.d.710]

@Beep Boop replace farm with colony genius.

[@WhywolfSenpai]

"At the end of this video, you will have watched a video." New fave quote xD

[@Amehdion]

I went with a rather simple yet effective method for creating political tension. Here is the basic idea: Nation A and Nation B are historically antagonistic but are in a state of peace for the time being. BBEG comes in and slowly starts chipping away at both of their territories. Now Nation A and B are looking at each other, waiting for the time when the other has been weakened enough they could win a war decisively. Problem is, the longer they wait the less powerful they become and the fewer resources they have as well, but if they jump the gun and move too soon both nation's fighting capacity might be obliterated in the war and BBEG will swoop in and take them over. This sets a ticking clock, gives the BBEG menace and power, creates factions within each nation (the war nows, and war laters), and gives the players a goal (unite both nations to fight the BBEG, or prop up their nation of choice, or prevent the inevitable looming war, etc). It also gives the opportunity for the BBEG to have lackeys or "generals" that the players must deal with first, letting them build up to the BBEG. It can also give you the excuse to drastically change the landscape as you see fit to build drama. Maybe that safe starter village the PCs loved gets burnt to the ground in a skirmish, maybe it gets taken over and is now part of another country. There are TONS of options. It's a plausible yet simple way to both bolster the BBEG and insert political tension into the campaign to where the story sorta writes itself.

[@eastonnida8213]

lol critical role

[@thedanklord6976]

i dig it, what about bbeg weakening a stronghold that looks after a boarder territory currently belonging to nation a, but originally founded and populated by b. maybe a few killed diplomats or worse, a B diplomat in nation A is framed for attempting to or successfully hiring an assassin to take out A's top general. the B embassy in nation A is burnt down in retaliation. man i think thats pretty good. like we hand the players a mystery that is weirdly simple to solve. because the target is being framed by an expert

[@xDMrGarrison]

that is super cool

[@christiankoppang8296]

I would say add 3 neutral nations that are debating between which nation to ally with and one of them goes through a secession crisis where one heir wants to side with one nation and the other side wants to side with the other. So much good stuff there

[@neetfreek9921]

The love triangle of war lol

[@jonothanthrace1530]

The central tension between wanting more diary videos and not wanting you to go completely bonkers.

[@timschmidt5469]

Watching the entire Politics series again because of the latest release (#5). Favorite quote, so far: "But there were other people who thought 'This is great! This is fantastic! Because [Caesar]'s going to get stuff done.' ... and he did, by the way."

[@calvinballaka8905]

"At the end of this video, you will have watched a video. That's the best I can do!" You know, when I think about it, that's all I'm really asking for. Already a happy viewer!

[@Deviknyte]

Eberron has a built in cold war where each nation thinks that another nation might have this doomsday weapon that may or may not exist.

[@rontalkstabletop]

I LOVE Eberron! what a great setting.

[@howardbenensky1936]

I agree, loved Eberron with that sense with the Four greater powers (Karnath, Breeland, Aundar, and Thrane) and then dealing with the other nations of the world as they all have independence from one of the Greater powers.

[@bulbaseth3412]

This is why I want to run a game in Ebberon, gotta finish my main campaign first though lol

[@ROYBGP]

Turns out, they all have super nukes. Lmao

[@ash-tv3bu]

"it's election season here-" top 10 photos taken right before disaster

[@albertgore7435]

And it’s topical this month too!

[@thurston5515]

@@albertgore7435 no kiddng

[@allgreatfictions]

@@thurston5515 No kidding. Rewatching this after the Capitol riots the past few days.

[@rubberpritzell391]

Glad youre all here watching during the IRL traumatic backstory for someones next rogue.

[@dice.brain.]

this comment will always be topical lmao

[@JohnConnor365]

The best thing about seeing your videos is your confidence and excitement. A lot of DnD speakers seem like they're a professor at the college of boredom. Good job ma dude

[@Nerdarchy]

I hope the renovations are going well! And my head is fairly exploding with ideas for our own campaign setting! Take care of yourself! -Nerdarchist Ryan

[@mcolville]

I almost have a bathroom!

[@soupcansam75]

An empire is a collection of different states unified under a central supreme authority, usually, an emperor or empress. Empires are not simply governmental bodies ruled by an emperor/empress, they are states which have enveloped, absorbed or in most cases, conquered other states and have practiced imperialism in some measure or another. It's a specific term which, when you take a look at it, can very easily be applied to a lot of modern governments right now even though most governments are lead by posts named president or minister.

[@q1w2e3621]

Seconded

[@jaksonsavva104]

I was gonna say that. All I could keep thinking about was how awkward it is to say the British Emperor compared to British King/Queen.

[@LConstP]

Is it petty that I went looking for this comment to give it a like?

[@SendarSlayer]

@@jaksonsavva104 The King of Britain, not The British King, is more correct. So the Emperor of Britain or The Emperor of the British Empire

[@yellowbeard1]

I like the term “sub-fascist client state” when referring to part of a modern empire. Running an explicit empire isn’t practical in the modern world but if you have a group of glorified vassal states you can still collect resources and power.

[@benjoe1993]

Matt Mercer one day stumbled upon this video and was like "I like this" and so the Dwendalian Empire vs Xhorhas war began...with some hell portals thrown in for fun :D

[@domukaz]

Not to take anything away from Colville, who's great, but this video provides an interesting example of the death of Unionist ideology in American memory: In Colville's account, a Southerner might fight because he wants to preserve slavery or because he wants to expel Northern invaders, but the only reason a Northerner would fight other than abolitionism, which was fairly rare, would be money. In fact, Unionist nationalism, which regarded the US as the last "free" country after the failed European revolutions of 1848, was a powerful rhetorical motivator against the "aristocrats" who sought to destroy the union by seceding from it. The historian Gary Gallagher argues this better than I can as an amateur. Look him up if this sounds interesting. Anyway, cool video! The idea of a central tension sounds really productive, and I'll have to incorporate it in my adventure and campaign writing.

[@Oldkingcole1125]

I recently finished listening to the Revolutions Podcast which has a run of episodes on 1848. Seeing your comment made the call to maintain the Union as the last free country have a whole new punch to the gut. Thanks for your comment.

[@digitaljanus]

@@Oldkingcole1125 And typical of the other revolutionary movements covered in that podcast, none of them consider Haiti as the other free nation. *shrug*

[@noahblack914]

So, you're saying another reason Northerners fought was just to preserve the Union? Not only is it unfair to claim Matt doesn't recognize that, I think it's kinda ridiculous to claim people rarely do. Like, yeah, the reason there was a war was bc the South seceded and the North said "Hey, you can't do that!" It's akin to a revolution in that way. That's not some forgotten viewpoint, it's just not the dramatic/interesting aspect to discuss in this video, and I'd wager people are likely to come up with that on their own too.

[@colleenrutledge1375]

As I’m building a home brew setting to run games in, I’m watching these videos to get the concepts in my head. I think I’ve probably watched this particular video 6 or more times and I think I just GOT why central tensions give you politics. So don’t give up, folks, not everything lands first time around. Keep at it. We are all smart and we are all DMs.

[@jamie5926]

It’s been years since this video released. I watched it when I was first seriously learning how to be a dm, and again later when trying to become better. I am confident in the fact that this single video has had the greatest impact in my writing, both in dnd and out. It completely reshaped how I thought about theme and motive in story. It helped me realize it’s importance beyond what gets taught in school. The theme is what gives the story direction, reason for existing! I just wanted to share how much these videos and this one specifically have shaped who am I as a writer. Thank you.

[@mathieud7316]

I love our irregular talks. This video has inspired me in so many ways. "Season One" of my first campaign just wrapped up and I'm in the early stages of figuring what's going to be happening in the world around my players. More specifically, I am working on figuring out the impact of their actions on the world and what that means for the future. Season one involved them reaching an unsuspecting town in the late stages of an economic boom. My players are evil and have systematically taken over every criminal aspect of the town. I've posted quite a few questions in the subreddit about it (Goblin flinging wyvern). Now, they're getting ready to move on and this video has singlehandedly sparked a greater creative flow than I have had in quite some time. Thanks for all of the great videos!!! I can't wait for the next one!!!

[@daffodil6110]

As someone from the south, some mountainfolk in the South fought for the North because they hated the rich plantation owners

[@SteelWalrus]

Welcome to the State of Franklin.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

There were southerners who fought for the North and Northerners who fought for the south for all of the various reasons. One of the most interesting aspects of the Civil War was how the Regular Army split up. Why each officer supported their chosen side is fascinating. And then what happened with those who survived on both sides.

[@prestonbrower762]

Just imagine playing in a fantasy version of West Virginia. The local lord despises the Slave-loving Eastern Separatists, but his soldiers are not powerful enough to stay loyal to the King. That is until our heroes arrived...

[@midcadet]

@@prestonbrower762 thanks for giving me my next campaign idea.

[@infidelheretic923]

With good reason too. Even if you were ambivalent about slavery, the plantation owners were corrupt snobs, that bought up all the good farm land, never had to dirty their hands to turn a profit, and looked down their noses at people like them.

[@letters_from_paradise]

The political intrigue is always one of my favourite aspects of an alternate world.

[@angelalewis3645]

Just realized that Matt Mercer created a genius central tension between gods versus no gods in CR campaign 3. How much time the players have spent talking about whether they’re for the gods, against them, or just don’t care either way but want a specific outcome for themselves and/or their family in the end.

[@huntermurphylaw]

"Let's just say, by the end of this video you will have watched a video. ". Absolutely love this expectation setting.

[@sergiomarfoy]

7:16. Matt. The balls to say “this is the most complicated board game I’ve ever played” with fucking TWILIGHT IMPERIUM in the background… what a phenomenal way to drive home your point.

[@aqacefan]

Not to mention Campaign for North Africa!

[@czeslawpi]

Battletech did the central tension you describe in L5R long before 1997... basically the same idea. Star League fractures, Noble houses feud, Amaris rebellion, etc.

[@jacobrodgers7743]

I will miss the campaign diaries. But I really enjoy all of your videos and hearing your thoughts on all of the various moving parts of RPGs. So keep on truckin', whenever and however you can.

[@TheSunbaneglasses]

Great take on things. Happy 100th video!

[@mcolville]

Wait, really? Awesome! Thanks!

[@Mikcha212]

You're awesome Matt. Truly. I wish I could work at turtlerock with you and join them classic games.

[@crisrody852]

So, trying to understand your video I made this check box list for my world: [ ] Decide how each state feels to the other states (by state I mean the domain of a race on a area of land) [ ] Who are the allies that each one have [ ] Is there a traitor? [ ] Is there a army? Who fight in the army and why? [ ] How many internal clans are inside a state? [ ] Why that clan is supporting / being against the situation that is happening? [ ] How the PCs are involved on this?

[@Traye76]

The greatest thing about Magneto is that he has a very valid point, and everything he's seen in his life proves his point in his mind.

[@AJPickett]

Brilliant video, thanks Matt! I will miss the campaign diary vids, they inspired me to start doing my own.

[@tuhmater2985]

When you used the example of the American Civil War, I thought of something: what if we played one-shot D&D or some other TTRPG in history and language arts classes in the historical setting or setting of the book. I think this would be fun and also help us understand why the characters are doing what they are doing.

[@zacharyharwell351]

An interesting idea that I see going either perfectly well or getting the teacher fired. There's little allowance for nuance like that in most classes and schools, and that goes for far more topics than simply the Civil War

[@NotReallyChefGregggo]

Anyone else watching this in 2024 trying to disassociate?

[@nickkamalakis2380]

Crazy that this was 7 years ago already, I’m back for the 5th year in a row to brush up before I start a new game. Matt, your advice ages like fine wine, never stop doing what you do!

[@scoutz8652]

I'm not familiar with L5R but everything you said about it applies to a T to ASOIAF as well (ironically, since you said you don't like the series). Thank you for your videos, they're very fun and informative on many levels.

[@liqerise]

I always come back to your videos whenever I get stuck prepping my sessions, and this one is great every time

[@toddmeacham9320]

I love when the central tension just develops. As the campaign setting moves forward many times your central tension can develop... especially with the way your races interact. Many times the central tension develops organically as you 'maintain' a campaign setting and let it develop.

[@rachelstone4826]

D&D was something I always wanted to try but could never find more than one other person who wanted to play and neither of us had the slightest idea how to. lol So when my friend told me he had a group I was more than ecstatic. Problem was on the first day the DM bailed on us, turns out he was super flaky. I was really crushed but refused to let it go. I think that night and the next night I came straight home after work and would sit here for 3-4 hours straight watching your videos trying to get a basic idea on what to do. It really helped! Watching these videos is really enjoyable cause its so easy listening to someone talk about something they clearly love. Between what I watched and going out and buying books, I spent my first time ever playing as a DM. I cant say it was great, seasoned players might of said it was horrible, but everyone one playing really enjoyed it. So thank you, for putting these out there so I could finally play D&D. Im going to keep watching and hopefully get better for everyone. lol

[@thomaspierce5835]

Please come back to the campaign diaries when you can, I think they are often just as helpful as the running the game videos.

[@KibbIeis1337]

The nature vs civilization segment reminded me of princess mononoke's story. Great film. Always happy to see another video from you Matt. Cheers!

[@confuciuscubed]

A while back you mentioned that you had some rules you used when governing things like governing and raising armies during a campaign, and that if we were interested you would make a video. I for one am still interested.

[@gho5trun3r68]

Building off the civil war analogy the politics gets even more juicy when you look up the encounter of Fort Sumter in which the war was started because the South fired first. That whole situation is ripe for juicy dnd campaign background for a conflict, war, or tension.

[@briankwon6136]

Another running the game! Hype!

[@thirteenonline9503]

I really truly love the Campaign Diaries and hope they come back. Maybe you could do one a month. But seeing you utilize everything you talk about in an actual campaign. Seeing your mistakes and tricks, in context. Is truly helpful. And plus im actually following the story so you can't leave me on a cliffhanger!

[@dtrlfilms]

That ending though... The central tension was released.

[@JamesLorimor]

I was hoping someone would comment and say, "Nice push!!!!" I guess I'll take credit for that......LOL

[@grinofthegrimreaper]

great video, but allow me a slight correction ;P Julius Caesar never became emperor, when he came back from Gaul he was OFFERED the crown from the people "three times and three times refused". Later he was killed by conspirators who feared he could still destroy the republic "et tu, Brute?" After his death a civil war broke out between Ottaviano and Antonio. The war ended with the overwhelming victory (military and political) of Ottaviano, who then became the first (and arguably one of the greatest) Emperors of Rome.

[@vagrant2502]

The problem is that the republic was already dying. After the Graccai Brothers, Marius and Sulla, political violence was was destroying the republic.

[@MrKhaosKid]

MATT. JUST WANNA SAY. I LOVE YOU MAN. you seriously have been guiding me through becoming a DM for a couple years now.

[@sarsaparila]

"At the end of this video, you will have watched a video" this is what keeps me coming back.

[@TimTamSlam7]

I would say I could listen to you talk for hours but I’m afraid I already have (both said that, and listened to you for hours). Central tensions was something that wasn’t even a question for starting our my campaign. Straight off the bat, my players had backstories related to their races which I absolutely loved . Being Indigenous Australian, exploring racial tensions and complexities of century-long differences between cultures is something I haven’t gotten to explore much in DnD. Your advice, as always, spot on. My only hope is that I don’t get carried away with overprepping!

[@rgreenparadox]

Of all the gaming universes, The Battletech Universe has the most rich and diverse political structure of any game I have seen in 40 years of gaming. They have hundreds of years of political back story, surrounding the fall of the star league and its splintering into the 5 great houses of the inner sphere. What they would call the main story line takes place over about 60 years, comprising over 50 novels. This does not include the exodus of the Star League army and their return 300 years later determined to put an end to the succession wars. Every great house has elements within it vying for control of the great house. The great houses form alliances to try to gain power and position against the others. The Clans (the star league army reborn, splintered into warrior caste armies) are all fighting to see who conquers the inner sphere and becomes the number one clan for all time. So when they show up, the inner sphere reforms the start league, barely. It is a rich and fertile universe to mine for mystery, intrigue (each house(some of them multiple, and working against each other), comstar(think evil at&t with religion, an army, horded technology and a monopoly on interstellar communication), and even a mercenary company all have spy networks). Perhaps L5R borrowed from them.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

You skipped the psuedo-religion of Comstar and the Word of Blake...

[@TomorrowWeLive]

*laughs in 40k*

[@taurvanath]

This is by far your peak content. I love the rest of it, but this was absolutely fantastic to listen to.

[@CrazyConnor2]

Oh man I'm really going to miss the campaign diaries, hope you pick it back up soon. as always a great video Matt!

[@JEST3R_]

I've played 5 or 6 sessions with 4 of my friends and I've casually brought up the idea.of DM'ing and they were really supportive and now I'm writing my own mini campaign and super excited. You're awesome and your videos are super helpful

[@EnbyNomad]

Matt, do campaign diaries when you are ready, we can wait.

[@vibeknight2174]

The order vs chaos idea reminds me of, at least in some media I have seen such as The Last Kingdom, the idea of how Charlemagne was such a well honored leader, and that life was just "better" under his rule. I think I might steal your idea, Matt. Thank you for the inspiration!!!

[@EvansEasyJapanese]

It might be a great idea to explain the differences between "barons", "dukes", etc and all the different titles and their roles in a world.

[@ChekhovsGun_]

i would love this. i am potato in politics, modern or otherwise..

[@abelsampaio389]

The most common titles: - Emperor: A ruler of several peoples - King: Ruler of one people - Prince: Son or very close related to king or emperor. Has birthright over the ruling, should the king/emperor die. - Grand Duke: Leader of an independent or semi-independent short dimension state, usually becomes an emperor. - Duke: The most senior of nobles, often a member of royal family below the emperor/king and prince. - Marquess: A noble leader of a land on the border of the realm, being as such a leader of defense. - Count/Earl: Intermediate rank level, a feudal lord of some land, usually owns a one or a couple castles. - Viscount: A companion noble meant to assist a count. - Baron: A title of honor, often hereditary. Normally given by kings to allies or great knights. - Knight: Title of honor given by a monarch for service to the monarch or country. - Squire: Shield and armor-bearer of a knight. Often a knight apprentice.

[@NeflewitzInc]

That is super helpful thank you!

[@DRsideburns]

It takes literally 2 seconds to google this...

[@EvansEasyJapanese]

It takes 2 seconds if you already know what the terms are, what the system is, and all that good stuff. If you're not familiar with the system, say feudal Japan (or even knowing what "feudal Japan" is), it's actually tricky. But, it's OK if you want to make snide comments.

[@SnowSlurpie463]

Matt these videos are really helping me learn how to be a fun and efficient GM. I am so excited to start my first campaign with my friends next week largely because of the ideas I've been getting from your videos on what I could do. I can't stop watching these!

[@McCainenl]

Just one highly pedantic note: Julius never became Emperor or declared himself that, only Octavianus (Augustus) did...

[@bulutguner4606]

Yeah, most people think he is the first emperor while he was only dictator for life.

[@JacksonRScott]

Pretty sure that's because post modernism calls the distinction between those two statements semantics.

[@Gabdube]

It's not pedantic. It's historical fact. Correcting important errors is not pedantic.

[@gromxxar]

another pedantic note Augustus never called himself an emperor just princeps he was called emperor later afte he died

[@zachary37]

Most Emperors didn't call themselves emperors, I believe

[@jakemesservy969]

Thank you for making these videos. I learn or think of something new from everyone that I watch.

[@carlosmojica9632]

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better!

[@DerianMcCrea]

MAN!!! I could listen to this forever!! He's a spring well of insightful knowledge! Love it! Great video!!!

[@ShadowDrakken]

+Matthew Colville An empire is a bit more complicated than just "being ruled by an emperor". That would effectively make every dictatorship an empire, which isn't accurate. In order to be an empire, it has to be a large group of states/countries all being ruled by a single supreme ruler who's title may or may not be emperor.

[@Karagianis]

Yes, the Mongol empire for example was ruled by a Khan, and the ottoman empire was ruled by a Sultan. Both are still empires.

[@NicolaiCzempin]

Who was the emperor of the British Empire?

[@fuzzlemacfuzz]

@@NicolaiCzempin Her Majesty Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India."

[@TomorrowWeLive]

What about Japan?

[@joehopper7373]

You have described America.

[@ferretferret4048]

I don't know if I ever plan on running a campaign... but your running the game videos are always VERY entertaining, intriguing, and commendable. Keep up the great work, Matt.

[@Kingpin1880]

New to the game, new to the system, never actually played and have no experience, yet I want a big and complicated world with interesting politics, different races, unique gods and all that stuff. I feel like I've swallowed a pizza whole, and I don't even have a campaign to run or play in (heck; I don't even have friends to play with...).

[@winsonzhu4427]

3 years and probably some change late, but you start out by getting a group together (friends, if you have them by now) and playing something that's like game tutorial level of basic. Stuff like town got raided and you have to fight the invaders off then track them down, or local road is getting harassed by bandits/goblins/etc., or a simple sweep of a local mine to clear out some monsters that holed up there when it was closed for a season. Do some stuff like that, then try and draw possible connections to something larger going on and expand out (especially anything that's kinda weird and could be explained by some outside force). Rip off already established settings as you wish. Probably won't be the greatest thing ever, but everyone gets to learn the ropes as you go, and it's a decent start to build off of in the future. I'm talking clean out of my ass since I haven't actually ever played either, nor do I have friends who are interested or all that close. I think it's a good start, but what do I know, I've only read TTRPG stories and seen the memes.

[@Byeuji]

Hey Matt, I just want to say thanks for making the campaign videos secondary. I have watched a couple, and I definitely want to watch them all, but I just don't find them as engaging as your Running the Game videos. I'm not an inexperienced DM, but hearing these thoughts from you, an eminently more experienced DM than myself, spurs new thoughts and ideas, and gets me excited about writing for my campaign. I don't mean to offend those who clearly love your campaign videos so much, but I hope the Running the Game videos remain a priority for awhile. It's almost like auditing a course on game mastering. And I love it dearly. I nearly panicked as you approached that statement, fearing that these videos would become secondary. Imagine my relief. Thank you so much for making these videos. P.S. I hope things get less cray at work. I totally get that.

[@Taureor]

I'm at episode 13 now and I started watching today, your tips are very helpful. I've been a DM for a while, but I still learn a lot from you. Would you consider starting or joining an online RPG campaign with other youtubers? I was thinking of setting one up. I might be asking "above my station", but hey, who knows, stranger things have happened

[@tomon5598]

Woah it’s Taureor! Love your HOI4 videos man. Didn’t know you were a D&D fanatic too!

[@Bombardier7906]

wow this is surprising

[@Gofex1337]

How did this go unanswered

[@weiss9567]

Hi Matt, I know this video is old but today I ran a game for young teenagers and I completely agree with EVERYTHING you say. We just roled stats, saw some races and clases, some background and boom, we generated two characters that they really liked. Then I left to look for smt and told them to try to come up with why did their characters traveled together and THEY DID and it was awesome because it was theirs idea and they loved it, so one of them came up with a problem they had to solve and the other convinced her that they should go to the town and look for help, so I came up with a town name, and they engaged with it because they wanted to convince these people that the fire was going to affect them and they had to help them, so they started asking things like, can I go to the market, can I talk to the ranger and it was amazing, for them and for me. I love your perspective that anyone can enjoy RPGs, I believe the same and running for them, even if it was just for a few hours was one of the best sessions I'll ever have. We didn't have a town, we didn't have politics, we didn't have anything but we came up with answers for all of that and we had fun

[@Zatzu257]

Oh No! It's like one of my favorite shows is being cancelled. I hope you'll continue to keep us updated on how your campaign is going.

[@RavenRaconteur]

I would literally listen to you talk about anything. Great video, Matt! Looking forward to more.

[@Zuginator]

One thing I wasn't to note about the Civil War, states rights was always a B.S. phrase. I said that as a Southerner who grew up listening to Confederate music. The South was deeply invested in the Fugitive Slave Act. They wanted States Rights for me, not thee.

[@kevinbaird6705]

The CSA Constitution also mandated that member states had to be slave states.

[@chrisrigney356]

Hey Matt! You mentioned Apocalypse Now for the reference about the war ending and implications for what it means for the character when out of that context in the future. A great novel (and old movie!) that demonstrates the flip side is King Rat by James Clavell. The novel is about POW soldiers in WWII. There's a POW character who acts as a fence for contraband and similar things among the other POWs, and he becomes a kind of figurehead among the POWs because of his role. However, questions arise throughout the book/movie about what impact a rescue would actually have on him, since he's revealed as basically a nobody in the outside world where he doesn't have this social hierarchy constructed around him. Interesting stuff.

[@caiopelichekgoncalves3361]

Please, don't stop doing the campaing diaries! They ilustrate lots of ways players react, for better or worse, and how DM's can deal with it! Perhaps doing the campaing diaries per month?

[@caiopelichekgoncalves3361]

And, just want to point out, unlike Critical Role or other shows, yours bring us not actors and such, but "real people", much more closer to what players experience in their day to day games - and that I think is priceless for the purpose of learning "how to be a good DM", a DM that enjoys what he's doing but who also know how to make the players around him enjoy their time as well

[@BigH2000101]

Once again, great video Matt! I was actually thinking about how to establish an enjoyable yet intricate political element within me and my players campaign, this vid definitely helped, thanks!

[@hotscottrulz]

I love the sound of Matt saying "Dickheads". It's a beautiful sound!

[@wahkee123]

So glad i stumbled across you. The way you collect ideas, examples, and basic archetypes that are (relatively) well known, delineate them wonderfully, and finally combine them all into a flowing, easily understandable, and amusing narrative is incredibly constructive. Thank you so much, I've recently decided to DM a 30 part campaign for my friends. I have all the mechanics of the game embedded in my head, however for the longest time i was stumped on the biggest part of any campaign, the story and setting. I've read, watched, and played through so many stories it was hard to pinpoint what examples i would base these 30 adventures, or chapters, on. These videos helped me sift through and narrow down almost every important aspect i was concerned about. Once again, thankyou, and im looking forward to the next video :)

[@flyingfujigi8560]

"At the end of this video, you will have watched a video, that's the best I can do." -Matthew Colville 2016

[@Ponaru]

On one of your past videos you mentioned that you used to work for Pandemic. I made a comment on how much I miss their games, and that the original Mercenaries is one of my favorites of all time. I was itching to play it today and on a whim I looked through the credits in the manual. Sure enough...you're credited as one of the designers!!! That is so awesome!!!

[@joost00555]

And now I can suddenly see a lot of Dune in The Chain

[@screamingblue7]

Really like the breakdown of the overall paradigm into tangible concepts of individuals and societies. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[@paladinsorcerer67]

I played in a group that taught me about using a character's alignment as the basis for a dilemma situation where for instance a Lawful Good character is presented with a choice of doing something law-abiding but that ultimately is evil, or for instance a Chaotic Good character has to do something good for someone, but that requires strict attention to procedures or laws. The conflict is that part of their alignment is appeased, while the other part is subverted. The player has to decide which approach would be ultimately the most likely for the character to use. After learning of this tactic, I went on to develop over 10 types of dilemmas that work in different situations. Dilemmas like this are usually not as big as a central tension, but I suppose that they could be used that way if desired. The great thing about dilemmas is that it requires player choice, so the player has total agency, and the outcomes can be said to have come totally from the player and are not arrived at due to GM railroading.

[@protoman___2639]

Hey Matt love your videos I'm a first time D and D player, running as a DM for just me and my 8 year old. Thanks for all the videos. Loads of help getting started. Kevin

[@protoman___2639]

Could you make a video about leveling up your characters and how experience works?

[@andrewc9929]

I'm not Matt (obviously), but I believe I can aid you. XP is awarded to players just for killing monsters (usually), but I tend to grant XP if players have a highly productive or interesting roleplaying encounter. Each monster slain grants a certain amount of XP, which is divided (equally) among the party's characters. The amount of XP a creature grants is a stat found in the Monster Manual entry for each creature. If you're using 5th Ed. D&D, it's also related to challenge rating (goblins, for instance are Challenge Rating 1/4, so they grant 50 XP when killed). When characters hit a certain amount of XP, they increase their level by one, gaining new abilities/spells/feats as defined in the Player's Handbook. First level in 5th Ed. is 300 XP. After that the increase is geometric (Level 2 is 900, Level 3 is 2700; you triple the amount needed). Another way to work levels is to simply level the party whenever they reach a certain milestone. For instance, if the party has spent two or three sessions clearing out an orc infested stronghold, but you didn't keep track of the exact number of orcs they killed or any roleplaying that happened, you can just level the party once they're done. I've done that before and it works really well, especially if you're running a game for younger players who might not be so skilled with math just yet. I hope this helped.

[@thunder_bug_1451]

A lot of southerners definitely were fighting to keep slavery even if they didn’t own slaves, because they wanted to keep the racial hierarchy so that they weren’t the same class as who they perceived as their lessers

[@TIprgm]

Sitting here in the middle of the night, knowing that i should get some sleep suddenly i hear you talking about the hateful eight and i take a look on my chest just to see that i'm wearing my hateful eight shirt. And since i'm already writing a comment. I realy like your videos. Even if i don't play D&D. I do play P&P RPGs and through all your videos i'm getting more and more confident that my idea for a campaign that is growing while i watch might not be that bad. I'm getting more and more confident that i could try to DM in my main group and not only for some beginners.

[@mentalchillnesss]

Here's a like for the burp. I'd do more for the politics, but they only give you one.

[@paulnelson7874]

I was just thinking you should watch my all-time favorite TV show, when BOOM, you nail it! The Sandbaggers I first watched on our local PBS station back about 1984 or so...and of course started taping it for keeps. Now I just have the DVDs. I totally concur that its style can be used to add a lot of flavor to games. I don't run fantasy games (just starting that), but it has influenced everything else I have run, from James Bond to a series of epic 7th Sea games!

[@danielmacpherson8487]

I just have to say, the UK was not a client state, it was a super power, it did not rely on the US for protection in the same way that China didn't rely on the Soviets, it was a super power in its own right, thats why all 4 and then France are the big 5 of the UN, the 5 biggest powers in the world. I do love the idea of a Cold war-esque campaign, I may even work it into my current campaign, I was already laying the groundwork of something similair actually.

[@bulbaseth3412]

Try out Ebberon if you like high magic, it has a built in cold war with all the nations, but I know a lot of people don't like it cause of the very high amount of magic

[@danielmacpherson8487]

@@bulbaseth3412 I have too active of an imagination to not go homebrew, but a lot of the videos and things I've sourced from use Ebberon as an example, I reckon it's been a big influence actually even if I haven't realised it before.

[@bulbaseth3412]

@@danielmacpherson8487 yeah that setting is actually amazing, and currently my homebrew world has a lot of influence from Ebberon

[@jonbrown7962]

I appreciate the decision to prioritize the running the game over the campaign diary. I feel like those who watch these videos religiously, myself included, are looking for intermediate level tutorials with a higher degree of sophistication, which appear most often in the Running the Game series.

[@johndavis9674]

Battlestar Arsehole. That was awesome. I never considered my games to be particularly political, but watching this I'm beginning to suspect they are. Having a single strong core conflict, concept or theme really does add a hell of a lot to a game.

[@Griffolion0]

Was sipping some tea when Matt said "Battlestar Asshole" and my desk is now splattered with tea.

[@quickattackfilms7923]

So, I have a sci-fi campaign and my central tension revolves basically around The Federation (because every sci-fi game/show needs a federation). Most colonies on the outer rim of the galaxy hate the Federation, they come in unannounced and unwelcome and sometimes hijack entire planets for resources. They tax the crap out of small colonies in order to fuel their war machine and no one can really stand up against them. But what the adventurers may find out eventually is that The Federation is actually staving off a galaxy-ending threat, a giant tear in the fabric of space and time is releasing untold amounts of demons and other hellish things into the galaxy and the federation is the only thing standing against that. So, no federation means no galaxy basically. Is that a good central tension?

[@Keyce0013]

Maybe give your frontier worlds problems of their own so that when the Feds come'a knocking, they can't give up those resources without causing suffering to themselves.

[@quickattackfilms7923]

Geldai013 That sounds dope

[@Weaselmittens]

Loving your videos. Super informative and well presented. And then, THEN you go and reference Sandbaggers. What a terrific show, I rewatch the whole thing at least once a year. Keep up the great work!

[@tobiasmetzner2654]

Dear Matthew, I realy like your Videos but i totaly love your Campaign Diary. I like to learn form exampels and not from theory so i learn so much by lisen to you and how it work out in your campaign. If the workload is to much then maybe you could sum two sessions up in one video. Please dont stop the diary, even if you just do them ones a month. Sorry for my bad english. Greeting from Germany

[@Kyburo]

These are always so good! So good. Edit: And wow, I can't believe as a Brit I'd never heard of Sandbaggers before but after watching just the first two episodes I'm already hooked.

[@sword7166]

One game that I don't think gets enough credit for its central tension is Skyrim. The whole Imperial-Stromcloak-Aldmeri dynamic is super interesting and I don't think people really talk about it enough

[@WalkOnNick]

It had a lot of potential but was poorly executed imo. Morrowind did it much better.

[@tcanessa7]

I love this series and genuinely enjoy your thoughts on the game, thanks for all the laughs!

[@keegannakano8225]

I love Matt and these videos but I think in his use of the civil war example he expresses some ideas about the civil war that have been influenced by the Lost Cause myth. While surely slavery was not the main motivation for some rank and file confederates. Many (and I mean many) rank and file soldiers (and noncombatant supporters) fighting for the confederacy did believe in the institutions of slavery and loved the ideology of the South. I still agree with the point Matt was trying to make. I just think that the example he used displays how politics drives people in a different way from his point. The believers in the confederacy who didn’t economically benefit from institutions of slavery but still believed were blinded by hate and a false sense of supremacy to act against there own self interest. They were given a higher placement in an artificial caste system to appease them and to mislead them into helping them oppress other people. Again love the videos. I know this video is old but I thought that this would just be worth mentioning.

[@klosnj11]

The thing about the "lost cause myth" is that it is recognized that many people DID in fact feel like they were fignting for states rights. Even if it wasnt the main driver, it was A driver. But people are so damn scared of being called racist or making points used by racists (even if they are valid) that they feel they have to argue against it on principal. This is ultimately giving ground to the racists, and not a good tactic. It is not wrong to say the civil war was about slavery, and it isnt wrong to say it was also about states rights. The "myth" is to say that it was NOT about slavery and that it was ONLY about states rights.

[@monkwerks]

I love the running the game series, but it was the campaign diaries that got me started on your channel. I find listening to your narrative framework in those super useful. I hope you can find the time to occasionally do a campaign diary.

[@IndrekKlanberg_EestiOrav]

If anyone wants inspiration to simulate Feudal politics in your game, just try Crusader Kings 2, a PC game ... claims, being in your liege's council, heritage, laws of heritage, casus bellis etc.

[@Ssatkan]

I like this video. The whole order vs chaos is something you also see in classical stories, like the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers. Nomadic people need to sully their freedom by making an arrangement with the Egyptian Empire. It's not the central theme, but it is a clear theme.

[@headrockbeats]

I Claudius, the _PBS_ miniseries?? Holy misattribution, Batman!

[@headrockbeats]

Also, an Empire does not necessarily have an Emperor - it's simply a collection of multiple distinct nations controlled under a single government. The mechanism at the top can have many different configurations.

[@gjcostigan]

You had me at "The Sandbaggers"!!! One of the best tv series ever!!

[@tcironbear21]

There are 7 great clans. Crab Crane Scorpion Lion Unicorn Dragon Phoenix

[@mcolville]

You forgot Mantis.

[@tcironbear21]

They were not a great clan at the time of the Clan Wars. They became a great clan as consequence of their actions in the Clan Wars. I am very happy you mentioned the world L5R makes for a great social LARP. I have played in 3 LARPs based around the setting and am getting ready to run a fourth. I was not too impressed with it as a table top though. The biggest problem though is that too many players equate samurai with paladins with katanas and take their murder hobo ways from D&D into L5R. As consequence they will hurt the political intrigue of your game because they are too stubborn to realize political games work best when there is some give in take and take. But those people who get it are so delightful to play across from.

[@mcolville]

The five great clans you could play in the original 1995 release were Lion, Crab, Crane, Dragon, Phoenix and Unicorn. There was no Scorpion stronghold originally.

[@tcironbear21]

That's six.

[@schwann145]

But there *were* Scorpion-aligned personalities. And the first Scorpion Stronghold was released with the very first game expansion, so they get a pass. ;) But no really though, L5R as a setting is amazing. My group is still playing it currently. :D