Narrative Centric Combat (Running Redcaps) || D&D w/ Dael Kingsmill

[@cassandracole4589]

"A little bit of crunch, wrapped up in all sorts of flavor." Sort of a crunch wrap, then.

[@RoostCentauri07]

Would love a "Running [monster]" series on this channel omg

[@nashelian8848]

pro trick : you can watch series at KaldroStream. I've been using them for watching all kinds of movies during the lockdown.

[@samsonuriah9651]

@Nash Elian Yea, been watching on KaldroStream for months myself =)

[@bennettasa7355]

@Nash Elian definitely, I have been using kaldrostream for since november myself :D

[@CorbiniteVids]

dael: "and a lot of you are probably gonna hate this" me: "ooh that means I'm gonna love this" me: *loves it*

[@CorbiniteVids]

I'm really not a crunchy rpg player my whole goal from rpgs is to create a good and immersive narrative whether as a dm or a player, and there's just something about the way battles are often run that feels extremely gamey and 3rd person to me, it just takes me out of it. Like when a dm says the monster is bloodied when it reaches half hitpoints, I do love the narrative explanation that the monster is getting hurt but I honestly hate having a numerical reading of how the monster is doing. It backfires and makes it feel so much less real rather than more. I don't want to know how many hit points an enemy has and I don't really want to be able to figure it out by keeping track monster by monster, I'd rather it be run narrative and I think the way you explained it is a a great way to do that, something I'm really gonna have to try when I get the campaign I've been working on going

[@sethsybrandy3218]

@@CorbiniteVids, not to tell you what you're doing is by any means wrong, your table is whatever you want it to be, but perhaps your should try a less "gamey" system. There's much more collaborative-storytelling base systems out there that might suit your wishes better. I'm the kind of person who will max the hell out of their character, but avoid meta-gaming as much as possible, and focus on the storytelling. Both the crunch, and the fluff, are my go-to, which seems a little less common these days, but oh well.

[@CorbiniteVids]

@@sethsybrandy3218 that's a good point. But I guess I sort of explained what I meant poorly. I do sometimes appreciate a bit of crunch when it gives me structure to then jump off of. But when I'm a player it's mostly that I hate being able to see the crunch behind the screen. I'd rather my dm keep that kind of stuff hidden to keep the illusion up that I'm fighting real monsters instead of just a bunch of numbers. I'm fine with my own stats and abilities as a player revolving around those crunchy numbers, because otherwise it'd be hard for me to conceptualize it, I just don't want to actually see any of the other crunchyness. That said I have been exploring some other rpg options as well

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

The thing with the bandits and later the crows leaving has a lovely vibe reminiscent of how underwater divers will see all the small sharks leave rather suddenly just before the bigger sharks arrive. That moment of anticipation is powerful and interesting.

[@themospence]

The raven ornament turning into a familiar is brilliant. Definitely adding that to my "Dope Stuff to Do" list.

[@natashalevesque6589]

DAEL. DAEL. THANK YOU! I'm a new DM, and I'm very narrative-centric, to the point where I find running combat as a DM both stressful (because of the crunch and all the things to remember, on top of trying to make it cool?) and boring??? Which seems super counter-intuitive for dnd in general? But this gave me so many IDEAS! I've been looking at combat all wrong! I've been dealing with it as kind of this break in the flow of the narrative, or a culmination of a narrative point, where everything breaks, and the narrative flows from that after, but no, NO, that's not it AT ALL! The whole idea of building combat to give cool story points to the players, that's so fantastic and by being able to frame it that way in my head, I'll be able to describe it that way to my players, which is chill as HELL. But moreso, the biggest moreso, is being able to be like "yeah, in like, 5 hits, this guy goes down, he's a minion, it's no big deal" so I can focus on building an aesthetic throughline on the big bad of the encounter, where the aesthetic feeds the narrative of what the encounter is designed to accomplish (build fear, or cement this place as a tricksy, terrible, yet oddly whimsical treasure-trove designed by a madman with a sense of humour, etc) -- This is what I needed. If I can make this work, I'll feel like I'm actually a decent combat DM!

[@MonarchsFactory]

HELL YEAH! This comment just got me totally pumped to prep another session!

[@ctberchem7303]

The trick to being a good DM, combat or otherwise is knowing what will make your players happy. I have a few rules lawyers so I worry a bit about following rules, but when they talk about the game later it is almost never about crunching numbers, it is about the flow and flavor. That's why I love listening to Dael's D&D videos.

[@eddieramirez8292]

@@ctberchem7303 I find that too. I feel like rules lawyers are used to video games, where everything has a numerical value and can be defeated with math. You have to kind of take them out of their own heads so they can experience the game, not the stat blocks. Redcaps are like the perfect enemy type to showcase the difference. Stat wise, there's nothing special about them except for the bit of lore where they have to keep their caps soaked in blood to stay alive. But if you get past that and really set the scene, then you can build a memorable encounter instead of a time killer fight scene

[@Eaode]

there are a lot of tables/players that will have a looser feel for how combat stuff might work. In particular everyone probably knows that one player who's playing a rogue and wants to make Acrobatics checks to do wild shit and move around the fight. Sometimes, just let them. Treat it like it's not combat for a second, let them make a skill check. Decide what the difficulty is and what the reward is. In combat this is actually really simple, you can give bonuses if they're successful. You undermine the strict "legality" of what each character can do by the book, but instead you make it feel more realistic. How many movie fight scenes are just dry punching back and forth, when in real life people might reach for any random object that could do damage. The game isn't bloated enough to have rules for how your character can attack after doing a siiiiick wall run. so if you want your players to be able to do sick wall run attacks, you gotta take the combat rules into your own hands sometimes.

[@wesleygaines9809]

I am a Critical Role fan and a Dimension 20 fan, but in the home games I DM, you have honestly been the biggest and most direct influence on my own DMing. Your videos have shown me that being less number crunchy and more vague and evocative is ok, and has given me the freedom to develop my own DM style and find my voice. Keep being you and making great content that inspires us all!

[@delightfulbanana]

I really like the points you made about highlighting certain characters in every battle and giving them all their time to shine, and what you said about "fluid hitpoints". I too often feel worried about the flow of the fight, and sometimes I really wish a monster survived one more hit - or died earlier. All in all really good vid, thank you so much.

[@ZipperonDisney]

"What matters is that it looks scary from the outside!" Dael, this is why I love your content. You *get* it.

[@Aricade111]

So much about this is goals. Story driven combat (Check) Player centric encounter (Check) Adaptable playstyle (Check) That rockin hairstyle (Check) Goals, all of it

[@TheodoreMinick]

The "this monster should survive x number of hits" thing is actually a lot closer to the way it was done back in the day. Your average soldier was a minion, and went down in one hit. The hero was a little tougher and could survive two or three. Hit points are a weird thing anyway, and the hobby has been struggling with what they actually are since the beginning. Are they actually wounds that you take, do they represent your heroism, or stamina... What I like to do is borrow from 4th edition D&D just a little bit, and use the "bloodied" condition (I call it Wounded). I describe the hits, until the half HP mark, as striking the armor and knocking the wind out of him, or being just barely blocked by a desperate lift of the shield. Then when he crosses that Wounded threshold, the hit strikes home, and he has blood running down the side of his armor. And now he's a little bit slower to react, more hits land on the armor, instead of being blocked by the shield or weapon. Statistically, he's unchanged, it's just clearer that he's getting closer to death. And the final blow, of course, I ask the player how they want to end it. As my PCs get higher levels, I think I'll be adding more minions, too, little one-hit guys, to bring in that cinematic feel.

[@koryhaydon6509]

I had flashbacks to Lord of the Rings fantasy battle game

[@RashidMBey]

Dael Kingsmill cries, "Frail things still die! With an ear for the story, And an eye for the glory, And the flail swings they'll try! Give character a crunch, And stick with a hunch, And oh! How the frail things still die!" For my games, narrative is the most delicious component and probably the thing I should and do most consider. Thanks, Dael. You've refreshed my love for the game. As always!

[@danielbufton7471]

It's fine. I'm basically Captain Crunch and I'm not even mad.

[@MonkeyworkPlays]

Hey Dan - as a child I really enjoyed you cereal, as an adult it doesn't really hold up though.

[@Varandru]

I'm in the same boat. I can do crunch moderately well, I come here for inspiration to base it on.

[@danielbufton7471]

@@MonkeyworkPlays Well that was needlessly critical...

[@FirstnameLastname-kn5sw]

@@Varandru *same boat*

[@michaeldejesus4982]

Awesome work 👍. I used to use notes on 3x5 cards with the five senses of the players and how they would experience the different areas in a dungeon. Plus a card for each monsters description how I saw them in my mind. The players loved it. This was back in the day of 1981. Basic d&d. They still remember the game to this day. Your narrative skills are amazing.

[@Armaggedon185]

You said crunch players would be disappointed, but casting inflict wounds through a familiar is just the right use of rules. Lots of good ideas in this one!

[@nottelling9581]

I really like how you put in things in combats just to let your characters shine and the players have fun. e.g. archers, just so the monk can catch arrows.

[@TheCrazybros2]

Redcaps are fairies straight out of the brothers Grimm. There one of my favorite monsters! They make a great antagonist for the first three levels or so.

[@somelikeitcoldand]

Your idea about hit points/ hits is SUCH a good idea omg, definitely using it the next time my players fight a horde of whatever!

[@PhantomForces]

I may or maynot have subscribed and hit the notification button in the first five minutes because it's nice to finally find another person who loves narrative combat. In D&D I always have issues making combat narrative maybe cuz combat is so tactical-ish. So I'm trying to get better at pushing narrative in combat. Just D&D all other systems I got it.

[@matthewkerr6831]

I'm always down for some vague and evocative d&d goodness!

[@DestinyTrioInc]

A friend of mine recommended your channel to me, and it's revolutionized how i run a session. (I Also adore your retelling of fairy tales and myths). The way you approach story telling and player experience is phenomenal. Thank you! This video is like, from the archive binge I've done, peak your brand, and I love it.

[@jamesh4521]

I've never DMed before and I've been prepping to DM for my group. This is the most useful video I've seen out of dozens, thank you!

[@dyslegein]

How'd it go?

[@RevolutionaryLiger]

I just want you to know this is one of the videos that inspired me to DM! I used to have a very math crunchy group and this legit was the push to find a more narrative group I adore. You make DMing sound so damn fun!

[@nimbarzentivos1237]

Thank you Professor Kingsmill! You've made battle "crunch" so much cooler for me

[@AliceQuinnRose]

It's nice to see a succesful DM running the game from a storytelling POV instead of a numbers POV. I've struggled to DM in the past because of all the crunch. I felt like I was just being the groups accountant rather than the head storyteller. It wasn't fun. So thank you for providing more creative approaches to DMiing that people like me can exsperiment with.

[@alexandriagrimm888]

Redcaps are amongst my Favorite Fae out there. They have such a Sinister and unrepentantly horror-movie -esque feel to them. I've ran them in the past as more like ambushers. Hiding in ruins as the party works their way through, they'd knock over bricks and the party would follow it, but its really 2 steps ahead, and they jump them with falling rocks, Falling damage from pit traps and finally some well placed wooden pikes being thrust through mortar in the walls. Your choices however... My goodness, That one is right up there in awesome reveals.

[@aidanboyle7374]

My favourite bit of evocative monster flavour I've done was describing Sea Hags as looking like bloated drowned corpses. I've used sea hags a few times and that description always makes players squirm

[@NeflewitzInc]

I've noticed more and more DMs, and myself included at the table, ignoring or bending the HP monsters have. I have a unified theory bouncing around in my head that I should write down somewhere. It basically boils down to looking at the number of hits you want an enemy to survive and the calculation for HP at each tier of play that translates to.

[@swaghauler8334]

A quick rule of thumb is to divide the monster's HP by 10 and count those as the number of HITS (ie sword strikes or other blows) that it can take. This is an old school method of speeding up combats.

[@briangiese2628]

Everything about understanding the flow of combat/encounters or a session is great advice. HP's of enemies don't matter if it ruins the flow of what is going on.

[@ctcipriano]

Following the flow of a battle is definitely much more important than abiding by a hit point total is something I do regularly and favor far more

[@Ben-eb9ji]

The "Monster should go down in X Number of hits" Is a thing I do myself as well and It works like a charm in big fights!

[@chuckchuckerson5364]

Changing monsters hit points from their original design to better match the output of your players is just good DMing. I personally don't use a "1 hit/2 hit" system, but I have had to change monsters hit points more times than I can count. My players also know that my monsters will have a range of HP's, for example 18-22, just like their party has a range of HPs (even 2 of the same class/level). Thanks for another great video Dael, I look forward to using your crow covered bad guy in the near future!

[@brittanysleepy8617]

I'm so bad at math thank you for this tips. Keeping track of how many hits instead of hit points should really keep the flow going!

[@natashasurvivallady8021]

I like your semi minion rules, especially since you still used hit points for the big guy. It's nice to not have to deal with a ton of extra numbers, while at the same time giving your players whose whole class benefit is the kind of numbers they can push out. And thank you for just making red caps the awesome terrors they should be!! XD

[@scottvickers338]

"How did you make these things the absolute worst. That's a what a DM lives for" As a DM I completely agree with this statement. When your players dread your next move your having a good time.

[@johngregg6820]

As a crunch-averse DM running a very numbers-heavy system, I'd been playing like this for a long time but I'm SO glad to see it all spelled out like this from someone who knows what they're doing more than me.

[@Wizardously]

This was awesome. I've been playing since I was a kid and DMing since I was a teenager and I still always find things from your videos to improve myself and my DMing style.

[@mikethewizard7378]

I like my math, strategy, and crunch. I love crunch and always feel like I need to defend it. I can disagree but still enjoy the video. Having solid numbers means if we roll bad, we roll bad. That’s it. Thanks for the video with an interesting perspective, Dael.

[@robynhiggs4379]

Every one of Dael's videos give me a little more confidence as a DM. I think we share many DMing Styles.

[@Tat2ice]

Quite useful actually. The idea of thinking about how many hits a creature can take vs pure HP is a good tool to think about how you'd want the encounter to progress, and why you'd put certain creatures in the encounter

[@raykendo]

Another great and thought-provoking video. It's nice to see D&D handled in a less crunchy manner. It's like mixing corn chips with chili. Not too crunchy for your grandma, but still flavorful. And as a fan of redcaps, I love what you did with them.

[@WhatsUpGazpacho]

Finger pointing outtro is the best thing that's ever happened to Monarch's Factory

[@johnharrison2086]

Excellent video Dael. Your advice regarding flexibility with HP and the numbers of enemies is exactly what I do. I am glad someone else thinks the same way! 😊

[@levichang6074]

I’m very much a dm that sticks to the rules but I’ve always loved your advice so gave using the minion rules a go. That combat ran so much better than anything else I’ve run before. Thank you.

[@danieltenny817]

New to your channel and spent most of this lovely Tuesday morning watching your videos on DnD! I love the theme and flavour you bring to the basic ideas and concepts! Thank you!

[@DaBezzzz]

Professor Dungeon Master over at dungeoncraft suggests something similar to your hit points, but, being Professor Dungeon Master, he goes a step further in giving EVERYTHING an amount of hits instead of hit points to survive. Worth a watch

[@TimParker1]

PC's: "How did you make [redcaps] so horrible?!?" Dael: "That's what DM's live for" Abso-effing-lutely. I homebrew monster stat blocks 90% of the time. Always trying to balance tone and narrative necessity above rigid construction. The way Dael weaves the lore of Redcaps into a visceral and realistically confusing encounter is wonderful here. It's not their sheer power that your players are terrified of, it's the descriptions, it's the feeling of dread; of the unknown. Everyone should take a look at good horror, and action, and think about the tropes and plot devices that well-written descriptions and narrative queues provide, and compare them to what Dael outlined here. This is a great way of subverting expectation and forcing your PC's to question what they know. S+ work here.

[@deusvulture5183]

Dael, I'm a tactical combat enthusiast, but I have to admit, your clever improvisation brings something really intriguing to the discussion that keeps my disposition to mathematics in check. Moreso, from a crunchy perspective, your minified statblocks are actually genius. Much of the statblock information in D&D is totally superfluous and wastes precious space. Have you considered making a video about those and how to format them as easy-to-read snippets?

[@ed-chivers]

Oh wow, Dael, I absolutely love this! The way I run my games the story absolutely comes first - there have been lots of times where I've decided "eh, we've had enough of this guy, this is getting boring" and decided to knock a bunch of hit points off a bad guy so that they die quicker (or, sometimes give them more hit points if the players are getting through too quickly!)... The story's got to come first, after all that's what your players are going to remember, not the numbers. P.S. this video has given me some horrible ideas to inflict upon my players...

[@ronwisegamgee]

You have very good GM instincts. The exact amount of hit points ultimately don't matter. An especially nice touch was when you explained how low damage rolls warranted surviving another hit. Hell, you could secretly house-rule weapon damage to 1, 2, or 3 hits or something like that and arrange monster hit points accordingly for mooks and lieutenants.

[@871335]

This is SO cool. Exactly the kinda play style I aim for. Could totally see the Raven Red Cap casting swarm and all the ravens bursting off it's body. Might have to be with goblins but I'm definitely borrowing this idea! Thank you!

[@MumboJ]

I often do exactly this for HP as well! :D Write down HP, Ignore HP, Estimate number of hits (usually 1-3), Stronger/weaker hits count for more/less.

[@sethsybrandy3218]

"Not qualified to crunch." I don't know why, but that statement was particularly funny to me. Good video, very evocative.

[@unitjax9507]

This is exactly something I need, I run a Traveller game with a group of role players who prefer the rp side and not the combat aspects of games, so I being a war gamer was heart broken that my fav part of the game might take a lesser role in my game for my players sake, but this changes everything, focus on "flavor" and less on hit points! Dael you made my morning so much better

[@my_fair_rachel7898]

I'm so glad I'm not the only DM that doesn't keep track of all the bad guy hp. It bogged my gameplay so much. Keeping track of hits instead has made combat so much easier and flow faster, thus making it more exciting and less stressful.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Totally agree! I noticed a big difference in how I feel post-session, as well -- when I was tracking numbers super accurately I felt like I was dragging play, couldn't keep things like concentration in mind, messed more things up. This way has freed up so much ram in my brain that the battle runs smoother and I don't beat myself up over mistakes later

[@PoisonP3ach]

Hi. Just found your channel. I like your style. Keep making more, I'll keep coming back~

[@jafarthebarmecide3677]

I made my Redcaps the police force of Faerie. They are basically largish goblins. I have made goblins fey creatures tho, and not necessarily evil but mischevious gnomes (who are also fey)

[@nairocamilo]

Uptop, goblins as fey is the best thing to ever consider

[@kiarshalavia]

My goblinoids as a whole have been reclassified as fey in my home game and are currently vying for being a major court in the fey hierarchy as The Iron Court.

[@tylerh2548]

Check out Shadow of the Demon Lord rpg. Goblins are fey-in-exile and list under the basic ancestries a player can choose in the main rulebook. The Goblin King is an elf who lives in a planar maze and is definitely NOT Bowie.

[@jafarthebarmecide3677]

There are so many things I think belong in Faerie but are overlooked in D&D, I mean to me elves are the epitome of Faerie, now I know they've come up with Eladrin to honour this but elves aren't inherently fey in D&D, high elves and wood elves have separated from the feywild, In folklore and mythology elves are fairies and Faerie is elvenhome or Alfheimr. I envision faerie as a place of chaos, it's inhabitants are varied and extreme and I suppose I have this idea from Shakespeare and "Midsummer Night's Dream" where Oberon and Titania's seelie court is made up of sprites and giants and people with donkey heads. I also think of Riddley Scott's "Legend" where the fairies are either sprites, the Gump (Robin Goodfellow or Puck) or gnomish/dwarvish leprechauns- and in the story it turns out the goblins are just "bad fairies". I suppose it is because D&D needs stats and every different name needs a different stat and story, hence we get Demons who are different from Devils, kobolds are different from goblins despite kobold being a Germanic word for the goblins they associated with cobalt, and in the AD&D books fairies were different from sprites and brownies and pixies and korred and leprechauns even though these are all names from different languages for the same thing- magical little people or spirits. I have made an alternative Earth world where The British Isles are ruled by half-elves and are basically tribute to Faerie. Albion or Prydain is known as Feyland and Ireland is known as Mad West Feyland because of the elves that inhabit Mad West Feyland are the warlike sidhe (pron. shee) ruled by the Tuatha De Danann. Albion is ruled by a half-elven matrilineal dynasty started by Morgan Le Fay. As time went on European nobility married into this dynasty and has had the effect of half-elves being the ruling class of Europe. Half elves in my world all have an aristocratic or noble link somewhere even if their background is different and not necessarily noble. In Europe itself there is the Black Forest or the Hercynian Forest which stretches from the Rhine to Bohemia and from the Danube to the flat lands of Gothland and Prussia to the north. This forest is the woodelf kingdom/empire and it's getting bigger- even surrounding the Bohemian valley itself. The king is basically Thranduil/Rillifane but nobody knows his name, he's just the Wood elf king. He made a treaty with Augustus of the Roman Empire that fixed the Empire's borders at the Rhine and the Danube. I'm sorry I went off on a tangent there, I could redact it but there might be someone interested, you never know....

[@kiarshalavia]

I personally enjoyed the tangent. My fey have just done through a bit of an upheaval in their living cosmology as their god-rulers(the queens of winter/summer and their king of the wilds) have disappeared, as have the gods of the mortal races, leaving self-proclaimed saints to pick up mantles of power to try to fill the new void.

[@ryanb5127]

3 years later I’m finally running red caps in my own game

[@kirkfan-px9dj]

This came at SUCH a good time Dael!!!! I've already taken a lot of inspiration from your videos in general but this one was just *chef's kiss, accidentally hits self in the mouth* amazing. I'd honestly never considered running combat this way, and as someone who is generally ehh on combat on numbers in and of itself, this is so super timely. I'm definitely borrowing a lot of these ideas, they're so good.

[@HS-iw1ed]

These DM skills sound amazing, from a player stand point the crunch can feel important, but end of the day I'm there for narrative and I'm definitely incorporating this into any game I DM. Also, get "Vague & Evocative" on a shirt dude!

[@incandescent.numinousity]

I agree, that would be some great merch

[@osarkthegoat7038]

I absolutely love the idea of fudging monster hit-points. so much more story potential!

[@peterosborne8315]

Osark The Goat eh. I think my players would feel kinda cheated if they ever found out I ever did something like that

[@osarkthegoat7038]

@@peterosborne8315 I doubt mine would even notice. mostly because I don't divulge hit point totals

[@Wyrdnairon]

Thanks for another great video! To maybe translate some of what you said into some pointersIguess: monster stats and mechanics are designed to add context to a monster's behavior, turn by turn, and following them strictly is part of what makes combat in games last longer than necessary. Don't be afraid to shuffle the encounter based on the party structure! Just like using rogues to backstab barbarians, have rangers act as covering fire, and if there's a duelist, give them something big for them to duel while the rest of the party deals with the mob.

[@Caitlin_TheGreat]

You're really *conveying* some concepts here, really *transporting* ideas into our minds, just *motoring* some weighty thoughts along. ... something about _operating automobiles_ ... to a person's _house_ ...

[@fplaysdm74]

“I hope someone found something useful in this conversation”, Yeah what I found useful was to use redcaps to creep out my players

[@Mina.CX7]

As a newish DM I always feel kind of akward in combat, this really gave me a new perspective. Thanks ^^

[@saetharion]

Thank you Dael! It's been a rough few weeks for me and this came and the absolute perfect moment. Y'know, we should start a petition to get Wizards of the Coast to hire you because this is waaay more flavourful and dynamic than the Redcaps in the books! Oof, your Recaps bleed (forgive the pun) flavour.

[@XucTT]

What I love about this anti-crunch mechanic is that if you don't tell your players you are doing that, they can still min-max to their content. When I am a player, I am a min-maxer myself, and I could not care less how my DM tracks the hp. I care about my damage numbers. I am looking for HIGH numbers, and with this system, if they are high - the DM can just say "How do you want to do this?". This would actually make min-maxing even more enjoyable =)

[@ParokyaNiMarvin]

"It's Coture" Me *chokes on coffee* lmao

[@ahdahcho]

Seriously loved this, I've been looking at ways to change the experience of battle and I'm sure this will go a long way in making battles more immersive and less "roll dice, do math".

[@AinaLove73]

first that ending was so awkward I love it. And yeah this is like advanced minions from 4e minions IMO. I do this quite often I don't track hit points and I have set conditions for how lng something survives. Like 3 hits and its dead, or it will live for 3 rounds combat at least unless a NAT 20 attack is used on it after round 1.

[@alexanderlundberg5644]

I liked this a lot, even as someone who loves the crunch quite a lot. I will definitely try creating cool moments for my players, and might use number of hits until a monster dies sometime.

[@UrbanScalawag]

I would absolutely LOVE to play in a campaign with you as my GM! I love everything about the way you describe the campaigns you run.

[@jimmywilliams2326]

I have great ideas. A orc raiding party makes a camp along a trade route coming out of a city so it can't bypass the camp, the leader is a magic user with either a zombie or skeleton raven with zecrotic damage who wears the jaw, finger or teeth bones as jewellery. Every night a suspicious fog crawls across the land screams can be heard from inside the fog, the area inside the fog is treated as difficult terrain.

[@MulderStarling]

Oh my god I love all these videos.

[@LordSplendid]

This was great! I think the best thing is that we get to see the design process for making great monsters/encounters.

[@valasafantastic1055]

Great fun! good tips and loved the way you made Redcaps truly interesting and terrifying. fun video thanks!

[@Dohlenblick]

"Much like the common Redcap, the Dm stills all dietary needs with the tears and awe of it's players. That and cocoa."

[@Driftingsiax]

Came up with a clever analogy. D&D is chips and salsa. The crunch on it’s own is bland, because it’s a vessel to deliver the flavor. The flavor on it’s own lacks substance (imagine drinking salsa) so the crunch is there to make the flavor more satisfying.

[@dreadmorg]

I like crunch as much as anyone, but it hurts my teeth most of the time. I really enjoyed this video Dael! Well done.

[@faerae666]

My daughter has that mermaid Barbie. Love your ideas Dael!

[@LevityGallows]

awesome work on the red caps am putting ideas in order for a horror witch campaign that includes redcaps and couldn't really think of them other than cute angry little gnome guys. i beleive their fey by the way so i instantly thought archfey warlock when you intro'd your raven cap

[@VoidplayLP]

"Thats the dream, thats what a DM lives for" Yep...thats true.

[@Daniel_Montenegro]

You are a natural, girl! Very good insights from this video.

[@mennorach]

It's interesting to hear you tell me about the kind of ideas I have been playing with myself. Thank you for this video :)

[@hamwise881]

You've been playing with yourself?

[@mennorach]

@@hamwise881 Playing with the idea Dael presents here. Unfortunately the most vocal players I have to deal with believe that following the rules of the game to the letter is the "correct" way to roleplay.

[@Tiriban]

This was VERY useful to me. Thank you for your advice!

[@dualDisc]

omG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, THIS WAS ***VERY*** USEFUL FOR ME BC I had been sooo troubled with running my combats. I find it too short, or too long, or too boring, or not deadly enough, or other stuff! And that tip with keeping the HP calculations loose really helps. I think the next time I run combat, I'll go with that, keep a looser grip on the HP and focus on the actual flow of combat, trust my game sense and all that

[@wraithreaper22]

I'm so glad I found your channel 😍

[@ryancarter6876]

I dig your DM style seems like mine, focused on telling a story not so much crunchy wargaming haha :D

[@GoblinLord]

me, making a vague and evocative sorcerer, watching this channel a bunch

[@jarrettperdue3328]

1. Love your videos. 2. The idea of the *DM* taking on the responsibility of managing player experience and enjoyment in combat, directing for emotional highs and lows, sounds *exhausting* and stressful. I'll happily stay in my little, simulationist bubble where I create obstacles and situations and then watch in joy and amusement as my clever players solve them in unexpected ways. ... barbarian disguised as redcap matron, seeking her errant son-in-law ... what?? [1. and 2. are fully compatible]

[@matthewhughes1950]

I love the concept of taking inspiration from the monster blocks and running with your own thing. Keeps players off the meta knowledge. My favorite custom is mawhounds. :p glass cannon scary dogs that attack in packs that are sort of like the dog monsters from borderlands. My players love them.

[@matthewhughes1950]

Also from the dm's side of it not having to track 15 enemies hp is great. Easily trackable with tick Mark's. Let the players be like yaaaas 8 damage then 12 damage etc. There was another video that talked about tracking via hits and not hp and they brought up some very similar points. Loved all of this.

[@aoiyuureisuru7656]

When you chef's kiss at your own work, so hard that you hurt yourself!

[@lindsaycastle3735]

I heard somewhere the idea of "hearts" like with zelda enemies. Like if 5 hit points = A heart you can say your minions have 2 hearts and you can just round player damage up or down as you see fit. Higher levels you can just make hearts worth more HP. Its a good way to abstract smaller hp increments.

[@parasite159]

Redcaps, not to be confused with Redshirts; although both must die, Redcaps are far more dangerous.

[@swaghauler8334]

Unless you're standing between a Redshirt and a plasma conduit. Redshirts attract plasma explosions like picnics attract ants!

[@TheMayorofSpace]

that introduction for the redcaps was chilling

[@josephfernandez8015]

Why are you not streaming a D&D campaign? Why hasn’t Wizards hired you to do so? 🐉

[@natashasurvivallady8021]

It takes a lot to stream a DND game to the same level of quality that her videos are, and can affect how the players play their game. Also, it turns the game into part of her job, as opposed to just a fun game between friends. Now, I'm not Dael, so I can't say for sure, but these could be a few of the reasons why.

[@ChrisSham]

I think a large part of the point of roleplaying is the uniqueness of doing it for yourself, with your own group. Watching others play might be fun for some, but it's not exactly the main goal. I much prefer these advice and guidance videos, as a way to inspire others to play their own games. I wish Colville would switch back to mainly inspirational guidance, rather than mainly unstructured and slightly pointless streams.

[@sleepytattoos]

Not to shit on OP here, but to answer your question directly - Wizards hired another similar youtuber with a larger, more established following to do the thing you are suggesting.

[@josephfernandez8015]

@@sleepytattoos That doesn't mean they can't hire Dael though! They can call it "D&D Down Under" or something! Also Dael has lots of unique ideas when it comes to DMing, so it won't be like another Matt Mercer or Satine Phoenix.

[@KikoKay-Kay]

As some on who did a few streams of it. It takes a lot of out your, and your players. It may be a hobby but you have to put in the same effort as you would a job. Totally agree with you on the "She is great" part tho.

[@notoriusc]

I love that you care more about enjoyment and the storyline and world building rather than just getting hung up on the nitty gritty stuff that can sometimes bog down a campaign but I like it and think it’s a breath of fresh air 😊☺️

[@EyesOnTheTreeline]

I love this sort of story telling as well. Glad to see others agreeing because my group right now is heavy on crunch.

[@alexandreboutaudvalarini5638]

That was excellent! Thank you!

[@Daekeyas]

This was extreemly useful. thank you

[@S_Tinguely]

So many insights in this video... SO GOOD !!!!