Playing in a Safe Space (with Erika Ishii)

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Erika Ishii and Brennan chat about honing social skills through DnD and building trust with players.

[@dmitrijones3064]

"My d&d characters starting dating girls before i did." What a mood

[@aduckinlingerie]

Me post-transition is literally my very first dnd character from ten years ago

[@livandersen8669]

That's also a mood

[@MadMorriganleft]

My shadowrun character transitioned before I did XD

[@emmywillow6599]

i always played female dnd characters, took until around PC #6 to realize i’m trans

[@Projectiveparticle]

@@aduckinlingerie SAAAAME. My first character in 3.5 accidentally put on a "cursed" item, which happened to be a "Belt of Gender Change". Needless to say it awoke something in me, and my character decided to stay a girl. 10 years later, real life caught up to me and I also transitioned

[@duncant6364]

59:18 "Evil reinforces its own worldview by constantly engendering the situation it says is unavoidable." Philosophy major Brennan at his finest

[@b4time10]

Brennan really just dropping the impromptu "manufacturing consent + capitalist realism"

[@MarkusAldawn]

Philosophy Brennan is so powerful, I feel like he'll single handedly help rehabilitate the image of philosophy as stuffy and all hypothetical, and that's awesome.

[@OJtheModerator]

@@MarkusAldawn Applied ethics is the bridge between philosophy and the real world, and it's beautiful.

[@romxxii]

The best part of being Lawful Evil is being able to craft the laws that bind your actions. That way you're able to game the system and have the ability to commit as much evil as possible, while _always_ acting within the confines of that law. And if your evil ever exceeds it? Find a loophole, or create a new law that doesn't make it evil.

[@curtisholsinger6023]

@@OJtheModerator One of. It's a big bridge, with tourist signs and sidewalls with wheelchair ramps. Art, science, and religion are the other three.

[@DrZaius3141]

TIL: Playing DnD is like being in a BDSM relationship. You specifically consent to an adverserial relationship within certain confines of what is allowed, in order to heighten the experience while also allowing for the act to break if those boundaries are tread upon or approached too closely.

[@loreweed8882]

woah dude

[@merrittlane1620]

I thought exactly this while watching the video!

[@Shakesthewizard]

Been GMing for about 5 years now and this is always how I explain it -- both kink and rpg are communities based around consent and mutual satisfaction. The appearance of a power imbalance comes from the communication of clear desires, boundaries, and goals.

[@chrismanuel9768]

D&D is mental BDSM

[@matthewdraper2807]

oogh.

[@simonantonehie6392]

I've gone from someone who was very much "aarrgghh, I'm not sure if I'll fell comfortable hanging out with your friends because I haven't met them before" To "Heck yeah I'll DM for your flatmates Boyfriend and that one guy in your IT lecture"

[@brentmason4338]

I have an Eldritch Knight Goblin who was accidentally granted power by a dragon who told him to go forth and spread chaos and evil across the land (mostly because he wanted to get rid of the annoying little thing), but because evil is subjective, his version of chaotic evil is freely giving away shiny shiny gold, respecting other people's property, and acting selflessly. So everyone sees this incredibly altruistic goblin running around and saving people, but he thinks he's like the biggest force of evil on the land

[@animorte9790]

I legitimately enjoy this concept.

[@OmneAurumNon]

That's adorable

[@theradionicrevival8068]

Pretty much that “when a villain accidentally is really helpful” skit by prozd 💀

[@sisterfister7891]

_Rimuru from That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime._

[@aazhie]

That's amazing

[@duncant6364]

Watching Brennan use swords, a thing he is deeply intrigued by and loves to talk about, as a metaphor for D&D, a thing he is deeply intrigued by and loves to talk about, is peak nerd and I am here for it.

[@V1ctoria00]

The "yes and" the "no but" and the "well actually" when properly used these can be some of the most powerful tools of dialogue.

[@RandomGuyDan]

It is so funny to me to hear Brennan refer to 'back in the day' when I think that I was playing D&D and attending GenCon in 1984, 4 years before he was born.

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Four years before I was born too. I'm running games for everyone who wants to learn.

[@lenajn13]

I've just realised Erika still has the undercut that Taliesin gave her in a weird geek and sundry stream years ago and I love that

[@zac9933]

Erika sounds like she's getting emotional around the 30:00 mark, talking about how far D&D and acceptance has come. At least, if she's not, I am. Hearing people talk about something they're truly passionate about just hits me different.

[@bryanlane7208]

I like what Brennan says about humanizing evil while not excusing it. I always think the line between good and evil is so much thinner than we think, and that people are often one bad or good experience away from being someone they think they can't empathize with.

[@ljeancamp4163]

I played DnD in the 80s when it was new. It was the only safe place for gay people to express same sex desire. It is remembered as the Nerd White Guy age, and there were many of these, but it was a uniquely safe place in a very repressive time to explore for LGBT.

[@aaliyahadesida2815]

I'm sorry but who told Erika is was okay to be such a fashion icon whilst Brennan is sitting here wearing _the shirt_ .

[@aduckinlingerie]

Acsgshdjfjf not _the shirt_

[@annabeatrizzimmermann7708]

and this is The shirt indeed

[@coolpapabell22]

Just try and stop her lol.

[@RasmusVJS]

I don't think "that's what my character would do" is the problem, but the fact that they made characters that would do that to begin with. If you know, that you're character is gonna be doing things, that diminish the enjoyment for the other players, don't play that character, or at least alter that part of them.

[@bismuthcrystal9658]

Totally. The reason it gets put that way is, generally when someone has to get to the point of defending their actions by saying that, it's because something's gone wrong; they made such a character. Those words don't need to be uttered usually, if you made a character who works with the group.

[@CryoXerxes]

Full agreement. I actually was playing a Lawful Neutral Bard in the Tiamat campaign who had a strict moral code that he followed that my DM knew but my fellow players did not. One of the codes was Protect your Allies like a Smith's Hammer. Violence is only to be resorted to when the timing is right, but when you do strike with no regrets. This came up surprisingly when the party was captured by some cultists. They knew of the Druid's shapeshifting abilities so they kept him in a cage with two guards posted instead of chained to a post like the rest of the party. My bard knocked the guards out with a well placed sleep spell and freed the party in the dead of the night. My character however knew the spell would wear off soon and we wanted to be far from the camp before the alarm was raised, so my character who had been mostly a support class player with spells like fearie fire and such, seemed to pull a 180 when he went to kill the gaurds in their sleep. It wasn't out of malice or cause he liked killing, but instead it had the greatest chance of seeing his allies to safety. Was still funny to see the other players reactions though

[@ashleyhoughton8592]

I like to play evil characters... But absolutely would not play a character that went against the party like a jerk. My last evil character was a Warlock his motive was essentially a conversation between me and the DM. "whoever your BBEG ends up being, my patron is worried about them, I'm thinking the patron plans to take over the continent, not in my lifetime, but he's playing the long game, if your BBEG succeeds it will ruin my patrons plans, so he must fail... Is there a cleric or paladin in the party, or whoever is the most good and noble of the other PCs let me know... My patron has shown me a vision of this other PC and believes they will save the world, I will find this PC and pledge my life and service to protect them, help them grow in power, and destroy whatever major threat faces the world. Not for noble reasons, but to clear the board for my patron to enact their plan a hundred years from now." So my character was evil, what they wanted was for their patron to take over the world and bring about a new age of darkness... But they would serve the party and service the plot and adventure with zealotry and gusto to ensure that paladin slayed the BBEG at the end of the campaign.

[@dig8634]

@@ashleyhoughton8592 You could even take it a bit further and be a missionary for your patron. Not only will you help the cleric/paladin, you might even trick them into working for your patron directly. Obviously depends on the context of whether the cleric/paladin has a special god, whether your patron is a known malevolent entity or not etc, and the patron would probably have to set up the cleric/paladin to fail before they start doing evil shit they would obviously object to. Maybe it could be a cool one-shot in the future, where the cleric/paladin survives an assassination attempt, and now they are out for revenge or to fight back against this entity they served. Many great story threads to be associated with evil players and entities in good parties.

[@fenixmeaney6170]

"If my character met someone who would do that, they'd probably react similarly to my IRL reaction to what you just did Why are YOU upset that I'm reacting to your actions this way?" Turn their behavior back on them Not in a malicious way, just like a mirror

[@TimdeVisser86]

'A socialist paladin' is not a different perspective for you, Brennan. That's self-actualization.

[@alflurin]

I feel immensely stupid to have only discovered the pleasures of TTRPG when I was 39. Back in High School, I was a metalhead and we were mostly outcasts and when the nerds tried to invite us, we acted like assholes and reject them. I am so sorry! If I ever have kids, I'll start playing D&D with then as soon as possible. I was always interested in theater but my high school didn't have a drama club so that was always left in the back burner. Now that I play, I can partially feed my theater bug and have a blast playing D&D. It has reopened a creative side that I had forgotten even existed. Erika is always fun to watch and a bundle of joy. Great upload. Many thanks.

[@bismuthcrystal9658]

That's really cool! I see so many young people getting into it now, but the confirmation that older people still can is great to see; there are certainly so many less avenues into it as an adult. And don't beat yourself up for dumb things teenage-you did. We were all assholes to some extent at that age. I forgive you, on behalf of those kids, as someone who's been in their shoes. Though i was a punk rocker as well as a nerd, so maybe i coulda lured you in better. Alas.

[@HollowGolem]

@@bismuthcrystal9658 I'm a high school teacher and I can confirm: kids are sociopaths.

[@bismuthcrystal9658]

@@HollowGolem Yyyyeeeaaahhh pretty much. Also thank you for your service. That's not even *remotely* a joke: educators, especially these days, face great danger, with less thanks than those who invade foreign nations, perpetuating cycles of violence, but without the benefit of massive resources behind them. Rather the opposite. I was a dick of a teenager. I still struggle to forgive myself for minor things. Even when i know... yeah, kids are sociopaths. Like... scientifically; yes. Any former-kids out there: 's coo'.

[@kiwi3085]

@@HollowGolem Thank you for your service. Wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[@HollowGolem]

@@bismuthcrystal9658 Yeah, one thing that helps me deal with the kids is remembering how bad I was at their age. If I ever forgot that, my job would become miserable

[@Kate_Fyria]

I started a D&D club at my school! My students just had their very first play session this past Wednesday and it was awesome and they loved it! I'm so excited to let my students learn these skills!

[@NorthWriter]

Love that! My stepdaughter's 4th grade teacher started an after-school Magic The Gathering club every other Friday afternoon, and this year they want to expand it to D&D. I might have to volunteer to run some games for them!

[@steegen101]

You're awesome.

[@camepoire]

As an actor, it’s always a redflag when a colleague is bent on doing something bc « that’s what my character would do » It often means that something else is going on and they are not communicating it (maybe not even with themselves)

[@juleskessler5243]

One of the things I love about the dnd community is how accepting (at least in my experience) it is to LGBTQIA+ players and how it provides us a space to explore our identities. However, unless you are space designed by and for people with disabilities, acceptance and encouragement of disabled players and disabled characters is not very wide spread. Something to work on next!

[@er4din903]

As a person for whom storytelling is the biggest and most important aspect of dnd, regardless of the sex gender or pronoun preferences of the players and their characters at my table, I see a cognitive dissonance between disability and the deadly, dangerous activity that is adventuring. While there are certain literary tropes that exist surrounding disability, like a blind martial artist, or a mute character who doesn’t speak, I feel that there’s a point where having someone disabled in your party to be immersion breaking. I am signing up for a quest to slay a dragon, Logically, I a fighter who will be in immediate danger from the dragon threat, would not be happy if the healer that the adventuring guild assigned into my party was, say, paraplegic. That doesn’t ….work for adventuring .? It seems absurd for someone in a wheelchair to sign up for a quest to ascend the tallest mountain in the realm and fight an overgrown murder lizard. Just like it would be absurd for me, a fighter to agree to something like this which will certainly put the lives of everyone in even greater risk. Now, i the player have no issue with disability or anything like that. That’s an insane sentence to even write out. But, what do you say to someone like me, and how would you marry your idea and the necessity to not trudge over the enjoyment of other players at the table and their immersion in their story, while making dnd more accessible and acceptable to disability? The only way I personally can think of is mechanically find ways to work around the disability to the point of it not really affecting that characters ability to do their job, like stacking blindsight on a blind character, or saying that the paraplegic wizard is always floating on a tensers floating disk. Both of those feel wrong in that they sidestep the disability completely, but I can’t think of anything better. What thoughts do you have on the topic.

[@Dinobilly425]

@@er4din903it’s not great that seeing someone physically disabled doing hero stuff breaks your immersion, but I want point out the wizard using outside aid to move kinda normally analogy you mad because wouldn’t that just be a motorized wheelchair without the wheels

[@emmakane6848]

You’re focusing primarily on physical disability, but I’m not sure how plugged into the community you are so I’ll try to explain this as best I can. A lot of people argue that being deaf doesn’t really have that severe an impact on your life if you just surround yourself with people that know sign language. Other PCs can be the ones to notice a suspicious noise, while they focus on the weird flashing lights, etc. NPCs can also be the disabled ones. Maybe that could explain why they aren’t going after the monster that killed their family - because they literally can’t. It also makes worlds that were created without modern medicine more realistic, and could reinforce the immersion. Like at least one old veteran you meet along the journey has to be an amputee, right? There are also a lot of player choices that could be added on to easily to make characters mentally disabled/neurodivergent. (Disorders are often traits that ‘normal’ people display, that are turned up to eleven, or start to interfere with their lives fyi.) People often play half orcs/barbarians that have limited vocabularies all the time, or elves that are very socially unaware. If you decide to take the traits that people already give their characters and expand them out then sometimes you naturally hit on a mental disability, so that could probably easily fit into a DND game. Fantasy High gave one character a panic attack mechanic. In a similar vein, you could add disadvantage or other limits to a character based upon their abilities just like a class/background, or a race. Maybe have an autistic character who has to roll for understanding social interactions, or an ADHDer who has to roll for history more often than you as the player need it. Maybe have a dyslexic character who was never taught to read properly, and always hands off important papers to other people when they find things. It doesn’t have to impact their fighting at all, and it can just add to your experience while role playing.

[@PureGoldNeverCorrodes]

Gatekeepers for D&D and the people who bullied D&D Players might be the same person. Lots of things get taken over by the people who scorned it when it becomes popular.

[@ShowToddSomeLove]

"Is there a goal we're trying to achieve here" YA DREW STEEL HOPING IT WOULD GET... LESS SCARY

[@JosPeters]

I actually played dnd in a course for my university. Felt like a great way earning my bachelor.

[@eoincampbell1584]

Woah what course was that for? I'm guessing Acting or maybe Management?

[@HollowGolem]

@@eoincampbell1584 Not OP but I played a role-playing exercise for a Roman History course. We basically were given roles of major personages in the first century and start3ed RIGHT AS Julius Caesar was assassinated. We basically did a sort of alternate history thing. I (Octavian) managed to deliver an empassioned enough speech that I saved Cicero from Antony's proscriptions. I also banged Cleopatra (both in and out of character. That was a good year.)

[@BritneyT.]

I'm literally using this as a source for my communication class's final project

[@angel_cat]

Cool. How'd it go? ♥️

[@dadsirtoyouson]

As someone who was homeschooled... it makes SOOOO much sense that Brennan was homeschooled lol

[@theradionicrevival8068]

What does this mean?? Wasn’t homeschooled

[@imjustdandy9799]

We just have a vibe, we can sense each other.

[@ChinoDevine]

I love how Brennan went full Magneto with his evil character. The one that you're always like "man, I don't agree with him, but I can't argue his logic of this situation this character fully created for themselves"

[@elmorgano81]

I used to play D&D in the mindset of 'I want to be the awesome hero that wins' but since watching Dimension 20 and Critical Role I have evolved into loving watching the group surviving and living with the failures, faults and flaws that we all have. Where I previously wanted the best stats etc I now love having flaws because we all have them in real life and it makes it more interesting and rewarding playing and overcoming or dealing with problems. It's helped me deal with and acknowledge my own faults and flaws. I love D&D and the friends I have made through it.

[@emhoj97]

The bit on TPKs and trusting your DM hits hard after last weeks DnD session. My younger brother is our family games DM and we were just about to battle some orcs. My character thought itd be a good idea to lure the orcs out of the house, so we'd have more space to move and my rangers companion could join in to help as well. WELL what I thought was only 4 orcs turned out to be 8, and we were a party of 3 PCs, one NPC and my pteranodon. Only level 3 as well, so we were all going "oh shit" 😂 This was the first time I really felt that, you know, my brother could just wipe us out. One PC was unconcious and doing death throws, my PCs pteranodon had 1 HP after being brought back from 2 failed throws. We had 5 enemies left. I was proper worried we wouldn't get through this but trusted my brother to carry us through this, chose wisely what PC the orcs would target etc to make sure we all had a fighting chance. When we ended up winning with no casualties we all took heavy sighs of relief and felt proper proud of ourselves for managing this. Our last encounter was a mimic and it was a way easier fight, being 3 versus 1. It lead to some great roleplay for one of my sisters, whose character goes into shock when seriously injured (her PC was the unconcious one). We ended the session with my other sisters PC doing some shopping in the nearby town while mine set off solo (+ pteranodon) to find some ruins. We were all very pleased and that trust we had in our brother to DM definitely paid off. All 4 of us are pretty new to actually playing and have only watched youtube campaigns before, so we're still figuring out stuff 😅

[@VSSPedro]

Listening to Erika passionately defend RPG in school as JUST submited a paper on RPG as an educational tool. ❤️ Made my day.

[@noradyer9524]

brennan and erika are both wonderful, this show is just a great time

[@eversoslightly124]

I really believe if I had found DnD in my formative years I would have overcome so many of the social issues I struggle with now as a 27 year old, I love the game but that aspect of it takes me into this weird pendulum effect where I'm super happy playing and enjoying being able to socialise, whilst having the crushing realisation niggling at me that while i can converse here, after the game it's back to the same old me.

[@lyadmilo]

I know this is a controversial one, and I think goes against Brennan's personal DM philosophy, but one of the things that is always on the table for me during that pre-session consent talk is disallowing character death. If that is not the kind of world you want to have fun in, if you want to be able to connect as deeply as you want to your character without fear that they will be taken from you, I will guarantee it. I will fudge dice. You can roll up into the final boss knowing you will survive, if that's what you want.

[@aduckinlingerie]

Sure! My philosophy for rp is just as long everyone involved in this thing is having fun, why not? This is make-believe there aren't any actual rules.

[@dion_spyro]

Yeah why not! There are many more kinds of stakes that can be present at any given moment in a campaign. So as long as there's still some kind of challenge/cost of failure, I think that's totally fine.

[@Adurnis]

I wouldn’t fudge rolls. If it doesn’t matter, just don’t roll death saves when they fall unconscious. Just let them be auto-stabilized, and then don’t have enemies target them. If they don’t want the risk, there’s no need for dice. EDIT: Reading back I realize this sounds dismissive, and I don’t mean it that way. I feel very strongly that dice should only be used when the results matter. If you roll dice and then ignore the results, you weaken their power as a tool for storytelling.

[@jackorion8590]

I think in regards to character death, it's one of the strongest narrative tool that can elevate the experience of role playing. As a DM, of course, I would have the pre-game talk where consequences are real in our game as this is my personal belief. And I may not play in a game where I know I'll be okay until the fight with the big bad because that takes away the thrill of adventure for me. But the key thing here is the pre-game talk. And no hard feelings should be felt when a player or DM says, "Sorry, I don't think this game is what you are looking for" or "Sorry man, I don't want to play in this kind of game.". However, just talking like this can be hard.

[@ultrabigfella]

I'm the exact same way. Character Arc's are a big part of my campaign and my players love them. They might get damaged so bad to the point of immobilized for days, but they will not die before you get to the point where you're content with them perishing.

[@nonemo138]

I absolutely love this short meditation on evil from Brennan, that evil keeps engendering the very situations it claims to be inevitable.

[@khazandcrit3066]

I saw this Podcast yesterday when google pushed it into my news about Matt Mercer. Brennan you are a great host and every guest (and episode) so far has been a treat!

[@juuuniper1]

This video, but especially around 46:40, really resonated with me… my D&D characters were girls years before I was! D&D was such a big part of my self-discovery and holds such a big place in my heart because of that.

[@brycenerdstrom567]

God they are so close to talking about how playing RPGs and doing kink scenes are related and how much you can learn about one from the other...

[@ouroboser]

That whole bit about safe words was making me think about my Domme lmao

[@louisebeck91]

Some people claim that Venn diagram is a circle... A theory they will never be proven or disproven 😄

[@davidprince6877]

I thought Brennan was going to say it for a second and then he compared to playing pretend as a kid instead, so I had to stop and consider if I was just being wierd.

[@rileymitchell3510]

@@davidprince6877 Brennan's very quick, I think he considered the space and changed tacks lol.

[@Tickerbee]

I like the discussion where Erika talks about rationalising character choices at the table for the sake of keeping things expedient, as it's something that I do constantly. Though in my case it's less that I'm playing a jerk character and more that all of us wrote our characters to be loners, so to keep the pace of the game flowing I play my character who dislikes socialising as being incredibly chatty

[@Randallonion]

HALF ORC HALF ELF. YES I BEEN SAYING ITS SO AMAZING TO PLAY. My first real dm let me have a homebrew race of a half elf half orc character and his name was OrkElf. He was a wonderful thing to play. Got all the way past level twenty and was a full warlock by the end and was one of two of the party to survive the bbeg who was actually HIS MENTOR! HOLY CRAP. It was wonderful and I could go on and on about him

[@gmzerozero3678]

I'm so glad to see that the people in this video have met me.

[@ColonelRPG]

You two are so great I'll die, this was fantastic :'D

[@halcyon_echo42]

Bless these two phenomenal human beings! I can't help getting such a boost from hearing passionate authentic conversation! Dropout rules!

[@ninkeyblader]

As usual such insightful conversation! You two are an inspiration. Personally I love how immersed I can get into a DnD game. I wish I could share that unbridled joy with everyone

[@Dan-tb1zf]

Two very well spoken people, I enjoyed this chat quite a bit. Good to get to know Erika a bit better.

[@kaoslight1626]

New episode, awesome :D

[@ChestersonJack]

I really wanted to play at something like the Wayfinder Experience before I graduated school. I wanted to do Larp so badly, but everything cost too much for my parents. Now I’m 19 and COVID has shut things down and I might move out of state if I go to college and... I’m working on a campaign right now. I hope my friends like it.

[@matthewhughes1950]

Such a fantastic episode

[@hillmidget1326]

They are really seeing the benefits of kids woth poor social skills or day if they have autism that dnd really helps them develop social skills with is just fantastic:)

[@louisebeck91]

I legit spend... 15-18 years explaining to parents, why their autistic (and adhd ect) kid was growing so much and got so much better at interacting with other kids, from playing LARP (and table top ect).... cut to me... at 30.. realizing that I am the autistic kid 🤷‍♀️😆

[@rileymitchell3510]

As an autistic dm it's so valuable as exploration of ideas and interactions.

[@HumanAki]

I've been making my way through these interviews and every video shows a new 1K increase of subs. 👌

[@voltcorp]

of course Brennan reads Graeber. love when my references in different fields reference each other.

[@scottmefford6917]

Always "yes and", and if you can't, at least "yes but".

[@godfreemorals]

This is a great episode 100%

[@gigo1822]

Was gonna do my homework, but this is more important.

[@sanguiniusszuiriel4984]

Yu gives advice on communication and honesty lol truer words have never been spoken though, these two are putting an awesome spotlight on it and give some pretty great gameplay advice too. Great content!

[@TheOppiter]

i love how happy these people are

[@theendisnevertheendisneverth-]

Two of the best speakers ever in the same place!

[@utopia2112]

I would watch these two talk for another hour - at least!

[@scepta101]

Well considering the subject of this episode, particularly the early portion, I think you guys would certainly be excited to know that my old high school instituted a tabletop club when I was a senior. We played Dungeon World, had loads of fun, and since then I have not heard much about it but I like to believe it has expanded since then

[@urktheturtle2988]

Neat. This was a good video

[@kenjacobs7777]

D&D/AD&D through 3.5 were all a blend of role and roll playing. 4 definitely turned into a video game style system. I was so happy that they decided to go back to the story that was what it was 45 years ago.

[@fitz8923]

My first time doing a full, long term campaign DMing last year. Before session zero, I asked my 5 players in private if there were any trigger topics they would rather be avoided. I said I would bring any triggers up in session zero as if it were coming from me; with no judgments. We've all been best friends for over 10 years, mind you. 2 of the 5 said, "wtf? None of us have triggers. That's dumb." Literally, the other 3 had triggers. I would have never expected that from them, so I am SOOO glad I asked.

[@brennan9475]

My highschool actually had a D&D club run by one of the teachers. I wasn't confident enough at the time to go, but it was cool that it was there!

[@johnfallon9521]

“Find your friends and recruit them”

[@he.said.teenjiejer]

i joined the dnd club at my school, and it was overwhelming how many people were there. dnd really is pretty cool now.

[@joshuaj4903]

OMG, this is so heavy for a new player... but I love it!

[@wayward-saint]

Brennan is solid gold

[@quinnsoutar2196]

Whew I am so late to this party but I gotta say - DnD was basically how I learned how to be social as a teenager. It took me from being extremely introverted and outright mean to anyone around me (spending all my time basically alone at home), to knowing how to navigate social cues, how to not be a jerk, how to have a fun time with other people. It did wonders for my social anxiety, to the point my therapist some weeks ago outright recommended I start playing DnD again to help with its resurgence. (and as a side note there: watching Dimension 20 - and consequently learning what's actually possible in games today with the new tools available - has inspired me to start up a game for the first time in 6 years)

[@halcyon_echo42]

I'm really excited to get into a campaign to unshackle myself a bit and immerse into a new world!

[@jacobmcclellan7399]

There's a lot of quotes in this video that are just *chef's kiss*

[@azn_deviant9434]

I would love another episode of this but focusing specifically on online D&D oneshots and mini campaigns where most of the time, only voice chat is used (discord, Roll20 etc). Communication is so much more challenging with cameras off, lag, timezones...etc.

[@Alluvian567]

So glad I have found this series, it's great! I never found it when it was current because I was just not playing dnd. For reasons I don't understand, doing it online just never had much interest for me even though most of my friends are all over the place because I met them in MMOs. Something about coming out of covid has finally normalized things and I am diving into some online DND. Also, the tools are just so much better these days!

[@downhourproductions1399]

“My d&d character started dating girls before I did” Same. Except I’m not gay, I just can’t pull

[@therealkuzokun]

I was absolutely loving this episode. Then, "Play Warmachine", happened and it has become best episode 10/10. Go play Warmachine!

[@sofielee4122]

david graeber namedrop, pog I'm pretty sure that the definition of play he came up with is in the last chapter of his book, "The Utopia of Rules"

[@wesleyhart1950]

I really appreciate this conversation (a few years late of course), as a trans guy presently looking to get back into D&D. Searching open groups on roll 20, there’s a chasm of difference in groups that do vs. don’t come up in a search query for “LGBT” and other acronyms. I don’t want to play with people that are gonna be weird about my voice, especially without the context of my full appearance irl. I’m a DM so I’ll probably just start my own game, but I was genuinely surprised and disappointed that there were so few groups actively mentioning in their bio that they’re LGBTQIA friendly. I had the pleasure of playing with intersectionally diverse tables when I got started, and with all the talk of the renaissance being inclusive, it does kind of bum me out to see it go unsaid whether or not a campaign is going to be open to people like me. Same goes for POC, please don’t make people guess. Especially if you’re charging money. If you’re a DM starting one of these listings, I know it can be hard to understand, or you might feel awkward tagging it that way if you’re not LGBT or BIPOC yourself, but most of us don’t know what to do with silence. Bluntness in your listings is a gift. If you wanna be a DM like Brennan, consider that he has no trouble telling people where he stands, and his tables are better for it.

[@loglorn]

I fully expected Erika Ishii to have spider legs

[@atrueliam]

@54:00 I am pulling this bit up at my own D&D table

[@dasuntoteeinhorn786]

What Erika said about consent reminded me of my GM. She has a thing she calls Lines and Veils. Tell me what your lines are that are not to be crossed, and tell me what stuff you don't want to be described in detail, but instead are veiled. I think it's great to talk about these things in a session 0 so everyone can enjoy the game

[@seanknox5785]

Brennan should talk to actual Hollywood actors about guest appearances on his show… not for one session, but a whole campaign. Can you imagine Danny Devito or Jim Carrey at Brennan’s table! Awesome visual.

[@sadihamutcu6773]

Here to listen to the Valkyrie's voice 😊

[@Im_Behind_You]

More Branan please, thank you

[@macdongr]

For the woman who is trying to DM in a toxic gaming environment I think looking for online communities on Discord or Twitter or even Facebook is a great way to not only start a campeign but also meet new people who are into the same things as you in regards to what story you wanna tell.

[@valasafantastic1055]

I'm more Brennan! All the worlds but a mix of crunch and Gamesystems mastery plus a high empathy and RP. Powergame up and tactics WITH super high RP! You can have both! Make a powerful effective AND high RP character! That way you help your party and drive the story forward effectively AND can get into the depth of the characters. Also I made my own system as well! So I made V edition it's using D&D 3.5 as the base while adding in much of 5e and a sprinkling of things from other games and a BUNCH of homebrew. Especially for detailed fun (and fast/reasonable) crafting rules, etc! I still run in 5e and other systems as well but for me I'm still working on My baby of V-edition!

[@impofstpete727]

Erika is a next level person. Everything about her is inclusive. Also I'm absolutely convinced that if people actually had character sheets her charisma would a 20.

[@NorthWriter]

What are some non-D&D systems that you like to play? I really dig the Star Wars system by Fantasy Flight Games. The dice take a little bit of getting used to, but it actually makes it really easy, because instead of numbers it's opposing symbols and colours that cancel each other out. So once you understand the symbols, it makes combat go really quickly. It's really a lot of fun, plus it's cool to play in a universe that we all know and love (or most of us, anyway).

[@LuizFerrazLF]

Vampire is pretty cool. It really stretch the rules as story instruments thing. Also GURPS 4e is perfect and it really is the ultimate system for absolutely every type of story if you understand what the system is proposing.

[@tylerwetz353]

Ducking God Canned Shadowrun, never trust an elf

[@morganbeverlyhoover1587]

When is part two? When is the next Erika Ishii episode? Please have her back!!!

[@MeonLights]

I think about the DM who wants to play Overlight and I have moments like that. Personally, I love Games that are light on rules and heavy on storytelling, but a good friend of mine loves the crunchy, rules for everything ones because it lets him build and optimise and create intricate characters whose abilities perfectly work together. Everyone has their preference and if you're a DM with a lot of builders who just wanna create the most perfectly balanced optimized destructive force. You can't really force one type to play the other way and expect them to have fun. But I think both can be experienced so maybe the DM in question can offer them new experiences and different focuses / angles. Either way, good luck!

[@Randomhandlename252]

16:27-17:21 an amazing thing to explain to new players so they know death is real but is not taken lightly in TTRPG

[@SteveMND]

Oh man, "Roll for Shoes." So absurdly simple, but such goofy fun.

[@hewhoisme4343]

A Joint Writing-D&D Class would have been great in highschool

[@user-rm8ue9ln7j]

Erika is so cool, that's all I have to add.

[@ninaavins4887]

I know that the structure and approach of a game that's made for public viewing is going to be different than one that's just between friends, and I certainly don't want to begrudge people who've made so much stuff that I love the chance to just unwind and have fun, but damned if I can't feel my ears grow points every time somebody on one of these interviews talks about something that happened in a home game they were in.

[@BlackShadow1991]

Not for D&D, but the group i played Monsterhearts with definitely used safety tools :) And they are good, just like this episode, ay!

[@jordanf00]

12:12 This kind of character is so much fun to play. Maybe I am a psychopath, but I enjoy playing a chaotic evil (or neutral evil) character at a table of all good or neutrals so much.

[@Damiana_Dimock]

If I didn’t already LOVE Brennan, then he goes and references the late David Graeber.

[@Biogrrrl]

That's so cool that Brennan was homeschooled! I was, too

[@orasis]

I really love this discussion you're having with Valkyrie.

[@erioldoesdesign1326]

Erika is a treasure

[@huwcresswell6996]

I played a badass elf cowgirl in a short lived campaign with a small handful of friends, despite being a "boy", two/three years later I realised I was non-binary lol

[@lightsideofsin8969]

If you want a nice, wholesome and easy to learn TTRPG, play Capybara Capers! The name alone clues you into what to expect and it's so much fun :)

[@KagaiYami]

the storyteller system is my favorite system. a friend of mine have done a lot of homebrew to make a lot of aspects of it more streamlined. with the combat and what not. our celerity rules make celerity a lot better. but while its great for when it comes up. yeah roleplay is the name of the game with the storyteller system.

[@kevinr7216]

Talking about somebody sticking too hard to “what their character would do”, made me think of Neverafter and Ally insisting they couldn’t go to the land of Giants because “they couldn’t see their son”, and then genuinely trying to block progress because they didn’t wanna do that.