Quinns Quest Reviews: The Greatest Dungeon of All Time?

[@bikzimusmaximus5250]

When I got my copy of Heart it had been sitting in a shipping container all summer and baking, so when I opened it first, the fumes coming off would mean I couldn't read it for more than 15 minutes or I would get a headache. Everyone I knew who had played heart I mentioned this to basically went "That's fitting, lol"

[@thegeekclub8810]

That’s hilarious but also horrible.

[@ZedAmadeus]

fumes????

[@AStrangeTrap]

​@@ZedAmadeus it happens, I got a d&d book that smelled like bad BBQ sauce and it didn't go away until I owned it for a year

[@ZedAmadeus]

@@AStrangeTrap thats so gross

[@AnnaTheFallMaiden]

that also happened with mine when i got it a few weeks back :D

[@birnamdesignco]

Quinns, you once did a fantastic video on how to teach board games to your table. Could you also do a video on how to teach a new RPG to your group?

[@Quinns_Quest]

Noted!

[@minicarbonara]

Damn that's a great one.

[@YouTubdotCub]

@@Quinns_Quest my favourite method has always been "let's do a one-shot!" which inevitably is actually more like a three-shot to finish, and by the time you're done either the group has or hasn't warmed to the system and you can move on to the next one-shot or pitch a campaign! the process of teaching new RPGs to a group necessarily involves games that won't land with enough people in the group to go ham on a big time investment, but if you're just low pressure one-shotting your way through systems, eventually you strike gold with something that has everyone agog and chompin' at the bit for more

[@AJAlkaline]

@@Quinns_Quest Yessssssssss

[@daLoerdchen]

That's actually great advice! First I did a "One-Shot" of CoC and after that I rushed head over toes into a campaign of The One Ring. Now we're about 7 sessions in and while two of my players seem to be having a good time the other two seem to be just "ok" with it and I myself haven't got half the fun I expected, mostly because none of my players really knows anything about middlearth (which I only got to know during session 1), which makes explaining the lore quite exhausting to me. The "one shot" approach seems to be a great way to circumvent that.

[@therizinosauruscheloniform2162]

I love this channel. It is the perfect balance of fun and informative. Best TTRPG Journalism out there!

[@keremmadran]

Quinns reviewing TTRPGs is absolute S-Tier material, but do you know about Rascal News?

[@rafaelcupiael]

When Quinns Quest launched, I thought, “Oh great. We need another trad RPG channel. Can’t wait to hear how much Quinn loves 7th edition Call of Cthulhu.” (100% sarcasm). But then Quinn started showing up on most of my fringe

[@Riotus]

Dagnammit, my heart sank at 22:48. The build up, the tension, the payoff. Wonderful. Perfectly fitting for the game and video.

[@grayseeroly]

The most stressful f*cking thing I've ever seen

[@grkensalat]

Double voice tracks at 3:51. Also: Love the channel

[@owlelfling5089]

I dropped this in the ttrpg chat and in response got “We have too many tabletops” and I blame!!!! This channel!!!! I’ve already accumulated so many Must Plays from the pay it forwards lmao

[@karlcollins2361]

Agreed!

[@thegeekclub8810]

I know, right? I got a huge TTRPG bundle a year or so ago that had like a hundred games in it, of which I have played exactly 1, and guess who just bought even more TTRPGs?

[@mattgenaro]

Ah, Heartest Dungeon! ...or is it merely a trick of the light?

[@drillerdev4624]

The art certainly reminded me of fun times getting stressed by the quips from my party members :p

[@r.p.5140]

A moment of respite. A chance to steel oneself against the coming horrors.

[@Dehalove]

Horros brought low and driven into the mud.

[@daLoerdchen]

I guess this is the difference between a games journalist who knows how to entertain and an entertaining KZbinr who doesn't really knows how to review/explain the characteristics of a game. Thank you Quinn's, this is what ttrpg fans have been waiting for. And I guess it should bring new fans to the hobby! :-)

[@TheNerdySimulation]

One minor detail I deeply appreciate about Heart: The City Beneath is how one of the skills is "Kill." A statement wholly by itself about how being able to commit murder is not something the game assumes you as a character are immediately capable of, nor does it come inherent with other combat-related capabilities.

[@feruspriest]

The decision to make kill a skill is interesting, until you have to roll "kill" four or five times to complete the deed against an enemy, because an enemy is just a delve. It's evocative, because Spire has "fight" instead of kill, but the game's one-tone conflict resolution system doesn't reinforce the narrative and semantic distinction. Amazing vibes, until you roll to reduce the fight-delve's target number/health and don't actually kill anything.

[@coynelaundry]

​@@feruspriestyoure... complaining about dice rolls in a ttrpg?

[@feruspriest]

@coynelaundry no, I'm complaining about how the vibe conveyed by naming a skill, "kill" is being focused on, when the underlying mechanic of the skill doesn't reinforce the weight being placed on its name. Put another way: I'm complaining about how the mechanics undermine the vibe. When, how, and to what effect the dice are rolled do not match the game's ethos.

[@TheNerdySimulation]

@@feruspriestIf you think the only solution to an entire delve is using only one skill _and_ doing so 4-5 times without any significant change, that's not a design issue.

[@feruspriest]

​@@TheNerdySimulation​@TheNerdySimulation that's not what I think, though. That's what you're attributing to me, but it's not what I wrote or what I'm arguing. You resolve *all* conflicts with the delve mechanics. It's the only system to resolve a conflict. Conversations, fights, seduction, etc are all just delves. A player *could* choose skills other than kill in a given situation. There could be significant changes as a result of rolling kill multiple times, too, or not--that's not the criticism I'm making. The mechanics do not support the vibe. The grammar of play, as expressed through the system, doesn't reflect the grit of the vibe. The world deserves a better system. "Kill" is a great skill name. In Root: the RPG, if you pull off a Backstab, you can straight up kill an enemy if the context allows for the skillcheck. 1 success, 1 death. That's a result of the system. In Heart, you have to overcome the Resistance of the Delve or Delve equivalent to kill someone in a combat. You can diminish the importance of killing that someone in the delve as one of many things that can happen along the route to beat the resistance, but it sucks narrative momentum to remove enemy avatars from a story without making the confrontation the crisis of that scene. The GM advice in Heart is, "stop planning," (109). That makes sense until the first time players say, "I don't have domain/skill/item to roll more than 1 die" and your team of badass freaks, due to a 50% fail chance on 1 die, implode before they do anything they envisioned when they made their characters. I backed Dagger in the Heart because I'm gonna translate the game into another system. The beats can stay; the progression system can stay as milestones. The abilities might not convert easily, but that can be done with description. A more robust system would make Heart play as cool as it reads.

[@Siofragames]

'Production assistance provided by "Dad".' All the little details in these videos are fantastic XD

[@tahunuva4254]

9:23 that's because Hex crawls _are_ point crawls, they're just usually not very tightly designed ones.

[@Quinns_Quest]

🤯

[@googiegress]

All sandboxes are point crawls with some "empty spaces" much like dungeon crawls are supposed to have a significant proportion of empty rooms. Likewise, point crawls only feel different because the person populating them isn't including pause/break/rest/"empty" points.

[@isaacsurbey772]

My girlfriend keeps asking me, “haven’t you already watched this already?” Yes. Yes I have.

[@Rich_H_1972]

Love how you've played each game you review! So many RPG channels just don't do this. Madness!

[@geosyrrus6423]

"What if magic was addictive? And what if that addiction was destructive or degenerative?" were the questions that inspired Robin Hobb to start writing her Realm of the Elderlings books. Sounds a bit like the wizard class you described, but holy-moley can any two fantasy settings be more different?

[@adambunnell1035]

Aaaaand cackling laughter for minutes when he spills the drink.

[@wasaby123]

Ok so you totally sold me this. Definitelly going to be my first RPG - already trying to convince my friends to join. CANT WAIT TO BUY IT!! I'd love to see more videos about how to approach being DM, teaching RPGs to your friends and playing RPGs overall. You're the best, Quinns!

[@Quinns_Quest]

That's my favourite thing to hear! Plenty of tips on the Quinns Quest patreon, plus I've done an older video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGqxpZd8apZ6jac

[@wasaby123]

​@@Quinns_Quest OooOoh seen that one and I LOVED IT. I never DMed before and after seeing Heart's I totally wanted to go and check that masterpiece out again. Guess I have to suscribe to Patreon cuz Im enjoying this channel more and more. What a blessing for my mind! Ooh, also - now that I have your Atención, is there a way you could tell me which is the mystery song that's sounding on your past life's Mind MGMT's review? I totally loved it and I wanted to be able to set it on my Mystery Games Playlist. Oh and that video review also got me buying Mind MGMT - you built tons of Persuasión on your character creation I guess?

[@Bimblewort]

Genuinely very excited to see this in my alerts, every one of these videos is so well put together and genuinely insightful

[@adammcclendon431]

Your show is the Garth Marenghi's Darkplace of the rpg world with the added bonus of being super insightfull! Keep up the great work!

[@markbaker465]

Babe, wake up - new Quinns Quest just dropped

[@charleswoody8655]

The very loud and ecstatic "YEAHHH!!" I yelled out this morning

[@LeMayJoseph]

Seriously. This is far and away the finest RPG review channel I’ve ever seen. I get so antsy waiting for the next video!

[@ishotmyboss]

I'm not your babe, sweetie.

[@Jamgeoso]

The quins quest guarantee is something really special. Playing everything you review sounds so simple but having watched a lot of RPG reviews, it's actually really unique!

[@jonathoncampbell6813]

As a ttrpg fan, I think I'm continuously looking for new stories to tell and new ways to tell them. This channel has been an endless delight as I think about fabulous ways to make my friends and loved ones laugh, cry and squeal with delight. Thanks, Quinns. You're fabulous.

[@themonthlyonlinereviewofsp7261]

Keen-eyed viewers will note that the book Quinns has set fire to in the opening credits is in fact the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide. WHAT COULD THIS SUBTLE SYMBOLISM MEAN?

[@paulsharke]

Big "Joel Hodgson flashing an OK sign and saying 'IT STINKS'" vibes

[@crushingit5128]

Though while Quinn several times points out he doesn't like d20 DnD clones, I think that message is still lost with the viewers. For example; his Lancer video. He clearly doesn't advise people to get it, but reading the YT comments that message wasn't properly understood. D20 brainwashed viewers.

[@UsenameTakenWasTaken]

Is... Is this one actually using heuristics to broadly apply the stank of Hasbro to anything that uses a certain shape of die? Huh. Takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, I guess.

[@dendronkenfoetus]

This is such a cool series/channel! You know you're on to a winner when the setup and the writing of the show are just as engaging as the product it is recommending

[@acebandit1231]

I think I've found my new favorite channel..!

[@sawyerbohannan4372]

Man, I can not stop coming back to this video. Excellent work and can't wait to see where you go. Subscribed and liked

[@vektorgr]

Aw man, I just love this channel and the format that you're using. The silly bits are as great as the review itself! I'm so glad, that I archive these television programs to VHS tapes. Don't worry, it's for personal use only, no funny business with rental or anything...

[@professorpsych]

That face at the end credits though. It’s a big part of why I love this show.

[@thecarrotclarinet]

Really cool to see you carry on the conversation about why anyone would go into a dungeon that you had in the Silent Titans episode of Between two Cairns!

[@Liveforfilms]

I was one of the playtesters on Dagger in the Heart and it truly was an epic, deep adventure that was shaped by our characters in such a wonderful, weird and emotional way.

[@coldstream11]

What was emotional about it?

[@Liveforfilms]

@@coldstream11 The various things our characters went through involving family members, friends, secrets from the past and so on.

[@bjhale]

I've been reading through the PDF. I am curious which of the three potential villains turned out to the BBEG in your campaign.

[@abodi1]

the drink at 22 minutes got me, and for a just a second it felt like a livestream gone wrong.

[@michaelpettigrew2465]

Brilliant idea to keep the screen interesting while the interviews play, you really are talented.

[@Thebazilly19]

This sounds so interesting and cool. 8-ish session campaigns are a really good sweet spot, and I love the idea of having a built-in conclusion. Reminds me of the mood in Slay the Spire a lot!

[@LeMayJoseph]

Holy crap, the Beats are sooooooo amazing! Imagine the players having a whole system to tell you how they want the story to go, and then giving them incentive to bite those hooks that you come up with after you’ve put in the work to make it happen. B E A U T I F U L !

[@minicarbonara]

The Beats system reminds me of one of the playbooks in MASKS: a new generation, called "The Symbol". As in most PbtA games, the XP track is short and filled one failure at a time, but this specific playbook also chooses 4 "motivations" at character creation (stuff like "earn the respect of an older hero" or "punch someone you problably shouldn't"). Fill a motivation? Earn an XP. Fill all four? Pick another four. Mind you, there's no tiers for Motivations, nor they unlock different things depending on how hard it was. Still, do check out MASKS' progression system because it is all tied into character arcs. It's a pretty good game at what it does: superpowered teenage drama.

[@GhassanPL]

The game gets an automatic +1 from me for being one of the few new RPG books out there that actually uses *justified* text.

[@kylejordan5615]

If anyone wants to hear a table playing Heart in a homebrew settings they need to check out Friends at the Table's Sangfielle campaign. It's so good and really shows how the system of Heart allows you to tell stories in such a way that you can focus on the increasingly intense world reactions to player actions as they take bigger and bigger swings.

[@Nerd_Rage255]

Great video. Quins is really a master of the KZbin review format.

[@paulsharke]

The spilled drink around 23:00... OOF. Felt that. Nice bit of slapstick.

[@Eris_Mourn]

This is the exact type of channel I was looking for. And I'm so happy you're doing it. Great videos, great reviews. Can't wait to see the rest of the season, and what other games you go over! Personally I'm excited to see a Legacy review, I got it to run and the idea sounded so interesting to me, but running it was exceptionally hard for my play group.

[@SPQRKlio]

I love these concepts, and the physical presentation is beautiful. I seem to have reached an age where it’s hard to impossible to get the group together. But maybe I should get this now, so someday I can be a hit at the old-age home.

[@jackgonz6580]

I’ve been following you for a couple years from susd and people make games but THIS, this is a completely different beast. Love it with all my heart ;)

[@Tom-pk4ye]

This is literally the first channel with a Patreon that has actually gotten me to consider throwing money at it. Edit: I came back to edit this post just to say these are the best produced, best written TTRPG videos on the planet. Not only is the content gold but the games picked are obscure gems. I’m so happy they don’t post videos more often because my wife would murder me for buying so many books.

[@guillermodeltortle]

I endlessly love the artwork of Heart. It has such a strong Mignola-like vibe that my Hellboy loving heart really adores

[@samuraix98]

Heart aside I'm loving the style and theme and vibe that QQ is designed with, that's essentially a review but oozes with flavor. Love it. ❤

[@MNTwinsBaseball]

Just backed Heart with the expansion on backer kit… what pleasant timing. Friggin love the channel!

[@bigallru]

This channel is so great - I have already checked out "Heart" because it was recommended by one of the authors in the previous episode.

[@a.dykeman1980]

“Stardew Valley if it was totally f***in’ cursed” sounds like a great premise actually, I want to run something like that now

[@themilkman770]

Quinn’s I have been rewatching all your videos, what a stunning channel! Keep up the amazing work man!

[@totlyepic]

Heads up: Some kind of editing mistake at 3:50 (one audio ending and another beginning).

[@CardsOfFate]

The practical drink gag. Chefs kiss. Brilliant.

[@Scrubti]

Razbuten brought me here and as a GM (still in my first campaign going on in a stellar 3rd year and nowhere near the finish line) I have to say: Curse you Quinn! Never has it been harder to not just start a new adventure. Jokes aside, I love this format. You are doing a great job and your Patreon is starting to become really enticing. All the best of luck to you and I will see you next time:)

[@MatthewBreslin-rp5sd]

I didn't know how much I needed a Darkplace + SUSD crossover!

[@cameronjohnson4936]

I spent too long debating to get The Wildsea, and it was sold out everywhere by the time I wanted it. I have not made the same mistake here. It showed up this morning. Thanks Quinns!

[@captain-hooked]

Amazing review, I'm so keen to run a game of Heart, but also Wildsea as well... I hope next months game isn't equally epic else I'll never get anywhere!

[@ragnabot9000]

Was that the Macalister Building map at the beginning? Would love a Quinns Quest on Delta Green Impossible Landscapes!

[@Stormthorn67]

I read the whole book for this game and I'm not sure I'd ever want to play it (too fatalistic and bleak for my tastes) OR run it (some of my players could not handle the roleplay) but it is really cool. And the art is amazing.

[@NaiveDJack]

The prodution quality of this video, the writing, it's eldritchly good.

[@cpolitz]

This is one of the most interesting to me TTRPG concepts I've seen in a while, but also the darkest dungeon influence is incredibly heavy

[@kredonystus7768]

What is done by beats in Heart is done even better by Burning Wheel beliefs, for it doesn't just give a set of things to base your campaign around but it also links your players, is the coreof the reward system, and because of how the reward system works plays into you over time snowballing to dump all that XP to peak your rolls at important moments to achieve bigger rewards, to be able to improve your skills, and write bigger beliefs to achieve even bigger things.

[@AndiVx]

A few hours ago I was thinking: I wish there was a new Quinns' quest video. Today is a good day

[@garwynrosser8907]

"Simply record this video onto VHS and then press the pause button... Now you're going to die in seven days."

[@johnbeckmeyer5362]

Oh man, you really got me with that drink bit

[@SHEEPGODODOOM]

Holy crap I'm in love with the style of your videos. I bought Heart and Lancer because of your videos they day i found your channel. Make more soon! 👍

[@TravisGarris]

I so want to get back into TTRPGs!

[@at0mic_cyb0rg]

Another banger, these reviews just get better every time, can't wait for the next one!

[@BuHHuable]

"the child has made themselves their own version of the knight's armour" - no, the knight has made additional armour of the child

[@clickingsensorthing]

Ah, the dark tower strat

[@Neowis3]

These reviews are my favourite content on KZbin. Amazing work, love it!

[@edwardgurney1694]

Ran a fairly long game of Heart last year, had a great time. Its whole vibes is just *chef's kiss*. Very Annihilation/China Meiville/2000 AD/Discworld. The game ended with the PCs finding a copy of the game book, realising they were characters in a game, gaining the ability to rewrite the world by writing in my GM notebook, fighting over what to do with their newfound power, then ultimately deciding to sever the link between their world and ours. I will say that as a reference book the rulebook is somewhat lacking. Even after a few months of play we could never find the thing we were looking for, the index especially was very lacking.

[@Quinns_Quest]

Oh wow, excellent work

[@edwardgurney1694]

@@Quinns_Quest One of my main points of reference for the campaign was House of Leaves, and I wanted to try to capture that sense of different layers of narrative bleeding into each other. A recurring theme throughout the game was them meeting people who had figured out, to one extent or another, that their world wasn't real. The heart itself tried to keep this knowledge from them because it knew if the game ended it would cease to exist.

[@Novicks]

This, an your other videos on this channel, has been a great introduction to TTRPG systems. I'm normally kind of eh on TTRPGs but this review and the setting is just so freaking cool that I ordered a hard copy to run a game for the first time, in any system. Cheers!

[@MichaelClark-ro4vo]

The book on fire in the intro cracks me up every single time 0:34

[@princessplanet7216]

I liked the review, and I'm looking forward to running my own Heart game, but it'd have been interesting to hear some concrete feedback on the combat / healing stuff, i.e. what makes it feel that way. As it is, that section was quite vague.

[@HelloItsFlux]

In a game like this, combat isn't really a separate phase. It is a skill check in the same way that you might make a skill check to climb a cliff, persuade a guard, or sneak into a house. Which of course can be really different for people used to combat being a separate phase of play, but here it's quick and brutal, which I feel really feeds into the theme of the game. Likewise, healing also feeds into it. Sometimes you have a major fallout and not enough resources to buy healing at a haunt, so now you need to decide: keep it? Or risk taking on more to go out and get something valuable to buy healing? That risk and reward tension is super fun to play with. While your character can't ever die without you signing off on it, they CAN get so many fallouts they're basically twitching ground meat on the floor. In which case... You might as well pack it in :P

[@princessplanet7216]

@@HelloItsFlux Absolutely, and I agree with all that stuff. I'm just wondering what *specifically* Quinn didn't like about the systems - e.g. what makes it feel like you're suddenly being pushed to optimise for safety and fiddly numbers?

[@Karnivori]

Don't think you could get away with using that bluepring map in the intro unnoticed! Played that campaign once, run it once and now running it a second time. "Along the shore the cloud waves break"

[@RPGTherapist]

Rowan, Rook and Decard are one of those few RPG companies that are simply incapable of putting out a bad game. Spire? Awesome. Heart? Awesome. Eat the Reich, Ork Borg, DIE (ohmyGod, Quinns, you have to do DIE!)? Awesome. Hollows? Looks awesome. Chris and Grant (and Maz) are creative geniuses (genii?), and I really wish more people would give them a try. They're so good.

[@williamyobani1921]

Ah! My favorite RPG of all time, so glad to see it gets him love :)

[@alexmarinkovich-josey7893]

Loved hearing you on the Yes Indie'd Podcast! This is a great episode, looking forward to the next one!

[@robertchmielecki2580]

Excellent quality in every aspect - I enjoy every single one of these videos.

[@calvinjim8829]

Best new RPG channel on YT. Great review as usual.

[@bjhale]

I find it funny that this was the first game you reviewed after your "I'm just not that into dungeons right now" appearance on Between Two Cairns. Great choice!

[@Quinns_Quest]

Look, dungeons are goofy, but a game that USES the goofiness of dungeons like it's turning a bottle of liquor into a molotov cocktail? Yes please

[@TheBlumann]

I am so happy that you are doing these vids man. ...don't be afraid to do the fate system!

[@threepwood0007]

Still loving the style of these, still loving your earnest presentation of something we all love

[@ErikEliason012]

Ugh I want one of these reviews for the 2nd edition of Torchbearer SO BAD. Great reviews, keep them coming!

[@PickledMoustache]

More! More! More! I don't even play ttrpgs that much, I just love watching your vids about them

[@flyingfox369]

Watched this channel for the first time. Great stuff and on point.

[@philipargo]

I used to have the same 12" you have in the thumb- Barracuda b/w Magic Man. Those were the days.

[@gray007nl]

That 'Thanks mum' line caused me to take mental stress as I realize my own reason for defaulting to female authority figures in my TTRPG campaigns.

[@Spooksmagoo]

I loved reading through Spire, so hearing Heart is streamlined to run makes me feel really excited to dive in!

[@nantu07]

First SPIRE and now HEART? Quinn you're amazing! I love both of those games, my faves btw! And the quality of those videos! Wow, give us more Quinn!

[@freddiejames298]

I really enjoyed running Heart, finally an RPG I could unashamedly stuff trains into. Thought I wish there were more tools to help me run my campaign. I found the blocks of text in landmark descriptions difficult to digest and would have liked a short bullet point summary at the top of each of them. I also wish there were random tables to help prepare delves, though that is being fixed as part of the Dagger campaign

[@MehdiHusain]

The good thing about RPGs is that you don't need to buy a new one every other day. A set of rules and your imagination and you can play for years. Completely the opposite from the very consumer oriented board game space. In my book, this is the type of "game" that would have been an article in a fanzine or a blog two decades ago.

[@evelynminer8568]

Every new episode of Quinns Quest, I realize just how completely, totally different our tastes in TTRPGs are. The fact that I keep watching anyway is a testament to its quality.

[@tosuga00000]

Heart is literally one of the best ttrpg experiences I've ever had as a gm. It's amazing.

[@radu7472]

Ever since I saw your Spire video I've been waiting to hear your thoughts on Heart, thanks for a great video!

[@harveybreaux235]

I played this with friends, can’t recommend enough. More memorable and amazing moments in 8 sessions than a 2 year DnD campaign

[@rasin9391]

Thanks for showing this. My D&D bubble is bursting. So many fun memories I have had with D&D in hinsight are due to our roleplaying and the D&D Ruleset only deminished our experience. But this video also ruined the current campaign I am part of. I want to start heart now.

[@huskyspade3461]

Woohoo! New Quinns Quest!! I was wondering when the next one would surface!

[@votch2798]

Can confirm that Heart was super easy to run. I got a table of D&D5e players to understand the system in less than 15 minutes. Only hurdle was individual dice rolls, as it required a lot of steps each time and stopped the session dead in its tracks every time. I believe with more time playing a lot of it would be second nature though.

[@mlmattin]

Brilliant! Absolutely love this channel! Another incredible review. Keep them coming please.

[@mrbobcat10]

Love the channel! The work on the edit and atmosphere really shows! Going to try heart for sure!

[@ZacharyBraun]

I love the suggestions for some fantastic RPGs. My wallet does not... I do have one suggestion that might clash with the style of these videos, but I find I absolutely need. I feel like the videos are missing some sort of information on what players (and the DM) are actually doing from moment to moment. I get the themes of heart, but I have zero idea of if doing those themes is any fun (I assume it is). It is like someone was describing Settlers of Catan to me and said, "It is a game about civilizations competing to settle a mysterious island full of resources" without ever saying "you'll spend the next hour rolling dice and hoping your number comes up... and maybe trading".