The Chain, Episode One: Red Sky At Morning

[@Juliett-A]

Wait, this isn't D&D. The players have thought about their characters and they're listening to each other and the DM. I'm pretty sure that's not allowed based on my experience.

[@metallkopf988]

occasionally, it happens...

[@kamisguide]

BIG MOOD.

[@xMRxZEROx]

It's weird, isn't it? 😂 Just kidding. I'm lucky to have a good party. We try to be respectful and understanding. Try.

[@xMRxZEROx]

@Heavily Armed Clown LMFAO.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

They must be using a variant ruleset.

[@azuraben5128]

SPOILERS AHEAD 0:00:00 WE PLAY D&D! 0:02:50 Rolling Stats 0:09:01 Where to find written words 0:10:16 Peptalk 0:11:05 LOOT! I mean the treasury 0:14:20 The rankings of the Chain 0:18:00 Matt casts battlefield camera! 0:19:20 Story time 0:22:50 Cue planning montage 0:27:04 Names! 0:30:11 Minis! 0:32:25 Oh, soldiers doing soldier stuff 0:36:38 That's Copper, not Tom (not Töm either) 0:43:28 The Black Company 0:53:25 An apple a day 0:57:00 Remember kids, stealing is wrong 0:59:55 Open, sesame 1:00:53 First time initiative 1:05:53 Mark! 1:07:34 To hell and back, a book waiting to happen 1:09:30 Oh noes. Not a wizard 1:11:15 Good night 1:13:00 Oh noes! Ajax 1:16:00 OH NOES! DEMON! 1:18:20 "I hit an AC of 34." 1:22:13 Judge micdrop 1:34:15 The job, and the situation 1:38:22 Wait a minute 1:43:21 Spidercat, spidercat 1:46:59 Apple 1:58:30 Lightning! Grease lightning 2:07:02 Commander casts Drop. It is not very effective! 2:09:50 Cutscene 2:18:10 Back to danger 2:20:48 The worst kind of promotion 2:22:05 Break starts 2:43:02 Break ends 2:45:10 Game Continues 2:52:10 A guy called Boots 2:52:35 Skill challenge 3:14:15 Ship mini 3:18:20 Boots, you flirt 3:23:50 This is our ride 3:33:02 Can we yelp this? 3:35:10 All aboard! 3:40:20 Where are we going? 3:41:24 Game end 3:43:20 New lieutenant needed I'll try to be earlier next time, let me know if this is too little or too much. See you at the next episode

[@Gretzan]

You are the Flando of this Stream Keep it up!

[@sukhmanilunial3011]

I was just going to say that! You can be the Flando of this campaign. Thanks for the time stamps.

[@dubbingsync]

A new Flando arises... good luck with taking up the challenge.

[@EmiKawaiiDoodle]

Thank you that is awsome!!!

[@TheBasedNinja]

Early or not, you're doing god's work good man. You're the real MVP!

[@pyrosaniac]

I just wanted to say the intro bit where everyone's character was rolled and their stats slowly came on screen with their character background/art was super adorable. I'm very excited to see where this goes, keep up the good work!

[@Highstar7331]

in the dice rolling video, 6 + 5 +1 = 12 NOT 11 (that number would be used in Copper&Bigcat's Constitution)

[@vitsavicky]

Looking forward to seeing new characters being rolled at the start of every stream. ;)

[@dr.prof.professionalphd4996]

Eric Nordmann watch as it turns out big cat get's a -1 to her constitution for lore reasons or some such.

[@pastafarian7]

@@Highstar7331 Lars fucks up the math for 3 of his stats the same way…

[@CumulusBluesky]

Lars: Our mission is to assassinate Ajax the Invincible... Me: WHAT?! Lars: ...'s head wizard

[@AJGladys]

WAIT WHAT!

[@johannesdolch]

...'s mother in law

[@wormhammerlung4398]

My favorite quotes: “I don't take orders from dead men.” and "Rebellions are so tedious, but they must be taken seriously." Totally stealing both.

[@nickwilliams8302]

You're forgetting, "Piracy is in the eye of the beholder, my mother always said."

[@docnevyn5814]

Nails puffs on his cigarette "This day is not going to get any better for you"

[@NotSpartanJake]

How about "You just got a field promotion."

[@chriscottee4950]

Great first stream. I'm looking forward to the next one.

[@shawngillogly6873]

And Anna totally deadpanned that too. Absolutely defined her character in a line.

[@MonarchsFactory]

I got a little thrill in my heart watching the first character come together. Look at this set! Look at these characters! This cast of players! Y'all are really doing it.

[@MonarchsFactory]

(Also, Jenny Nicholson?? She's the best!)

[@mrknarf4438]

Hey Dael, was looking for your opinion on this. Big fan! ^^

[@calebcampbell9280]

@@MonarchsFactory Watching a Colville video where you comment and both of you shout out Jenny is surreal as someone who discovered all three of you independently and, in your case especially, before you got 'big'. Love it.

[@almightyderpy]

I gotta say matthew you was a big part if my childhood with merc 1 and 2 I played sooo many hours of merc 1 and I lived going back to certain places where the 2 so factions where pushing each other a ton of repeatability there. I hope you read this bc I still have both merc games and now I wanna play them again haha. Mathew Thank you for your work

[@ethannaugle2294]

Same here! The original mercenaries was my childhood. The faction system was great.

[@metallkopf988]

@AsiaNPC If you want factions _and_ RPG, take a look at the faction turn system in the revised "Stars Without Number", published by Sine Nomine Games. It's SF-themed, but easily adapted to fit any setting or era. If you're running a sandbox-txpe game this adds a plethora of stuff happening in the background between gaming sessions or during interludes. I think there is even a deliberately free version floating around Drivethru RPG. Check it out...

[@mixplit74]

Displacer beast is a cool mount. But I have to imagine, that mounting involves some trial and error.

[@snailmessia]

Tentacle porn

[@Axiom_Link]

@@snailmessia 🤣🤣🤣😱

[@robertboily9030]

A bit tricky... just don't rely on sight. I think it wouldn't be that hard to mount a horse with your eyes closed. Easier if you ride bareback.

[@inaquianallforce4042]

More like bile and terror

[@BirdCyclops]

i like the more off the cuff kind of feeling this has reminds me of my sessions with friends usually go! really loved this and everyone was great! 🐤

[@Khindrex]

Adan pls gm for me. xD

[@Cyrribrae]

Woah weird. It shows me a very different content when I try to reply. I agree with both liking the off the cuff feel (even though we've seen tons of preparation), as well as the idea that magic is a big deal even if it's ubiquitous. Heck, lots of people have no idea what to expect from computers still. On the other hand, in the same way that soldiers are less weird in a society that has a ton of war, I think it is fair to say that a random person is hoping to be less taken aback by a magic user in a high magic world. THAT said, I'd still be terrified if a UFC fighter came after me, even if I'm not surprised he or she exists. How much more so if it is someone pulling magic out of nowhere. Knowing makes it worse.

[@NeflewitzInc]

I believe that was one of the reasons he wanted to do this. A lot of people see the Critical Role style of game with a lot of narrative decisions made by actors. Matt rules a, as by the rules as possible game with friends.

[@pawelsku]

@@NeflewitzInc i agree... lots of people get intimidated by CR style... but they are good actors with loads of improv experience plus voice acting.. here was my normal home game.

[@bobisalpha753]

ayyyyy Adan!

[@BillWiltfong]

I really appreciate the DM giving ideas on how each skill can be used. "Okay, you could use your Survival skill to lead the group through the sewers" bypasses loads of idea begging and mother-may-I that bogs down all of the skill tests I've ever played. Great work.

[@MisterTingles]

"There's no way all 360 of them will survive..." - Matt Colville's best estimate as to how many characters his players will go through during the runtime of this campaign.

[@MakeShiftRobot01]

Not having followed the campaign diaries, this feels like the start of Steven Erikson's "Gardens of the Moons. Just dropped in with very little context to big important things that I have no understanding of. This is not however, a negative thing (personally at least). It just wets my appetite for good epic content to come. I love that the characters are in over their heads to begin with and look forward to catching up when I can find the time.

[@Sirmooshalot]

Anyone else panicking about Tom's stats 7:38 ? 6+5+1 is 12, not 11.

[@billiammenzies3550]

Thank you, I thought I was the only one for second there.

[@itsreallyhotinmyroom]

Pretty sure the 1's aren't considered for the stat rolling. Thought I saw them all being crossed out on the graphic

[@alexanderfull9999]

@@itsreallyhotinmyroom That's not the reason, you roll 4d6 and leave the lowest roll, as you can see in the same frame, in the second roll there's 6+2+1 = 9, the other 1 isn't counted because it's the lowest number :)

[@tennesseeponderer3146]

Yes, is this ever resolved

[@TheBrassGeologist]

Yeah, bugged me too. Hopefully they'll notice.

[@inf82nd]

Love the bordering of the srounding screen. Very nice..

[@R3adybreck]

Yes also its un-invasive too

[@joebaker1]

Like mediaeval illumination. I love it.

[@zayin493]

#Iwasthere when the ajax nation attacked

[@ΘανοςΡουσόπουλος]

When they attacked the poor windows got cleaner oh the horror

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

only the commander, master of all four factions in the chain could stop him but when black bottom needed him most he got his head bitten off............... what a shmuch.

[@ace4410001]

I have never been so delightfully indulged by a creator in all this peripheral content. Matt, you might not have the Voices of Mercer, nor the Cannon of Perkins, but you know how to involve the fans and give them all the little details of your creativity that we crave. This stream has so much potential, and I for one am excited and inspired. Thank you Colville!

[@bradtobin6694]

Yes! Such a long time since the kickstarer. Matt and the team really delivered. Such a great start to the campaign... Time to watch it again!

[@alexmikesell7944]

Matt Colville has been reading Gardens of the Moon :) Big flying city is Moonspawn, he changed giant ravens to hawks, Ajax is Anomander Rake This is a perfect example of good DMs borrow, great DMs steal

[@after_alec]

The Chain is totally reminiscent of the Bridgeburners too

[@davidc4983]

@@after_alec you think? I got more of a black company vibe

[@Draeckon]

Mr. Colville says this will be a shorter session, turns out to be just shy of 4 hours. xDDDD Typical Matt!

[@wickedAberration]

"That's the end of the video, folks." You check the length and you're about halfway through.

[@uriel7395]

Well, my group plays for 6-7 hours at a time.

[@mendesrenatopereira]

Mine too, but we play once a month only.

[@uriel7395]

@@mendesrenatopereira My group does it weekly, but we have like four campaigns running at the moment so we still barely get anything done.

[@JoePendra]

My groups play for 8 hours minimum, mostly because we loose track of time.

[@stevengreen11]

The skill check thing on the way to the dock is an awesome idea.

[@AliIlTizio]

Nice. I don't have to be up all night to follow your adventure :)

[@ElectricBookWorm]

That's never good when the DM says "I don't have enough d8's for this thing's damage" lol

[@ElrohirGuitar]

Black-bottom girls make the rockin' world go 'round.

[@gunnerboy3213]

This doesn't have enough likes

[@paulburger9489]

top comment, for sure

[@xMRxZEROx]

How about "Black-bottom girls make the questin' world go round" 😂

[@Jay_Hendrix]

😂

[@tolfpeck]

Töm is the absolute man. First time, totally comfortable. Natural roleplayer. Sick oneliners. I will watch his career with great interest.

[@homidahroun8486]

Had to miss the 2nd half so I could get some sleep to work. I will happily watch it here. Again, so glad I backed this and got to be a part of this wild ride. Keep on being amazing, Matt and Co.

[@TheColmBrennan]

Loved the session Matt and Co., it had a great “playing with your mates” feel that was refreshing to see. I’m sure there are lots of things you will improve on as it was just your first session on stream, but I loved it and thoroughly enjoyed that you were all playing it your way. There’s no right way to play D&D as long as your group is having fun. Good job, looking forward to next week!

[@perpetualpunster]

So begins the reign of Mattew R.R.Coville's campaign of death. :-)

[@danieldosso2455]

Buckle up, it's going to be one hell of a ride. I'm actually really interested in Anna's brand new Matt Coville original Character

[@ccloudleaf]

Matt" "A lot of monsters turn from an unconscious enemy and go towards the threat." Phill :"Yeah but this dude would probably just eat'em." Matt: "That is a reasonable conclusion."

[@ScribbleKith]

Finally - FINALLY! Rejoice, for Ajax has come!

[@LJ-gu2dj]

Judge and Nails are awesomely played. It seems that Tom, Phil, and Lars are overthinking almost every decision. But this is the first game of the season. Well done!

[@kevincullen6627]

Every time i see the name i can"t help but play Fleetwood Mac in my head. Half jokes aside great campaign idea i watched part of it before on the twitch page, i look forward to enjoying the rest and the future adventures of the survivors of your meatgrinder

[@animistchannel2983]

It's a good name for a high-risk mercenary band, though. "Listen to the wind blow... down comes the night!" and "If you don't love me now, you will never love me again..." that's what I'd call fair warning for rough times. I guess we'll see if the shadows keep them together :)

[@gomiho91]

"If you read my back story, you'd know that." THE SHADE lolol I'm loving this new show!

[@benl4198]

Ajax's wizard is the adopted son of Merlin and Dr. Strange lol love it

[@Jacob-Day]

For a moment I read that as "Dr. Strangelove" and this amused me.

[@Bluecho4]

@@Jacob-Day Okay, now I want the run a game where the villain - or even just a king's not-necessarily-villainous advisor - is a wheelchair bound wizard with a hand that has a mind of its own.

[@worgmaster2213]

Hearing Matt swear is like hearing my teacher swear... Keep it up! I love it!

[@NeflewitzInc]

I hope Matt keeps that javelin and throws it back at them the next time they meet with a "I believe you dropped something." Or a "This is yours."

[@sleepinbelle9627]

At the end of the campaign, when The Chain is 20th level and they finally kill Relg, I hope they find it still embedded in his left asscheek.

[@Fallen_Otaku]

I imagine that Relg would end up using it as a toothpick.

[@Sanguivore]

I know this is quite an old comment, but where is your avatar from, @NeflewitzInc? :o

[@TheThrashKing92]

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm having a great time watching this group play. Like, critical role is amazing, and I have an insane amount of affinity for Matthew Mercer and the players, but there's something really cool about just seeing normal, everyday people have fun together. Also, I've been fervently following Matt Colville for well over a year now (like, gone through the Running the Game playlist no less than 5-10 times), so this is like what all of his videos have led up to. Just super excited for MCDM and all the awesome content we will get in the future 😊

[@OriginalWarwood]

I am still working my way through watching the whole thing, and caught a bit of the stream. I backed the Kickstarter, watched the videos, commented, and partook in the accidental crashing of the Diplomacy website. BUT....Thank Jerry! You are the hero behind the scenes, and it does not go unnoticed! (Corrected game name)

[@zacharyharwell351]

just before break: "Any orders or words for everyone before we go?" MARINES WE ARE LEA VING!"

[@tyetnic]

11:30 I had NO idea Jenny Nicholson played DnD! That's pretty cool. She's neat.

[@Pit_Wizard]

Jenny and Matt are my two favorite KZbinrs, and the fact that they have casually hung out and talked about D&D just blows my mind.

[@WilliamRampart]

LOVE the production quality, was definitely not expecting that much haha

[@bensnod9159]

I believe the most accurate description of that combat was “sluggish.” I’ve never been a fan of the unwinnable encounter plot device. But at least the minis looked cool.

[@davetronred11]

Matt has gone on record saying he likes to pull out a Kobayashi Maru in the first session. I don't think we'll see it happen again though.

[@nickwilliams8302]

The players were presented with four ideas for a campaign. They picked the idea of a mercenary company fleeing to a great city and trying to re-establish themselves in the wake of a crushing defeat. They literally chose for the Chain to suffer this defeat. But yeah, a lot of buggering around was done by all. I mean - just to pick a single example - it was nearly two minutes between Tom _saying_ that he intended to shoot anyway after Keen Eye failed and when the dice _eventually_ hit the table. Sluggish is right. I hope Matt maintains a better pace as the campaign goes on.

[@HeavenlyFloodofRegen]

@@nickwilliams8302 None of the background information was presented to to me as a first time viewer of the first session of a new campaign. All I saw was a new PC get railroaded into his death. I felt like I was watching, "Rocks fall on you; you're dead. Does everyone else realize how strong and evil rocks are now?"

[@arandombard1197]

Ordinarily its not good, but in a first session its usually acceptable. The normal rules for DMing and player agency don't apply to the campaign setup.

[@tjyycgaming7968]

@@davetronred11 I think its Lars' personality that made it unfun. Some players, especially ones that are trying to control the flow of the game, hate their agency taken away. You can tell other players what to do, but you can't tell the DM what to do.

[@N7AslansHobbit_Ry]

An hour in and I feel like I'm missing a buuunch of backstory and background information..

[@rcschmidt668]

The were starting at level 5, which assumes an extended backstory.

[@JacksonOwex]

OH MY GOD!!!! I can't believe I forgot about this, work-stress has apparently made me forget about a lot of cool things!!! Time to chill and watch some people play D&D!!!

[@nathanieldurfee5419]

The production value on this set up is great! The audio is fantastic, the lighting is well done, the graphics are on point, and the artwork for each character is just brilliant. Not to mention, I get to finally see you put into practice all the tips and lessons I've absorbed from you throughout the year+ I've watched your content. I'm on a diet, but I assure you imaginary popcorn has been prepared.

[@TheRealDerohneNick]

How am I to watch both Critical Role and this every week?!

[@Ayselx]

Where there's a will there a way.

[@RisaxTheImp]

Just have no social live and learn how many hours of sleep you need to still be functional at work and then you can watch Critical Role, The Chain, High Rollers and whatever other DnD streams you may be interested in. That's how I do it, anyway.

[@mafuletrekkie]

Who needs sleep.

[@christophersmith1727]

D&D...uh...finds a way.

[@cabe_bedlam]

Willpower and coffee. So. Much. Coffee.

[@ahil1028]

Really like the production on this show. Artwork is great, and small decisions like the size of the avatars, placement over each of the PC’s, and then using a transparent background all look fantastic and immersive. Good stuff guys!

[@kemvaros5031]

Wow, this is some really good production value!

[@aaronhearst784]

Well done to everyone involved in production of this! Was a challenging first session for the players and Matt, starting a stream with 5th level characters, a new player, custom classes, and a predetermined initial timeline. Thought it was a great group of players and characters. Special hats off to Lars, who had about a rough a first session as possible, yet managed to remain composed and involved. For what it's worth, i really liked The Commander, and would have liked to see more of him. This was clearly not planned with the player prior to events!

[@Lord_Durok]

WARNING: the website link has spoilers

[@jonjay6808]

Matt, this was positively brilliant. One of the best opening D&D games I've seen in all my years. I also loved how you vibrated in your chair through the whole thing. Looking forward to watching how the Chain moves forward!

[@tomd2666]

"What do you mean you need another portrait? What do you mean he only lived one session?!" - Jason

[@lionheartlee4719]

Love the show and the team. Keep up the good work. Also counter to some opinion I thank you for running scenes and keeping the first few sessions a little railroaded. It helps me know the world and also the drive behind The Chain.

[@DanteneNyx]

Really great, only minor criticism would be that I feel like it’d be better with Matt on the top left, just feels more natural for the eye to focus on :)

[@dariusgreene5486]

Second this

[@DAEsaster]

But they don't want to copy the Other matt

[@aliaphoenix7194]

Typically people’s eyes read left to right (most people in English speaking counties at least) and because we want to focus on the DM more, we want to look more at him, and since they’re on the right it feels off.

[@xMRxZEROx]

@@aliaphoenix7194 Exactly. Thank you. Left to right, top to bottom. It's just natural.

[@xMRxZEROx]

@@DAEsaster I'm pretty sure Critical Role doesn't own the trademark for DM's in the top left corner.

[@ianmeza9216]

Im loving the production! The portraits and everything is very inmersive

[@valderhide1674]

Worst thing to hear a dm say, "I don't have enough dice"

[@Banerixat]

Really pleased to see the stream up and running. LOVED the idea of giving the twitch chat a contributing factor on the skill check.

[@LukieSeven]

If you want to see 30 minutes of game play take almost 4 hours, boy do I have a show for you!

[@corvoattano8567]

but 5e is streamlined tho :)

[@Bluecho4]

@@corvoattano8567 5e IS streamlined. If this were 3rd edition, the grappling rules _alone_ with that demon would have doubled the length of the episode.

[@xotube2206]

xD

[@ngonarts4229]

LUL

[@xGamermonkeyx]

@@Bluecho4 Fuck man, pump the brakes. that hits way too close to home.

[@brandonclay428]

I genuinely enjoyed every second of this, my first real taste of D&D. Finding a group is difficult in a small town. Thank you guys, don’t change a thing!

[@cristianogris4957]

Lars took it like a Champ but his face spelled frustration.

[@Mega2chan]

Cristiano Gris he couldn’t really do anything to prevent it tho. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time

[@docnevyn5814]

Per Matt's Reddit post about their post session conversation, that was RBF(my words not his) and frustration over Phil using/losing the javelin of lightning

[@rolandcooke]

If your player is frustrated to the point of boredom (or worse), you are failing as a DM

[@Sam-wt8kh]

@@rolandcooke Lars was frustrated because Anna called him a coward and both she and everyone else was too foolhardy to immediately flee from an obviously overwhelmingly powerful foe.

[@rolandcooke]

@@Sam-wt8kh I might be mis-remembering what went down, but the frustration was that Lars was entangled early on, and eventually killed, without being able to influence the game in any way. Beyond that, I'm not sure your position holds much water. Run away where? They are the command group of a 300-strong force, they have responsibilities. (We'll skip over why the command group is also the assassination group, it's the same wierdness that sees the Star Trek bridge crew go anywhere).

[@johnforgrave7125]

I'm only a minute in and I already want to comment that I love the choice of having the margins look like an illuminated manuscript, snail and all. Very cool.

[@Kingpin1880]

"You are in command now Admiral Piett."

[@phillippowell7905]

amazingly cool especially for a first ever session. Great job by everyone, thank you

[@rianl5065]

Colville has great energy. This is my first experience with him as a DM. I like.

[@macguyverbond7480]

I gotta say that I really enjoyed this video because this really feels like an authentic group starting off at the beginning. Yes they have some familiarity with the world but they are discovering their abilities with new characters as they play them with some out-of-the-box classes, a freakin’ displacer beast as a ranger companion! I mean how cool and like Gygax’s early provisos is that?! It shows that the DM has a lot to worry about, that the players can be PLAYERS but also play their characters. And everyone can still have fun in creating an adventure together. Even with Rules there are situations that everyone, players and DMs, must improvise for at times. I’m currently DMing two campaigns in one shared world and of the several episodic examples I’ve seen over the last year on KZbin from many channels this feels the most authentic to the sessions I’ve played in in the past, and the ones I’ve been running since last August. I was inspired to do so by many factors but the channels like AJ Pickett (The Mighty Gluestick) WebDM Critical Role How to be a Great GM and Matt Colville have been great resources for ideas narratively, mechanically, structurally and flavorfully. I can honestly say that thanks to each of those channels I feel I’ve benefited greatly in my confidence to take the basic building blocks offered by the system and the official books (and Strongholds once my parties get to the appropriate level and narrative place, whatever that ends up being) and really invest some verisimilitude and interesting dynamics into my campaigns. Loving S&F book Colville and Company, and thanks for showing one way among many for people to enjoy D&D!

[@frosty7037]

Definitely getting some strong "The Black Company" vibes from this party

[@Yora21]

Coincidence? ;)

[@cxfxcdude]

The Campaign as a concept was based on the books Watch his Pitch your Campaign running the game vis and he talks about the options he presented to the players

[@frosty7037]

@@cxfxcdude That makes a lot of sense, I'll have to give that a watch

[@cxfxcdude]

Aww hell. I can do that. Exactly how i felt watching this live Matt, a brilliant first session. >Press F for the commander. Looking forward to next episode boss :)

[@Braincain007]

Now we need this channels version of Flando

[@Shane-The-Pain]

Make it happen, Cap'n.

[@jeremydavis6209]

Lol I was thinking that too. I put up when the break ends. Don't have enough commitment to do more though

[@limroto]

Sound is great - picture is clear. Hell yeah, this is awesome so far.

[@mordiveer5957]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING!!!

[@gornser]

You could've started watching on twitch. :P

[@jonathonm6613]

@@gornser That's what I did, haha.

[@BhopOwnz]

Reminds me of how my campaign goes. Which is reassuring as a DM. Not too concerned about the table talk - it comes with the territory. Strategizing is half the fun! Great first outing to everyone! Can't wait for the next episode!

[@cheesepie72]

I love Anna's roleplaying and she's adorable

[@Dilettante15]

Agree, she a QT

[@sebastianallen3500]

I agree strongly

[@chriswandell3570]

Agree :P instant favorite of the group! :P

[@shawngillogly6873]

I wasn't going to say this 1st. But she's awesome.

[@Arcae95]

God I want so much more of this!!! Why can't I binge-watching this?!?!?

[@valacarno]

Well, I can. 🤷‍♂😅

[@quickattackfilms7923]

"I don't take orders from dead men." Hahaha! That was so good.

[@georgesager1]

All three episodes that have happened so far (4 tonight), have been enjoyable. It's been wonderful seeing how your game runs. The players, the DMing, and the game setup have all been impressive. More please.

[@KevinEyken]

I love Matt's 'Running the Game' series, but so far (at the 44 minute mark) this is really hard to get into. There's a lot of cross talking, no clear dramatic starting point, no clear interaction between characters; it feels like a chaotic jumble of people entertaining themselves. Which is fine and I'm certain there's an audience for that. But after the cool intro videos, the ball just sort of keeps rolling. I really would've liked some more narrative structure. Just wanted to give some honest feedback because I really enjoy Matt's work, but maybe it's just me.

[@danieldosso2455]

One of their players is completely new to D&D. In my game with co-workers we have a brand new player and I give him generous leniency on his decisions because I know I'm far more knowledgeable so my idea of how quickly a player should make decisions is unfair.

[@Goforfink]

Have to admit by the end of the first hour i kinda felt the same, but at the beginning of the second hour I am just as much into this as critical role. It gets good fast.

[@kevinmoniz3105]

I completely agree with this statement. I love Matt Colville “How to DM” videos, it’s pretty shocking to see that as DM, he has very little control of pacing. Which is ESPECIALLY important for a successful long running campaign on KZbin. The beginning was fun and unique, but he then allows his players to dive deep into meta gaming and ret-coning, reaching deep inception levels. This is time consuming, frustrating and useless for the players. My greatest advice to Matt is that he should take advice from himself.

[@CardboardBones]

I love just the casualness and relatability of this group. It can be hard sometimes watching other dnd shows because their lively experience is so different than the group I play with. I like the slower pacing and genuine banter.

[@faust167]

The goblin ranger in a mercenary outfit calling everyone "boss" is the most perfect roleplay choice ever made.

[@HenkjanVeldman]

I love that i can fineally see you play as a dm and easily share it with all my friends like this. Thank you very much

[@ryanmurray3027]

I do agree that lars death left a bad taste in my mouth. As soon as the arrow was shot to when lars was grappled, ensuring his death, the players had zero input on anything. It came off as basically I'm going to kill one of you in a cut scene. Lars did role play his demise perfectly. The thought of nothing but what was best for his company of soldiers. Using his last actions to make sure he could get them his magic arrow so later they may win. I'm going to have to watch this over to make sure I didn't miss something. Great job lars.

[@margar9021]

Lars knew he was probably going to die going into this.

[@tp6498]

I don't know how I stumbled upon your channel but I'm glad I did. You and your friends passion for old school, tabletop D&D brings back so many memories I have as a kid back in the late 70's, when my friends and I discovered this new thing called Dungeons and Dragons. One of which is of my very first character, a human rogue. He was incredibly charismatic yet very insecure. This made him very conniving, paranoid and extremely unscrupulous. In his very first campaign (B1, In search of the unknown), he formed a plan to "get rid of" the party leader who he irrationally felt threatened by and was secretly jealous of. This plan was hatched by using discrete, private messages written down and passed between myself and the DM. Upon opening a door to a room containing several large spiders, my rogue, surprised by this sudden threat, jumped back while managing to "accidently" shove this hapless leader into the room before closing the door and deftly locking it shut using his thieves tools. By the time he and his unwitting companions were able to get through the door to save their leader he had succumbed to the spiders. We continued on and my friend re rolled another character and joined our party in town after we exited the dungeon. No one but myself and the DM the wiser. However, the DM did casually slip into our next sessions pregame summary that party members could not in any way conspire against or be complicit in the death of fellow party members. Lol.

[@floydwurst9948]

"Red's lastname is Shirt" that one almost made me choke on my tea.

[@brendancronan8144]

That was an amazing stream! Very excited to see where it goes from here.

[@cryomancer20x68]

Man, my feels go out to Lars. He got to play his character for about 3 rounds. All the back story work gone in the very first combat. I have to say that if that happened to me I'd be more than annoyed.

[@quartino_]

Seriously, though. I think Matt made the wrong decision here to just murder Lars' character. Like, holy fuck. All that build up and you just slap your friend in the face after all that work? I like Matt, I like his videos, and I think his advice about the game is generally good advice... but every once in a while he really misses the mark. This was one of those times.

[@Edelgeist]

@@quartino_ That depends on GM-player relationships a lot. If the player understands and assepts such style of play of that GM, they both can push the boundaries of what's acceptable at the table. I believe Matt and Lars have that understanding among each other.

[@murdeoc]

@@Edelgeist I think the complete lack of agency is the problem here. It's not just a difficult game, this just seems unfair and not fun to me.

[@murdeoc]

To be fair, I think the red arrows might have been able to save him. It was hinted on and they didn't try it...

[@Edelgeist]

@@murdeoc As Matt said on Reddit, if that would've been you and not Lars, he wouldn't have done it to you =) Matt knows his players and what he can get away with.

[@nerd_mus]

Watches half of this live but then it was too late. Already watched the VOD in twitch but came here for the intro and to drop a like. Love your content Matt and MCDM crew!

[@anthony_hw]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[@Yora21]

That really got out of hand fast.

[@pathannage5231]

@@Yora21 I seen there had been a reply to this post and I was hoping to see "that really got out of hand fast" nicely done!

[@Cupheesh]

Love it so far! Super duper excited for more sessions to come :)

[@saltypork101]

"Hang on. I need more d8s for the damage." Now that's a power move!

[@rakeyohn222]

Awesome artwork! Love the passion. Thanks for sharing.

[@Sean-gf7ky]

It's very important that in the future, anyone who is talking about something while other people are talking must whisper, because the cacophonous chaos of 6 people speaking at once is awful to listen to and very difficult to follow.

[@kemvaros5031]

As a Warhammer fan, I just love seeing these models being put to good use!

[@donkassadin2014]

I like how it's like: Commander:"Leave me behind!" to Lieutenant:"How do we save the Commander" to Judge:"We should coup de grace the Commander to save his soooooooooooul"

[@PBruno-cm3qh]

This I a beautiful thing. MCDM livestream is off to a great start.

[@josephbouchard6368]

I don’t know the cast yet, but I gotta say that Lars handled himself admirably. And he even smiled later. I might not have kept my cool so well if I were in his shoes . 👍

[@royschindell5730]

If my DM set up a situation that was unwinnable and killed my character in the 1st session, I wouldn't be one of his players anymore. What a jerk.

[@katieroberts7012]

@@royschindell5730 Matt talked to him beforehand to check if he was cool with it

[@blackwell4701]

​@@royschindell5730 I know this was a year ago but the Campaign diaries explain this was a complex set-up pre-planned with all involved parties before the creation roll video was even filmed. It helps that theyre all well acquainted and know each of their expectations going into the game fairly well.

[@timothychristie6994]

Really enjoy seeing a game ran like this. As someone who really enjoys critrole this has made me feel like the way I DM is also a valid way to do it. Keep up the good work!

[@transformerfreak657]

"Lady Sariel is still kickin around." *scratches eyebrow suspiciously*

[@jeffheun5258]

The stream quality looks great, awesome job to all who put effort into getting it together.

[@vader6972]

anna's laugh is dee-liteful

[@EvilEric-Mythicult]

vader6972 Anna is dee-liteful. FTFY

[@Stygian76]

I first started DMing during AD&D and this whole session just feels “right” to me. It doesn’t feel over-produced (like a TV show), it has a gritty edge, and it feels as though death can happen to anyone at any moment. I can’t wait to see more.

[@SnarkyRogue]

I've never seen such universally average stat rolls for an entire party (for the most part) lol

[@noblestrings]

I feel like this is a great start for a company and group of friends doing this for the first time! I cant wait to see you all hone this edge into something great.