THE MCDM RPG Explained in 6 Minutes

Watch me explain the OSR in 5 Minutes: • The OSR Explained In 5...
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The MCDM RPG is smashing Backerkit and making waves across the TRPG community. But what's all the hubbub about? I explain in 6 minutes flat! \[T]/
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About PaladinProse
I'm a crusade to have more fun playing trpgs ⚔️🛡️
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[@zephyr_gg]

Wow, you explained almost nothing!

[@redknight808]

RE: Negotiations Mat has stated that the negotiation thing would be statted out for one NPC and is basically a once-an-adventure type situation. It's not haggling over the price of healing potions. It's like... two leaders negotiating a treaty or one trying to convince another for a long-term alliance.

[@PaladinProse]

Correct! The Backer kit does clarify that you technically *could* use the negotiation mechanic in lesser situations, which is why I touched on that in the video. Thanks for your input! \[T]/

[@JainaSoloB312]

As someone designing my own RPG with a heavy emphasis on social conflict, I'd love to know more about how this system works

[@PaladinProse]

@@JainaSoloB312 that's awesome! The MCDM Patreon has examples if you're interested.

[@HoneyBadgerLikesYou]

I think I’m just genuinely excited for something that emulates the power fantasy of 5e but actually bothers to put the legwork in to make combat fun. Over the next 1.5-2 years they’re gonna go through a lot of different rules and variations during testing, but I know already that whatever they come up with is gonna be, at minimum, better at early levels than 5e… cause it looks like it is already lol. That alone is worth it for me. Also, I’m very interested to see how the negotiation system will evolve. Early feedback seems to be pretty negative… but their dev diaries have proven that they aren’t willing to hold on to unfun systems just cause they put time into them. I love that they’re trying to systematise certain limited aspects of roleplaying. Makes it feel like the game rules aren’t JUST combat. 5e can feel like that sometimes

[@sixoffcenter80]

I think that will be one of the main theme of new games coming out for a while. Trying to capture the things people think they like about 5e, but actually doing those things well. Of course different designers will have their own opinions on what those things are, and the best way to achieve them.

[@PaladinProse]

Well said!

[@Sound_Tech]

I think Hasbro is the true D&D killer, but the MCDM RPG will certainly pick up some of the stragglers, myself included.

[@PaladinProse]

Wise words, friend. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[@changsiah2]

I would say not really but yeah they made a lot of poor decisions plus that certain incident weather settings will be familiar with if you have play Red Dead redemption 2 but that's quite some time ago and most people will probably forgot about that and that's a completely different ip I'm sure d&d will still do well but yeah I do feel like you should be some competition

[@HouseDM]

Significantly more helpful and informative than Matt Colville's 51-minute video. Well done 🍻

[@PaladinProse]

It ain't much but it's honest work 👨‍🌾 Glad to here it burtha, skal!

[@vitsavicky]

It's funny. I don't have a group to play DnD with, but I still bought, skimmed through, but never actually played all of MCDM stuff (in PDF) and I don't regret the purchase one bit because it helps fund projects like these. And now with this game on the way it almost seems like now is the time to finally put together a party and venture forth into Tactical Heroic Cinematic Fantasy. From what I have seen so far it will be worth it.

[@PaladinProse]

That's so awesome man, you can do it! Lemme know how it goes, for real. That's what this community is all about. We support each other! ✌️

[@pizdamatii5001]

i don't suppose you live in finland? my wife and i are also looking for a gaming group :)

[@GameTornado01]

Never in my life, would I have expected to ever see Matthew Colville put into a JoJo meme. Nice video!

[@PaladinProse]

My pleasure, glad I could do that for you 🫡

[@justinleesmith]

Excellent video - cuts to the chase and clearly explains everything well. Nice work!

[@PaladinProse]

I try! Thank you for your support! 🫡

[@Syndicate_01]

So as you can guess from my avatar, this is DECIDEDLY not the game for me, as I don't like modern, high power RPGs at all, (despite being a millennial who started with 3.5 about twenty years ago). BUT... you're totally right that we don't really need more rules light low power OSR games...and I'm a guy who almost exclusively games in that space and runs BX D&D currently. I think even that if I wouldn't touch this game with my ten foot pole that I use for dungeon crawling, it's actually really cool to have a non Hasbro option for that style of play and I'm sure this will be a great game for those who enjoy that style. Now excuse me, I have to go back to rolling a level 1 Magic User who will probably die during character creation by rolling poorly for CON and HP.

[@PaladinProse]

Hey man, that's awesome and thanks for the comment! Just wanna clarify, I'm also a huge fan of B/X, if you wanna check out my other videos, I have plenty of OSR content on the channel. Also, I will never feel like there's "enough" of any type of content, but the MCDM folks clearly feel like there's enough OSR RPGs that are nailing it, so they're going in their own direction. Anyway, take a couple torches with ya and I'll see ya in the dungeon! We've got treasure and XP to gain!

[@Syndicate_01]

​@@PaladinProseOh yeah, not saying that more OSR games shouldn't be made per say, just saying that I feel like this kind of game addresses a larger gap currently in the market than making another BX derivative does. And I say that as I'm basically re-working OSE and Dolmenwood into a unified system for my homebrew world that integrates more from 1st Ed and even some things from other systems, like Drakar och Demoner. 😂

[@AgranakStudios]

Great overview! 5e took the heroic gaming out of me so this game will probably be a pass from me. Great video!

[@PaladinProse]

And hey, that's okay! Thanks so much for sharing your point of view with positivity in mind. That's what this community is all about.

[@konor101]

I can’t wait for this! It’s great to see others cover this in a quick and informative way!

[@PaladinProse]

Say one thing for Matt, say he's not a man of brevity 😅🤘 glad you enjoyed it, thanks for support fam!

[@thecompletejake]

This feels too much crunchier than 5e to me. I think I prefer the ethos of the DC20 RPG system.

[@PaladinProse]

I keep hearing about DC20, I'm going to check it out. Thanks for sharing your point of view!

[@techdruid4371]

Perfect timing,especially after what Hasbro has done

[@PaladinProse]

💯

[@zenymax8348]

Yeah, I'm really excited to see how it develops.. I'm sick of 5e for all the same reasons they are. I'm not an old player, I only found a group to play just before the pandemic happened.. and yet, 5e has so many issues I can't unsee them. I really spent a whole campaign just being killed in a single shot at first round by some low level henchmen although I was supposed to be the tank of the group and left unable to play the whole session (2 times! it was a short 15ish sessions Waterdeep campaign). Hitting maybe once but often not hitting anything per combat over 3-10 turns, having no bonus action since there are so few of them in 5e, waiting up to 45 minutes without doing anything because we are a table of 7 players (DM included), having half my class abilities be so situational that I never had the occasion to use them and yet being called a min-maxer because with such results I at least tried to have a maximum of impact the very few times my character actually succeeds a roll by being apparently the only member of my group to know most rules and spells by heart and adapt my character accordingly and still hope not to have really bad damage rolls. Having specialised in few skills to lett every players have it's shining abilities but always missing and being replaced by the characters with negative or null modifiers in those skills because a 1d20 system just makes you most likely to fail eventhough your character is supposed to be proficient or worse, an expert, in some skills.. I'm still too introverted to take space during non combat events and yet I can't even enjoy combat... the only things that keep me in the game are the friends and the stories (cause I'm also the only one taking notes.. but thanksfully I'm curious enough) Most campaign modules are completely unbalanced and Dming combat without nerfing encounters in between turns is most often a meat grinder. D&D is indeed an heroic system that cant achieve heroic combat. And before that painfull campaing, I already noticed some issues with other characters but I was not as much aware of it.. Unlike my DM I don't like D&D lore, this or any other can feed me but I feel like I'll be stuck with D&D anyway with my current friends and it breaks my heart. So I also began to develop my own system before I heard about MCDM, Vagabond and DC20 being developed.. I don't know if I should continue or wait for one of those but by the time they are done I won't be able to play D&D much more..

[@asimplethievingbat5978]

This sounds fun as hell, you've made this catch my interest

[@N0KKENWAITS]

Sounds really interesting! Not sure I need another heroic and tactical game, BUT this one does pique my interest.

[@PaladinProse]

To hit (roll) or not to hit (roll)? That is the question. What do my Paladins think?!

[@concernedearthling3353]

The no roll to hit is actually what is keeping me from backing. It may just be the old gamer in me but it just does not feel right heh. Always hitting makes hitting in a pinch less exciting.

[@RMartian76]

I think it's ridiculous. Participation trophy of TTRPGs. You're playing so you always win! F that. Bad/Good rolls help shape the story. Most of the things the game brags about you can already do in practically any TTRPG and depends on what the table likes; for instance, like "dungeon crawling" and using maps. Those are things that can be decided on in ANY TTRPG.

[@PaladinProse]

Some pretty fierce opinions, and understandable ones at that! Luckily we all have plenty of different systems to suit our needs and preferences. 🤘

[@quickanddirtyroleplaying]

Honestly, I dig this implementation of pacing a fight. Outside of combat, something should always happen, regardless of the outcome of a skill check, which makes failure more bearable. Also, dice rolls happen much less often outside of combat, so they matter much more. In combat, despite all of the bells and whistles that a particular system may have that don't directly contribute to killing them before they kill you (the typical victory condition), missing feels like a wet fart. Missing a lot feels like a slap in the face. Yes, some games, such as EZD6 and 13th Age, have mechanics that help ease that phenomenon, but those don't address the fundamental issue of "missing sucks." Then you have the Powered by the Apocalypse phenomenon where missing actually puts your character in a more dire situation, which feels like you're being punished for making an attack roll or like you're punching yourself in the face. Yes, it does create dramatic moments, but the frustration it creates is understandable. With a straight damage roll and no to-hit roll, that eliminates the potential for fights to last forever (since attacks don't miss anymore) and reels in the phenomenon of fights dragging on for way too long. By treating armor like bonus HP (ala Final Fantasy Tactics), this also eliminates the pseudo-miss phenomenon (i.e. oh, my damage roll is less than your damage reduction), which is an annoying aspect of Savage Worlds' damage system. Granted, there are still abilities that will mitigate incoming damage, as is shown with the Tactician's Parry ability, but those seem to be both active abilities and limited in their uses. I appreciate how honest the MCDM team is about what this game is about and what it's not about.

[@quickanddirtyroleplaying]

@@concernedearthling3353 Have you checked out or played EZD6, by chance? It may be up your alley, as the numbers are kept low, making every hit a meaningful event, especially when critical hits can potentially stack an infinite number of times (roll that first 6 and then keep rolling 6s on crit confirmations).

[@manuelgarcia-si4cs]

to be honest, i prefer a cinematic and narrative approach rather than a tactical one ... i myself am developping a game that takes out tactics almost completely ...

[@PaladinProse]

Right on!

[@Chris3s]

Currently DC20 looks more promising, but maybe in a year we will have more to go off from

[@PaladinProse]

Definitely slim pickins' at the moment. I'll be looking into DC20, so many folks in the community are pointing me towards it.

[@michaelwolf8690]

I'm all for competitors to D&D but I feel that folks that are excited about an RPG where you can't miss haven't really thought out why there are to-hit mechanics.

[@PaladinProse]

It's definitely a decision. Keen to see how it all pans out.

[@mightystu49]

Yeah, it works best for things like Into The Odd/Electric Bastionland where you want to avoid fights because they are dangerous, not games about being a hero getting into lots of fights.

[@praetorh]

Feels like the game is doubling down on some of the aspects of 5e I dislike. So it's a gard pass for me.

[@bluebird3281]

Does anyone know if MCDM RPG will be in any way compatible with "Flee Mortals" ?

[@PaladinProse]

The designers have mentioned that the monster manual-esque section of the book will feature most of the enemies from flee mortals (converted to the new system), so I'm assuming that most MCDM 5e content will be convertible in some way.

[@thekaxmax]

Looks good. I'll not worry about it personally, I have Dungeon Fantasy for this function. :P

[@PaladinProse]

Dope!

[@thekaxmax]

@@PaladinProse I do still run D&D, on request, but I use D&D4e. Cos it works better.

[@rontalkstabletop]

A single roll resolution system. Plenty of games do that. Not new, but they don't claim that.

[@qarsiseer]

MCDM has not claimed they invented skipping the attack roll at any point. If there is a moment that you know of that I missed let me know. He’s mentioned explicitly he cribs some ideas from 30 year old games. My only criticism is he isn’t as explicit when citing his inspirations as I’d like him to be.

[@PaladinProse]

Seems like y'all are in agreement, hehe!

[@Sound_Tech]

​@@qarsiseer dude, ask any artist to cite every single inspiration that's ever influenced their work. There's far too many with immense overlap to name every game that Matt has ever glanced that featured a mechanic remotely similar to have inspired their creative decisions.

[@Gansimus]

I'm getting 4E vibes and I love it!

[@Nusszucker]

Oh hey, thanks youtube for actually giving me a video adjacent to the topic I was looking for instead of weird, spite and hate full, ultra conservative pro america, pro trump rethoric. As a european no less. Anyway, since KZbin seems to not want me to find anything more informative about the MCDM RPG System Today, you Sir won the ultimate Trophy of a thumbs up AND a new subscription. I actually have some idea what the MCDM RPG might be like, in spite KZbins best efforts to keep those away from me. Sorry for that probably very weird comment XD

[@PaladinProse]

Lol not at all, these are the best kinds of comments!

[@j.ghostington]

Great new video man!

[@PaladinProse]

Thanks dude 😎🤘

[@azzaelulbrinter]

whats the music behind the video? it's so hype

[@PaladinProse]

It's from Persona 5!

[@N0ld0r]

#1 A 2d6 bellcurve + a static damage value will be almost like playing with constants.About 50% of your attacks will be within 1 point of your avarage and almost 70% of your attacks will be within 2 points. The more rounds you fight the more it will avarage out. You can veeery easily and accurately calculate exactly how many rounds it will take to defeat an opponent and how many points of damage you will suffer during those rounds. At that point you could just jump forward and take the calculated damage and that would be within a couple of points of what the "real result" would have been if you took the time to roll the dice. #2 The greater your static damage value becomes the more static your attack result will become. I have no clue on the power scale but if your damage value would reach 15 or greater your most common rolled result of ~6-8 becomes even more meaningless and may just as well be a constant 7. Reccuring attack rolls of 20-24 (70% of attacks) will avarage out over time to become equal to a constant 22. #3 Also, monsters never miss either so you will know almost instantly if a monster will kill you and there is no point in hoping for "luck of the dice" and the monster missing you. The monster will always hit and deal its avarage amount of damage just like you. "A missed attack roll is no fun and rpgs should always be fun." urghhh *shudders*

[@Просто_Иван]

Hope this will have great magic system

[@PaladinProse]

Definitely looking forward to seeing more of it.

[@NemoOhd20]

Explained in 4 words: 4e warmed over.

[@MarketResearchReading114]

I will trust them when they say that there is no need to back early, and wait patiently. I sense a little lacking communication this early in the process. The spell wish is a pretty big tent pole problem in DnD, and also its one of those massive sort of pie in the sky fantasies that I think this product is trying to target for wish fulfillment of heroic moments. So I would've thought that something like a philosophy on how to handle problematic structurally bad designs for collaborative gaming, would be an early thing nailed down at this point, given that they've produced products already. With that sort of top down approach from Matt, I understand a narrow focus, but he's one guy, and delegating is an important thing, and communicating goals for design as a sort of philosophy feels like a skill he's developed through the youtubes, so it's a disconnect for me.

[@1stleveldmgames798]

I really hope there's a good game master section want to hear heroic in cinematic sounds like more of a nightmare for the game master cuz they have to keep up with all these heroic overpowered players it's been too many years where the game Masters has been screwed over from 5th edition

[@lennartduchow7415]

I sense some DM vs Player mentality here

[@xaviersandoval1765]

You're the GM. You can throw anything at the players. Overpowered PCs should not be a problem.

[@lennartduchow7415]

@@xaviersandoval1765 I second this.

[@PaladinProse]

Personally, I'm interested to see how MCDM tackles designing an entire system around this type of power fantasy. I think 5e struggles with trying to appeal to every style of play.

[@lennartduchow7415]

@@PaladinProse Yea I see that point. I think their Ideas about rest, attrition and resources go in the right direction. The new video by james on the MCDM channel goes into detail on that aswell.

[@triccele]

The problem wuth this system is that you cannot be both cinematic and tactical. The game is tactical, no doubt, but is too structurated and rules heavy to allow a cinematic, living narrative. I think is a good game, but not my cup of tea

[@Hjerrick]

This sounds very 4e Ish. Which is not very encouraging. But good for him for getting it so thoroughly funded, I’m sure there is an audience for this kind of stuff

[@Nastara]

Hi I am the audience. There’s a lot of us 4e heads that are finally getting acknowledged here with this product. And considering the funding a lot more 4e heads than most people in this hobby anticipated.

[@PaladinProse]

Hehe I've personally never played 4e but have read it and like some ideas, mostly inspired by Matt's videos about adopting some 4e elements to help 5e combat. I was thinking the same thing, no need to feel sure, the backerkit is successful for a reason. Interesting times for us in the hobby!

[@pizdamatii5001]

@@Nastara never played 4e (stopped after 3.5e), but i'm really excited for this product and i've just backed it today. i think matt mentioned several times in the past that he very much enjoys 4e.

[@Nastara]

@@pizdamatii5001 I hope we ending up enjoying this game! I’ve backed it as well.

[@mightystu49]

Matt is a noted 4e apologist and in one of his most recent videos he forwards the claim that the only reason it didn't do well is because of WoW. I think he's about to learn that 4e didn't do well for more than just that reason. It appeals to a niche, for sure, but is not going to be the market-dominating force they might imagine.

[@geoDB.]

Wants to kill dnd but can't even baptise his game

[@aymanghaibeh8589]

I'm one of those hognards you made fun of in your video. The one who wants to play a fantasy role playing game, not a superhero roleplaying game in an online computer rpg setting.

[@PaladinProse]

Welcome! I love the OSR, and I love my grognards, please check out my other videos, I think you'll like what you see!

[@BigBunky]

T H C Fantasy!!!

[@red_wullf]

Lost me at “a battle grid is all but necessary.” 😑

[@PaladinProse]

Yeah that's a tough pill for me to swallow as well

[@dylancox631]

If this game is anything like their other products, it will be ridiculously complicated for no real benefit to the game or story

[@johndavey2340]

This game looks awful I have no interest in running it, especially since it has no interest in catering to me as a GM.

[@PaladinProse]

Understandable have a great day

[@ricardojuanlopeznaranjo6651]

Another MMORPG emulator for tabletop. Like 4E, 5E and Featfinder. I'll keep playing D&D not superheries in a fantasy setting. I have the computer for that.

[@Nastara]

Yup! You can play just the small corner of the hobby you like and be comfy there. Meanwhile I’ll enjoy the entire variety of TTRPG space. OSR, fiction first, “MMO-like”, ect.

[@emergentc5398]

Some promising ideas ... but I dont like Matt Colville or his work Ive seen thus far. He comes off as a grifter to me.

[@BanjoSick]

Wow, sounds awful! To each his own…

[@Khobai]

it does sound awful its basically just a revised version of d&d 4e. im not saying everything about 4e was bad but MCDM rpg brings back all of the bad stuff like trying to turn D&D into a video game. just make a video game if thats what you want.

[@nelsonhill4625]

People that like D&D aren't gonna want this. Sorry, it's just true.

[@stormwing3632]

Nope sry ... I want rage, i want to hate the Game at the Moment and i want this Feeling of Luck. But by this Game here , i had a Feeling Like "Yeah you didnt want loose Control? You didnt want learn the Game ? You want a reward for doing nothing , Take our Game" Sry but this looks terrible for a intense Game adventure.....

[@jackwhitehead3074]

Ah yes, distance based break points for wood/stone/metal, because a high velocity pixey is a superior seige weapon to a low speed adamantine golem. Automatic hitting, because fuck your high dex character, no dodging for you like WHAT? "Your hit roll is your damage roll" yeah, we have the function of that its called roll hit and damage dice together... Oh, but it feels like missing your turn! Yeah, and wait until they learn the only way to compensate for "this enemy is tough because they have high AC" is "we increased their hp in absence of AC" meaning the fught takes just as long. Or "ah yeah, feels like i wasted my turn because i rolled minimum damage" Feels very much done to deliberately be differen/done with a specific intent rather than "done that way because its good"

[@Max3110]

Armor reduces damage

[@jackwhitehead3074]

@@Max3110 ah yes, straight DR, known for its phenomenal efficacy in its long standing history

[@because4337]

Lol, 4e was hot garbage. Lotta people gonna be disappointed when they have to get off the hype train.

[@Khobai]

some things in 4e were cool it wasnt all bad. but mcdm rpg brings back everything about 4e that WAS bad. D&D is not a video game and trying to make it more like a video game is not an improvement. mcdm rpg is basically a tactical board game with roleplaying elements... you will spend far more time resolving combats with a bogged down battlegrid system than actually roleplaying.

[@matthewvillanueva4420]

well, they do have paid contract testers and volunteer testers, plus there's the people in patreon who are also going to be testing it. So I don't think its as bad as you guys think.