The Sad Divorced Boomer Finds Anti-Woke DND!?

[@Pachitaro]

"Unlike in D&D, you can-" _thing you can definitely do in D&D_

[@euca04]

Castles and crusades was literally just a stripped down dnd and funnily enough prides itself on not being updated to be modern

[@theautisticguitarist7560]

It's wild because early in the current edition of the DM book is passage telling you to treat all the rules therein as suggestions. WOTC openly encourages folks to completely ignore any rules you want, or change and any lore you want.

[@pmester228]

It's a discussion that has happened so many times I don't even want to keep track of it. "Baww, D&D doesn't 1000% conform to my exact playstyle, therefore it's bad!" And all the bewildering comments like not being able to remember that Key stats have a base DC of 12 while secondary a 16. And if that's set in stone, why not just note that down on the sheet and the DM only tells the ability check's type and modifiers? He complains about how the fighter might get lucky and spot a trap. Bitch, just rule it that you need thieves' tools and to be proficient with thieves' tools to actually disable it. The whole overwhelming a DC with many rolls thing, just have the highest perception stat guy roll and so on...

[@nicholasrodinos4701]

You can do anything in DND that you, your DM and your party are open to and everyone is allowed to withdraw their consent at any given time. This guy's just the That Guy that makes everyone uncomfortable.

[@n0etic_f0x]

I mean yeah, you can tell he is bad at talking about the subject beacuse it is a game intended to restrict what you can do. Only the theif can X only the ranger can Y only the bard can Z. It is intended to be less modern with far less open ruels. It's usefull if and only if you want a game like it. A game with a high TPK rate or at least PC death rate where a party of four roll up new charters every 5-9 sessions. It is a very old school way of playing but... not well loved outside Pick Up Groups beacuse it is not intended for long term canpaghins.

[@puckerings]

"Are you tired of WOTC telling you how you have to play your game? Then try Castles & Crusades, where thieves have to play the way they're SUPPOSED to be played!" Cognitive dissonance is fun.

[@Westlander857]

I just marked a year being separated from my long-term partner the other day, and you know, I’m really glad I haven’t become bitter, misogynistic and resentful like this dude. I’m glad I didn’t turn that pain outward and blame an entire sex for what I experienced. If nothing else, I have that to be proud of.

[@MisterBadman]

I’m sure there’s more than just that to be proud of. Just keeping your head up is huge. I was Widowed and I’d pay an unthinkable sum to just have her alive, even if I knew that meant she’d hate my guts for the rest of eternity, I’d do it, just to know she’s ok. It can always get worser. Chin up homie, life’s long, things that bring joy will enter your life in some form. The universe is just too whacky for it not to. Also, CONGRATULATIONS, on not becoming a hateful douche, and giving in to despair. Life’s long, who tf knows what’ll happen, all we control is how we react to outside stimuli, and from the bit of evidence I’ve seen, your response is pretty ok. Oh and here 🍪!

[@justingovas415]

Good on ya! Blaming an entire anything because of 1 or 2 people is sad.....

[@Freshpickedrainbows]

You know what they say about women... they're all unique individuals that .... have the same .... Wait hold on. No wait I got this.... Can somebody ask Matt Walsh again what a woman is?...... He didn't figure it out? He just said a bunch immature shit and ignored legitimate interviewees and then found a single tribe in Africa that supported his views and made the massively dumb assumption that all tribal communities function and believe the same thing? ....... Hopefully this was helpful.

[@Journeyman107]

Nicely done, personal crisis seems to often result in a switch to reactionary mindsets. I’ve nearly felt it happen in myself before. The dopamine associated with taking more extreme contrarian stances seems to be a balm for many.

[@fatface2911]

"Dnd is awful" My brother in christ, *YOU MADE THE CAMPAIGN*

[@Suavek69]

Campaign is not all of the DnD, you still can dislike the ruleset, and even prefer the older editions and play styles

[@steelgriffin7716]

He sounds like your classic Bad adversarial DM. He doesn't believe in helping his players have fun, and he thinks he's there only to 'Challenge' them. This is the DM that's going to kill you because.

[@n0etic_f0x]

Yes, that is what he is. I thought he did not sound like a TTRPG guy but no, I do recall this kind of guy. They often have insane stats like 500 campaigns all TPKs. It is a mindset from small towns in the 90s where people thought the game was intended as GM v Players.

[@steelgriffin7716]

@@n0etic_f0x I'd like to ask him what he thinks his role is for his group. He'd probably give a weaselly simple answer of "provide challenges and story for my players", but I'd want to press him on that. Doubt it's be productive, but I think it would be illuminating.

[@steelgriffin7716]

He's probably a nasty railroader too.

[@n0etic_f0x]

@@steelgriffin7716 it’s definitely an interesting question. He says he has a twenty something year campaign and I wonder what that means. I have had a three and five year campaign and both of those were very long and very difficult to keep together. They are both linked together but clearly different campaigns. A ten year campaign is kind of nonsensical because you hit level cap even playing very slowly. I mean that’s two levels a year… sounds boring as hell. He is clearly into PKs being fairly common but if that is true a year long campaign is not likely and each year on top of that is exponentially less likely. You’re playing a game that is likely to have TPKs not having one for twenty years is a bit absurd if that is true.

[@LordWildhawke]

I want to use this system and make it the gayest, wokest, post-modern, LGBT game in the history of D20 or Critical Role. None of these rules preclude you from doing that

[@LordWildhawke]

EVERYONE WILL BE FAT AND GAY

[@justingovas415]

Stream it or something xD make em real mad

[@GnomePickles]

If you need another player to lavender up the game then hit me up.

[@Jermbot15]

I was going to say save your money and exposure for a company that deserves it but.... Castles and Crusades might be small enough and desperate enough for a return on investment that a sudden interest by a niche community could compel the entire enterprise to pivot into pandering to you. Give it a try my man. At worst you'll make a show with a bad system, but at best...

[@Koifin3]

I would jump at the chance to do this for shits and giggles

[@GrovelingPony]

"I just hate when my ttrpgs are political" *Spends hours explaining his political opinions about women, fat people, and minorities and their 'place' in fantasy worlds*

[@milii113]

Well of course, every belief he has is common sense and everything that challenges it is political! Are you saying that a grifting right wing boomer could be _gasp_ wrong about something?

[@GrovelingPony]

@@milii113 😱 it's true. I do think that.

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

"...much like the hated Madden football franchise." So hated it's been around almost 40 years.

[@0Fyrebrand0]

They keep selling a new edition every year, just to keep the hate going

[@argonianbum]

This one really got me... People consider Madden the standard for like the best graphics/etc the engine can run and that's why people will continuously buy it year after year as new ones come out. People fucking love sports. idk if he is aware of this, but people are OBSESSED with football. Surely that's got to be some part of his personality when he's using teenage cliques to describe his adult life.

[@verdurite]

most of the people whining about the new dnd phb have not even tried the rules, or are just weirdly stubborn about roleplaying fantasy racism

[@Vortex1988]

Nah, people just don't want to pay a boat load of money for new books when WotC haven't made enough changes to consider it a new edition, still haven't solved glaring problems that the community has agreed need to be fixed, make changes based on Baldur's Gate 3 that doesn't even use 100% of the same rules as 5e, don't add any needed resources for DMs, don't play test the new monster manual, constantly harass content creators by trying to suspend the OGL, and also try to pigeonhole players into paying a monthly subscription for online content that isn't necessary. WotC doesn't care about DnD. They only care how much money that they can con people out of.

[@Magicwillnz]

To be fair, I have been whining about 5e for a while but it has more to do with every caster being fireball dispensers and Hasbro unable to understand D&D is not a video game.

[@cheeto.burrito]

I'm crying, please don't call your tabletop game "CNC"... That means something so different in the circles I'm used to...

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Yeah, it means computer numerical control, right?

[@FrozEnbyWolf150-b9t]

"But you don't understand, it's my Roleplaying Adventure Par Excellence, or--" "We get it!"

[@milii113]

I know he's a scumbag for real, but in any other context I'd call this a gag. A pearl clutcher boomer shortening of Castles And Crusades to CNC instead of just Castles or something wouldn't be out of place in a parody of anti-woke stuff.

[@Silverhawk100]

Command and Conquer!!

[@Sarcasticron]

To be fair, "role-playing" ALSO means something different in those circles...

[@steelgriffin7716]

I'll be honest, I expected him to be hawking FATAL.

[@alecmullaney7957]

Why's that? I'm not familiar with the system

[@Whispitt]

​@@alecmullaney7957 its the most "realistic" (its sexist and racist and also has you role for shit like racism and tit size)

[@pcport2698]

​@@alecmullaney7957 You are better off for it. It's like the least sexy 'adult' game you could waste money on.

[@PossumMedic]

wouldn't surprise me 😂

[@SophieRoseLive]

@@alecmullaney7957 it's the "negative anal circumference" game

[@tyrongkojy]

Amassed he's not bringing FATAL into it.

[@zenbear9952]

FATAL is the actual anti woke game. Like for real it was made for incels and it's also the worst rpg ever made

[@tyrongkojy]

@@zenbear9952 Arguable if it's the LITERAL worst. It does what it advertises, to be fair. But yeah, it's a 12 year old edgelord's version of an edgy rpg.

[@lyudmilapavlichenko7551]

Don't forget the dude who made FATAL is also a nazi.

[@joearnold6881]

Ok, naming your antiwoke D&D knockoff a thing that intentionally will be abbreviated “c&c” is just embarrassing.

[@scottwarren3948]

This is not his game and has nothing to do with him. 🤷‍♂️

[@Magicwillnz]

Yes, as @scottwarren3948 said, castles and crusades has been around for a while and has nothing to do with him... honestly it well predates the current era of MAGA chuds.

[@TheZombiemofo]

Of course his campaign is called "Birthright" 🤦🤦‍♂🤦‍♀

[@anthonycarrera7891]

Birthright was an official setting in AD&D focusing on rulership and domain management as opposed to assuming that players were wandering mercenaries

[@thurmanstevenson5692]

Yea its a actually really cool its where some things like dark vision come from i think

[@Jerthanis]

PF2e is the most balanced TTRPG I've ever played. It is crunchy, but in many ways it is actually much simpler than D&D 5e. I'm looking at you "Invisible" condition. Paizo is also unionized, so it treats is more worth supporting than many other TTRPG projects. The character sheet got a new update with the revision not too long ago and it is much more readable and printer friendly now. I would recommend you give it another look. After MCDM of course.

[@jaysw9585]

Pathfinder is far from balanced. Not even ballpark. It's also by no measure simpler. If you like PF2, great, but don't pretend it's something it isnt.

[@Jerthanis]

@@jaysw9585 Do you mean pf1e? There you are correct. But straight up, if you are talking about pf2e, you don't know what you're talking about.

[@waifusmith4043]

@@jaysw9585 What about pathfinder 2e is unbalanced? I've been playing for about a year now and think the balance is pretty tight, combat is always deadly, and it's a back and forth. I'm not even trying to be combative I'm just genuinely curious because I'm trying to be more cognizant of the pitfalls of a system.

[@Dreigonix]

I can’t get into Pathfinder because of how overwritten it is. I don’t wanna have to read an entire novel-length fanfic to learn the rules.

[@puckerings]

They fought against unionizing of course. So maybe don't give them too much credit. They went kicking and screaming.

[@danalinchristania5163]

"Non-political" game is so outrageously hilarious statement, i can't even take it seriously.

[@khill8645]

Especially for roleplaying, where political context is _always_ a concern for DMs and a structure that can be exploited by diplomatically-minded players...

[@danalinchristania5163]

@@khill8645 indeed! Well said

[@nielsjensen4185]

To these people there are only two sexes, male and political, just like there are only two races, white and political :P

[@Koifin3]

@@khill8645not to these kinds of people. D&D boomers are all about rolling the dice and not worrying about any consequences or otherwise impact other than kill the bad guy.

[@Iridescence93]

yeah if your campaign has no politics in it I'll pass as that sounds very boring but you know these people actually mean they're going to shove their real world politics down your throat every chance they get

[@PonyJammin]

Honestly his description sounds like "I make people at my table play MY story how I want to" and thats just not a fun table

[@0Fyrebrand0]

Call me crazy, but I think if you're attempting a skill check that your character isn't particularly good at, then you already have a higher chance of failure and don't need to be punished further by artificially increasing the difficulty. By contrast, the stuff your character does excel at is probably going to be easier to achieve. The difficulty balance is already baked into your character's traits. If you're just going to move the goalposts, why even bother referencing your character's abilities at all?

[@taterenforth6433]

"Pathfinder is too crunchy" - absolutely valid opinion. "It's not balanced and paizo has poor game design." - absolutely insane opinion. Doubly so since he's comparing it to D&D. Pathfinder 2e has some of the tightest math I've seen in an RPG, and the game design is actually built in a way that it's really simple to use at the table.

[@taterenforth6433]

Man, as someone who studies rpg design as a hobby (and has designed a few) ... Jake is so confidently incorrect on all of his RPG takes. He gets the math wrong, he blanket statement dismisses common and useful ideas, he defends 5e using rules that he had to create, ect. I get that he likes 5e, but man, try another game.

[@gourdguru]

i actually started on pathfinder before playing d&d proper, i thoroughly enjoyed pathfinder's system, and there are still a couple things about pathfinder that i prefer to 5e, but none of them major. prior to playing either, i've been a longtime vampire the masquerade player, which is still my favorite ttrpg i've played so far, but no one else i know is into it so i don't get the chance to play anymore.

[@taterenforth6433]

@@gourdguru I am sad that I can't convince my group to try VtM since it does seem like a fun system. Out of interest, what draws you to it over other systems?

[@gourdguru]

@@taterenforth6433 well, full disclosure, i'm a '90s goth kid, so i have a bit of a pre-existing draw towards vampire's themes of personal tragedy and dark horror. that said, there's a lot that i like, i'll just hit some big ones: 1.) overall pacing. D&D tends to be about action adventure, with a basic formula of killing mobs, collecting loot, and getting stacks of xp. while the DM CAN write around this, ultimately this structure incentivizes the sort of "Murderhobo" problem. by comparison, most vampire tends to be more about the actual roleplay than the action, being more about dialogue and political intrigues and deceptions, and vampire does NOT give out xp in any meaningful way. at the end of a session you might get 3-5 xp total, and the best way to advance your character isn't by grinding xp, but by using your wits and roleplay to establish your character's connections and resources within vampire society. it's far more effective to suck up to an influential vampire elder and benefit from having him as an ally while quietly plotting to usurp his political station. if a player tries to go "Murderhobo" in this environment of ancient manipulative sociopaths, he's likely going to just get himself ashed _VERY_ quickly. as a result i don't have to do nearly the work to deal with this issue, it sort of just deals with itself. 2.) the d10 dice pool system. instead of having to have players or the DM keep track of which dice to roll and why this player get's a +2 on his roll etc., everything uses the same die, and how proficient you are determines how many you get to roll, the more dice you roll the more likely you'll get a success. this is a pretty easy system to manage, and as a bonus, it's just REALLY satisfying to the player psychology when they ask do do something and then you tell them they get to roll a whole _fistful_ of rocks. in addition, V5's new Hunger dice mechanic makes everything you do a battle with the beast within. one bad dice roll can create a huge mess the players need to deal with. major story hooks can develop from a single bad dice roll rather easily and frequently. 3.) the way you define a character's base personality traits. in vampire, class/clan traits do manifest in your character, but _HOW_ they manifest is more open to interpretation. for example, Clan Toreador are artists that have a curse of obsession or infatuation and become enamored or hypnotized by things that they consider beautiful or that inspire their inner muse, and USUALLY these vampires come from the arts; actors, artists, musicians, etc., but they don't have to, that's just the type of people that the toreador usually look for as new recruits. as a result the stereotype for a toreador is usually a socialite creative type that might be seen in art galleries or gala events, but i've seen players break this stereotype almost entirely while still following the toreador model perfectly. for example, a hotheaded mechanic who when you first meet him would be mistaken for Clan Brujah(short tempered anarchist vampires), until he sees a mint condition vintage 1964 Pontiac GTO in cherry red, at which point he'll just zone out in mid conversation, ignoring you entirely to go admire the car, almost drawn against his will to run his fingers along the smooth lines of the bodywork, until he can manage to snap himself back to reality, and that's when you realize "Wait, he's a TOREADOR?!" i make it a point when i'm a player to go out of my way to do this, creating characters that are as far from what you would expect them to be, while still totally fitting their clan mold, if you tilt your head and squint a little. in addition you have two other things in play, "Nature and "Demeanor", although the names sometimes change between editions. Nature is effectively who you are deep down, Demeanor is essentially the mask you show others. for the DM, these are two points that can be used to sort of keep your players consistent in their character's inner motives and the DM is incentivized to reward players for playing into their character's nature/demeanor. for players creating a character, these two elements help turn abstract ideas into more concrete concepts that will often make creating and understanding your character's inner motivations and behaviors more natural and alot easier. for example, Nosferatu vampires are very stealthy, and basically the de facto spies of the vampire world, obsessed with hoarding and bartering information. i made one that was a stoner surf bum who couldn't care less about any of that and just wants to ride the waves forever, but somehow just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and probably knows about any underground parties in town, and as long as you're chill, will tell you about it for free. In my opinion these elements encourage players to create more detailed ideas of who the character is in a sort of natural way, and then incentivizes them to play into that character's inner motives, curbing the tendency of D&D players to sometimes get into the game but forget themselves and act contrary to their character. 4.) Session 0. this isn't technically a required part of the system, but it's an approach a lot of DM's take to starting their campaigns that i personally use and love, especially with new players. instead of telling them to create a vampire, i tell them to create who their vampire was when he was human, and then i'll walk them through their last day as a mortal before they get embraced and become the undead. this allows them to experience their lives firsthand and develop attachments to their NPC relations, hopes for their mortal aspirations and goals etc., naturally developing their background further and getting them to invest in their character's life(and also mining them for details i can use as the DM in later story hooks), before their vampire sire arrives and tears it all away from them when it sucks the most. as the DM my only concerns for this session are to let them explore their character, and to look for a particularly choice moment to ruin everything for them, and THAT's when the vampire attacks. then for session one i can simply say "it's been a year since you all were embraced, and you have been under your respective masters' wings, learning the basics of vampire society and civility. tonight, the prince of the city has summoned your masters for [insert petty reason] and your masters have sent you in their steads, feeling this a perfect opportunity to see how you do on your own to determine if you are ready to be released from them and into vampire society as your own persons. your actions will reflect on your sires, try to be on your best behaviors....or don't." way easier and more engaging than the usual "You all meet at a tavern". 5.)splatbooks. in D&D you tend to find prebuilt and fairly well defined adventure campaign story books. the material that you find out there for vampire by contrast is just a detailed description of the city in question, telling you the locations and the movers and shakers in vampire society. that's it. everything else is left up to the DM. as a result, instead of titles like "Curse of Strahd" or "Shadow of the Dragon Queen", the splatbooks for vampire are usually named "___ by Night", such as "New york by night", "LA by Night", "New Orleans by night". etc. In addition, while you can set your story in any city, i find it useful with new players to use YOUR city. everyone knows the geography and culture because you live there, and as the DM you just have to peel back the veil and show what goes bump in the night while you're all asleep in your beds, showing the players an inherently familiar city from an entirely new perspective. this helps get them invested into the setting, and blurs the line between reality and the world of darkness' reflection of it, leaving the players feeling comfortable and like they know generally what to expect...until you throw something screwed up and out of left field at them and now they have to deal with the dark reality of what they THOUGHT was comfortable and familiar 30 seconds ago. 6.) mining the real world for material. as a DM for vampire, i've gotten used to seeing news reports about crimes or political issues and thinking about what these things are a symptom of in the vampire world. if i ever have writer's block, all i have to do is turn on the news and just think "what are the vampires plotting and how is this part of it?" there are other aspects i like as well but these things alone i personally feel make gameplay and character/story development much more flexible and interesting, while giving the DM a lot more to work with. i get more engaged as a player, and as a DM i find it WAY easier to write my own story hooks.

[@DeathEatsCurry]

@@taterenforth6433 Jake in general is overly confident in a lot of his takes, which will inevitably lead to incorrect takes.

[@seraphonica]

this guy smells like a dm who begs players for feedback at the end of session and malds about anything negative until he gets to kill their characters.

[@seansteele6532]

"Wears it down with the probability of rolling five rolls." This is bad DMing. If a challenge does not correspond with some kind of consequence for failure, then don't bother with it. Oh it's a locked door but we're in a safe hallway and we have infinite time to get it open? Don't bother locking the fucking door. If nothing interesting happens when the rogue fails to unlock the door then there was never any tension in that challenge anyway. Better way to make unlocking a door interesting is like what happens in Star Wars: A New Hope, it was threatening to see if R2D2 would open the door in time because Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie are trapped in a dangerous place. This is very basic baby shit that I shouldn't need to use a children's movie to explain.

[@Suavek69]

This is why random encounters were a thing back in "the days". It's not really up to modern audience liking, but the idea was literally - the dungeon doesn't want you there, it's denizens will kill you. Get the loot and get out. You can try to open the same door 5 times, but every time you do, you waste time and risk being worn down or killed. Wasting time was a consequence of it's own.

[@iamthewatergod]

I literally purchased my Castles and Crusades starter pack from a vendor wearing a rainbow-labeled Castles and Crusades logo on their t-shirt. There is nothing inherently "non-woke" about Castles and Crusades.

[@warmachineuk]

I prefer skills. I don't see a problem with a non-Rogue class opening locks. Rogues emphasise DEX, so it's hard to overshadow them. However, if no one's playing a Rogue, you need another character to open locks. Just have a backstory about how he learnt it.

[@gabrielesh7916]

I get that he's trying to outline differences, but it's a bad look when you reference D&D nearly as often as you reference the game you're trying to peddle. If it wasn't some D&D rip off, there should be something original that can't be compared to D&D.

[@CalledTurnAGundam]

You can always tell certain things are forged out of pure salt and fee fee spite. Castles and Crusades.... that's the single gayest thing I've ever seen... and I'M Gay. Other examples of "MYEHHHH" creations include The Cincinnati Bengals, and Sony, so I guess there's some hope for them, abstractly speaking... ;)

[@mistressabysstress]

See it’s D&D. You can in fact do anything. Homebrew or whatever. The thing is he can’t because he can’t find anyone who want to do whatever cringe things he wants to do with his weird goofy self. People will do a lot of wild things in D&D but everyone needs to be ok with it and people tend to not like cringe and creep.

[@n0etic_f0x]

@@mistressabysstress I have to say I love how he hates both Wizards and socialism because he believes the billionaires are all Marxist. Like he can’t shut up about WotC, I only use the players handbook from WotC, I don’t pay them much attention because… I find their stuff boring.

[@generalsci3831]

It's so odd when people have to dunk on one game to promote another. I haven't heard of C&C before, but Boomer Gamer here certainly didn't do a good sell by basically saying, "Hey, you! You're having fun incorrectly. Here, let me show you how it's done."

[@0Fyrebrand0]

I really think he's just desperately trying to sway people away from "woke" D&D, and this is the alternative he came up with. I've never heard of it either. He sure didn't do a good job explaining why it's fun though, all he talked about was boring details like what modifiers you add to ability checks and stuff. Calling it a "5e killer" is hilarious.

[@justingovas415]

​@@0Fyrebrand0considering 5e is what made dnd explode to the popularity that it is!

[@somik-i3x]

That basically the reason I don't want to touch Pathfinder 2e. All their fans only bash D&D to prove their game is fun. And that alos the reverse reason I am getting into DCC and Xcrawl classic. Community is better and they actually describe how their game is fun.

[@waifusmith4043]

​@@somik-i3x I'm a big Pf2e shill but the way I generally try and sell it to people is something like this: if you want a tighter balance and more customization overall, play Pf2e. Some things I do like about it is just you can create more interesting characters due to how your classes are constructed, it encourages you to be more versatile, and your choice of ancestry lets you get additional abilities later in the game (I never liked how your racial abilities often stop at level 5 in 5e) The game feels like it really requires me to work with my teammates, each combat is deadly, and from the get go I feel powerful. The archetype system lets you continue in your class progression while getting either a multiclass, or something like the medic dedication (which lets pretty much any class become a healer without magic). Honestly the ancestry and heritage system is such a boon for me because I can mix and match things in a way I couldn't with 5e, like mixing Kitsune with any of the genie heritages. All good if you don't have interest playing Pf2e, I do like it more because it addressed my major gripes with 5e, but I mainly like it because of better balance (less "must haves") and more customization.

[@17joren]

Isn't having a stat with a lower roll bonus already defining when a roll is difficult? Why do you also have to raise the difficulty number if it's not their primary stat?

[@chibbersthesquirrel6189]

Just a short note on CR in 5th edition - The reason the individual CR fights are easier is because they're balanced to the expectation that players have 6-8 level-appropriate encounters per long rest, which... frankly, is a boring way to play and nobody does that. 5th edition as written is supposed to be a war of attrition that challenges you to conserve resources but it's just more fun to do a couple of really interesting fights per long rest, rather than a half-dozen moderate ones that don't feel very consequential.

[@AgentForest]

I'm currently designing my own TTRPG system, first time doing this, and I could immediately see all the flaws in CnC, lol. Damn, bro, that sounds like an awful system.

[@diesirae8422]

Everyone rates arcane trickster highly and this weird boomer would be like NO ROGUES DONT GET MAGIC. I’m playing one right now and you realise after 5 or 6 levels that it is almost pointless as a caster and you get some general utility out of having spells and barely any spell slots. You’re not exactly going SPELLBOOK PEW PEEEEWWWW Basically all I really do is throw a shadow blade around and silvery barbs the odd crit. Yeah I get that it can be useful and fun and I was enamoured straight away with the idea of rogue magic but holy shit this dude makes it sound like every character is an amorphous blob of wiz20 fighter20 and heal20 and you do everything all the time. Hate idiots like this trying to tell people how to play a game

[@aholafungi]

the sunglasses say it all

[@kingashant6323]

They hide the tears

[@danalinchristania5163]

Well said

[@cass7448]

What is it with conservative dudes and sunglasses?

[@donjhoe9206]

​@@cass7448armchair psychologist in me thinks it's a Freudian attempt at controlling which emotions they're displaying are visible to you. Eyes contain a lot of vulnerability, imho.

[@otheirony618]

It just sounds like a more punishing version of DND

[@zakjackson2610]

That's why I like Skyrim. I can be a Redguard and the go become the archmage. Or I can play a Nord and then go become a slave miner. It's equal opportunity like that.

[@BigK13372]

Don’t forget you can be a Dunmer and lead the Stormcloaks

[@thedogmaticdirector]

10:22 "You can covert to a mana point-style system". You can actually do that in 5e as well. The DMG has an optional rule for a spell-point system, with a dedicated table of how many spell points you have per level, and the point cost to cast per spell level. It even tells you how to calculate the lower spell-point pool for half-casters like Paladins and Rangers. In other words, the "unique" selling point of a mana pool isn't actually unique.

[@waifusmith4043]

I agree, the idea of a mana pool in and of itself is a pretty common idea. My issue with the spell point system (I use nimble 5e for my games) is that it's not intuitive. I did the calcs for the mana table in a game I'm running so my players know how much mp they have at a level, and to cast a spell they just spend a number of points equal to the spell level

[@thedogmaticdirector]

@@waifusmith4043 Yes, I find the optional rule very clunky and VERY easy to abuse, as it does allow a wizard to cast multiple 9th level spells in a single combat.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

I assumed this would be about FATAL since that's infamously monstrous.

[@gourdguru]

i was half expecting MYFAROG.

[@CodeNameX001]

He sounds like the kind of DM who thinks his players want to be told what they're not allowed to do. The kind who seals a paladin in a room separate from the party in a dungeon and tells him he's not allowed to look for traps. He then springs a trap on him as punishment for daring to look for his own way out, instead of waiting for the rest of the party to finish the "ingenious" puzzle he came up with.

[@TheMillenniumWitch]

Castles and Crusades? C&C? Nah. More like "Coping and Crying" in this guy's case. 😂

[@secutorprimus]

Tbh, this nazi's ttrpg didn't sound bad for the first ~40% of the video. Abandon dnd, try other games, lovely. But as soon as he started talking about how they did away with skills, in favor of class-locked mechanics: immediate no. That's the laziest, most derivative possible way you could do things. No wonder the system doesn't want to hard commit to any one magic system, they're trying to go for quantity over quality, wide net approach to gaining players. No longevity for the system, it'll only be held aloft by gimmicks. Better instead for your chosen class/archetype/career to give you a nudge in a certain direction. You know, skill proficiencies, some basic abilities, things like that. Allow people to build however they want, it's just that your archetype will allow you to level more efficiently if you play to your strengths (while leaving open *actual interesting progression*) I haven't even reached the halfway point, I don't even know IF the nazi starts going on and on about whether CnC -- bad name choice, btw -- is "sticking it to those wokes" or something. Purely based off of the core mechanics he's advertised, it sounds like a shit experience.

[@Suavek69]

The thing is tho - doing away with skills can be cool, depends on what you want to be doing. It moves more things back into the so called "shared domain of play" if done well. If, for example, your game has horse riding as a skill, not only does it show who can ride horses, but also implicitly shows who can't. Doing away with skills allows people to actually try anything. This is why I personally like 5e the most at low levels, high level DND character too often feels way to specialized. And there are games that take that low-level experience, streach it out and make it interesting

[@secutorprimus]

@@Suavek69 I suppose, but only if it doesn't impose class-based restrictions on it all, like this nazi does. Low level dnd is fun in that way, because its hybrid system allows for a lot of freedom. I just prefer a lot of crunch in my skill checks, I think.

[@leadstomach9397]

Get you a creature that’s immune to non-magical damage, and give them a pet beholder. It makes the non-magic cone a truly deadly threat.

[@chelseastorm3942]

Seems like he wants his games to be on rails

[@Whightknight16]

After doing my own research into the game this goober is talking out his own ass. Castles and Crusades system is very much a conversion of 3rd edition D&D with added tweaks here and there that I actually kind of like. Also for the record in this system a Fighter could absolutely pick a lock because you still choose what your character is good at lol

[@inrainbows1829]

This guy still crying

[@Charolette21]

Can this dude not call it “CnC” it’s sounds terrible 😂

[@Leivve]

Kept thinking he was randomly bringing up Command and Conquer every time he did.

[@aetherkid]

"If the thief fails the roll, then everybody else can roll and overshadow them." No, they cant. You as DM call for rolls. If you say the thief was the only person to roll, theyre the only roll. Thats your call as DM to make

[@JamCliche]

I love that I found this guy on my feed months ago, immediately hated his channel and blocked it, and now I discover you in my feed talking about how he sucks!

[@ayajade6683]

I DM for d&d and have played at multiple tables that have Frankensteined in elements from older editions into 5e. This guy is just showing he lacks creativity to take what he wants to make the d&d he wants. I literally tell my players if it's in a book I'll consider letting them use it

[@arcanumcoto]

Pathfinder 1 is mid af Pathfinder 2 is pretty good, but still lacks good social mechanics and has annoying feature bloat.

[@Eo-ms3kw]

I like 1e. Never really got to play a lot of it but from what I played it was enjoyable. Pretty complex but that's kinda the point. Haven't tried 2e.

[@shinkiro403]

@Eo-ms3kw Pf1 always felt like a a bit blander but MUCH more balanced version of D&D3.5, so ofc crunchy but all-encompassing. Personally, if it just had dropped the Vancian casting for 5e's one I'd have hardly played other fantasy pprpgs

[@aetherkid]

"Anybody can do anything in D&D!" No, they have to make build choices. Not every character is equally sneaky, persuasive, athletic, or intelligent. The rogue can be a good tracker if they take that skill INSTEAD of another one, such as Acrobatics or Insight.

[@nonreligionist]

He seems like the type who not only thinks a PC can "win" at DND, but cries when he's not the "winner"

[@willowtdog6449]

This guy would be an insufferable DM, omg. I’d kill my character just to quit the campaign. 😂 Why doesn’t this dude understand that you can just use house-rules to change how anything works? As long as everyone playing knows and agrees. He would make the game so miserable to play just with his attitude. Yuck.

[@lyudmilapavlichenko7551]

I've played/DMed Dungeons & Dragons for over 30 years. This sad man doesn't know Jack about Dungeons & Dragons.

[@Viceroux]

Hey! Been playing d&d since 2009, have been running games since 2010. If you think 5e fights are all cake walks then you just don't have a knack for encounter design. Tell your paladin that the enemy is 15 feet above them and watch them squirm

[@Infernalhag]

My favorite lol cow Diversity and dragons back I always have a smile on my face laughing at him

[@heyimbilliejean]

PF2e is actually a very well designed game. Maybe a little too well designed. The issue that a lot of gamist games have is that they end up feeling rigid, but that's the consequence of making a rigorously designed game with a heavy focus on balance. I don't play PF2e for that reason.

[@titansquirrel4408]

Our DM uses what i believe is a homebrew "stress" system, allowing you to get a flat +x to any roll where x adds exponential stress values, and i dont even know when he does hidden stress rolls for temporary or permanent bad outcomes or insanity or eventually death. Don't know how it works cuz I'm scared to use it, waiting for our elementalist to break himself cuz hes the guy to do it

[@charlesreid9337]

"I am so sick of people not being bigots!!!". These people blow my mind

[@JoeHerron]

In a book from Green Ronin in 3e for a Psychic class, the spells were skills that you must put points in like any other skills from 3e, and the power or effectiveness of the spell is based on your skill check roll. Along with that, the way they limit the use is not with slots of spells allowed, but instead with "Strain" damage which is non-lethal mental damage the player sustains with each use of a psychic spell. I absolutely loved this system.

[@JoeHerron]

I made this comment before I got to the part where he dissed Green Ronin :P

[@Tareltonlives]

He should just run a campaign where he actually has a brain

[@Johnston212]

I actually started running Call of Cthulhu. I love it. I pretty much adhere with the same level of severity as Geoffrey Rush saying "guidelines"

[@lynxk9372]

i was like "cool yeah call out some peaple" then i heard that you do not say your eternal prayers to our lord Paizo , the second coming of jesus himself.

[@BigK13372]

[Sees the title] So the guy discovered Homebrew Content. Not really a difficult thing to search for considering I once played a session themed around One Piece.

[@dannyeisenga]

That bit near the end where you get a +6 on 'primary' skill checks - isn't that just proficiency bonus?

[@MarkSiefert]

I’ve played C&C. It’s a decent d20 fantasy game. I don’t know where’s he getting all this anti-woke stuff from, though.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Keep in mind that "woke" doesn't actually mean anything, it's just a word for things they don't like.

[@MarkSiefert]

@@PlatinumAltaria I imagine so. I’d just rather not see this goon give this game a bad rep.

[@cabbagegoat5637]

Thats just Diversity's regular self. One of those 'complains about pronouns' types

[@HavartiCamembert]

One of my favorite skill systems was in The Secrets of Zir'an rpg. I liked the fact that if you were skilled enough, certain easier challenges you just didn't roll for. There should really be no chance of a master locksmith failing to open the lock on a teenager's diary, for instance.

[@jshack461]

"My group" jfc I can only imagine that special hell

[@SuperSlowmobile]

This guy looks and sounds like he's a character in a Tony Zaret skit.

[@8bitlatina845]

This guy has -3 in charisma.

[@alliet.7582]

One of my favorite moments in D&D is when my druid turned a beholder into a sheep.

[@Spinozilla109]

I love your videos!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@n0etic_f0x]

I like you covering this guy because I know why I like him now. He is the trash DMs that I had in the 90s whose "quality" was TPKs per hour. I am not a fan of 5e though Blades in the Dark, All of World of Darkness (that is... a lot), and my favorite City of Mist are all better if you ask me. Just know World of Darkness can be... uh... dark, like very dark.

[@Piterdeveirs333]

World of darkness can also be very silly

[@n0etic_f0x]

@@Piterdeveirs333 true. I just don’t want to have people stumble on The Shoah. Because you don’t understand what that book is and not go WTF. Do not play it if it turns you off at all. Respect the game like it respects what it is based on. Because… yeah.

[@shinkiro403]

It's a pity to me how functionally NOBODY talks of *Chronicles* of Darkness and its splatbooks, I sure am biased because it was my first introduction to that universe (Beast and Mage in particular), but if anything I'd say it's still objectively and unfairly overlooked

[@n0etic_f0x]

@@shinkiro403 It’s easily one of my favorite settings. I love Changeling it’s needlessly esoteric but with Mage and the Technocracy I both grounds and in a very fun way bleeds into the real world. That just makes it so much more fun. Things that happen in our world can be events but you get the chance to just be as unhinged as you want. It’s just cool

[@tommahkun]

​@@shinkiro403Beast? oh, no... For what it's worth I started with it back when it was classed as simply New World of Darkness and think the devs absolutely shit the bed with the update to Chronicles. Literally the only thing they needed to do to fix the combat system was make aiming not a waste of an action, but we got that disaster instead.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

So they went not only one letter but also in terms of creativity backwards....What comes next? Bibles & Babbling? Anarchy & A-Holes? I have a sneaky suspicion this thing was designed by Shad Mor(m)on Brooks......

[@sbushido5547]

I've never played D&D...so I don't understand what he thinks is stopping him from changing the rules he doesn't like into something he does. Well, other than a shocking lack of creativity. This isn't like 40k or something where you can't just roll up to the table with an army of half Tyranids and half Orks and expect to get a game in... But even then, if you're playing with friends in some narrative battle/campaign, you **can** just do whatever you want with that game too.

[@chrisclark784]

Its just for clicks, grifting makes a lot of money.

[@joearnold6881]

I e never played tabletop. I never had that kind of group of friends (and I don’t want to start online), but I love the crpgs that have come from them. From Planescape torment to the two great pathfinder ones, or things inspired by like Divinity or Pillars of Eternity One of these days I’ll find some people to teach me to play around a table. Maybe I should search what’s around here in Boston for that kinda thing

[@gourdguru]

hit up your local comic/trading card shop, they usually have a tabletop game night where you can play a quick one-off session to get into the swing of things.

[@TackeMatty]

What is with the wide angle with him all the way on the left

[@flunkiebubs2002]

I really wanna make my own tabletop campaign setting, I’ve already started writing the lore for it, it would be a bronze age world with a mix of Celtic and Sumerian themes

[@Desecratr]

The background music in this dude's video is jarring. I'm getting tonal whiplash every time Jake unpauses the video.

[@dantorio367]

I might be missing something (like reading comprehension) but this is just badly worded dnd.

[@groovegnome]

I got fed up with trying to DM 5e a few years ago, I had such a hard time trying to keep up with PC abilities, and I didn’t like how the rules were so, for lack of a better term, player focused meaning that players would look at the rules, then turn to the DM and say “it should work this way”. I also could not STAND how PC’s could literally be on deaths door, take a full rest and be back to full HP the next morning. I made the switch to OSE, which is based off of 1981 B/X D&D, and I love it. I’ll never turn back. I love the way it plays at the table, combats take minutes instead of hours, rules are easy to adjudicate, characters can be made in minutes. My biggest problem with my choice is avoiding the freaks and chuds. Honestly, haven’t had too much of an issue with it, most folks in the OSR community are great, just like me got burnt out trying to DM 5e.

[@CodeNameX001]

29:59 WhAaAaAaT!? You can change the rules you don't like!? It's ALMOST like you can just make any alterations you like to a system to fit the enjoyment of your players! Seriously, this dude keeps complaining about 5e, when really he's just a bad DM. If he wants everything to go exactly the way he imagined it and every player to stay in their designated box, he should just write a book.

[@Koifin3]

D&D boomers when they realize they can just homebrew like every normal person has been doing for years

[@Jermbot15]

But in C&C you do get something every level, a penalty to your ability to disarm traps. 27:01 12th level fighter's get 3 extra attacks against 1HD or less creatures. How many 1HD creatures are you going to clog your battle mat with at level 12?

[@odiram]

The most frustrating thing for me is that I actually do prefer the stripped down game design of a lot of “osr” style games, but half the people who promote them online are reactionaries mad at modern dnd for pulling back on the bio-essentialism, or they have weirdly strict prescriptions on how games should be played in general, and they communicate all their preferences confrontationally.

[@broadcastbard]

I agree that 5e has too much player power for me. I like the old-school low-fantasy like you'd find in 80s fantasty movies and LOTR.

[@caramitten9526]

Wow.. 'troll lord games' takes me back. I remember doing some freelance illustration work for them almost 20 years ago when they were on the D20 bandwagon. They were perfectly fine to work with...I'd be sad to learn if they had a right-wing lean.

[@Journeyman107]

I have a theory that the new softer slightly more fairy tale looking art is a big reason these guys are flipping out but somehow they want to make it a bigger than that. I don’t like the art style or Forgotton Realms setting either but my god, you can just play the game however you want tonally and ignore the art in the books.

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

This guy is basically describing magic in 5E, whilst claiming it's totally different? You have what amounts to mana in 5E with slots, how do you think people up cast low level spells? You just can't use lower slots to cast high level spells, for some very clear reasons. Likewise, you also need to roll dice, and hit a target number, for the spell to work. Or force a save from the target of the spell. Is this going to be 5E, but made by another grumpy old man he happens to agree with. And I say that as somebody who has been playing RPGs for decades, and just hit fifty. You don't like 5E, then why TF are you raving about what will most likely be a 5E reskin? There's literally 100s of fantasy RPG catering for all play styles. Get over yourself, and maybe try another game entirely. Not grumpy man's 5E fanfic.

[@michaellindenmuth9446]

Some of the best parts of DnD are when people do things that you don’t often see.

[@erin1569]

The two idologies: We should keep doing racist stereotypes (apolitical) Maybe we should be antiracist (political)

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

Great to know Madmartigan from Willow would be total dog poo in the game. I get the feeling joining this guy's group would mean being shoehorned into the most boring role the party needs.

[@treyvonwilliams4955]

He's still crying, crazy.

[@ttiagoox]

ain't that the same guy who made a vídeo saying Ginny D is toxic because she encounrages safety tools for games ?

[@lazzygnome4060]

Comments like "you don't get something at every level" really shows how right-wing brain rot is affecting his thought process. He probably thinks leveling up is equivalent to participation trophies 😅

[@themajesticspider-man6116]

Damn, this man is kinda dumb, huh.

[@burgerpocalypse]

i prefer mazes and monsters

[@euca04]

The mana point system literally is a variant rule in dnd this guy seems the most obnoxious person possible

[@AgentForest]

Oh yeah, Pathfinder 1e is easily expliotable and has very clear "best builds". 2e is phenomenal, but I'll admit it's easier to play on a VTT because it'll automate a lot of the number crunching Pathfinder gets teased for.

[@ashfox7498]

Hey Jake can you actually explain the issue he talks about with classes not being special? If I am a strong barbarian and I have to lift up a castle portcullis I can fail even with high strength then have a bard with a lucky roll do better. Are you just supposed to say as DM: "No you aren't allowed because the barbarian is the strong guy, sing a song harp boy"? A good DM will find the players an alternate path you're right, but this does seem like a really good way to solve the extremes of "no you're not allowed" or "17, a dimwit lizard barbarian knows more about history than the wizard"

[@zenbear9952]

You could always roleplay it as the bard doing it differently if he succeeds. Like maybe the barbarians muscles weren't enough until the bard stuck a lever underneath for leverage

[@iamthewatergod]

The lizard barbarian just had a brilliant thought, the Wizard had a brain fart

[@mooseitself]

Who the f is playing stock d&d? If it's actually a lot, I need to write down our home rules and sell it...

[@dragonkings01]

there are just so many systems, all basically tell you use what works. So need to be okay with. I like Pathfinder 2E, The 2d20 systems, The Achtung Cthulhu system, The New One Ring system. so many good systems. about to start a Transformers RPG.