The Sandbox vs the Railroad | Running the Game

[@lausenteternidad]

- So, my character can speak uh... _sindarin._ What does the guard say? - Gimme a sec... - DM pulls out a folder of notes - Oh, you actually... - Ajem. The guard says _"Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn."_ ... - I think you are over prepping a little bit, John.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

John: *laughs in Appendices*

[@stephaniesilvan3526]

There is no such thing as overprepping.

[@Mr.Monster1984]

lol

[@seanmurphy3430]

"I got a fucking Ph.D. in linguistics, LET ME HAVE MY CONLANGS"

[@rhettmilner7640]

W comment

[@theirishasian5490]

I love the indirect description of Legolas and Gimli as "basically murder hobos, but fun to hang out with"

[@jacobstaten2366]

In any other context, two guys playfully ribbing each other about hoe easily they can slaughter other people and keep high score would be terrifying.

[@theirishasian5490]

That just sounds like a Tuesday

[@chalor182]

THAT ONLY COUNTS AS ONE!

[@TheRubberDuck77]

@@chalor182 you stole my reply hehe

[@arandomzoomer4837]

“Toss me”

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

Dude, someone should *totally* make that into a book and movie! ;-)

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

Yes. Apologies for the sarcasm. ;-)

[@aapjew18]

Maybe even six movies!

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

Willem Maas Nah... that would be crazy. Who'd do something like that!

[@Nerdarchy]

Ah, I don't think anyone would be into it. :P

[@tarquimSuperbus]

They should make the second adventure first and then go back and do the first.

[@LittleNemoGaming]

This should be a series of its own- Retelling movies etc as D&D games.

[@fanaticbogey]

YES YES MORE YES. OOOOOH BLACK PANTHER AS A DROW MOVIE!!!

[@LordBluFire]

i third this!

[@endorneyodera4366]

Fourth!

[@idontcare6736]

Ever read Darths and Droids? It’s exactly this and it’s amazing.

[@thelittleredhairedgirlfrom6527]

I Don't Care There is something like that specifically for LoTR , I just forgot what it was called

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Meanwhile John's friend Charles' game is full of talking animals and strange references to Christianity, and all the players have decided to play as Human Children from the early 1940s.

[@bonzupippinpaddleoxacoppil484]

The character who played Golum got booted from this group and went over there. He played Edmund.

[@JRTIntervencion]

Okay this is a good one @ OP XD

[@juliank198]

No, you're thinking of Clive

[@johnrobinson242]

Yeah, John's "friend" Charles's game is full of esoteric CR35 lions and butterflies disrupting our very plane of existence. It's super trippy.

[@Jack-gs6sd]

@@juliank198late to the party but he went by “Jack” to his friends

[@Zom13y]

Don't feel bad for Sean he dies in every game.

[@wyndhammer]

WIN

[@danielwelker5362]

He's had some unexpected luck in two or three games in the last year or two.

[@mordirit8727]

Did you see his podcast with Geroge DMing? Sean was like "imma break my character alignment entirely and lie to survive", and George was just like "you died anyway", Sean can't catch a break =/

[@Elmithian]

Mordirit Don't give me false hopes. If this was real then I would ask for a link, but since it isn't I can only cry over the fact that it is fake ;A;

[@squishymada]

He didn't die in that modern Heist game they played with Robert, but he decided it wasn't really his thing and he left after the first quest.

[@SpiralSine6]

“So we have a group of dwarves and a halfling thief…” Hey wait a minute!

[@petersenior5432]

@@onyxbasilisk9046 I don't know, don't forget the entire premise of the video saying that The Hobbit was a sandbox and LOTR was a story based game on rails, using them as examples. Because, you know, The LOTR series is just a D&D campaign from before D&D was a thing.

[@petersenior5432]

@@onyxbasilisk9046 his one was obviously sarcasm, quote: "hey, wait a minute!". Yours was very not sarcastic sounding, quote: "smaug knockoff"

[@petersenior5432]

@@onyxbasilisk9046 What malice do you speak of? That means the intention to do evil. I do no evil by saying that the internet makes stuff that might be sarcasm not look like sarcasm. Have a good day. Eat a cookie.

[@petersenior5432]

@@onyxbasilisk9046 Was about to say something like "I wasn't asking for perfecting your previous comments to any standards I might have" but deleting all your replies gave me a little chuckle. blocked.

[@TheDiazDarkness]

They go for a dragon... wait another freaking minute

[@alexanderchippel]

I'm getting a feeling that LoTR was referenced subtly.

[@lunashumaker8315]

Alexander Chippel that was nowhere near subtle

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Oh, Gygax cribbed off Tolkien so it's only fair.

[@VestedUTuber]

I get the feeling that they accidentally (or intentionally) reenacted the base plot from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

[@dreadogastusf3548]

Ya' think so? But seriously, this story is so Exactly LoTR that I get the feeling that M. Colville is stress testing our belief. Across years and generations of players nobody says, "this is the plot of Lord of The Rings."

[@zennim125]

very very subtle

[@danielpryde7548]

I can't get over how well he turned LOTR into a DnD campaign.

[@infidelheretic923]

I’ve often thought about Star Wars as a DND game. C-3PO would probably be the DM’s player character.

[@OctopusGrift]

@@infidelheretic923 There is a webcomic called Darths and Droids that is this premise. It's based off the idea of a different comic called DM of the Rings. They both use images from the movies to tell the story of a TTRPG campaign.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

DM of the Rings is currently being remastered by the original creator's daughter, as the original creator has sadly passed away.

[@jessefoutz597]

@@OctopusGrift We're so old that people don't recognize Darths and Droids or DM of the Rings anymore.

[@Veran42]

XP to Level 3 also made a video series like this

[@rateeightx]

Only About Halfway Through Did I Realise That John Was Meant To Be J.R.R. Tolkien, Who's First Name Was, In Fact, John.

[@MaxIV77]

All the names are the actors too.

[@jackielinde7568]

I got it when he started talking about this dwarven fortress with a dragon and a treasure hoard. He wasn't that subtle.

[@rateeightx]

@@jackielinde7568 Well I Realised It Was Based On The Hobbit And LotR Pretty Early On, But I Didn't Catch Onto The Names Until Later.

[@SorchaSublime]

@@rateeightx nice typing quirk kanaya

[@OtepRalloma]

@@SorchaSublime oh its another rare homestuck out in the wild >:]

[@gunhead7159]

This sounds shockingly close to The Hobbit/LoTR Edit: I'm a dumbass, ten minutes in and I finally realised that the campaign is literally LoTR

[@Valfara770]

hehe, took me till the quote :D I was so in D&D mode that I didn't think of LoTR.

[@josephnewberry9290]

I was thinking, "Wow, people were pretty blatant in basing their campaigns on Tolkien back in the day." Right up till Vigo showed up, and I finally got it.

[@vcool122]

I didn't realised during The Hobbit part, I realised when the wizard sent the halfling to the elven kingdom XD

[@penjaminthestrange4427]

i realized the second he said king under the mountain

[@k-rodkev-dog7449]

@@penjaminthestrange4427 same. Lol

[@mcolville]

Remember, if your players had fun, that's all that matters! Being "on rails" doesn't always mean "railroaded." That's a distinction we'll talk about in another video. "Railroaded" is that unpleasant feeling the players get when they feel like "we don't have a choice!" On rails just means the players are following the content the DM has ready. I think MOST games are on rails and people have fun! Besides, there are lots of tricks for hooking your players so they feel like the content you had prepared was the content they wanted to do anyway.

[@mcolville]

+Matthew Colville As a friend of mine said "Rollercoasters are on rails and people seem to like them."

[@saltytime6122]

+Matthew Colville This video, as well as others, have been shared on Reddit.com/r/DnD, and it gave your channel a lot of exposure to many D&D players. Its a great community there, and everyone loves your work. Keep making great content!

[@clay___]

Sweet Com Truise shirt!

[@clay___]

And congrats on 5k subs

[@SeanPhelan]

I know you didn't come up with it Matthew, but I think "Railroading" is a poor term to indicate a game that takes place in a world with an ongoing plot. Instead of calling it "Railroading", a term with an unmistakable very negative connotation, and then having to explain you don't really mean it in a bad way - I think adopting a new term for your worthy productions makes more sense. Cheers

[@lupusprobitas]

The Lord of the Rings comparison was pretty funny, the only thing missing was one of the players asking why they couldn't just use the Great Eagles to help transport the ring ;-)

[@adamsloan9616]

And at the end, Sean would say, "Can you imagine if we walked the whole way?!? Someone could have died!"

[@mordirit8727]

Viggo wants to make a Charisma-Deception roll against Sala's evil demon character and Jon's like "dude you're gonna have to roll preeeeetty high" and Sean is like "okay, my character shows off his butt to help him". Viggo gets advantage and it actually works!

[@TheoloGGamer]

it's done really well, so obvious, haha

[@isaacbadmanson2260]

Matt uses the books as reference, shown in several other videos. In the books they dismiss that idea due to the eagles not being stealthy enough and stealth is the only way that could actually get this done. (You probably know this and are just being ironic, but I cannot leave any cracks.)

[@no_nameyouknow]

@@isaacbadmanson2260 Yeah, he might be joking but others are serious. The Nazgul. They can fly and easily kill eagles.

[@lindybeige]

The more choice I offer players, the more they feel that there is a railway there, but that they are too stupid to see it. At least, this happens in trad games like Runequest, but Hillfolk never gives this impression, because every,one knows from the start that the game can go anywhere.

[@risingsun9595]

Oh wow, didn't think Lindybeige would show up here

[@nopnopnopnopnopnopnop]

On the other hand, our DnD group has almost forgotten what the main quest is, since we've had so much fun going on all these side quests. And that's incredibly fun.

[@jamescanjuggle]

@@risingsun9595 honestly with the videos lindy makes it only makes sense to me that he watches the matt covil video where he describes the lord of the rings xD

[@OhanCockett]

@@risingsun9595 this is awesome

[@Amrylin1337]

But any TTRPG game can go anywhere, Lindy, you just have to say as much. If the players don't hear that there are Q-Tips to solve that problem.

[@jekubfimbulwing5370]

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. The original Murder Hobo's.

[@billhenry7213]

No. They do not kill random people, nor do they kill for no reason. They do not fight if they do not have to do so to survive. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

[@settratheimperishable4093]

@@billhenry7213 also, a bit r/iamverysmart to just assume to know everything about their part in the story.

[@NessaEllenesse]

When everything is trying to kill you, you end up killing everything. Legolas and Gimli were not murder Hobos. They had spent their whole lives in guerilla warfare against orcs. Legolas most likely fought in the battle of five armies. Now it was open warfare again. It was a matter of survival not just for them but for their people. The orcs were determined to exterminate both elves and orcs. And enslave men

[@jermainerace4156]

I though merry and Pippin were the murder hobos... particularly Pippin..

[@alalalala57]

@@billhenry7213 Lol, look at this rookie thinking murderhobos are only those who kill everyone.

[@goyasolidar]

Thank you for this. I am now envisioning John (Ronald Reuel Tolkien) sitting behind a DM's screen, puffing on his pipe, while running a D&D module (the Tomb of Horrors) for his fellow Inklings. C.S. Lewis is, of course, playing a paladin.

[@goyasolidar]

Absolutely!

[@Edude117]

H.P. wouldn't be playing with them.

[@SoraKirin]

Of course not he's off either playing Call of Cthullhu or World of Darkness

[@GarethGillatt]

Don't know if it has been said yet but this is so much dm of the rings

[@NovaStella_]

Eh, I don't know. I have a feeling that he would probably play some weird tree guardian that kidnaps two of the halfling players...

[@void735]

Carefull. That ring is bind on pickup.

[@Kane_the_Newschool_DM]

A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON

[@Meteor2022]

@@Kane_the_Newschool_DM NOOOO, why does you're dialogue reset when I leave the room!

[@neilelliott263]

Just realised even the players names are the LOTR characters actors names (Elijah, Viggo)

[@captcorajus]

John.. J. R. R. Tokien. lol. The DM is Tolkien.

[@haydenwolf935]

Wow, cool to notice that

[@MrScrawnjuan]

@@captcorajus ohhhhh. I was wondering why it wasn't Peter.

[@Lggr8x7f8f]

"John" sounds like a great DM.

[@DareToWonder]

"They got excited not by evil but by the freedom to not do good" I like that, i like that a lot.

[@Camstercage]

this sounds simmarillion to one i heard as a child

[@jonkthelizardman5491]

Cam Hanover LOL

[@darbypea2223]

YIKES that word play. I laughed out loud though

[@Un1Kron404]

I going to be honest, while I was enjoying the DM inspiration. I was also cringing over this video until I read your comment. Thank you.

[@shaunwhitfield7953]

I can't believe you'd pun on the open internet... It's a bad hobbit.

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

Stop these cringy puns immediatly, or elves!!

[@TheFeanor74]

An obscure Oxford professor apparently watched your video and decided to write a fantasy novel out of it. Because it's the story of a band of dwarfs, he called the book "the other small one in the party". You should definitely sue him for millions!

[@shanekayat3217]

The other small one in the party: a surprising adventure

[@cheeselord3655]

The other small one in the party; the desecration of smog

[@alizard7617]

The alternative individual of smaller stature within a group of adventurers of already small stature, the general destruction and devaluation of land wrought by a winged reptile who is commonly known by the name of Smaug.

[@theminecrafterreturns7251]

The other small one in the party: The big fight

[@goomymaster6417]

@@theminecrafterreturns7251 small man: beeg dorgon

[@voodoodummie]

in my opinion as a player, I prefer railroading in the beginning and then gaining freedom. like a tutorial level to get a feel of the world. sort of like the oblivion opening where you start as a prisoner (a classic opening) and have to follow this quest, after which you are left to your devices.

[@dionisus24]

Railroading in the beginning, is actually the best thing, otherwise hours may pass and the actual fun won't have started. The best thing to do is for the players to give their characters' motives to the DM, and the the DM will put them in situations their characters would (or wouldn't) want to end up. And from there on, the railroad breaks according to the decisions of the players. The game should start in a situation though, otherwise it may get boring. And that is the reason the players and the DM need to talk, individually if must, before the actual game, so that the DM would know what the characters are up to at the time, and put them in an environment suitable for them. Not easy, but suitable, and definitely realistic. For example a rogue would end up in an organised army with a good reason only, or a paladin could end up in a death cult for the proper reasons, not randomly.

[@prestonbrower762]

Sandbox the whole way is usually fun. Railroad the whole way is never fun. Sandbox followed by railroad is just frustrating. Railroad followed by sandbox almost always is fun.

[@x.a.2758]

Railroad followed by sandbox is the old school method of starting an adventure. However, I usually skip the entire introduction. The group (including the GM -- unless you're playing GM-less which is always a good option) can decide what they want to play in session zero. (That's when you meet to plan your campaign, game logistics etc and to create characters BEFORE you actually start playing.) If you already know what the players are interested in and what their characters are going to do during the first session there's no point in constructing an additional hook and forcing the characters to swallow it. The plot basically follows the characters while the characters are specifically created to play the campaign. Btw, if you create your characters together there's no way that a player might turn up with a character that doesn't match the group idea. Group pressure > GM authority

[@SamraeDuke]

It literally took me 10 mins to realize why this story sounded so familiar.

[@ricardocaiano1228]

took me about 10:25

[@tbmin3d]

Sean basically steals Viggo's character! I am DYING!

[@DummyUrD]

somehow these stories ring a bell

[@jetex1911]

+DummyUrD I know that the second one was based from The Lord of the Rings book, but what was the first based from?

[@lordshykamaru]

+jetex1911 The hobbit

[@callumhearne6936]

Drums in the deep.

[@danielwelker5362]

We cannot get out... THEY ARE COMING.

[@slagondrayer447]

If any player comes in and says a halfling is basically the same as a dwarf, they can just leave. lol

[@eddiemate]

Omega2064 No, halflings are just midgets humans.

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

What if they don't want to leave? What if they want to stay and eat? What if it's a long journey?

[@sirjon103]

@Omega2064 came to say same about gnome and halfling but saw ur comment and u are now dead >:)

[@thesamon123]

@@sirjon103 Gnomes and halflings isn't even remotely the same thing

[@punkpinata7062]

@Omega2064 What if Humans are just dire-halflings?

[@Rythian]

I think this is probably the best video you've done yet. It was a very effective way of showing the differences, and explaining how even something that sounds and feels awesome might not be that great, and unplanned randomness might lead to the best stuff. I tend to aim towards more railroady stuff myself, or maybe to put it less negatively, more "cinematic" and "linear". But I think it's important to always make your players feel like they can exercise their creativity and feel free to do cool things. "Yes, and..." or "Yes, but..." or at least "No, but..." rather than just "No, that's not gonna happen." Anyway, great video. Looking forward to more!

[@mcolville]

+YOGSCAST Rythian I think players underestimate how creative they can be! Probably worth doing a video about!

[@makd900]

+YOGSCAST Rythian You watch Matt???? You play D&D???? YOU DM D&D??????? **Mind Blown**

[@antemoniac7502]

Is this the Yogscast Rythian?

[@s.i.p.s4978]

Well put. I myself definitely tend more towards "linear" than "sandbox" as a DM , too. But that doesn't stop my players from finding ways to move everything in a completely new direction. You don't have to always say "yes", just once in a while and the players will be happy. Also, Rythian, you probably won't come back to this comment, but a series with you as DM would be amazing...

[@s.i.p.s4978]

@@mcolville In my experience players tend to put themselves "on rails". As a DM you have to remind them to be creative or they just forget they're playing D&D and everything's possible. Great Video btw. This whole series is so helpful!

[@chrisdion3260]

I love Matt's point that only 1 choice is another way of saying no choice. Great point.

[@celestialchord]

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire...” clever quote there

[@dru-is-here]

I was just about to type that too. I totally agree.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

Ah, my favorite Audio Book reading of The Hobbit and TLotR.

[@ChekhovsGun_]

you know for like literally half of the fricking video i was like "i wonder who's campaign this was, a friend of matts?" , Damn, you Matt. *violently shakes fist* i literally only figured it out because you called the halfling, elijah.

[@mcolville]

Don't feel bad, a lot of people said the same thing!

[@GamerNxUSN]

dragon kicking out dwarves didnt give it away?

[@d4arken3ds0ul]

GamerNxUSN the hobbit wasnt as well known as the trilogy till the movie(s) released That's how it was for me anyway

[@GoldMysticDragon]

suspicion rose the moment they asked to be lost heir of the dwarven kingdom. When he said the name of the actual heir i knew what this was.

[@nlaute_]

I wasn't paying much attention at that point, but when he said "Let's called him Vigo" i was like DUDE WTF???

[@Puntosmx]

Love the retelling of the Hobbit as if John R R Tolkien was a DM

[@jonkthelizardman5491]

Sergio Montserrat LOL

[@jonkthelizardman5491]

didn't realize it was until you pointed it out

[@squirtus0482]

Sergio Montserrat i thought i was the only one who noticed

[@iBloodxHunter]

Can you imagine though? That'd be fucking, LEGENDARY!!!

[@Madhattersinjeans]

1 hour later... still describing fanghorn forest. That guy was a bit of a flowery writer, for all his worldbuilding brilliance he had the rhythm of a plank of wood.

[@chrisweatherly9593]

Am I the only one who really enjoyed this retelling as a D&D campaign, I'm new to this channel, but that would be something I would come back for, or even just some short retelling of actual campaigns you you've been in. Thanks for the upload. Edit:lol just saw the upload date

[@mr.makepeace3465]

A few weeks ago, a member of my party let his daughter join the game, and I was preparing to have her play at our next session two weeks later when I was off of work. Instead, they wanted to play a quick game the following weekend so that she might learn how to play. I wasn't ready for that because I wasn't informed until earlier that day, so I winged the whole story, including what the setting was. I only knew that the party was going to be in a dwarven city when it went under siege from orcs and elves or something, and they would have the option as a chaotic neutral/evil party to defend or attack the city. After a little defending the wall, the party decided that they were gonna fall back into the city. I tossed in a few guards shouting, "Save the king!" They nibbled on the bait, but they ultimately decided not to bite, but instead, they were gonna climb down the mountain side. The party repels down the mountain on a long rope, two of the nearly die as they fall, but they all escaped with their lives and some money they stole before lighting a fire in the city. Everyone had a great time, and I had no planning done whatsoever.

[@TwoGoblinsInATrenchCoat]

"The other two players are perfectly happy just playing murder hobos." Yep, that's Legolas & Gimli alright.

[@icequeen9]

Oh my god. It took me until the 13.45 timestamp to realise the player names were the actor names. I knew it was all Lord of the Rings, which I thought was great, but it took me THAT LONG to catch on. -_-

[@mcolville]

+Miss Communication don't feel bad, LOTS of people had the same experience!

[@turdferguson3091]

i thought he was talking about a legit campaign at first and was smh over how it seemed like a generic tolkien rip off. once i got that it was this brilliant analogy i started laughing at myself. the way he presented it was perfect. hook you with familiarity and let it slowly surface until you realize its this mind blowing parable that we can all relate to. good stuff.

[@3InchesofLove]

It's okay. I knew it was LOTR my first time watching but it was only when Matt said Viggo joined the group during my second time watching this that I was like..... Dammit Matt. It's fucking Viggo Mortensen. Also Sean Bean dies again

[@Drecon84]

Didn't even know Tolkien's first name was John. (got it at Elijah btw)

[@josephmort4039]

Viggo didn't give it away?

[@scotttaylor3015]

Hey man, Sean just wanted to add drama and conflict to the sessions

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

Sean is a great and experienced role player. He only joined this group though because he had died in his previous 37 campaigns.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

"It's what my character would do!"

[@kamphuis89]

Sean was a that guy player: ThIs Is WhAt My cHaRaCtEr wOuLd Do 😂

[@codypatton2859]

The best railroad is one the players don't know they're on.

[@MedievalVixen]

unless they are first time gamers for like a 3 or 4 session game they will realise it eventually. I just finished a 1 year long game yesterday that left a bad taste in my mouth, because I realised we had no choice in the ending (which ended relatively bad in a way) and looking back at the game I now realise we had been railroaded the whole way. First, looking back, it didnt leave a lot of place for roleplay, because we always had to be at the next temple, the next city, the next forest, then the next city again... we could never really explore and improvise and have fun with the world, because everything was pre set-up for us. At the time I didnt realise it was a railroad campaign, but I did realise that i was finding it sad to never have the time to sit down in a tavern and actually roleplay my character, and i was finding it tiring to always have to be at the next place. What did it for me was that at the end the DM did a 'cutscene' (something was happening and we could not interact) where a npc was killed and there was nothing we could do to stop it and there was no way we could have prevented it. He did admit afterwards it was his plan all along. It kind of ruined the game for me, because now I feel like all the ''choices'' i made or how I acted never did a difference because no matter what I would have done things would have happened exactly the same, and that i kind of wasted a year watching the scenery, even if I did not realise i was watching the scenery at the time. Honestly I feel cheated and quite a bit manipulated. Dont get me wrong, we had some fun, and he is a good DM despite that, he brought innovative ways to play to the table, it was interesting, his NPC's were really really good... but i feel like i acomplished nothing. I could have been there, or not, or my character could have been a NPC, or a completely evil counterpart, it would have made no difference at all. Then why bother? Isnt DND supposed to be about co-creating a story together? Edit: sorry for the wall of text, i needed to vent a bit. and sorry for any gramatical mistakes, english is my second language.

[@shadowscall7758]

@@MedievalVixen I disagree, a well run railroad game is not a bad thing. If it is well run, the players never realize it and always feel like they do have a choice. Your example was not a well-run game.

[@Alchemagician]

@@MedievalVixen And if you have other DMs in your party, forget it. They'll spot a railroad from 100 miles away, so you had better hope that they're ready to play along with your prep.

[@inomad1313]

Had a GM who only ran railroad campaigns. I finally realized that the railroading was a sign of the IRL issues he had and that combination finally ended a nine year friendship. A word of advice. If you have a GM who only runs railroad, take a closer look at how he treats people IRL.

[@shadowscall7758]

@Naters Because an RPG is about roleplaying a character, not an open world. Sure, they coincide a lot, but they are not the same thing. I mean, you can make the Halo games into an RPG. You just roleplay Master Chief. You have gotten so used to the traditional things that usually come with a video game RPG that you have tricked yourself into thinking that if something doesn't have those, it isn't an RPG. Also, why did you resort to the old, "If you don't enjoy it MY way, then you aren't really playing that or enjoying it." It just makes you seem stubborn and arrogant.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

I think this is my third or fourth time watching this video. It is so brilliant; I have to keep coming back to it year after year.

[@MikeTx10]

I listened to this with my son and he was transfixed. Then when I explained he could play in a world like this, now I am having to DM my first game even though I am not a player. Thanks for the inspirational vlog, ;) keep on Trucking.

[@fyr3st0rm35]

Yes he can play in a world like this, The Two Towers on PS2 was pretty good.

[@zoinomiko]

Hearing Legolas and Gimli described as murder hobos literally made me spit out my food. AMAZING.

[@thekaiser3815]

I mean he's not wrong 🤣

[@alexandersvideopicks8735]

"John kept coming up with reasons to have the wizard leave." I always wondered about that in the movie, when it kept happening...

[@euansmith3699]

Matt, "The other two players are basically just Murder Hobos." Legolas and Gimli, "What?!"

[@DavidHerscher]

It's funny, re-watching this video in 2019. Matt talking about wanting to reach 5K subscribers... Now he has over 300K, and I'm using his 5e book, "Strongholds and Followers" in my current campaign. Ahh, the memories... haha.

[@AvDongle]

It's funny stumbling across this in 2023. Came to post the same! 5k must seem a lifetime ago.

[@CryingPanSFX]

Game tomorrow. 5th time DMing. 1st time DMing well, because of you. Thanks, man.

[@ziose0]

You are a good storyteller bro. You're engaging. Even telling me a story I already knew, it still answered the questions I had about trying to get into DnD and DMing. Thanks a ton, you earned this subscription man

[@jbush4456]

It took me until just past "Viggo". Also I love watching this now, 4 years later, and seeing over 360k subs. It took me a while to get here, but I'm glad I did.

[@RecklessFables]

TIL: Tolkein's first name was John

[@zgredczwartyniesamowity363]

No, it was Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien

[@BadgerKing7]

I can rewatch this telling of LotR over and over again. This never gets old.

[@DarkSniper1230]

I was literally laughing the entire time about the LOTR connections.

[@Shrooblord]

I love that he kept it so consistent. xD "Let's call him... Viggo."

[@simondean5227]

@@Shrooblord "Elijah's friend Andy joins and plays the goblin scout"

[@JohnWickPresents]

*Stands and applauds* Well done, Matt. Really well done.

[@Pixxeria]

Memories of DM OF THE RINGS.

[@Cybermaul]

Wait a second...how did the king give you a rash?

[@rngwrldngnr]

9:00 "Folks, I'll be honest, I think we're getting too many PCs in this campaign." "Why, how many did you run last time?" "Uh... Fourteen."

[@Kuldirongaze1]

OMG! Even the player names are references. Such a good episode. Must rewatch and share with friends!

[@daisyfairy42]

You know um, among items and giving them to players in secret, something I did was to write items on sticky notes and give them to players. That way, there was no way the other players could use meta knowledge. I also did that for a note that a character wasn't smart enough to read by literally folding the note and sealing it with tape. Then when they had an NPC read it with no other characters around, I simply said "Ruvarek [The NPC's name] reads the note aloud to you" and untaped the note and passed it back. Once again keeping my players who weren't at the event in the dark.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

This analogy of The Hobbit compared to The Lord of The Rings is actually surprisingly accurate. If as soon as you create your party you're immediately tasked to go on this chaotic quest and destroy a powerful magic item, all the while being hunted by high level NPCs that you physically can't even fight, I wouldn't think that's fun either. This quest is actually quite easily achievable in a sandbox setting, but if you railroad your party like this? No one's gonna appreciate that and no one is going to want to play with you again. I currently run a sandbox-style D&D game with an overarching story to it that the players can affect via their actions. I once accidentally railroaded the game a bit in one particular session since I really wanted an encounter to go a certain way but the players didn't like it, we discussed it afterwards, and then I never made that mistake again. However, that isn't to say you can't readjust the course of the campaign if necessary. I've watched the players get off track before and corrected them simply by throwing an assassin who works for the main quest bad guys at an ally NPC of the players. Now suddenly they WANT to know who these roguish assassins are working for and what they're doing. Ta-Da! No railroading, the players are happy they killed a pretty decent level bad guy and the story continues along the main quest line.

[@darbypea2223]

This was seriously my FAVORITE video. Like at first I was like oh yeah that sounds really similar to the hobbits premise and then when he said "Elijah" I literally facepalmed. Matt is such a good storyteller that he can retell all of Tolkien's work as a d&d campaign to tie into his point and seriously make me feel like he was talking about a real campaign. I'm sharing this video with all of my parties because it's so hilarious.

[@Freedom21stCenturi]

When outcomes to events are predetermined no matter what the players do, I'd classify that as railroading. I'd define sandboxing as allowing the players to determine event outcomes in their own ways.

[@BennysGamingAttic]

Wizard: "That ring can do all kinds of stuff!" Halfling: "Like what?" Wiz: *shrugs* "Who wants a smoke?" Lol 420 likes

[@Dirty_Davos]

yeah

[@TheGuardDuck]

I've had this recommended to me for months, and finally watched it. Now I know why it has become an Immortal Recommendation. Excellent work!

[@captcorajus]

I think this is one of Matt's best videos. Every couple of months I come back and rewatch.

[@pronounsinmybio]

I never thought I'd hear The Hobbit and LotR retold on a way I enjoyed, *again*. This just a very neat video.

[@atsukana1704]

There is some case to be made for games based on a goal the DM had set out. And that is if the players want it. I do feel like my family is an atypical group but multiple members do enjoy being fairly guided through where they are going. Now this does not mean you do stupid things to force them on track if they stray off of it, but not every player group is going to determine what their goals are without you there to lend a helping hand.

[@KamuiT]

Okay, I'm going through these right now. The "That doesn't sound so bad." Everyone looks at him bit has got me belly laughing. Fantastic, Matt.

[@Martintheauthor]

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. The ORIGINAL Dungeon Master.

[@felx89]

To be completely honest I love just listening to how you describe those two stories an D&D adventures. I know it's supposed to be an example rather than a entertainment but still :P

[@jeremiahmitchell5669]

I love this video. Hilarious how Matt used the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to get his point across. Awesome.

[@SuPeRNinJaRed]

Just came here to say a Com Truise shirt and Shogun (original edition of "Samurai Swords") on the shelf... Matt you are the true king.

[@DJacKnifeAlpha]

2 years later, we rollin' nat 20's

[@jasonmaynard9665]

Lost it at Andy, the goblin npc scout. Great stuff!

[@XerxesTheMighty]

I never comment on youtube videos. Seriously, I don't think that I have ever commented on any video ever; however, I'm going to rectify that by saying that this is some of the best damn content I've ever watched. It is intelligent, thoughtful, engaging, and hilarious while being an excellent resource for both DMs and players. Everything so far has been excellent. Thanks for making it and keep it up! I'll be watching! Also, I'm half way through your first book - good so far!

[@mcolville]

+XerxesTheMighty Wow! Thanks for watching! Welcome to the team!

[@guilhermeborges752]

that was the type of comment that i was searching for, not all that "oh, i think i heard this before". NO. this content it's something beautiful and HAS to be experienced with love.

[@lonelygiant]

This video is still one of the most important videos on KZbin.

[@JDad1337]

Listening to your description of LoTR was beautiful. Thank you mat, you made my night!

[@LomaGnome]

It took me 7 minutes to realize what I was listening to.... also a great lesson to be had.

[@willielogan4811]

I didn't get until he mentioned Sean.

[@bjornseine2342]

PERFECT example :D I caught it at the first mention of the lonely mountain. Very well done! Also loved the "Out of the frying pan - into the fire"

[@JimCullen]

+Björn Seine (DragonsForce) haha yeah, that's exactly the same point I figured it out, too. And yeah, the way he weaved specific quotes in -- especially that one -- was really well done. Can clearly tell this dude's a fantastic writer.

[@grandkeys430]

THIS video is still absolutely incredible 6 years later.

[@userrrfriendly1908]

make them 7

[@chancerusso]

@@userrrfriendly1908 How about 8 years later.

[@jakobfrom6688]

All those Tolkien references! It's amazing to watch. You, my good sir, are an awe inspiring story teller!

[@BorgPrincess]

Amazing. Surprising. Insightful. And unbridled, incredibly fun. Watching this in early 2023, and the just-shy-of-5.000 have become 419.000 - well deserved, every single one.

[@Sravdar]

I love your fluent speech. No boring pause between talks, repating or useless senteces. Pretty clear and on point!

[@Nitestrike776]

Not sure if you'll see this, but I started by watching this video and I'm hooked. I'm a fledgling DM and have run a couple of shorter campaigns with different groups of friends. In the latest campaign I designed this entire world map, fleshed out a few bits, named a few important places, and began to develop it as needed. (all of this before discovering your videos). I started the party off at level 1, and we had what I considered to be a few generally enjoyable sessions. Multiple players voiced their experience of having a good time and all seemed well... that is until I received the dread email. A specific player "brought to my attention" that I was making the game not fun. Now there are specific instances where I could have done better but these were not shown in a constructive way, and as a result I felt devestated. I thought I had not only failed as a DM, but I had ruined the experience for these friends of mine just entering into playing the game. After some work I realized the player's view and the facts as I saw them didn't exactly line up. What she saw as me being restrictive was what I saw as me adhering to the rules in a strict manner. After some talks and clarifications we began to get along better, and countless sessions later, we are still all having a pretty good time playing, but I am ALWAYS striving to be better for my players so they have the best time possible. Your videos are an inspiration and a pleasure to watch. Though we usually run 3.5, since that's what I learned, your videos are still extremely helpful. Sorry for the long comment, keep up the awesome work!

[@showalk]

It took me 8:30 to realize what was going on. Elijah. Ring. Death Knights. Oh.

[@JetBalrog]

I was right around 4:55 when I noticed

[@FeeblePenguin]

Literally I didn't get it until 13:00. After the literal LotR scene. It was 1:00 am in my defense though...

[@DaxTheOtter]

FeeblePenguin i realised it when he mentioned thrain and thror

[@martijnbouman8874]

I began to realize at 1:00. I thought: ''That's copied from The Hobbit.''

[@caodogao4327]

It took me 10:25 to notice it was all about Lord of the Rings

[@ceranko]

Matt this hilarious. Your using lord of the rings and the hobbit and the actors names for the players. Hilarious!

[@Skellybr0]

What an awesome video! Loving this series so far and this video was so perfectly done! The analysis and explanation of the LotR story applied to a DnD game is simply amazing.

[@xdonthave1xx]

I’m a new DM. I’ve been doing a little bit of both. We were running a tutorial module online, got to the end of the “book” part. The party got an artifact that they wanted to destroy. They tried an axe, magic, I had a random NPC try to cast a healing spell on it (it had death in the name, worth a shot). It was suggested by a party member to try throwing it into a volcano. I had other plans for it, but I figure, why not let them try. Closest volcano is a dwarf city built in, on, and around the mountain ten days away by cart. We did the whole ten day trip. This allowed the group to learn more about each other, and me to set up the city. About halfway, they got a random NPC to join them, a cleric that I have tied to the truth of their artifact, but they don’t know how yet. They got to the city, explored a bit, tried to get inside the castle to get to some lava. Bureaucracy slowed them for a little bit, but allowed them to do a side quest in the mean time. Undead show up from old mining tunnels occasionally, more pest control than wake one day on the set of The Walking Dead, took care of a few. Had expected them to explore the map, they collapsed the entrance instead. OK. Right now, one player went to the new mining tunnels to help dig as was agreed upon earlier, while our noble background high elf went to meet with the mayor of the city. The city’s top alchemist, wizard, and cleric came in to check the item. Acid couldn’t do anything to it, lava was brought up, as were fire elementals (which were regarded as stories to scare children), the elf learned about what the artifact really was and decided that the party will not toss it into lava. Now I need to stop being lazy and set up a small dungeon map for my players.

[@Ayzkalyn]

This was your best video ever dude. It's not only hilarious it REALLY shows the difference between a good and bad game

[@wyndhammer]

OMFG I haven't laughed that hard in a while. That was the perfect summary in terms of D&D of a legendary story.

[@wyndhammer]

Sounds like Elijah drew 'Flames' from the Deck of Many Things.

[@skeetazaurus]

Good content = good comments. You deserve all the credit!

[@wonderwaffle8718]

I legitimately can't stop listening to this. It's not the moral of the story that I'm interested in (though it is a useful moral for DMs). What really gets me is the script itself and the overall execution. It's... I mean, it's virtually flawless. The way the "game" is framed, the verbage used, the tone and flow, everything. There's only one portion I find mildly out of place near the beginning that pulls me out of the LotR D&D analogy, but it's not enough to complain about, and certainly not enough to tarnish the oddly satisfying amount of enjoyment I get just from listening to you string everything together juuuuust right. I'd give good money to have someone animate your version of The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings using nothing but your voice as audio and the manner in which you tell the tale to dictate the pace. TL;DR: I came here down the rabbit hole of other advice videos, but was enraptured by your actual storytelling ability. Kudos.

[@noahtheslowa6915]

Great adaptation, and great advice that I still refer back to regularly to think about whether I'm running my game, or our group's game. Thank you Matt!

[@Dhalgrim]

man this was so awesome! monday (matt colville) and thursday (critical role) are now my favourite days of the weak! =) PS: i'd love to watch you on twitch!

[@summarosa]

+Dhalgrim Does he have a specific Twitch channel?

[@Dhalgrim]

the_scientist5 FlamingVikingGoat not that i know of. only said that because he mentioned maybe doing the sandbox campaign on twitch

[@johnr7279]

I just watched this again...still hilarious and JRR is probably chuckling too!

[@homusnihil7883]

It wasn't until the talk turned to 4 hobbits, and one of them played by Elijah, that it dawned on me that the whole story was the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

[@isaacwillbanks3723]

I have been running a West Marches inspired Campaign setting and running a player driven sandbox is the way to go. We go in an out of railroad-esque adventures and do a lot of downtime and travel between. All of my players love it. All of them feel important and all of them have already talked about creating second characters to explore more of the functions I have running. It has been bliss and I couldn’t thank Matt enough for all the amazing advice he has given me over the years!

[@badasunicorn6870]

This is litterally the best video advice on DMing I have ever encountered. I've watched it like five times, and shown it to all my DM friends, because it's just that good. It's a hogh quality, entertaining video, that lays forth the perhaps most important part of DM'ing in a way that gets the point across better than any simple explenation. Tell a story, to tell about stories, and tell a story about D&D to tell about wjat stories D&D is all about. I love this, Matt Colville you are actually the best, and I can thank you for not sucking as much as I could have been as a DM. I'm sure you've saves my players (and me) for a lot of heartbreak. Thank you, you brilliant bugbear, you genuinly clever gelatinous cube, you❤️

[@donfleming5802]

I have always loved the flexibility of a sandbox. You made a great argument for both and your conclusion made sense. I will check out your Stories on Amazon.

[@alexvanoers9835]

Took me 4 mins, 27 seconds to realise what you were talking about. GOOD JOB!!!

[@witchfinder420]

WAIT IS THAT A COM TRUISE SHIRT?! That's so god damn awesome.

[@simorote]

ikr?

[@nobody8612]

I don't know how you do it. Two original campaigns just off the top of your head, so this is what a professional writer is capable of, bravo sir!

[@1Psycho2anotherHBWS]

It took me way to long to realize that he was recounting Tolkien’s stuff. Even naming the DM John. Well played