Vecna & Running Epic Bad Guys | Running the Game

Episode 50
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[@xXD35TRUKTIONXx]

Matt should write a rulebook of all of his homebrew 5e rules called "Colville's Curious Creations"

[@HD-ct2un]

That would take years lmao.

[@SFMonster]

"Volume 1"

[@GriffVicious]

it could be a series "Encyclopedia Colvillian"

[@hunterhoose9375]

Rekiin I second this

[@quintinsteevessenior5568]

Colvillian Compendium

[@astralax]

"Cynicism is the death of wisdom." I love how Matt just casually throws out maxims for the ages like it's no big deal.

[@Benkenobi8118]

"everybody's miserable all the time, we all die alone", Star Wars

[@findmestudios]

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." - George Carlin

[@jek__]

Eh, platitudes are the death of contextual nuance. Cynicism is appropriate in situations where disappointment is expected, and not where it isnt. Every tool has a problem it solves best, the utility of being able to switch between them is the most powerful option you can take

[@irontemplar6222]

@@jek__ cynicism is better the naivete, but only just barely. It is better to trust with care, and with the understanding that you might be betrayed.

[@beardmonkey6931]

"Imagine using Avogadro's number and then it leaves your head." So basically my college years.

[@Tacomaholic]

Mmm I love avacados!

[@jessicascoullar3737]

I used to know that once...

[@PieterAdriaanvanderWalt]

Apparently I've written a test on Avogadro's number but I can recall nothing about it.

[@Lobsterwithinternet]

That's school in general.

[@Myzelfa]

Yeah, that's literally how cramming works.

[@Yensil]

Matt Colville: "I hate lore" Also Matt Colville: "Here's an hour long video about the origin of Vecna" I love it though. :D

[@noahblack914]

Notice that he gives very little lore. Most of what he focuses on is the real world history of the character, which is very different. ETA: Yes, there is some lore. But that's because Vecna is an incredibly prominent figure in the lore, and his lore is great for a BBEG. It's the kind of lore to steal and use yourself and tweak to your liking and tastes, which is one of Matt's biggest tips.

[@pringles_mcgee]

he doesnt hate lore. he says lore is primarily for the GM/writer, not the game/book. it's better to sit down and play the game or write the book than sit there for 2 years writing lore. especially if none of it will ever be seen by the players or consumers.

[@NightWatchersPet]

Oh no... Matt Coleville going on about BBEG's for almost an hour. What a problem... *Promptly flops down with notebook*

[@Hickura]

NightWatchersPet Playing the video with 75% speed to write EVERYTHING

[@dubbingsync]

Hickura how much longer did that make the video?

[@kirar5522]

at least 15 mins longer

[@pokepok3265]

~73 minutes.

[@timandshannon03]

Writes notes for 4 hours.........drinks 2 Mountain Dew's, breaks 1 pencil......

[@keenviewer]

The Dragon Magazine article was "The Nature of Evil" Dragon #218.

[@ryanmyers7540]

keenviewer bumping this for signal!

[@ryan849]

Great thanks!

[@rhemorigher]

Well, thanks for the reference, for peeps without access here is what they say on the matter. High Intelligence and Cleverness. How many times have you seen a monster or master villain described as a 'genius,' even though all he does is sit in a tower or dungeon, waiting for the PCs to come and smash the place up? I've seen this happen much too often, and it is entirely preventable. How is the average GM supposed to run a character who is more intelligent than he is? Simple. Assume that a genius can figure out al- most exactly what his opponents (the PCs) are doing at any given time. What made Grand Admiral Thrawn of Timothy Zahn's Star Wars trilogy such a deadly opponent? An uncanny ability to predict and act on the plans of others through infallible logic and study of the art of his opponents' culture. Zahn wrote Thrawn as a genius so he didn't have to resort to goofy plots and overly- complicated plans. High intelligence can make a party jumpy and jittery, always wondering if the master vampire has yet again been able to guess their plans and lay a trap. Just like invulnerability, though, a genius villain can become frustrating if taken too far. When the players are just about to give up, let the villain make a mistake. Even geniuses slip up. If the PCs are quick to exploit the mistake, their final plan may succeed

[@imperialadvisoraremheshvau3788]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@apilgrim8715]

"He is the master of...Ladybugs" "Ladybugs?" "Yes. Ladybugs are ferocious eaters."

[@matthewgallaway3675]

that gives you a luck point that you can refresh as a bonus action for 5 Ki points.

[@wadespencer3623]

Ferocious predators and they vomit acid if something tries to eat them. A giant ladybug would be pretty scary honestly.

[@patchbunny]

Having worked in an area where Ladybugs were swarming and thousands of them were in the air, I can concur the little fuckers bite and ceased being cute.

[@purplepotato2612]

Matt Colville: "Matt should`ve done it that Vecna was casting a ritual and if this ritual succeeded Vecna would erase a spell. From Existence" Probably Matt: "DIE COUNTERSPELL!!!"

[@jamieadams2589]

@@TheWarwolf102 he probably likes using it but hates others using it. But he's a god of secret magic so he could probably still cast the secret spells

[@chalor182]

@@TheWarwolf102 not 9th level ones lol

[@mcolville]

Obviously I'm not saying "monsters shouldn't use spells," I'm saying your BBEGs should ALSO have rule-breaking abilities.

[@justinjaramillo8062]

along this same train of thought one thing i do with some of my bigger bads is that if they do have spells i'll sometimes give them spells outside of their spell list. so say an evil wizard would now have a few druid spells or cleric spells.

[@captcorajus]

Indeed they should. I... the DM am not the ultra intelligent mastermind that most BBEG are. They are frequently long lived, and have had centuries to put their plan into place. I, on the other hand, might have a week or two to design the encounter, maybe even less. Thus, there are things that the PCs will think of that the BBEG SHOULD have counters for, but I, being just a lowly DM didn't think of. That's when, thinking it up 'on the spot' comes into play. This simulates the appearance of a superior intelligence. Now, I am a pretty experienced DM, and I've gotten good at 'making it appear' that I had it planned all along. lol... but, absolutely, as DM, you need that flexibility.

[@rontalkstabletop]

I would like to see a BBEG document with some example powers from you.

[@brclb90]

I am preparing a Lich who can cast 8th level spells for the encounter. With all the items, spells, minions and a castle to its disposal. Believe me, I feel you Matt when you say that

[@dreamakuma]

Vecna has stats in the 2e ravenloft book "Domains of Dread." It's a personal favorite book of mine that's filled with great villains and locations.

[@OzonMusic]

Hi Matt! Found it) Super Genius Intelligence is described in AD_D Player's Option: Combat & Tactics as Godlike (21+) - The creature can make correct deductions from incomplete information. It is invariably knows the most appropriate action to take in any situation. (Though it might not always take it; godlike beings are hard to understand.) To reflect the creature's superior intellect, the DM might decide to make the PCs declare their actions before deciding what the creature does in a given combat round.

[@red0953]

Just curious, where did you find these rules?

[@straightline2]

He explicitly said that it's in Player's Option: Combat & Tactics. Specifically, it's in Chapter 9: Monsters. ;)

[@pvic6959]

@@straightline2 hi, a late reply but maybe Red 09 was asking about how they found it?

[@OzonMusic]

@@red0953 Little late but anyways - just some googling with different keywords and multiple pdf searching that I have.

[@Insertfunnycomment]

I know I'm replying two years later but I have to say... I'm not a huge fan of these. Namely the fact that "you HAVE to do that" after declaring. If it was magic, sure, I could see that, but the way I'd run it is I'd have the players declare all the possible actions they're considering taking. Being a super genius doesn't mean you can see the future, not to mention the fact that the battlefield is constantly changing. What if I wanted to heal someone, and Vecna disintegrated them? Would I still have to heal them? That doesn't make sense to me. Being a super genius, to me, means you are basically Sherlock 2.0. You can see even the smallest detail and draw, generally correct, conclusions from that. Having the players tell me all the actions that they are considering feels more like the information a genius would have access to. "I'm considering healing Bob (who is almost dead) or buffing up Timmy a bit" Well the more likely outcome is healing Bob, so I'll kill Bob.

[@grtgtz7771]

'condensed' + Matt Colville = 54 minutes

[@rontalkstabletop]

To be fair the original Twitch video is like 2 hours long. But yeah, 54 min condensed video, lol.

[@Erojagan]

Too short. Need more.

[@robofthewest]

Wow! Great video, Matt. Got a lot of inspiration out of this one. Like your GM philosophy. Very entertaining. (And you've convinced me to search out Moorcock and Vance, of whom I've heard of, and read a trifle in my youth).

[@AcornFox]

Anything shorter than four hours is short to us D&D folk.

[@chalor182]

He couldn't have made it shorter either, because he already speaks at the speed of light. If light was a cocaine addict.

[@robertbourbon5956]

If Vecna chose to delete Counterspell...

[@Sorfallo]

RIP Scanlan

[@moredetonation3755]

Oi, Josuke! I used Za Hando to erase the Hand of Vecna! Ain't that crazy?

[@t.h.mcelroy6597]

@@moredetonation3755 A+

[@pvic6959]

@@Sorfallo tbh rip everyone lol

[@KeacePeeper]

@@pvic6959 Actually I have yet to play with a caster who actually used counterspell more than maybe once or twice.

[@kingcole5977]

Matt reveals that he's been sitting in front of a green screen the entire time. My reaction: Ahhh! The power of Vecna!

[@professormiles2475]

I never realized it.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

MMMMMMAJIK! @.@

[@trashboat7961]

What!?!?!? I had no idea!

[@kiwithefox]

That was kind of crazy, especially because he chose such a familiar background. Totally Vecnas powers at play.

[@poiuytrewq11422]

Samuel Cole What? WHAT? *WHAAAT?*

[@davidc4983]

When my depression gets so loud that I cant take it any more, I put your running the game videos on. Your upbeat attitude, and the way you take seemingly complex things down to a simple understandable level really helps, as weird as that sounds. So, thank you for doing what you do

[@steveharrison76]

Same. Exact same.

[@twertygo]

Matt is basically Iroh, the Dragon of the West, from The Last Airbender

[@angelalewis3645]

Exact same here, too,

[@GRex7777]

I'm actually using Vecna in a campaign right now, but he's a pre-lich Vecna. He's the wizard ruller of the distant world of Athas (Dark Sun) and is actually well thought of and respected as he uses his powers to help the people find and sustain water in this desert world, but behind the scenes, he's studying blood magics for more drastic solutions, as his normal powers aren't going to be enough for much longer.

[@xemnufromthemagicplanet1678]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS IDEA

[@DavidGonzalez-zl3dz]

I used Vecna too! He had achieved godhood but he was held in bars made of Orcus' bones that had magical restraints powered by Therizdun's remains

[@angelalewis3645]

Brilliant!

[@vampirelogan]

You could totally do Vecna now! It's been over 4 years, a whole Second Campaign, a long pause and the start of a new critical role campaign. There's a whole bunch of critters who have not had the time to go back and watch season 1. You should do it your way. I'd watch that!

[@chasehousley1991]

I love the idea of the "super-genius" initiative system. It almost feels like a "Sherlock Holmes" level of deduction, reasoning, and tactical awareness. Given enough time to prepare, I might even try to roleplay as Vecna essentially dissecting the parties actions (again, very similar to the audience listening to Sherlock Holmes' thought process) out loud. It would give the party the feeling of facing an enemy who almost embodies intelligence. "Two steps left to avoid your fireball, a wall of force in front of the charging imbecile with an axe.... how predictable..."

[@mordirit8727]

Reminds me of something Matt did in the Vecna battle. Before deciding which spell to use, he goes around the table, asking "how many hitpoints do you have?". Appalled, Sam asks him "Why Matt, are you going to use that to kill me?", and Matt simply answers: "As a deity of secrets whose vision can pierce through your physical form, Vecna can *see* that information", and they just have to give it to him.

[@mordirit8727]

Also it would be amazing to use that with counterspells xD "I will counter spell his feeblemind." At what level? "Eight" Ok, he uses it at ninth then.

[@MyPisceanNature]

I think if I were to give a 25 intelligence villain the ability to predict the players actions for the first round, I would also include it for any round in which they did not deal damage to the villain. The idea being that dealing damage to the villain would distract him enough to prevent the use of his full intellect on the tactics of of the battle.

[@960Design]

5ed god's abilities are immeasurable. But we play game where we need things measured. I use something like this: Demigods: 25 - 50. Lesser: 50 - 75. Greater 75+

[@Max_G4]

@@960Design there is still no way to get any ability score above 30, even for gods

[@trevorstrugatsky1172]

​​@@Max_G4Yes there is. As DM you just write a number higher than 30 against the word intelligence on the god's stats, and then decide what that means in game-play terms.

[@nightknight8556]

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I prefer Matt’s longer videos. It gives him more time to explain and tell stories, which is usually reduced, if not left out, in the 20ish minute videos. Another great vid as always!

[@cameronford2830]

NightKnight Agreed, I listened to the video while I cleaned my house and that took 45 minutes

[@erroldowis9163]

By

[@gnuntlg]

I want to see a full level 20 Vox Machina versus Colville's Vecna run by Colville. Mercer can play one of his NPCs and join the fight.

[@comradeshmoo]

neotristram stop, I can only get so erect

[@gnuntlg]

juliengripp no judgment here

[@matthewlee8933]

If they're 20th level characters, then he would use the classic patented Coleville screw except instead of orcs it would be with 5 liches.

[@prettyponymonster]

@@matthewlee8933 5 licks

[@mikloslipcsey7923]

One of his NPCs? Victor! Plenty of gunpowder to be had...

[@matthewneuendorf5763]

For the portal, you could have it make the characters walk slowly toward it rather than at full speed (half speed, similar to difficult terrain). This makes for a certain amount of dramatic tension and cinematic flavor while also making things a little less unforgiving. There's just something classic about the person who is suddenly fascinated by an object, turns, and begins walking slowly toward it.

[@Sheriffdann]

Matthew Neuendorf In the campaign as written characters stop 5 or 10 ft away from the portal. Being within 15ft of the portal allows it's black tendrils to reach out and start dragging the character in. Gives them a second chance with a different skill. Both good ideas.

[@chalor182]

I figured he already did something like that by only making them use their movement and not forcing them to use the dash action as well

[@odfootball321]

The condensed version of this should be called "Torture your D&D Party and Play With Their Minds" by Matt Colville

[@daniel-thespragues7422]

1. don't be hard on yourself about video length, we are here because we like to listen to you ramble! So keep it up! 2. I think it would be fucking (excuse my language) amazing to see your version of vecna in action! I also think it would be important for DMs because they can see that there are vastly different ways to do the same thing.

[@salamiraccoon]

This! I'd always love to see multiple perspectives of how different people would run the same (or similar) encounter

[@BarelyGoodTV]

Daniel - The Spragues mm mm m a MM ml MN M mm mm mm M Mk MN Mm m I mk mm mm mm

[@MattCherwin]

Having just watched Dusk 22, I'm inordinately amused by Liam's "well, you can have Tiamat" 4 years ago.

[@Abelol]

"Condense" 54 minutes Nice!

[@ariaflame-au]

Jack McPerson compared to the q&a yes

[@Horkslair]

54 minutes of Matt speaking holds an hour and a half of information. Matt talking on a D&D topic is one of the most nutrient dense foods for DM thought there is.

[@lunardogs2416]

4:18 vecna: NEXT YOULL SAY "IM GOING TO CARVE YOUR HAND OFF YOUR BODY" barbarian: IM GOING TO CARVE YOUR HAND OFF YOUR BODY barbarian: barbarian: NANI???

[@t.h.mcelroy6597]

The JoJo's love in this comment thread harms my heart 💛

[@lunardogs2416]

@@t.h.mcelroy6597 No More JoJo's Fans. I Only Wish To Be Happy.

[@t.h.mcelroy6597]

@@lunardogs2416 🤣

[@Dean-ny9dn]

Doing my own archeological dig, I actually found stats for Vecna in 4e's Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead. It even has stats for Kas, his ex-lieutenant.

[@michaelshaw1782]

SO Kass appears in the Scales of War campaign. The Domain of Betrayal is a great place to adventure. It's got this sense of bonkers sinister camp evil, the Ground Itself Betrays You (I forget how, but it's super rad). Kass himself is actually pretty dull. He's a solo Soldier with dull boring abilities. A sack of HP that takes forever to kill. We entirely skipped his battle because we were rushing to finish the campaign.

[@invntiv]

Grog’s mind in Vex’s body and vice versa would have been beyond hilarious. That group is so capable of improv RP and that would have been such a fantastic platform for them to do so

[@coreystephens1418]

As someone who is also a huge Vecna fan, and has watched the Critical Role final battle three or four times now, i have to say that i absolutely love the idea of having Vecna "predict" the entire first round of combat. The point about not being able to predict the chaos of combat for subsequent rounds makes sense (and also seems like a really tedious way to run an entire fight for players and the dm alike), but i think that really stays true to the concept of the "Dark God of Secrets". I doubt ill actually be using Vecna in any of my games, but i might use that concept for another incredibly intelligent BBEG (perhaps a beholder or mind flayer).

[@quintinsteevessenior5568]

"I am sorry... You cast what? " 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@montezuma0000]

32:36 "and that's how I run big epic bad guys" *20 minutes left in the video*

[@Jondamere]

Would love a video on the Circle of 8, I've obviously heard of them individually in relation to their spells but had no idea they brooded together with pizza and stuff.

[@michaelthomas1916]

That sounds like an awesome prep session to the final leg of a campaign. The PCs get summoned by the Circle of Eight who want to enlist their aid in saving the world from X problem. They meet the Circle at a pizza bar that has pool and a fantasy version of arcade games.

[@blazinlatino89]

Wow i never heard of the circle of 8 ..but always wondered why it was called bigsbys hand ... would love a video on them and their cannon and how to run them in ur game

[@danieldosso2455]

yes please!

[@Spyger9]

Yeah, now I feel like actually making them and littering them through my world. I wonder if they could compete with my Pinball Wizard.

[@danjal87nl]

It's funny that a lot of newer players aren't aware of this. But it is those very 8 that are the reason why I believe every single practitioner should at some point in their campaign create their own spells. If you reach up to like 20th level, then you're effectively playing on equal terms as those 8. The people that create those named spells. Why SHOULDN'T you be leaving your mark on the world in a similar manner? Also, why I believe items should get named. It adds to that narrative making it no longer a mere Longsword +2, that's a game term. That's not the weapon your characters are using and thinking of!

[@bjhale]

Some were the PCs of Gygax's kids, but I can't remember which ones. You can always google it if you're curious.

[@PAKIS54]

they are from World of Greyhawk campaign setting which was the default setting at some point in the game and mordenkainen was the leader you can find more in 3.0e Living Greyhawk Gazetteer book and for the circle in stuff like wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_Eight there a quiet a few sources out there

[@Yoghurtslave]

I love these older Colville videos! I'm rewatching them and realizing how important Colvilles ideas have been to me in my journey as a DM. After Strongholds and Followers I grew alot as a DM and I "left Colvilles mentoring" and used other inspirations for my weekly games. That's why I feel wistful when listening to Colvilles pre-S&F videos, because they were so important for my first 10 games. However, recently I've been burned out on D&D and dungeon mastering, but rewatching this reminded me of what the game really means to me and why I became the dungeon master and D&D hybbyist. I'm talking a few steps back now, and looking up my early prep notes and graph-paper tomb drawings. And I realize the adventurers never found the Hand and Eye of Vecna in the dungeon!

[@filiperodriguesaquin]

In Tormenta, the biggest RPG setting in Brasil (and one of the coolest in the world, in my humble opinion), the wizards still memorize their spells. After casting the spell, Wynna, the capricious goddess of magic, takes away the memories of the spell. The effort and time spent memorizing the spells are sacrifices in her name, and the spell getting stored in your mind is her blessing in exchange. Kind of a remix, but it's awesome. It enforces the themes sorrounding Wynna and the magic in the world of Arton.

[@johnhealey9217]

Man. This guys thoughts and processing are sincerely fascinating. He should just talk all day every day.

[@chronatoginfinite]

"how does king crimson's time erasure work" "it just works"

[@OtepRalloma]

43:54 King Crimson

[@johnstephenalbert]

Nice to see Michael Moorcock getting some attention. He was also known for writing lyrics for fantasy and sci-fi themed rock songs by Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult.

[@digitaljanus]

There's also a strong argument for him inventing the steampunk genre with his Nomad of the Time Streams stories.

[@jekkareznikov9769]

Holy crap! Thank you so very much for talking about "Vancean magic"! That makes magic in D&D make so much more sense! :O Now using this makes it much easier to explain why the limitations work the way they do!

[@comradeshmoo]

Jekka Reznikov Keep in mind that magic in 5e doesn't use Vancian spellcasting, but a system inspired by it. Wizards don't forget spells after they cast them anymore (although it wouldn't be hard to use a similar idea to explain what a metagame concept like spell levels means in the context of the gameworld).

[@comradeshmoo]

CJ M have fun, dude.

[@johnwendel702]

I cast heroes feast. Error 404 spell not found

[@DungeonDad]

The West Marches campaign is definitely still going! Lot's of great DM's over there too! Also, with regards to Tomb of Horrors, I just ran it for the first time last weekend. It was a stupid amount of fun, and we all had a really great time. That said though, we did it as a one shot, and everyone rolled up 3 characters in anticipation of their inevitable demise. As something to drop in your campaign setting, it is unbelievably brutal.

[@KazZannerman]

As a GM for that particular community linked in the dooblydoo, I can say that yeah we're still up and running.

[@MrSweetiebear95]

How does introducing new players work?

[@JKSSubstandard]

Ive actually been running a campaign based on the TY portal book that has Tomb of Horrors as the finale. The idea is that it is the ultimate challenge for the characters to walk into the big baddies lair, scoff at his traps and do away with him...or so the players hope. Im of the idea that not ever campaign is successful. Sometimes you fail, particularly if you arent careful. Im planning on nerfing a few of the traps to keep the players from dying before the final battle. Will it be a deadly end to the campaign, you bet. But they knew what they were getting into. If they want to be heroes they need to be strong, they need to be skilled, and like all famous warriors, they have to be lucky

[@Coenani]

One thing to add to this is that we are starting with a new world somewhere in January! The influx of new players is good, but slightly badly timed, since we just had a Mod become a DM, so we are short on Mods and busy with the transition to WM2.

[@StevangarCronox]

I'm running a (multi-part) one shot of Tomb of Horrors, and besides making blunders such as giving everyone far too much gold to buy mundane equipment with, I've learned two things: 1. Aarakocra have no problem with all of these AD&D traps, and I've had to make it even more lethal in some cases to ground them for some things to happen that isn't just "okay so I fly up and watch". Magic nets help, though they get cranky that "that's not how the net rules work". And... 2. I must be doing something horrendously wrong because they have managed to make it all the way to the cross intersection when we stopped without any casualties. Though I do approve of their use of a wall of stone to stop themselves from slipping all the way down the death slide. Any ideas on how to make it more Tomb of Horrors-y?

[@jeffbenefiel180]

@ 40:45, where you take away all their memorized spells and replace them randomly is genius. Granted, a lot of that is knowing the people your are playing with, not something you should play with random people at a convention, but for a long standing homebrew, cool.

[@sunsetsynth]

I looooove the idea of wiping a spell from the world. That’s crazy and so fitting for a god-like character

[@pjwilson9274]

30:28 has lived rent free in my head since I first watched this in 2020

[@ardinhelme687]

Totally stealing that Hand/Eye of Vecna dimensional grabby thing.

[@sailor-hg]

Latin for viewer is literally "Spectator" - that's where the word comes from

[@Calebgoblin]

This is my idea of a fun-sized video *glares at Snickers*

[@angelalewis3645]

🎯

[@dormiens01]

39:27 I forgot the context and I thought you were going to say you would remove like their spell slots or something. And I thought that was evil, but as soon as you said "Start rollin'," my jaw literally dropped. That's so ungodly dirty, but at the same time, it's not. I can't understate the magnitude of awe at that idea. It's so terrible and it's so great. As soon as you said it, I believed that this is what would happen. That's the only thing that he would do. Nothing less. It's just perfect.

[@aspiringlich]

17:15 "I still think S[ore]on is a better pronunciation than S[ow]ron" You just acquired a new fan.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

I disagree, but Smaug is pronounced Smorg, not how it's spelt. That was my only pronunciation issue with the films.

[@danielcrafter9349]

@@TheSmart-CasualGamer - it's the Sindarin influence "Sau-" = Sal-, or S(ow)- So, yes, S(ow)ron and Sm(ow)g

[@scottnolan2833]

By referring to reading Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock and Poul Anderson as “archaeology”, you have succeeded in making me feel very old. D&D / Pathfinder player since 1977.

[@ToaArcan]

Of course, we must not forget the legendary Head of Vecna.

[@Chrisprusse]

These are some of the best ideas I've ever heard. Mostly because they are fun.

[@Durpleisacutie]

Kas the Destroyer! Love it. Stats for both him and Vecna were in the 2nd edition AD&D Ravenloft box.

[@ReplicatorFifth]

Erasing spells from reality and mind swaps are great ideas for a Lovecraftian god to do. The current one I’m using won’t bother but, Nyarlathotep, my personal favorite, would.

[@mjp152]

Had my players face off with a Chronomancer in my first campaign ten years ago. It was immensely fun to think out how spells that manipulate time would look during combat. The only thing more fun was to see the faces of the players for the first couple of rounds trying to figure out what the hell this guy was doing :-D

[@Bad_Ritual]

"Your playing low-ball now...", Matthew Colville is an evil genius !

[@SamPlaysMinecraft1]

Another very short video

[@NoahTopper]

That One Guy Imagine what a long Colville video would look like...

[@mitchellange9818]

It would be an awesome 12 hours of D&D

[@surprisinglyautomatic1884]

What’s wrong with that?

[@vaderciya]

I hate short videos, I want something that can eat up my time and keep me entertained for more than 15 minutes. I think it's really weird when some youtubers say "oh the video is getting long better wrap up" and cut the game or conversation into several parts.

[@madhatterine2805]

6-fingered-hand....you need an Inigo Montoya in your campaign.

[@paulcoy9060]

Does Inigo Montoya watch old episodes of "The Outer Limits" ?

[@kiruppert]

33:39 And now Matt has been vindicated; WotC has been playing around with making combat spellcasting into special abilities instead of giving NPCs casting class levels.

[@ChurchAtNight]

Cliff side fight outside with heavy winds that’ll blow a player five feet toward cliff with a successful Dex save. Failure, ten feet and prone. Or in some room with a Beholder Eye prism that’ll randomly make half the room anti magic. Two amazing things that’ve worked for me over several campaigns.

[@DjBobe89]

Long time watcher, but never a commenter... I love when you (Matt) talk about the history of the game. After hearing about Vecna from your live steam, I instantly wanted to read the Korum books, I want to hear more on the classic badies, I want to hear more on the classic items, and I’m hoping you get a copy this Saturday.

[@IdentityChrist]

The 25 INT initiative you're describing at 44:00 is basically what the game system Wild Talents uses: each character declares what they're doing in order of lowest Sense stat to the highest, with higher Sense characters acting upon the knowledge of what their opponents will do. Even though the actual order of the actions will be decided by dice (everyone rolls at the same time), a character with high Sense stat (read: wisdom and intuition) will still have a significant combat advantage over characters that are only strong or only fast. WotC could take some ideas from games that do the initiative system better for their next D&D iteration.

[@listofromantics]

12:51 - I've constantly argued giving gods stats in D&D was a monumental blunder, for many of the same reasons.

[@timothymclean]

Eh, it depends on what you're trying to do with gods. I'm having trouble thinking of any place for gods who are active in a story, but who can't be challenged by mortals.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

This is why I don't condone using Gods as enemies in D&D. Demigods like Vecna and Zuggtmoy and Orcus are one thing, but Pelor and Tiamat are another.

[@Kruglord]

Not for nothing, in Deities and Demigods they also published stats for gods that people today still worship. Seems like a recipe for religious controversy, and that's something D&D did not need more of.

[@timothymclean]

Kruglord I know, right? It's hard to imagine the violently-monotheistic big-G God getting along with any deities not directly related to him. I think chucking him into a campaign setting and having him stir up a big stink which Pelor et al send the PCs to clean up would be _hilarious,_ but I'm distinctly more irreverent than most people.

[@Johnny-vi7oq]

What I say is that those stats are for gods in their weakened state. And gods are only in their weakened state if they are no longer worshipped, otherwise they have no stats

[@danielchristensen374]

"Optimum and pessimum." Love it!

[@HenriqueLSilva]

38:00 honestly if you don't have a way to get a dummy book and don't mind adding in a joke just pick your normal book, find the spell descriptions and place a post-it with "Swiggity swell I erased this spell, screw you. - Vecna" on top of it.

[@WoWdreamWoW]

Our Halloween campaign has sent my players through a portal that was open for Halloween to retrieve the Eye of Vecna... No one knows anything about it. This video was amazing.... subscribed!

[@freecanadianshadowbanned4954]

Thundarr the Barbarian!? I haven't heard that name in over thirty years! Masterful name-drop, Mr. Colville.

[@UrutoraTatsujin]

Man that Heroes' Feast idea is amazing, that kind of stuff is so cool, especially with the addition of a dummy prop. Love it.

[@tuskwilliams716]

"It's basically welsh" is it sad i got excited at the fact Matt knows of Wales and its language. That's a very low bar if it is....

[@tylerschoen5643]

I didn’t know welsh is obscure

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Its worth saying that Kwll isn't that Welsh. We don't have the letter K, and LL is pronounced in a different way, it's sort of like a raspy rolled L. Almost like blowing a really small raspberry.

[@cheeselord3655]

I think it might be Irish. I'm unsure, though

[@MisterTingles]

i think the current "Wish" spell is probably the last remnant of this 'forgetting spells as you cast them' mechanic. also, you better believe, my goliath warden threw Kalarel the Vile into that hellportal :P

[@alexgeorge8645]

Thank you for posting this, I’m a first time DM and I’m hoping to use Vecna for my end game Villain

[@drubeardslee89]

Alex George Same here, I was planning on Vecna for ages, and Raven Queen. The Seven Part Rod, is genius, and I'll be using it in my homebrew I start tomorrow :)

[@Jack-kn1mr]

Matt Colvile: " Bad guys should CHEAT" I like that logic, I like it a lot.

[@taylor65712]

Boom !!! The hair provideth 💯🗣

[@JamesTaysom]

I started a West Marches campaign 9 months ago at work and have been going strong ever since thanks to you.

[@RobinTheJester]

I call it "the colville effect". it makes all your videos 3 times longer and 10 times better than normal.

[@dirk_gently]

Special abilities for big bads is solid gold advice. Thanks Matt!

[@LucienMaine]

So many great ideas. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@MaidenofIron27]

In the vein of insane epic-level powers that your bad guys can have, when Matt mentioned Vecna potentially vanishing a spell from history it sparked a memory of something I did for my players in my campaign: So, one of the players was a cleric of a mysterious, ancient god - named The White Lord - who no one they ever met had heard of. As the campaign progressed, they began to suspect (quite rightly) that he was some ancient mage who had turned himself into some sort of lich in order to try and attain godhood. Being an archlich/god/thing, he was not a nice man. When his cleric failed him for the final time, refusing to comply with his godly commands and dying for the second time, I had The White Lord do something that has become one of the biggest moments to ever unfold in our campaign. The White Lord explained that he was done with him, that he was no longer of any use to him, at least the way he was. He then drained his very essence, described by me as him slowly dropping from level 10 to 9, then 8, and so on until he reached 0, whereupon he was entirely unmade. After that, I had the entire party make saving throws. Those that failed had all memory of him erased as if he had never existed, with any of his achievements being attributed to someone else in the party. A similar effect befell every single NPC he had ever met, as The White Lord attempted to utterly and completely unmake the character. The players LOVED it, even the one who played this unfortunate cleric, and it's definitely one of the highlights of the campaign so far!

[@TabletopBlacksmith]

This is a good day. Thank you for helping so many new DMs.

[@MrAelual]

New and old. :)

[@TabletopBlacksmith]

Well said. Haha

[@Wimikk]

I resolved that my Tiamat will never speak aloud in my game. I was really proud of this, milking the tension of this immensely powerful being bound to hell but always watching and sending her minions to oppose the players. And only after the final battle did I realize that I had reinvented Sauron. :(

[@MystDragon3k]

Good call making a shortened version of this discussion. I would have loved to watch your whole livestream but I just didn't have it in me on top of all my other podcasts/shows I watch. I'm planning on having Vecna play into one of my future campaigns so this video will be a big help, for sure!

[@garrettrobbins7382]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that picked up the westmarches style of play. When you posted that video it literally solved so many problems I was having with my world/campaign with growing players at my table and each with crazy schedules, seriously thank you

[@chastermief839]

another great example of a fantasy setting that takes place after a apocalyptic collapse of the previous world is Adventure Time. im surprised you didnt mention it. it even has the theme of science/technology being indistinguishable from magic. episodes that revolve around princess bubblegum, magic man, simon, and betty all play with this idea. just another way that adventure time draws from DnD.

[@TwoToneShoes]

It is amazing how, with one tiny little picture popping up briefly in the corner, you yanked back to the front of my mind hours and hours of fun playing Talisman with my dad back when I was a kid. Love your little references, Matt.

[@rurim.e.4878]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I would absolutely love to see a video on the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks module.

[@guyatanosavia8487]

What I might do for supraintelligent creatures or entities is roll two sets of initiative. 1: Their actual initiative 2: Their mental initiative, which uses their intelligence bonus as opposed to normal ones Anybody that rolls an actual Initiative lower than that creatures mental initiative now has to do exactly what you, Matt, described at around the 44:30 minute mark. Those players and characters have to announce aloud their turn and what they do during it. This allows certain players to literally act faster than the creature thinks, while allowing a certain degree of unpredictability for it during combat. Btw, I would totally allow this to persist through the entire combat as the actual initiative order UNLESS, of course, everybody is affected or only one person had been fast enough. Basically, the goldilocks zone being half the party

[@Lvl4Henchman]

Hey Matt, I wiuld just like to say that you've been a massive influence on me as a DM. I'm running my first campaign and creating a world with a totally-not-Planescape setting. I just wanted to say thanks.

[@aidanboyle7374]

0:37 I've watched this video many times and it was only embarrassingly recently that I realized The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is not named "Ditto"

[@ijokesolo]

It feels like I've been waiting forever for this!!

[@EspoVenNahive]

I know that this video is pretty old at this point, so I doubt you'll see it, but I'm starting my own campaign soon and the BBEG is the very first primordial demon type thing. Through the happenings of the creation of the world(s) the players souls were sent from the beginning of time forward. Therefore each of their PCs have minor homebrewed chronomancy abilities. If they choose to figure out that power then they may be able to do higher level stuff. But the shtick about the BBEG is that he wasn't just touched by time, but it's more apart of him. The players chronomancy spells wouldn't work on him. But his would work on them and it would be the first time that they get a taste of their own medicine so to speak.

[@jongazda6361]

That's got to be a "Run D&D" shirt

[@mikef7886]

Love many of these ideas! Lowball, wiping out spells and re rolling them! switching toons. Brilliant really!

[@DragonaxFilms]

28:57 "they just work" Now I gotta give one of my villains the power of「KING CRIMSON」xD

[@hunacean]

I first saw this video 5 years ago. Last week, I got the chance to throw Vecna at a lvl 20 party

[@danielsandefur7364]

Matthew Colville video? Yes please

[@DuamnFigueroa]

Reading the Dying Earth stories definitely improve your D&D experience. I started becoming a fan of D&D's traditional magic system after reading it. The best magic system for an adventuring game.

[@Dalenthas]

Kinda related to this, when Brennan Lee Mulligan was running Asmodeus in Calamity, he did lots of stuff with zero chance of save or failure. Just rip Someone's face off with no roll. Raise an unwilling person from the dead, just to kill them again. Cast Time Stop within a Time Stop. Why not? He's a God.

[@captainhawdon937]

Your mentioning of the Rod of Seven Parts solved a 2-decade long mystery for me. I read that book when I was 15 or 16 and I really liked it. The Douglas Niles book based on D&D. Thank you for mentioning it. I see the reviews are not that great for it. I will probably give it a read again anyways.

[@SpoofBackwardsIsFoops]

Damn it Matt, here I am trying to stay on track and you drop an hour long video.

[@DaveMagario]

Mr. Coville - Every time I watch one of you're Running the Game videos, I get new ideas and solidify sketches for NPCs, encounters, and my world. Thank you for being so imaginative and concise *all the time.* Seriously, I don't think I would have an original campaign setting without your videos. Don't know if you'll ever read this, but holy crap, this subject matter and the ideas you present here blew my mind's mind!