When players focus on the wrong NPC

Focusing on a minor character in D&D
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[@VivaLaDirtLeagueDnD]

This has never ever happened in our campaign… It was really hard to come up with the idea for this skit Www.kzbin.info

[@hazelmimas3628]

Ah. Yes. Mine neither. Not once have I ever been asked a random NPC's name, blurted out Susan, and then had someone point out that there are an absurd amount of Susans in the world and begin to question if a plot was involved behind that name...

[@Psychic_Liesl]

I felt every bit of Rob's pain in the dialogue in this script, for how many episodes the boys did this to him and he would have to either think something up on the fly. Or spend time preparing for the questions in his lead up work

[@lytsedraak]

They didn't even ask what her favourite fear is XD

[@janka248]

So nice😅 Was the outtake improvised @VivaLaDirtLeagueDnD?

[@SciFiSecrets]

"well I thought your insistence on talking about the other guy was a distraction tactic! Why were you being so obvious about it if it wasn't?!?!"

[@justinn8541]

A wise move talking to the other people first. If they went straight to the obvious person, they may never talk to those people again.

[@michael_pilot]

Either strategy may or may not work. Once I did an entire island before talking to the quest giver... and the result was crap. On the next island I spoke directly to the quest giver... and got teleported to a boat on top of a mountain. It was a long time coming back to this island just for secondary characters

[@hairtoss7975]

"Shinu!"

[@nardalis4832]

@@michael_pilot I hate when that happens. Bro I did not ask to be teleported. Can I do this part later plz? lmao

[@toseeupload8855]

Yeah. To see if the background NPCs have hidden quests or not😂

[@kenjiaex7986]

Yes

[@matthewparker9276]

I love the GM grimacing as they write down the NPCs improvised name.

[@toby-xo6rb]

"... as he writes down..."

[@MOGmanpronouncedEmojiman]

You do realise it is a DM, it stands for dungeon master.

[@MOGmanpronouncedEmojiman]

Sorry, correction, just did some research, I guess GM is acceptable too.

[@EveloGrave]

@@MOGmanpronouncedEmojiman We all make mistakes, no biggie.

[@iPuls3]

@@MOGmanpronouncedEmojiman GM is the more broad name, used in video games too.

[@evapreu3011]

That unhappy look when Rob writes down "Schmerple" in his notes 🤣

[@joeandjoeable123]

The amount of times I want to just have a mic recording in the middle of the table for transcription is a lot. The only thing is, I like the idea of no technology at the table other than maybe the occasional text on your phone or the DM having a website to help with ambiguity on an item/spell/etc... behind the DM screen.

[@bencook6806]

nearly spit out my coffee 🤣

[@DamirSpoljarec]

I like how Rowan expressed his mysteriousness through interpretative dance

[@johnflux1]

With subtitles on, it describes it as "mystery-gasm" ;-D

[@IceCenders]

that's what you call it? xD the subtitles are more accurate xDDD

[@churtlozano1795]

The waitress is a really good actor. 10 put of 10. the humor facial expression and body movement just soo in sync haha

[@iambicpentakill]

That's Brynley Stent, she was on NZ Taskmaster season 1

[@mannydavis7708]

@@iambicpentakill And on Shorty as Damo's sister.

[@offchance789]

1:43 the perfect smirk

[@Senjinone]

Sha is great!

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@annamichalska6144]

Subititles said "mystery-gasm" when Rowan was getting ready in background

[@Ganedikt]

And that's why I always watch VLDL videos a second time with subtitles turned on

[@MLacryma]

@@Ganedikt That's how you know Lorquin was part of it, I guess !

[@Lorqu1n]

​@@MLacrymaFlattered but nope! I stay in my VLDL D&D channel box. Best guess these were their editor, Tasman.

[@MLacryma]

@@Lorqu1n Well, another great addition to the post prod team ! Sassy transcriptor like you !

[@KitKat_Kt]

Haha, I always subtitle VLDL's videos - the constant jokes they write into them are awesome. 😆

[@KvaGram]

I love this new format where the DM is in the scene with the players.

[@Avenger127]

It's not a format. It's just a sketch idea.

[@Fuhrious]

“The waitress is far too busy to answer your simple questions, and continues ferrying drinks and food from the bar to the tables”

[@riverm.reiner7613]

"So she's refusing to speak to us? How mysterious...we should stalk her all night to see where she goes!"

[@MietoK]

I cast hold person!

[@mr.truffles9294]

I roll charisma

[@NarwahlGaming]

Her interaction reminded me of the barkeep in 'Monkey Island'. 😂

[@arx3516]

I cast "read mind"/"charm" on the waitress!

[@feynthefallen]

"My name is Schmerple" - "What an unusual name, how did you come by it?" - "The priest sneezed at the wrong time in my naming ceremony"

[@StoryLover-7]

X"DD

[@MrRezRising]

Punchline: "Why do you ask, 'Two Dogs F*cking'?" Tell me the setup...

[@ryanmarbut1035]

​@@MrRezRising It goes something like this. One day a Native American man is talking with the chieften the man asks: "I know that you named everyone in our tribe, how did you come up with such wonderful names". The chief replied: "Well at the time of their birth I looked around and the first thing I saw animals doing, that was the new baby's name".

[@user-wx1qz8hf7x]

Kitty Shmerple should become their companion and turn from an extraordinary character into the best fictional character that reveals itself in the course of events, the best character they came up with, and then often joke with friends with memes, because she is famous in their circle of friends.

[@ryanmarbut1035]

@@MrRezRising I don't know without Googling and that would be cheating 😂

[@malicstorm]

Their intuition was right, the man in the corner was clearly a model, not a wizard

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@kineticdeath]

It was actually "Rowa", He's French and was just waiting for his flight back to Paris

[@leomonaghan3933]

I had this happen once in a campaign. Players walked into the tavern and instead of looking for the NPC with the quest-hook, they became fixated on the man behind the bar, the tavern owner. They found out that he was a retired adventurer who put all of his gold into buying the place but was slowly being squeezed out of business by the the Thieves' Guild's ever increasing demands for "protection money".... ....SO they sidetracked into starting a months long war with the guild, purchasing a controlling interest in the tavern and ended up turning it into their in-city headquarters for the rest of the campaign. AND ~never~ got around to talking to the original NPC because he ended up being killed off one night when the guild did a "ride-by Fireballing" of the tavern as means of punishing the place for not paying the protection money.

[@Zaveron]

instead of forcing the players in directions they don't want to go, just roll with it...that way some of the best and memorable stories evolved in my own games..good work!

[@jasonwestermeyer645]

@@Zaveron "roll with it" HA!!! Good pun!!!

[@jasonscrazyshows8598]

dont think it was intended@@jasonwestermeyer645

[@evapreu3011]

My players once restored an entire bell tower that was just there for ambience.

[@ShiningDarknes]

This is generally terrible advice for people running a campaign that very much does have plot points set up. The key is to expressly NOT bullshit your players and just flat-out tell them as an aside "This npc you are talking to? Yeah I have not given them a name, they have no backstory, and anything a have them tell you I am just making up on the spot. You can keep talking to them if you are enjoying it, but if you are looking for the plot look elsewhere."@@Zaveron

[@Adz2]

It works the same when players see a random animal/creature they want to keep as a pet despite it being purely background ambiance

[@mrosskne]

So your setting is just a series of cardboard props? Why?

[@Cathie2209]

My Cleric ended up with a mini-dragon pet, that way. But the DM was quite happy with that. Everything which happens is just a new invitation for other things to happen.

[@vesanus5600]

​@@Cathie2209dunno man...depending on the system pets are a real pain in the a**... The mage of my group has a dragon too.. she wipes away all small enemies with a spell and then her dragon kills at least one stronger one. This takes away my action-economy... sometimes some players cant even attack because she kills everything in her round. Since we play Savage Worlds I also can't just add more enemies to solve the problem, because Damage can get infinitely high in this system, drastically increasing the chance of a TPK when adding too many enemies... I'd like to get advice how your GM handles such things. Seems to be a good, experienced & creative one.

[@raznaak]

@@vesanus5600 Honestly, at that point you should find some ways to get rid of the dragon without making it look *too* targeted. Like, you know, since she's going around with a fucking dragon murdering things left and right, place dragon hunters hired/on a quest to kill that beast. And even if the dragon survives, that may make your player think twice about using it too much, since actions have consequences. Or perhaps a group is sent to capture the dragon, and they do it while the PCs are sleeping or in a trap or whatever, and once captured it could be a quest to retrieve the dragon, but when they get to it the dragon was experimented on by a mad scientist/wizard and now it's smaller/weaker, so it could still be used in combat but much less deadly. There are MANY possibilities to deal with an overpowered pet or item that you gave to the players or let them have it, either by removing it (harsh but sometimes necessary) or nerfing it in-game. Throwing stronger or more enemies at a group to deal with *one* problematic PC is not the right way to do it, the other PCs are very likely to actually die or be punished instead of the problematic one... You must find a way to target the problem while making sense in-game as to why that happens.

[@vesanus5600]

@@raznaak I thank you for your advice. But before I start nerfing abilities my players absolutely are allowed to have (by the rule system) I think I will just let her be overpowered. Combats are fast and easy for them, but none of my players complained about that yet. Nerfing is a bad thing in my mind. I like the idea with the dragon-hunters though :)

[@MikConstantinou]

Hahaha, Rowan's 'pay attention to me' moves are hilarious!

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@VivaLaDirtLeague]

Oooozing with mystery!

[@bryankazee2499]

Too funny. Thank you.

[@nathanhachey]

"I'm Rowan. I'm a model."

[@trdestruction6678]

It’s such a nice touch. I’m laughing too hard at his mysteriousness.🤣🤣🤣

[@RobertHartleyGM]

Totally not based on a series of true events. Nope. All my NPCs are well thought out and considered and never improvised in a distracted panic...

[@tomcbye]

I loved the old assassin that was killed on his birthday at the start of the current DnD campaign in Honeywood...😂

[@MrSwordsman92]

Bring back Dude!!

[@davidmartensson273]

I learned after a while to have some generic name and backstory that I could grab in case they went for some random NPC I had not planed for. Helped keep the flow of the game going and some of those random NPC became recurring characters :)

[@Veelasiren]

I died laughing when Jessica, the receptionist to Grinn's love interest, mayor Kali was mute, no fingers so she couldn't sign or write, also suffered an aneurysm and died. BoB STILL used his recently acquired skill to telegraph into her head to learn more about her!

[@onecoolboy98]

I hope we see Jessica again. You remember, the Mute, Fingerless Receptionist from Brimming. The was the best! (Way better than that one who had an annurism and died on the spot.) Also, Grgrlistsnest the delivery boy needs a come back!

[@ether4211]

This is why my #1 DM tool is a book of 10,000 baby names as if the players want to speak to a random NPC I open a random page of the book and pick one that fits the moment. There's usually at least one unusual name and you can twist the spelling to be more 'fantasy', as a bonus the names meanings can provide a instant bit of backstory/interest.

[@NarwahlGaming]

I can sense some "Tim The Enchanter" vibes. 😂

[@minze202]

The hooded man is obviously a red hering. The waitress, who is having trouble answering simple questions about her identity on the other hand, seems very suspicious.

[@aliensounddigital8729]

Or the devs were really lazy and didn't care about background history.

[@BrawndoQC]

Because the DM had the whole story ready for the mysterious Rowan in the corner. Obviously, many people h ere never played DnD.

[@marcwaller3657]

It's meant to be a D&D session, there aren't any devs, this isn't Npc man

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

​@@BrawndoQC Man, it's a joke.

[@caked3953]

​@@BrawndoQConöy a fool falls for such a obvious trap. Schmurpl allways referenced him just to sneak away! :D

[@Cyberlisk]

Party: "Do you have any family?" Schmerple: "No, only parents." Bard: "So, you are single?" 😏

[@feldamar2]

No one is single with a bard around.

[@Sergote12]

Single or not, here I come!! -Brad the Bard, probably

[@uriniumintestor7302]

“I don’t know. This man in the corner is so mysterious he might even be my boyfriend! You should ask him.”

[@matthewal9545]

She looks pregnant though :P congrats on the actress though.

[@cloud5buster]

Nope, sorry, Antrius is with a different D&D comedy skit group!

[@zerefgaming8962]

that giggles and little "sorry" from britt is actually really cute haha

[@unvergebeneid]

The horns are so cute! In every video, I can't with them! 😭

[@kineticdeath]

**Britt break**

[@vg9422]

One time my group of players (I'm the DM) ended up going off trail, I made up a shop on the spot with a shopkeeper and his son that helped. They got into a fight with the son, and the whole debacle ended up with one permadeath, the group got run out of town and I had to invent a whole new town for them to get back on track. One of the best sessions in the whole campaign. It was just literally the first 5 minutes of the whole 5 hour session that was going according to my prep, the rest we improvised together😂

[@schwarzerritter5724]

"The man in the corner clearly just wants to be left alone, better not be intrusive." *stabs Schmerple* "Clearly this happened, because Schmerple was too intrusive."

[@sebben13]

Having the DM included is absolutely amazing. I love it.

[@Raida7]

I love his colour tagged binder

[@sebben13]

@@Raida7 It looks a lot like the one I had, and I would also calmy panic and find my npc sheet to write down the new important character I just created xD

[@ronpetersen2317]

Yup ... It is the only true way to capture "D&D Logic" for skits.

[@raisgamesnz325]

This was SO FUNNNNNNNY!!!!!!! When he casted Speak with the dead, I lost it. 🤣🤣🤣

[@Ookami20]

Lol I love the addition of Brynley she fits right in and I'm so glad you guys are giving her more than just Bored series

[@EliteGoosePlusOne]

yeah she vibes well with the gang

[@Ookami20]

@@EliteGoosePlusOne she is HILARIOUS lol

[@chrisp7414]

The way Rowan squirms with mystery brings the skit to a whole other level.

[@simond.455]

Desperately seeking to capture their attention. 😆

[@evapreu3011]

It's the perfect role for him!

[@drakdragon]

This right here is why the original quest to find the lost treasures of an ancient civilizatiom game turned into four mercenaries helping out little old Griswelda find some seeds that could grow in cold climates so her sister's family and friends wont starve up north. Wound up making a whole dungeon dedicated to some insane wizard doing botany experiments and a not-audrey encounter and everything, all because they wanted to know more about the little halfling who serves drinks and cheese at a random couple houses and a tavern on the road.

[@robsonclark9678]

This is amazing hah

[@BenjaminRegen]

Not-audrey 🤣

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@sebcw1204]

sometimes the best adventures come from humoring the party.

[@flameofmage1099]

The best stories are the ones that come from DMs able to make plots out of the party's antis

[@mint1k]

It does suck when you put a ton of effort into making important NPCs only for the players to brush them off, but some of the most memorable moments of games I've played and ran were from NPCs suddenly becoming important or throwing a wrench into things. The NPCs who randomly overachieve helping the party landing multiple crits in a row or something are always fun.

[@davidstorrs]

You can always recycle an NPC if the players ignore them. Didn't talk to Robert, that clearly-important guy in the corner who was supposed to be your connection to the Chancellor of the Bardic College? No worries, in the next town there will be a woman named Roberta who can connect you.

[@PokerJeezus]

Adam is like every family member on Family Fued when Ben casts speak with the dead and Adam is like "good answer, good answer!"

[@anaryllis1240]

Every DM's worst nightmare. Back in the 90s, we had a DM who would just roll with us when we went off on the wrong trail. I don't know how many NPC's we found named Newport, Marlboro, Nacho, Magnavox or what ever else he could see from a quick scan of the apartment.

[@solandri69]

As a DM, this is actually pretty fun if you've got a good group who can roll with you rolling with them. All of you are literally making up a story as you go, and if you're pretty good at it it ends up being a good story. (Also, a good DM should have a list of pre-generated names so you can quickly pick one out at random.)

[@ambioniskariot5069]

A well prepared DM has lists with names.

[@Clemppu]

Ah, the Verbal Kint school of DMing... 👌😁

[@mikemesser4326]

Lol, that DM sounds like me. I would go so far as to make players roll dice … while I took notes. The rolls were unimportant. But remembering the name and where they met them was. I also had this bad habit of writing typos. I had studied Russian and picked up a bad habit of writing g instead of d. So among some loot were some boots of Elvenking. The group thought it was funny, so I ran with it. Later when they visited a tavern, one of them was arrested for stealing the elven king’s shoes.

[@anaryllis1240]

@solandri69 we were good with spitballing story's on the fly, but all ways got brain lock when coming up with random names. And yes list of names would be great but my friends were full time college students and I was working 70 plus hours and going to school for tool and die apprenticeship, so we did not always have time for indepth prep.

[@happyhippo5488]

We need more from Schmurple. She's such an interesting character

[@markreed392]

And she's very mysterious.

[@user-wx1qz8hf7x]

Kitty Shmerple should become their companion and turn from an extraordinary character into the best fictional character that reveals itself in the course of events, the best character they came up with, and then often joke with friends with memes, because she is famous in their circle of friends.

[@philipschroeder5427]

I would like a back story about Jeremy and how his adventure of finding Meredith worked out.

[@onecoolboy98]

Quickly! We must start an investigation of how and why she died, starting with ever patron in the tavern. “First of all, tell us everything you know about Shmurple and why you think someone would have her killed?!”

[@domino6755]

Ben is so good at portraying any of the elf characters. Must be the jawline. Also this ep many can relate to, first we finish bunch of side quests before taking the main quest.

[@MK-xd5wg]

Rowan is such a ham. Love that guy. Thank you for continuing with the blooper part at the end loved every ones part in this.

[@martinsvamberg5283]

You can tell that this is exact transition from their main DnD campain where they asked Rob for backstory of unimportant NPCs :D

[@sonalita_]

episode/link?

[@karategirl084]

Dude. The names caused a rift between him and his parents. One of the best funny moments in the early campaign.

[@Veelasiren]

@@sonalita_ Dating a Dragonborn - NPC D&D - Episode 52 and Sad Bodger - NPC D&D - Episode 56, the guys were fascinated by the receptionist to the mayor and Rob threatened to kill them all for it.

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@VivaLaDirtLeague]

Whaaaaaat… we wouldn’t do that 😅

[@graven6102]

I too think that Schmerple is more mysterious than a mysterious guy in the corner. Group should take her corpse with them

[@karategirl084]

One of rowans first decisions in the dnd campaign. Killed a guy and carried his corpse into Greg's shop.

[@paulmdevenney]

into the back pack with her, to sit with all the other potentially-quest-items

[@nadennight]

Definitely need to re-animate her and join her to the party. Her story is going to take awhile to play out.

[@thatHARVguy]

@@nadennight *A Weekend at Schmerple's intensifies*

[@AliH-vd2oc]

I'll roll a 1d8 to cast reanimate on smerple.

[@Pyrisk]

I love how they took their DnD experience of Ben constantly asking questions about the NPCs and made a full video of it

[@thedarkside7508]

I absolutely LOVE this series. It's so frigging funny to see the perspective of the GM and the characters. A very innovative approach!

[@mikkotavast4103]

This is so exciting. Will Schmerple the Purple return as Schmerple the White? By the way, did anybody notice the guy in the background, with some sort of a book and wearing a black hood or something, I guess? I love these little details that VLDL put in their videos.

[@innocentbystander3317]

Did not notice at all. In fact, I didn't even notice how Schmurple died... I'm gonna have to re-watch. 😂

[@LittlestTeapot]

wasn't he in Avatar?

[@HorizonOfHope]

As an experienced DnD player I have to say: I'm extremely impressed with how quickly the party figured that all out. Geniuses to use speak with dead, you could see how stumped the DM was. Can't wait to see how Shmurple the Dread Lord was masquerading as a waitress.

[@sneezyfido]

Speak with the dead failed, because... *dramatic drumroll* They are not dead! The image of the waitress shimmers and fades away, revealing a wooden serving cart and a pixie sitting on it. The pixie looks decidedly enraged.

[@vicsrealms]

Sometimes even the players can get payback for the what the DM has put them through. ~grin~

[@RuSosan]

Ah, but they didn't notice how Schmerple clearly used magic to manipulate that poor average tavern patron into "murdering" herself. That was an obvious ploy to avoid inquiry. And to do such a thing to a poor common commoner man of commoning, who was just trying to enjoy a common book after a common hard day of common work was truly nefarious from *Schmerple... **_of Smaugenrock._* There, I said it even if it's a spoiler to some who didn't realize. She has to be from Smaugenrock to be so evil.

[@PastMourning]

Spoiler, the mysterious man is actually Shrumple's familiar wearing a ring of spell storing which she cast polymorph into allowing the familiar to take the form of a mysterious man at will to distract the adventurers. When Shrumple realized the adventurers were on to her, she had her familiar pretend to stab her as she subtle spell cast feign death on herself. A very clever ruse.

[@user-cs5ld9if2y]

As an experienced DM, i have to say: I love you and hate you at the same time ))

[@Jfrosty09]

2:47 NOT LIKE BORING OLD SLURPLE HERE *everyone gasps in disbelief*

[@harobed96]

Rob’s panicked DM faces 😂 Love it

[@michael_pilot]

In the credits : "Any resemblance to existing people is purely coincidental"

[@petrowegynyolc7108]

"No Schnerples were harmed in the making of this skit."

[@tomtomkingbenito5998]

"What's your favorite fears" is still a personal favorite from the AOA campaign 🤣

[@Werewolf_dr]

Came here looking for this. :)

[@etainvelorum5814]

This is why I have lists upon lists of names and their meanings and a random generator for personality traits on standby.

[@greyknightsindre]

I've rewatched this a few times, pure genius, silly DM trying to trick us players!

[@anthonyhotspot7890]

"I cast speak with the dead on Schmirple's corpse" ended me 💀

[@nesamdoom]

Gotta know what's going on. She got murdered during casual conversation, definitely needs investigating.

[@ronvon3254]

Ikr, leave the poor woman alone! 😂

[@gaz-atollahofrockandrolla7519]

Killed you? Then I cast speak with the dead on Anthonyshutpot7890

[@duszam]

I bursted! 😂

[@biedawo]

The chorus of agreement -- "good idea / yes / good idea" was what did it for me. Clearly a party of uncommonly unified vision.

[@mipking3975]

Rowan impatiently waiting in the corner trying to get attention from them looked so funny

[@martinfiedler4317]

Rowan? Oh YEA, that WAS Rowan. No wonder that the players did not recognize him. Clothing makes him so ... inconspicuous.

[@bladerj]

this is something i hate in modern games, they use obvious lighting to show you where is the path, and people still get lost. like. HOW. or my most offensive issue, wich they seem to have toned down or forgotten, getting into a new area and the camera pan where the obvious enemies are going to pop up before you get into the fight. why ?

[@TheGodlikeDragon]

He could have thrown shit at them and they still would not care to approach or speak with him

[@cafloivedu]

I almost died laughing and coughfing so hard to that last bit speak with the dead HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

[@Wolfwent79]

For me, I almost fell over at "mystery-gasm". Brilliant!

[@Ynook]

Am I the only who wants more Schmerple? Schmerple killed it in this video! :D

[@user-lf3kr1nq2d]

But Schmerple is dead. 😕

[@CruciferWarden]

@@user-lf3kr1nq2d The druid or paladin could use revivify if they're a high enough level

[@Arbaaltheundefeated]

@@CruciferWarden Or maybe a Scroll of Raise Dead could be procured. Zombie Schmerple anyone?

[@ArneHB]

I would take two...no, let's make it three, thanks@@Arbaaltheundefeated

[@andre429]

SchMOREple please!

[@RealGlitchKing]

"I stab the robed man and cast revive on Shmerple!"

[@xiimooniixmoon2988]

🤣

[@user-wx1qz8hf7x]

Kitty Shmerple should become their companion and turn from an extraordinary character into the best fictional character that reveals itself in the course of events, the best character they came up with, and then often joke with friends with memes, because she is famous in their circle of friends.

[@Talion1011]

No such spell in D&D. Get your games straight. This isn't final fantasy

[@Daniel-rd6st]

Of course there are ressurction spells (or miracles) in DnD, unless this game has changed a lot in the last couple of years. I can even remember a text from the rulebook, where it basically states that after a certain characterlevel (paragon upwards) death becomes more and more meaningless, as ressurection options become more and more available. Btw., the first hit on a quick google search is titled "Dungeons & Dragons: The 6 Best Resurrection Spells" :p @@Talion1011

[@SoulOfTheReaver]

@@Talion1011 Revivify, 3 Necromancy Casting Time: 1 action You touch a creature that has died within the last minute. That creature returns to life with 1 hit point. This spell can't return to life a creature that has died of old age, nor can it restore any missing body parts.

[@palepants9475]

I love these bits where everyone is dressed up, but the DM gets to wear normal clothes.

[@mattd6931]

Well yeah, you ALWAYS do all the side quests and misc objectives first, because the main quest things often lock you out of doing the other stuff later.

[@deeps6979]

Ah, "What's your name?" on an NPC you didn't plan for. Every GM's nightmare.

[@fIayff]

What I often do is always have a "backup characters". Completely ordinary characters but with names description a little background and other stuff. I sometimes mix information of different ones into one if it's necessary but mostly it solves the issue of coming up with that stuff on the spot. Highly recommend, 10 out of 9. Yes I did rate my own tip.

[@JDLambright]

Bob. Every NPC is named Bob.

[@613harbinger316]

@@JDLambright I'm Bob and so's my wife!

[@Morrodin182]

@@613harbinger316 Yes, and have you met my 3 kids? Bob, Bob and Rob. The last one was adopted.

[@thegreatcanadianweasel9928]

One of the best tips I ever saw was to just have list of random names written down handy, cause this exact scene is a certainty in every campaign.

[@karategirl084]

Rob's expressions! Rowan's "squirming with mystery"! You guys are too much. 😁

[@marcusdire8057]

This was a good one. Love the DM in the scene,and when he started frantically flipping through his notes I lost it. 😂 This really hit home.

[@francisty139]

When the Robed Rowan started Modelling to gain attention, I laughed so hard until my tears came out & wasn't able to stop laughing until the end of the skit. Good Job.😂

[@mahshid_z]

This reminds me of two of my favorite NPCs, Notim and Unim from the Portant family. Always wondered if they were related to Dude in any way.

[@icey_john]

i doubt it, from what I remember Dude Dalia grew up on Alderkeep. Unim and Notim grew up on the Dead Frost.

[@temwananinkana3419]

Rowan being all thirsty because he is brimming with mystery

[@gantref9202]

I love this take of live acting out D&D, keep up the amazing work!

[@RictusHolloweye]

I once started a campaign with the characters tasked to deal with a hive of giant ants. It was just meant as a quick, easy scenario to help the players get their characters working together. Nothing more. The whole friggin' game they investigated why there were giant ants there. The druid spoke with them, they investigated surrounding crops, interrogated nearby farmers. The actual game itself (a murder mystery, that they were repeatedly told about) went entirely ignored.

[@yarion4774]

I don't know about you,but it feels like they were really excited about their first session together and just wanted to pull out all the stops. And I think that's great and something a DM can adjust to the following session. It's not like they ignored your hook. It just that they swallowed it so hard, they pulled you into the lake with them. It's better than players ignoring the obvious start of the adventure and start stealimg chickens to make a chicken farm (true story that happened to one of my players' first ever game.)

[@RictusHolloweye]

@@yarion4774 - It did turn out that the ants were caused to be giant by the influence of dark elves working beneath the town they lived in. It was as good as I could come up with on the fly. Still, I had written up maps and encounters. People to interrogate and dialogue for every question I could predict they may ask. Backgrounds for the NPCs so I could more readily ad lib their interactions. Hours of work, so many pages of events and information that sit on my shelf as a reminder to railroad these players into the story I wrote! ;-)

[@MithrilFlame]

​@@RictusHolloweye Ready to use in a future adventure, not wasted at all 🙂

[@mrosskne]

There shouldn't be an "actual" game and there shouldn't be a wrong way for the players to interact with the world. Improve your DMing.

[@DylanBFishkeeper]

I made a grand campaign that covered level 1 to beyond level 20. The party was supposed to make their way north to the capital city, where they would encounter the Blood King and decide whether to support or oppose his global conquest and unification efforts. Along the way, they would see the pros and cons each action would have on the kingdom, so they weren't just getting thrown into that decision blind. ...aaaand they ended up hunting down a necromancer cult for a random orc NPC they took in, literally changing the focus of the campaign to wiping out the shadowy leaders of said cult, never even coming close to the city they were supposed to reach within the first 5 sessions after years of playing that game. It was an absolute blast, and it actually freed me up to add a lot more of my random world-building encounters and oddities than if I had railroaded them to the original story.

[@ralhamami]

Hahaha, I saw the title and instantly thought of many times Rob had to masterfully improvise unintended back stories against his will in the VLDL D&D campaign. For anybody who hasn't watched the VLDL D&D campaign yet on their other channel, I recommend it. Amazing stuff even if you have no idea what D&D is. Has become one of the highlights of my week.

[@catvamp100]

Ugh, I hate waiting a week to see what happens next! Can't wait for Thursday every week, it's maddening!

[@ralhamami]

@@catvamp100 Oh totally! Same here. It's so good. I've always got to set the mood before I watch because I know it's just a fleeting moment.

[@schattentaenzerin]

Standing ovation for the actress playing Schmerple. Great comedic talent there! 👏

[@ninja-mouse]

3:00 give her a Oscar!

[@thebenforever]

"I went to school for it actually."🤣🤣🤣 Perfect. Also Rowan's "look at how mysterious I am" interpretive dance moves are mesmerizing. Lol

[@pauldavis5665]

Schmerple is the key to all of this.

[@makingmercien9642]

This is the best example of DM sweat I've seen! Keep making these videos especially with your DM literally standing there in street clothes. Great detail!

[@CaliPepper]

I like to imagine that when the party eventually moves on, they keep coming back throughout the campaign to speak to Schmerple again. That happens surprisingly often with random NPCs.

[@mr.truffles9294]

Basically, this is how the boys keeps on derailing from the main quests. Such as asking Dude's complete autobiography

[@jasondilts7954]

Rowan's take of Aragorn is awesome!

[@tranquilthoughts7233]

I actually remember something similiar happening but in a larp setting. This happened at conquest of mythodea (i think it was in 2008). I was there as an NPC with a couple friends. It was late at night and we did a little zombie action when the SL had a little idea. One of the female NPC were to play not as a standard zombie but as a sort of grieving ghost. She herself didn't attack the players or interact with them in any way but she had a zombie horde following her wherever she goes and the zombie horde was to attack any player trying to interact with here. But here's the twist. As long as she wasn't slain the Zombies were unkillable but the second she was slain all Zombies would die too. Well, long story short, some paladin players mistook her for a quest NPC and tried for almost an hour to figure out what her grievance was so that they could help her find peace all the while being constantly swarmed by Zombie and despairing on why they couldn't kill them. Then some dark elve players came along and after having a good laugh at the paladins they made short work of the ghost and all Zombies died. The look on the face of those paladins was priceless^^

[@trens1005]

Every DM has been a Schmerple at one point. The struggle is real! We need more Schmerple!!!

[@hittkid6312]

This reminds me so much of the investigation heavy campaign my group did. We completely fixated on the wrong person and spent way too much time stalking him and casing his house basically investigating everything about the man's life, even talked to his co-workers and neighbors and investigated them too. Halfway thru the session we all realized we were investigating the wrong guy but our DM was hella fast building the new mystery that we kept investigating and he made the mistake turn into a 4 session quest What was supposed to be a search for an underground "society" for the rich and powerful instead became a chase for basically the Waterdeep's version of Jeffrey Dahmer. We were very impressed with our DM.

[@Veelasiren]

That sounds like amazing fun!

[@hittkid6312]

@@Veelasiren Oh it was. We're lucky that our DM is also a really good Storyteller for our Vampire the Masquerade game so he's talented at making mysteries and intrigue out of thin air

[@Geesaroni]

That's the way you do it. It might be "realistic" for a person to just not really have anything interesting going on if you've got the wrong guy, but it's important as a GM to also make failure interesting - and that does include failure to pick up on the plot hook.

[@Macncheese6522]

Smurple was definitely the suspicious one here. It was obvious

[@MrAlopex112]

wasnt her name Hurple?

[@bloodaggie859]

It was obvious. She's the red spy! Watch, she'll turn red any second now...

[@sebastiancoar1991]

Obviously the mastermind behind the Magic Plague Drought. *Proceeds to do an Austin Powers maneuver and rip her face mask off to reveal the imposter.*

[@jherazob]

[Mysterious squirming] And there i cracked up

[@raphaelunger4138]

This skit was hilarious! One of my favourites of all time. Well done guys!

[@sylehu7056]

The dedication for the outfits and the atmosphere is fantastic as always

[@safarfalahi5587]

i bet Rob wrote this. As the crew keep asking the full detail background story of an NPC named Guy on the DND channel

[@stranger83]

How dare you! It was Dude (I think)!

[@RobertHartleyGM]

Not one of my scripts but I certainly added to it!

[@kevinrobert8081]

Short for dudalia!

[@thagoden]

really enjoying these. hope they continue.

[@thesinaclwon]

Everyone pause it at 3:07 and just appreciate these nerds. Grown ass adults wearing costumes making legendary videos for us to consume. Just nerding it up.

[@rphb5870]

the man in the corner was obviously a distraction for Smurpel

[@onecoolboy98]

She was clearly working undercover.

[@rphb5870]

@@onecoolboy98 excatly, it was very suspecious how she tried to divert attention from herself. All alehouse maids I know of, LOVE to talk to the patrons. They does it for two reasons. 1 they get a bigger tip, and they mostly works for tips and 2 they are born curious. And travellers always have some delicious gossip

[@SayGahTaah]

Costumes always on point

[@iamFreddyP_]

Loving the series! Cant wait for more!

[@luckyunderdog5351]

This may have been me during my latest D&D session. Rowan killed it putting out mysterious vibes. Great content as always!

[@FreyjaRKim]

I remember laughing so hard at the moment Alan asked something along the line, "Is this your subtle way of telling us not to ask about the NPC's background?" and Rob answered something like, "This is my not subtle way of telling you not to." (then proceed to complain about them asking about Dude as Rob literally named him that because he was just a dude to fill the minor role) 😂

[@mrosskne]

Why doesn't he just write a book if he doesn't want his players to make any decisions or interact with anything?

[@FreyjaRKim]

@@mrosskne Sigh, man, it was just something players do during a session that they mischievously ask DM to do an improv about an NPC that was supposed to do one thing only, like sending a message or activating a portal. You might be ignorant, but oftentimes DMs prepare NPCs with questlines and story that could be unfolded through the play, but then the players unknowingly made decisions that led to them abandon these NPCs. My comment was not meant to be a serious one. It was most possibly a running joke between VLDL and Rob since they still tried to make Rob to do the same and Rob had grown proficient in denying them 😂 Also, playing with guys like VLDL is hard, Rob always does his best to keep everything moving because of time constraint and other reasons. If the players insist on something like this, the story can't move forward. I don't know why you were so prickly about me reminiscing a funny moment during their D&D campaign, but I hope you can understand that you misunderstood me completely.

[@JChalant]

I think Schmerple did a great job of bringing the attention back on 'that guy over there' !

[@rachelryan84]

Clearly trying to direct the attention away from herself, how mysterious.

[@TreyVanZandt-RoyaltyFreeMusic]

Having been a DM for many years, holy crap I felt this. This was so painfully honest and correct.

[@sirpaillasson2671]

It’s not the fault of the players if you can’t make a waitress with an interesting backstory and a hidden quest where she would ask to have a contact with his father that she didn’t see since his adolescence because she never wanted to have a arranged mariage with some old noble. Of course, the waitress and the noble are, after that, now allied to the adventurers and the dad could use his influence to help the group in his future quests !

[@scol5868]

@@sirpaillasson2671 A waitress promised to a nobleman...?

[@sirpaillasson2671]

@@scol5868 a waitress of noble origin, with a noble father who want to marry her daughter.

[@Yeldibus]

By far your best D&D skit yet!

[@jasonkrypt]

Yeah, most of players don't even fixate on the NPC's. They just ignore all of them and go on their own, only to find out two or three sessions later that they have no idea what they are doing or where they are going because they ignored everything up to that point. This includes the time that an NPC came bursting into a room screaming about escaping some magical kidnappers only for the players to basically say, "quiet down, we're working over here. We're trying to figure out who has been kidnapping all these people and we think its the ogres." (it wasn't the ogres)

[@mrosskne]

If you created a setting instead of a railroad, this wouldn't be a problem

[@autumnwhisp]

What? If someone bursts in screaming about a problem, and they proceed not to ask that person, it’s not railroading for them to not learn more until they get slammed with what the problem *actually* is

[@comicmoniker]

​@@mrosskne That advice really doesn't apply in their case. First of all, "setting" and "railroad" are not and should not be antonyms. All D&D games can use some of each. Second, their players aren't exploring, they're sitting around trying to figure out the next part of a particular story. Knowing that there's also plenty of other interesting parts of the setting available to explore isn't going to help them pursue the mystery they're focused on

[@vesanus5600]

If they think it's the ogres... why should it not be the ogres? They would feel smart and you would feel less ignored. If you REALLY want it to be someone else, let them walk to the ogres. And then the ogres scream "Ah, humans are back to kidnap our children!" Aaand attack. Because they have the same problem.

[@vesanus5600]

I understand the joke here, but for my campaign: if they so aggressively think the waitress is the mage in disguise... give her the backstory and let her be the mage in disguise. Players feel smart and the story can go on.

[@Lewkis01]

Great to see Rob with the gang in a Viva video :) Also this is 100% them in their campaign. Like every time. I was waiting for them to ask what her favorite fear is.

[@adamwalkercodes]

A large red Dragon swoops down and rips off the roof of the Inn. Roll for initiative order.

[@CognizantPsyche]

This is how Bobbin the Goblins are born and eventually die. I actually love it when they do this because it opens so many possibilities down the road and in many cases can take the party in unexpected routes, sometimes better than what I had planned - even though its a lot of work and often negates large swaths of my prep. In my last session an improved lone servant girl I added for flavor ended up successfully (through lucky rolls) assisting in the party escaping a mansion surrounded by guards (and thus negating the combat I planned and plot the leader was going to provide). They are now her employer. I only wanted her to be background flair, but they latched on so I tied a guard they killed while sneaking in as being her only close friend that she hadn't seen report in that night, it would have ended there but they successfully rolled to deceive/convince her that he probably called in sick and they hadn't seen him (he died in their arms and it was kind of a moment that was turned into a joke on the player)... So now I have that side story/plot to play around with. I love DnD so much.

[@Striggly]

I both love and hate when my players do this when im DMing, improv can makes some of the best NPCs but it puts me on the spot.

[@mrosskne]

Why did you create an NPC that the players are supposed to talk to instead of an actual setting?

[@gonarp8245]

He don't. The players chooses to interact with NPC thus forcing the DM to come up with stupid names and random jibberish. Which is fun for the players, nightmare for the DM.

[@alxndrassies]

Lol, another Taskmaster contestant. Is David Correos coming back at any time? I love that guy.

[@d.t.m8393]

The wizard trying to fabulously attract their attention in the background, good heavens! 😂

[@petertarnopolsky8259]

Rowan has never looked more mysterious!

[@christophherrmann8246]

Wow ! What an episode! Love it. Great job!

[@onecoolboy98]

YESSS!!! This is exactly what they’d do! RIP “Dude” Dudalia. Hope we get to see Unim and Notim Portant as well as Grgrlistsnest the Delivery boy again. Everyones favorite fingerless mute receptionist, Jessica And most of all Pearl from the Mask Shop.

[@difficult1003]

Yeah, the best characters in D&D

[@mrosskne]

it's just too bad the campaign vids are utterly unwatchable because of everyone constantly talking over each other and ignoring the DM, it would be pretty entertaining otherwise

[@onecoolboy98]

@@mrosskne You kidding? I find it very hilarious. They're having fun, which makes watching it fun.

[@DH-xw6jp]

​@@deimudda2130Bob (Ben's character) has telepathy.

[@onecoolboy98]

@@deimudda2130 Rob was trying his best to have them avoid the mayor's receptionist, so he was countering every interaction with her. But, Ben's Character "B.O.B." had just recently unlocked Telepathy. When he used it on her, Rob screamed "DAMN IT!" and he let them talk to her.

[@MSte21]

This was brilliant. The actress for the waitress was really good at it. And Britt cracking up at her improv was just perfect. Rowan getting increasingly desperate to get the adventurers' attention was amazing.

[@jpaulsen10]

lol, as a DM, this is100% accurate. Well done. Btw Schmerple needs more screentime in your up and coming videos.

[@Luchoedge]

oooh I LOVE this format! it's GREAT!

[@ploppyploppy]

lol 'what an interesting contrast to shmurple' - delivered perfectly