Weird Anime Guy When He Learns Actions Have Consequences:

[@yari4046]

"lawful neutral" ---> ignores a direct lawful command from authority while being caught committing a crime

[@booey316]

he just had his own personal code that said he must do whatever he wants when he wants.

[@eveleen.]

​@@booey316wait, isnt that chaotic neutral??? (genuine question)

[@flameofmage1099]

​@@eveleen.No that's more in line with CE. CN is more the fare about freedom (which people will twist into CE intentional or not)

[@watcher424]

@@flameofmage1099 well neutrals in the middle ground. So, even if a player does something bad or evil as long as they do something good, they should be fine. From my understanding I could be wrong.

[@booey316]

@@eveleen. You would be surprised the justifications for bad behavior

[@TheClaw47]

My favorite PC introduction was from a one shot I ran: "You all meet in a bar...then the bar runs out of beer and there's a riot..." They were all level 0 villagers who kind of knew each other anyway. The whole premise of the game was to somehow get more beer because that was the Thursday night riot and if that wasn't solved by Friday night, the whole town would be on fire.

[@emPIEror]

You can't just drop such a banger begin of a story and not tell how it ends, was the town still standing?! Was there more beer to be found?!

[@TheClaw47]

​@@emPIEror Lol. Thanks. The short of it was that they decided to go visit a "gated community" some out of town merchants had created and pulled a scam to claim that the beer was contaminated and it was a public health hazard. There were some hijinks hauling a few hundred gallons of beer down the road when some bandits decided they wanted it for themselves. It was enough to last until the next week's shipment arrived from the druids up the river...I think the aftermath may have also included the party dwarf quitting his job as the apothecary's apprentice and instead opened up a real dwarven brewery so it wouldn't happen again.

[@chukyuniqul]

Sounds like something that might work better in zedrin's himbo ttrpg system. This is a recommendation

[@vitlaska]

@@TheClaw47 The town merchants ghetto'd the local brewery to artificially increase demand, while opening up their ports to Druid beer. It really says a lot about a lot

[@TheClaw47]

@@vitlaska Out of town merchants. It was a joke about rich gentrifiers liking a really bad local beer and screwing everything up, hence why the dwarf opened up his own brewery afterwards.

[@vegeta002]

_"You better hope I don't see you again, or I'll piss my pants in fear and the sight will be burned into your mind."_

[@Papakhan9636]

With the issues I had going on being fresh out of the Marines and having recently lost 2 close friends. I'm glad I didn't see him again I heard jail is not fun

[@tonymacaroni955]

​@@Papakhan9636 DUDES IN JAIL NOW????

[@Papakhan9636]

@@tonymacaroni955 no no I'm saying I'm glad I didn't see him again because I would be in jail and I heard it's not fun

[@Chaos706]

Oh nooo not that

[@AutumnWoodham]

Boosting damage by sacrificing HP legit sounds like a cool mechanic

[@Jerry-cg9ni]

even though its been overplayed

[@Eye_Of_Odin978]

​​@@Jerry-cg9niA little but that's only because it's kind of easy to balance as long as one doesn't go overboard. There's a clear upside and downside (higher damage output vs health cost) whereas making other custom abilities can get muddy and easily become OP in a bit of a snowball effect.

[@Xylarxcode]

@@Eye_Of_Odin978 We did that once. We called it 'paying the blood price', which was something you could do equal to your CON modifier and reset after a long rest. For the martial classes, they could 1d8 to their next round of attacks and then they took damage equal to the total amount rolled by their d8. For spellcasters, it worked as a more supportive thing. They could restore a spell slot at the cost of 1d6 per level restored. So a level 3 spell slot cost you 3d6, level 4 cost 4d6 etc etc. Hybrid classes like rangers and paladin could choose one or the other, but after choosing, they were locked in to that one. They couldn't do both. Terrible idea. We did not balance this AT ALL. Super OP. Completely broke the game, lol. I'm sure you can balance it so it's not broken AF, but our dumbasses couldn't figure out how to do it and we just scrapped the idea altogether, rather then trying to fine tune it. There's definitely potential in there, but making it balanced is harder than it looks at first glance. Fun while it lasted for the players. Not so much for the DM.

[@Baalid]

that's just kaioken

[@fourthmatchflame]

blood hunter moment.

[@JohnMasterCheif]

I think the arm thing from the first story is a reference to Princess Mononoke. A guy gets attacked by creature that was infected with something and it got on his arm. From there every time it seemed to “activate” it caused his attacks to be strengthened (like his arrow completely ripping the arms off an enemy horse rider) but it caused the infection to spread on his body and slowly kill him

[@TheePhroggy]

Good catch. I was thinking Blazblue when the arm was mentioned.

[@Kintaku]

Could also have been Bleach. Chad’s power is in his left arm at the start and uses drain his life force as a source of strength.

[@ThatIdiotOmega]

So that's why I got ToTk vibes. BTW I am aware that ToTK is loosely inspired by Princess Mononoke.

[@sumisu2578]

@@Kintakucould also be final getsuga tenshou

[@eeveefan132]

@@TheePhroggySame. Although, admittedly, it’s a conclusion I’m not so certain of.

[@Papakhan9636]

Holy cow thank you for presenting my story!!! I didnt expect this (mine is the first one) i feel honored

[@CritCrab]

Thanks for sharing dude! Crab 🦀🦀🦀

[@jacobcorturillo6537]

🦀🦀🦀🦀

[@waffle-234]

​@@CritCrabcrab 🦀

[@MoButt-qu2bh]

@dakotaleach1386 is the voice acting accurate?🦀?

[@Papakhan9636]

@@MoButt-qu2bh pretty close

[@dustyfedora]

Oh boy he used Hifumi for the thumbnail. This is gonna be a ride

[@citrusorange794]

The second time to

[@kylekrzysik1626]

He’s also used Genocide Jack in a previous video, so I like to think that this means he is a Danganronpa fan.

[@FleckTheCat]

@@kylekrzysik1626also he used Kotoko

[@HamazuraGOD]

This puts insult on the name of the great Yamada, also known as The Alpha and the Omega!

[@Varian-le8hz]

Danganronpa fan confirmed⁉️

[@KogasaGaSagasa]

"I was playing the character the way I thought he would be" sounds SUSPICIOUSLY like "That's what my character would do".

[@Koranthus]

it also simultaneously sounds like "i stole this character from xxxx and i thought he looked cool and I didn't actually research him so this is how i think he acts" both? both is good

[@shieldgenerator7]

i mean, if thats true, thats ok, but you have to be willing to accept the consequences of your character's actions. one time i played a werewolf and ambushed the party at night, almost killing one of them. then the party ganged up on me and killed me. i did what my character would do, and the consequences of his actions was that he died. and i accepted that, and it was ok (in reality tho, my character didn't die bc the dm stepped in to protect my character from the consequences of his actions, but thats a story for another time)

[@shooey-mcmoss]

he's surprisingly honest by telling that those are just his thoughts on the supposed behavior. One little plus for him

[@KentaroMiyamoto21]

That's because it is, just with different words.

[@RiveroftheWither]

Wigi sounds very insecure that he wasn't "winning" at d&d, at least thats what it sounds like to me. Like, you're playing Mario Kart and your little cousin visits and askes to play too but any time you place higher than them, they just whine and complain. Im getting that vibe.

[@quincyking010]

honestly i get more the vibe that he just didnt like op in general and wanted to get him kicked out

[@wigi3734]

The fear i felt seein my own name

[@Jubilation457]

“You better hope I don’t see you again” I love how he finished that text message off with a thinly veiled threat yet he didn’t have the gall to say any of this to the DM personally when he had the chance.

[@puppetmasterey]

What did my grandfather used to say? "A coward makes threats from across the room, whereas a man runs across the room to neutralize a threat".

[@ChucktheSpicyChicken]

"Y-you better hope i don't see you again! I am vwey strong and mwen" "My gandma has scoliosis and her spine is stronger then ever bone in your body"

[@waynefiddler3609]

Lol, last time someone said that to me, 20 minutes later, I was ringing the doorbell so we could discuss the matter in person. I still don't know what was supposed to happen if he saw me again, he wouldn't answer the door.

[@Nyghtking]

You know, that left arm thing could make a decent magic item, like it would trade your hit die pool for damage, so you used up a hit die up, rolled it, and whatever it rolled was added to the damage of your attack, if you ran out of hit die you could still roll the hit die but it would subtract what you rolled from your current health to add that as damage to your attack.

[@il9096]

I was thinking more of the bloodhunter kind of class

[@zealotoftheorchard9853]

Theres a magic item like that in new Giants book of 5e

[@mrmors1344]

i... like this idea... not for the arm thing specifically, but as a mechanic for other things... *cough* blood magic *cough*

[@Papakhan9636]

I liked the idea but like I said I was new and trying to work it in until he died. He was also disrespectful to Sherm's mom and Nubs' wife homie

[@alarkhar]

To be honest, that "arm" thing sounds to me like he inscribed a Vicious rune on his arm - not fully kosher, but eh. To clarify: "Vicious" is a weapon property from Pathfinder 1e that allows a character to inflict 2d8 extra with an attack... in return for taking 1d8 for each successful attack. Most players used to consider Vicious weapons downright suicidal, particularly if used by HP-light classes (a swashbuckler with a Vicious rapier fighting a dragon drops faster than his opponent even if the dragon never hits him!) but some, like, say, people playing particularly tanky barbarians, loved them.

[@islathomas600]

If someone gets me a bottle of crown royal for DMing them they will get special treatment lol And in this story they did! They got offered to make a new character instead of immediately booted after their first character

[@Papakhan9636]

I enjoyed every drop but you can't bribe me.

[@Koranthus]

@@Papakhan9636 lol bribe you to not shoot 80 arrows, only 40.

[@Elgato634]

@@Koranthus "Since you gave me crown royal, you'll get shot with half of the arrows" "If I'm getting shot by 80, then i'm getting shot by 40 now?" "Nah. 80 is half"

[@glitchfamous8308]

As a DM who cooks for their players and runs game. It is very stressful, but my players are so appreciative of the lengths I go to for them to have a comfortable experience for them. Before this guy could finish the sentence, "you cooked and didn't spend time during game" he would be out on his ass so quickly

[@Papakhan9636]

Bro it was so rude but I could handle it. What I couldn't handle was him not recycling when Sherm's mom asked him to or when he was offered a snack or something that her or Nubs' wife made it was always "nah or no" never "no thank you or I'm okay". Also like I said Nubs and I have been friends for 20+ years DnD was new to us and Sherm is a gun nut like I am so we just chit chatted for 45min to an hour before.

[@Mikescool444]

@@Papakhan9636 wait, you’re the guy who DM’d for the “tries to fight 80 guards” guy?

[@Papakhan9636]

@@Mikescool444 I am

[@ladonmccabe]

This was unbelievably insane. I dont know how to cook good myself, so I'm extra appreciative of those who go out of there way to not only make an amazing and fun world to experience, but a meal to enjoy as well. Dude needs a serious reality check.

[@glitchfamous8308]

@ladonmccabe that is okay if you want to learn. My advice would be to start small. Slow cookers are some of the best easy meals you can make.

[@poptatochisps342]

"You meet in a tavern" is second only to "Welcome to the session! Roll initiative."

[@steel8231]

I was in a Cyberpunk game with someone who didn't understand consequences, they got my character's leg blown off in a totally avoidable fight and later stood and laughed while the netrunner was beaten to death by a homeless guy. He unironically thought the Katana/Fedora look was cool and was eventually banned from the discord for streaming a porn mod of DOTA 2 during the game.

[@DOCTORRGLASS]

How like how do you people meet these people farthest ive gotten is some arsehole on a warfare post on steam

[@KumiChan2004]

In some Cyberpunk worlds I know that they can use tech to replace limbs and they are more functional than normal limbs. But one belief that a character might have is that putting such tech on themselves makes their body impure. The could hold a strong belief against it and be unwilling to bend that belief at all. You character might not have. But still someone else might hold such believes for their character.

[@prylosecorsomething3194]

The end of that story was an absolute mental flashbang

[@lordbalthosadinferni4384]

​@@prylosecorsomething3194Can't you just smell the BO lingering under a haze of fruit-flavored vape?

[@obnoxiouspedant]

​@@lordbalthosadinferni4384they should make hard candy in that flavour

[@doogee3965]

our DM made a funny punishment. When somone is disruptive (not too much) she makes a mark on her "Goblin" paper and then she will throw the number of goblins equal to the number of marks we have

[@Redskies453]

Lol I would probably level up my AoE and farm goblins by deliberately being an asshole.

[@parkermacneil5523]

Critcrab be like "Ahh yes, Scheduling Issues, the one true killer of all D&D campaigns" Then by the end of the video "This is how you can use Scheduling Issues ™️ to kill your D&D campaigns" Rg

[@ZorotheGallade]

The first story ended in the best possible way under those circumstances: the trash took itself out.

[@Papakhan9636]

And I got a free bottle of crown royal my favorite win win

[@schwarzerritter5724]

First time player! If you did not establish any expectations, the player did not do anything wrong.

[@Pyrothebored]

Common sense is an expectation needing stating? I mean, the red danger flags were flying, he did it to himself

[@schwarzerritter5724]

If you never played a roleplaying game before, you might expect killing the guards would only get you in trouble if anyone sees it. Instead of explaining to the player the dungeon master expects the party to act more heroic, he manifested about 76 guards out of thin air and gave all of them advantage on their attacks, turning an apparently winnable fight into an instant kill. CritCrab says it himself in the next story: "At no point is there a part of 'fixing a player's behaviour by punishing them in game without a real shot at communication.'"

[@Papakhan9636]

@schwarzerritter5724 it wasn't out of thin air I explained the whole situation to the party "in this fort on the high walls are roughly 80 archers and a lot of soldiers training and whatnot." They met the quest giver in a courtyard "barracks are ahead of you and an armory to the right about 20 yards away." This is when he went off to the armory and climbed on the roof. The rest was explained in the video. I didn't materialize them and I explained that in the replies of the post.

[@OrpheusSpyros5]

The Second Story: -- I personally perfer to use a method I call "PC Intro". I basically let each Player introduce their Characters and do a bit of Storyline building for my Campaign and build on their Character Backstories. Doesn't always fit, but it's a different way to start...

[@n0etic_f0x]

I have to give my most absurd start to a one-shot. Do be warned this is kind of... absurdly brutal. The king of a kingdom has just been slain and his wife has delivered his son. The evil lord grabs the newborn by the leg and just chunks him into a wall. The tone is set. That is the BBEG, he is evil, and you have your motive to stop him. The players started at level twelve and almost decided to flee when one guy who would be the edge lord just attacked a guard "No roll needed. How do you want your kill? BTW this is a surprise after this all roll initiative" still the most fun start I have had.

[@JackRook]

I just start on a high note, with backstory opportunities later. Better to boost suspense than forcing the players to listen to my crazed ramblings.

[@morrigankasa570]

I like that idea, other methods make Backstories seem like After-Thoughts.

[@Koranthus]

This sounds like a good idea with experienced players but not for a new DM and newer players. I've only DM'd a few campaigns so far but this would definitely not work for me, since my players barely will do their backstories. They are just not RP focused yet, still enamored of all the combat options.

[@juliusnebulus7303]

It's 1.33 am here. But this won't stop me from listening to this video before sleeping. This is clearly of higher priority.

[@CritCrab]

crab.. !!,!

[@subhuman9246]

i think he deserves inspiration mr.@@CritCrab

[@Str8jacket192]

​@@CritCrabDid you sit on your phone or something.

[@coolestmonkeyinthejungle97]

My man get some sleep

[@alpharius1497]

2:20 gang

[@handsomeaaron6175]

I don't have a huge wealth of knowledge in anime to draw on, but "guy getting a cursed arm that fills him with strength and primordial rage from a giant monster that attacks his home village" is basically how I would describe the opening of Princess Mononoke. If that is where he got the idea, then it certainly highlights my issue with players like this, where they want to emulate the surface elements of really great stories without any understanding of what makes those stories so great

[@cindygauthier8567]

I’d argue that the main problem is that they fail to recognize that D&D is a cooperative game, and has an ensemble cast instead of a single main character who’s just soooo far above everyone else

[@Future_Doggo]

As a new DM, I want to thank CritCrab for that beautiful problem player chart. It really changed how I view being a DM, and taught me how to handle a player being problematic. Thank you CritCrab.

[@Juuzaki]

Yeah all vids from critcrab and den of the drake have taught me what red flags you should notice in dnd groups

[@bluevern904]

But did you screenshot it?

[@briangang3977]

Brian gang, rise up and don't be a narcissist who thinks everyone else is the problem, and who thinks they can threaten people!

[@DHTheAlaskan]

My problem is I overthink and assume I am always the problem.

[@Papakhan9636]

He thought he could threaten me but dude was a stereotypical skinny weeb tall but no muscle and like I wrote in the article I'm 5'5 but I weigh around 190 in mostly muscle, Marine vet, and did kickboxing for 2 years homie wouldn't have stood a chance if he tried

[@Koranthus]

@@Papakhan9636 I'm imagining the scene from spaceballs where Lone Starr holds him by the helmet and his Shwartz-saber doesn't reach lol

[@Papakhan9636]

@Koranthus not familiar

[@DHTheAlaskan]

@@Papakhan9636 I recommend watching Space Balls. Mel Brooks makes great movies.

[@gurmyigoll3535]

That arm thing sounds like Sekiro but the powers are probably from some flavor of the month isekai.

[@ArcCaravan]

I figured it was Black Clover. SPOILERS since it's based on stuff relatively later in the manga/anime. Asta gets his own version of Yami's katana (which is black) and starts bargaining with the demon in his grimoire who gives him power in exchange for his arm which gets scarred.

[@Juuzaki]

​@@ArcCaravanit is not, it's from a old anime called yuyu hakusho I think

[@Zanarthis]

@@Juuzaki That *does* sound a lot like Hiei.

[@psychic-friend-toy-freddy]

It could also be shanks from one piece or someone similar.

[@richardbudge9416]

I am also a fan of what I like to call the flashback approach. A sudden combat encounter thrown from more or less nowhere has proven to be my best option for initially starting campaigns. Whether gnolls, orcs or living armour, it ensures a fast, active start.

[@williamknox6648]

Oh I gotta try that my next game

[@ogre589]

Of all the creatures he could have picked for his backstory, he picked a gold dragon. Metallic dragons are inherently lawful good and gold dragons especially have an affection for other sentient races. One of their personality traits in Fizban's is "I would prefer to parley without combat." Now if it had been a chromatic dragon then that makes total sense.

[@gibbers2]

Funny thing, I actually like the gold dragon more. Like, okay, a red dragon burned your village down. Dramatic, but let's be honest not that unique. Gold dragon burned it down? Wait... why? Why is a gold dragon of all things burning villages down? That doesn't make sense! For me, gold dragon makes for a much better personal mystery.

[@ogre589]

@@gibbers2 The only reason you'd ever get a gold dragon to attack you is because you attacked first/did something unforgivable.

[@gibbers2]

@@ogre589 Oh of course. That's what the Monster Manual says and that's what their stat block says. They are by far the most noble, honorable, and good dragons in the game (or at least in the top 3). And yet, that gold dragon came down and burned down my character's village. That's what makes it (in my opinion, of course) so much better of a backstory. It's a huge mystery that makes zero sense and can lead to far more unique and interesting than "evil dragon burned down my village."

[@RozielTV]

Casual 80 trained archers on the wall, under the command of a patrol guard.

[@andyporfiryev6105]

I'm so glad that CritCrab managed to escape his crab bucket. And now tells us cool stories about D&D

[@tmacm2237]

Wigi sounds like he has main character syndrome. He wants the spotlight the whole time.

[@DrewLonmyPillow]

2:30 sounds like Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke

[@jaxsonbateman]

There might be a specific anime that the arm thing is from - but the "arm has powers I can't contain" trope is so big in anime that it's been parodied/referenced within anime itself (famously, Okabe from Steins;Gate - who has a massive case of 'chuunibyou' (16 year old syndrome; basically he's a massive weeb) will reference the uncontrollable powers in his arm, often when he's losing an argument or getting called out for something). And that came out like 10+ years ago.

[@dojindori]

it's also notably the entire basis for Kaido from Saiki K

[@Steeksify]

Hiei, from Yu Yu Hakusho

[@rootyful]

Second story: DM is just really doing a bad job at managing that problem player. Instead of talking with that player to be less disruptive, and less complaining about others, and focusing more on playing the game himself, he forwards the complaints to the other player. To what end? Did DM agree that the barbarian did too much damage? Is there anything barbarian could have solved there? There's time where you mediate between players that have issues with each other. But in this case? You need to have the back of the attacked player, and tell the troublemaker to pipe down. Though, the 'punishment dice' were already a big red flag that this DM doesn't know how to handle conflict or issues at the table, so...

[@Homieck]

Well, it was his first time being a DM, so I think that's the reason behind the punishment die and the problem player handling

[@MD.Akib_Al_Azad]

I thought the punishment dice was for stuff inside the campaign that was wrong, and the NPCs decided to punish them, but that severity was made using the D100

[@murkrowyeet8484]

I bet you were so pleased to be able to bring up crabs in a bucket as an actual thing

[@AvatAR42420]

Yeah, I have run into the "crabs in a bucket" scenario as both a DM and a player and it sucks. Without some serious above table talk it can straight up end a game. BTW, I totally agree with Critcrab's take on the situation. If the group won't play without Wigi, whatever his deal is, then it is best to get play with a different group.

[@rawrbeez6625]

If you take pains to live life without lying you shouldn’t get offended when people verify the truth. Trust but verify is the best advice ever.

[@Papakhan9636]

That's fair and if It came from anyone else it wouldn't have been the issue it was

[@MrNickPresley]

“..You better hope I don’t see you again.” Anyone says that to me in my home, I’ll make sure that they also hope they don’t see me again.

[@OrangeyChocolate]

8:28 This is pretty much how I started my current campaign. Everybody was traveling with a cross-country caravan, and had to leap to its defense when it was attacked by goblin raiders in the night. The caravan has been working well. Yes it's very railroady, but it gives the party a reason to meet and stay together, and makes it easier to introduce new characters in an organic way.

[@hellbreakfast1590]

I audibly groaned when I heard the words "Punishment Dice". That's just treating your friends like children in your care. Actually, no. I wouldn't treat kids that way. Even a 5 year old will understand things if you take them aside and speak to them with patience and care.

[@shimasclan]

The arm thing sounds like Hieis Dragon of the Darkness Flame from Yu Yu Hakusho, one of his arms is cursed by a dark fire dragon demon thing and he can use it as a devastating attack. He keeps it wrapped up most of the time. Anytime I see anything about an evil or possessed arm, I think of this, unless it does random pervy things, in which case I think of Miroku from Inuyasha. Easy rulling is 'expend you hit die to roll that hit die+con mod as a damage die on a target within 30ft, if you run out of hit die. You can continue to use this by taking an amount of damage equal to what is dealt. The second one had several chances early on of OP opening up the dialogue with 'I've been informed there are complaints of how I play, tell you your complaints and let's see if we can find solutions or compromises'. DMs final solution is probably the best option by the end. Scrap it and start over without problem players.

[@Juuzaki]

Cool

[@Wendy_O._Koopa]

@@Juuzaki I was thinking, it's either him or Miroku, except Miroku doesn't really get any "powers" per se, just a portal to the Void... which would probably be OP, but I'd have you roll death saves every time you used it, or something like that. So, yeah, probably Hiei.

[@shimasclan]

@@Wendy_O._Koopa Mirokus Kazaana (Wind Tunnel in Dub) would be a fun curse to make. Not sure how to scale the damage, but it gets larger and stronger each year, so we can have it get stronger each year. Maybe something like 'once released, the Wind Tunnel draws in goes within a 30ft cone from the user. Any creature within the area that either has a level equal to or lower then your own or has a CR equal to or less than 1/2 your level that is small or less in size with less than half their max HP remaining is sucked into the hole. (Probably put a save of some form here). If any creatures sucked into the Kazaana deals poison damage, the maximum of that damage is dealt immediately. If any of these attacks involve a save vs the poisoned condition, you fail all of them automatically without any rolls.' and then at certain milestones the size increases. Scaling level mimics how it gets larger and stronger each year. Not sure what penalty to put on over use. Might think on this more later. Maybe some force damage and a pull closer. If after the damage is dealt you are below a certain threshold (such as above 50% example) make a con save vs auto death. No exclusions for party member as a part of the curse and to make the using a little more tactical.

[@Changeling]

I'd completely forgotten about Yu Yu Hakusho. The only thing that was coming to mind for me was Vampire Hunter D's demonically possessed left hand.

[@lukehdarowlet9321]

My first thought was actually Princess Mononoke. May have been different circumstances but the main character does end up with his arm getting cursed, which makes it stronger but every time he let's it loose it just kills him more

[@Random_Chiroptera]

It's worrying to me that our civilization has devolved so much that this simple truth had to be learned at a D&D game. Yes, actions have consequences. If you didn't know this by the age of 5 years, I pity you greatly for the absence of good parenting in your life. Well, that's when I started learning. First and last time I ever stole something.

[@cody-adricharper5848]

One of my regrets is when I accidentally stole a candy bar from the store. A Reese's FastBreak from Safeway, specifically. My Brother and I were doing some shopping, we were about seventeen, and I grabbed a FastBreak and stuck it on the child seat-thing on the cart and promptly forgot about it. Neither I nor the cashier noticed it. I only noticed it when we were putting the bags in Tim's truck. I was like "oh shit!" I was too embarrassed to go back and pay for it so I offered it to Tim and he was like "dude, you stole it, you gotta eat it." Which I feel was a valid stance. I did end up eating it, but the experience was kinda excruciating and it sat leadenly in my stomach for some time. That was over twenty years ago and if I live another twenty, which I hope to do, I will probably never forget it.

[@greenpanda1332]

Gave a new player a backstory and it goes a little like this In your small village you found interest in competing against you fellow villagers in mock battle, after beating them enough you went to other villages to compete in torments. Soon enough your village was being raided by bugbears, luckily after a bit of fighting an army patrol pass by and helped in the defense of the village. Inspired by the army troops he elected to join and help other villages that may face similar events. The player is a human fighter

[@olakpasa6486]

Basic , leaves room for personality and doesn't set the characters goals at long terms, I'd say its perfect for a new player

[@ByrdieFae]

The "Dattebayo!" absolutely sent me into hysterics 😂😂😂

[@cewla3348]

5:40 that's a threat! Go to your local police and say that someone is threatening you.

[@Random_Chiroptera]

Barbs can be hard to share a spotlight with in combat due to rage mechanics. More than a few bad rolls has had some of my squishier characters killed by accidentally hitting the Barb when they were raging. Lost 3 characters that way in one campaign. Then I switched to playing a support character. As a force multiplier, we got to enjoy such spectacles as golf with ogre heads... and those heads were never found again.

[@NotMaxr3fund]

That Dattebayo felt so personal 😂😂

[@Greil9]

I'd not say the cursed power arm is from any particular anime, unless you want to get some specifics. It's a really common fantasy trope to begin with and is found in both western and eastern media.

[@Dark0possum]

> He had a creative mind > "Ok, you all met at the tavern"

[@TasthePap]

C'mon, the tavern is a classic.

[@Dark0possum]

​@@TasthePap wich means not a bit of creative. I mean it's not a mortal sin or something, but it's just boring.

[@alpharius1497]

Been on a bit of a critcrab binge rn, your content never ceases to entertain, give my love to the unpain inter- I mean animator

[@t900HAWK]

Same I like to start campaigns with a conflict/ encounter feels more natural that way

[@AbstractStew]

In the first story, 80 archers seems a little bit excessive. There probably wouldnt have been that many covering a small area. That aside, the reaction was more than reasonable. The character did murder someone in the sight of 80 other guards. The hail of arrows was entirely appropriate.

[@matthiasthemagician6803]

Well the party was talking with high ranking military officer, so I they were most likely at a military base. So the amount of archers is not that unreasonable.

[@oldman6916]

The party was talking to a military officer so it was most likely in a army base

[@yuzu3754]

​@@matthiasthemagician6803realistically speaking, there is no way so much archers would dare to shoot, if target is near fellow commander. There is also no way only one troublemaker (not trying to attack anyone at first, just tresspassing) draw attention of such huge amount of enemies. They likely to tryed just catch him, not shoot.

[@this_is_Muffin]

@@yuzu3754true, which is why they didn’t let the arrows fly at first, it was an intimidation tactic, a show of force Main captain was murdered in front of them so they all fired

[@killgriffinnow]

Can we have more positive “D & D” stories? I like the weird negative ones fine, but I actually prefer the occasional fun and uplifting adventure thrown in too.

[@generalzeta7000]

The many darkness makes what little light we go so much more comforting.

[@ArcCaravan]

It is a channel about tabletop horror stories, not glory stories. Best hopeful story we get is the problem player getting called out and/or kicked.

[@killgriffinnow]

@@ArcCaravan He’s done positive stories in the past, just not too many.

[@lilharm]

“well well well if it isn’t the consequences of my actions, surely this is everyone’s fault besides my own, so I’d better accuse the DM of favoritism”

[@pumpkinicing]

I love that your voice for the weeb guy was like... douchebag homestar runner.

[@dracone4370]

I wrote up a bit of a Christmas campaign, with the rule that Elves and Dwarves were off-limits to players (partially because those always seem to be the go-to choices for Christmas, partly because I didn't want the game to feel like typical Christmas special, but mostly because I wanted to shoot for the "misfits save Christmas" sort of vibe to the game), and I started things off with some get to know the characters and their personalities by putting them all in what was basically a Nordic hunting lodge enjoying festivities inspired by the festival of Yule before the literal party is crashed by a living pine tree and the PCs get forced into combat while the rest of the party-goers in the lodge flee for safety. The whole thing seems like it could be a classic setup at first glance, but it's actually something a bit different. And yes, I have the whole template saved as a Google doc, and I have a separate Google doc for some holiday-themed magic items.

[@fumingbean7931]

Currently living in fear of when I will be served papers for taking a screen shot of the flow chart 😢

[@genericname2747]

Fool!

[@hobosorcerer]

8:29 is how my first Pathfinder 1e game went! All of our characters started as waking up in a crumbling prison, and the lot of us needing to quickly escape together & figure out what's going on. Super memorable introduction!

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

I made a murder hobo table, I have never had to use it but it still makes me laugh... gold dragon paladin, vigilante groups, assassins guild, (they hate people that are sloppy and work for free), coven of Ellistaree, paladin order of justice, Crow spies called the murder squad... just to name a few. murder hobo in my game and any of these folk hunt you down.

[@daviddaugherty2816]

That makes a little more sense in-universe. If you go around killing people for chuckles, of course the forces of good will lay the holy righteous smackdown on you.

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

@@daviddaugherty2816lol ty so much.

[@MagusDouken]

I think with the second story, it shows what kind of value it shows to call someone a Face instead of a Leader, even if you are not the Charisma build.

[@RockR277]

It's just brushed over in the story, but I'm really interested to know how a cleric praying broke an altar.

[@nathanrailsback9667]

I felt the same. "How the hell did you critically fail that badly? And at WHAT?"

[@Silverserri]

I feel like I might make a bad DM (ignoring my complete newbie ness to the game in general) because I feel like I would shut Wigi down, and probably far less diplomatically than most people would prefer. I would first point out that Wigi had the chance to stand up and get stuff done and STILL has a chance to stand up and get stuff done. They could even do OOC discussion with the party about ideas they have for combat, or strategy (my current DM encourages us to OOC do this as plans for the next session) but with OP even trying to step back and Wigi still whining, I think I'd flat out tell Wigi that all I'm hearing is complaining. Wigi can offer solutions, but I wasn't going to boot a player over what is clearly a problem that Wigi has personally. Wigi can either be a solution, rather than a problem, or Wigi can be character killed and leave the session. If OP is openly and honestly telling a truthful story where they really aren't at fault and genuinely trying to be fun, Wigi would be the player I would rapidly lose my patience with.

[@MyFrogEatsPeople]

That makes you a better DM than the one in the story who thought "just tell OP about the complaints" or "pretend the campaign is over to get rid of the problem" were valid resolutions to any of this. Facing confrontation is not fun, but it is a reality of managing people - and that includes DMing.

[@BlueTressym]

@@MyFrogEatsPeople I think part of the issue is that managing people involves learning skills that a troubling number of people aren't taught, and in some cases (including my own) are actively punished for. Another part is that the 'people management' side of GMs is often left out of or only vaguely alluded to in a lot of advice aimed at GMs. It doesn't help that there are frequently arguments over whether 'people management' is actually the GM's job. Whenever I see a story involving a situation where it's reasonable to say the GM needed to step up, I also see a number of people arguing that the GM is 'just another person at the table' and has no authority to actually people-manage, and/or that the GM has plenty to do already and shouldn't be expected to handle people management too. (As a longstanding GM I both agree with and disagree with that last; GMing is hard and GMs have a lot to do but I believe that people management is a necessary part of the job.) I also feel that that it helps a lot if the GM knows other players in the game have their back. It's hard to stand up to someone when you feel alone in doing so.

[@MyFrogEatsPeople]

@@BlueTressym I will agree that people management skills are woefully missing from most DM advice lists, and I don't think I ever noticed it until you mentioned it. I guess I just took it as a given, to be perfectly honest. I always felt that people management is the one real responsibility of DMs. The ability to reference rule books, make up stories, or control multiple creatures are all typically expected of everyone at the table. Modules are effectively CYOA books but with better immersion. But one person is given power above all the rest, and that means they have the added responsibility. That is so odd to me now that I think about it, because of how much the DM's role as a leader is naturally embedded in TTRPG spaces. If a player wants to complain about another player, it's totally natural that they'd go to the DM and even considered bad form not to. New players look to the DM for advice by default. When getting a new group of players together, you typically expect the DM to do so. Hell, we even refer to it as "their table" almost by default. And what are some of the hallmarks of bad DMs? Ones who put themselves before the player in one fashion or another. The idea that someone could get to be DM without people management skills to begin with is so odd to me.

[@BlueTressym]

@@MyFrogEatsPeople I think a lot of people become the GM because someone has to for there to be a game, so they get the job regardless of how qualified they are for it in people management terms. I've also noticed that people who are in groups with friends often believe being friends and already knowing each other will negate the need for people management (and Session Zeroes).

[@wildspirewarrior211]

That arm thing sounds like a reference from Princess Mononoke because the mc gets his arm infected by a demon and gives him superhuman strength but the infection is slowly spreading and killing him

[@darkenturtle8726]

Another great video! I will ask if you can turn up the volume if you can. You are very quiet compared to your videos before the break

[@pokemanikangie]

“It’s what my character would have done” well it’s what the guards would have done 😂

[@CrazyCryptid07]

Thank you for all your hard work to bring us these stories and videos Critcrab!! It's very much appreciated!! 🦀

[@mandyjordan5828]

"hard work"

[@cthonmon_4781]

*Cringelord willfully disobeys strong authority, consequently gets hit with 62 heavy arrows in consecutive fashion* "bRo tHAt's fAvoRiTISm!!!!!1!!!!1!"

[@pathutchison7688]

So many of these stories are just “Person had an issue with another person in the group. Instead of bringing it up, person got passive aggressive instead”. I wonder if there’s a correlation between people who play D&D and people who have social problems, or identify issues, or emotional/psychological problems. Kind of seems like there is.

[@Nyg5618]

Ur def correct. These games are always a bunch of weirdos. They play this cuz they can’t play sports or talk to people as themselves.

[@pathutchison7688]

@@Nyg5618 lol. I didn’t say “weirdos”. Just people with certain issues. We all have some kind of issue, and people with certain ones seem to play this game.

[@fayt9121]

the left arm thing sounds like soul reaver. raziel (the blue vampire dude from the game) lost hp when he had the soul reaver equipped.

[@TheGhostFart]

"village burned down by a gold dragon" Why would a gold dragon do this though?

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Given weeb elf's behavior that village was probably a village of evil cultists that stole from the dragon.

[@Theducksgrowbigouthere]

Thanks for the for the free info on how to overthrow a certain crustation with just a mere bucket and his own men

[@joshuahampton6141]

I'm known for making optimized characters in my play groups, and have had people complain that my characters are OP several times. My response is typically offering to help players reach a similar power level without altering concepts, just mechanical choices. Works about 60% of the time, which is not bad.

[@DarkRequiem2948]

Something we've been doing in our games after my recent startup is just having the characters know each other long enough to get some basic details about one another - not everyone is good with the first time introductions so I had figured 'you've been traveling together for a year, establish what you all know about one another'

[@OrpheusSpyros5]

You know, I've allowed some weird stuff in my campaigns(I let my player's use anything they wanted for 3.0-3.5e, but they had to show me an actual Hardcopy of it to me First and give me time to read it), but the SECOND they tried what the Weeb did, they'd have been out my door faster than The Flash on Black Friday.....

[@theplayer1997]

14:50 this system goes hard, feel free to screenshot.

[@A_Andromeda_a]

“Scarred arm with special powers and a sword…” GOD FUCKING DAMNIT HE MADE THE GUY FROM NINJA GAIDEN 3 Edit: FUCKING RYU HAYABUSA

[@jeghaterdegforfaen]

I think DMs should have a crate full of scorpions that can be thrown at problem players, you should fit that into your flowchart.

[@harrypaterson5326]

I suspect that wigi hates barbarians, due to some deep seeded dnd tragedy, where he tried to 1 vs 1 the party barbarian, but when the party wanted to step in, the barbarian said, ‘nah, I’m about to educate this little boy.’ And proceeded to PK wigi, when wigi tried to get help, nobody helped him, because wigi instigated the fight, picked a fight, with probably the strongest member, of the party he was in, and expected someone to side with him, despite the person he picked a fight with, being the strongest, but also most loyal member, which resulted in wigi, losing his character and getting kicked, because of that wigi sees barbarians, as the source of betrayal and hardship, which he doesn’t want, because if there’s someone, stronger than him, it means that he isn’t, as important anymore in combat, since he invested, into a combat centric character, he feels that he’s inferior, that he should be the one in charge, despite his original unwillingness to lead, to quote Dumbledor ‘perhaps those who are best suited to power, are those who have never sought it. Those who have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise, that they wear it well.’ Wigi sought power, but only because he wanted it to fuel his ego, where as that stories op, took the leader mantle out of obligation, and found it fit well, thus the party leader, is suited for the power he has, and wigi is full of envy, because it isn’t him with that power.

[@user-vt4si1ef6r]

I think I heard a certain a similar sentiment in an anime I watched once, let her seasons of originally Yuyo, if you must ask. I believe it went something like this: those who deserve power most are those who least want it.

[@maurosgardelis8085]

Oddly specific

[@harrypaterson5326]

@@maurosgardelis8085 just observations from a outside perspective on what the root cause of Wigi’s issues are.

[@kingkobo2332]

probably bc Fgo was fresh in my mind i initially thought the arm thing was Fates Bediveres prosthetic arm made out of Excalibur. taking the name Airgetlám (from irish mythology) he can can do a high damaging attack which will result in damaging his soul.

[@diegorassetto]

Ehhh, the first thing that came to my mind with the "hand that drained his lifeforce" thingy is a character in Wakfu (not exactly an anime, its fr*nch) Here, we have a guy (who turns out to be the reincarnation of a guy) that has a sword with a demon inside, then, the sword breaks, he loses his arm and nearly dies, but the demon saves him, becoming a part of his body (while remaining consciuss)

[@yourdm2620]

Lol that actually makes sense. I forgot about that show I was thinking more Princess Mononoke

[@dedbot9872]

Thank you for censoring the f-word. It honestly was such a surprise that Wakfu was created by those people and I felt lied to and betrayed when I first found out

[@ArcCaravan]

I was hoping it would be a less public anime, but I figured it was Black Clover but from later in the story.

[@dreamerwav698]

"barbarian is doing too much damage!!!" welcome to the barbian class please take a seat

[@Triforce_of_Doom]

8:30 yeah tavern is the safe pick but going more interesting is always a good time. the campaign I'm currently in had a fun intro, we all met via crowding into a cave during a storm with said cave turning out to be a whole ass rundown dungeon. Neat way to both introduce the party to each other & get some good combat in.

[@deepseastonecore3017]

Ogre 1: Which do you like better, my good looks or my good smile? Ogre 2: Your good sense of humor

[@MissLilianae]

I had a player in an online game I ran once. It was 4e (I know, put your pitchforks down for a second and let me finish), and a game designed to teach new players basics in case they wanted to give it a shot. Quick context: 4e did away with the idea that magic items were these ultra rare, powerful artifacts that you would only find a dozen or so of over the course of a 1-20 campaign. In 4e, they're another means of progression alongside your level. That said, they're VERY important. So, my party was completing their first dungeon, and at the end they find a treasure chest with some gold and a couple of magic items designed for specific members of the party (A sword for the Fighter, robes for the Wizard, etc.) The Rogue had gone on ahead into this room alone and had found and opened the chest. After seeing the cache inside they scooped out as much as they could carry into their bag and slammed it shut. They walked out of the room, and told me they were going to roll a Bluff check to persuade the party there's nothing in the room. They nat 20'd, and when I told them that you don't generally roll checks vs other players they started to have a fit. I didn't want to interrupt session with this so I relented and allowed them to successfully deceive the other players into believing there's nothing of note. The party returns to town and we end session. I messaged the Rogue privately and asked that they at least give the items to the proper characters they were meant for, since they would be helpful going forward. They just replied "ok". The next session, the Rogue sneaks out while the rest of the party is having breakfast and planning their next adventure, and goes to the local general store to try and sell these magic items. They won't tell the shopkeep they're magical (because that would make them more valuable and the shopkeep was very basic so likely wouldn't buy them for full price), but won't take the man's appraisal for a mundane version of the item's selling price (since that's what the shopkeep thinks they are). Eventually the player claimed I was metagaming and attempting to punish them for taking the loot, because, "as everyone knows. D&D is finders keepers". I held a quick vote, and the rest of the party agreed to kick the player out of the game.

[@LemurFrenzy212]

I still love your 'snotty nerd' voice when voicing the problem players/DMs, always makes me laugh. You'd think DND would be a nice fun game to play with friends, until you get the person who was always allowed to win at games or they'd throw a fit so the parents tell the older brother to just let them win to make them happy. That's the feeling I get from these people

[@Tomofthetower]

In one of the campaigns I was in we had a party member that was a changeling but our characters didn’t know he keep having his character steal from us while we sleep when we caught him and tied him up he left the campaign without an explanation I guess he didn’t like getting caught

[@seandunne6714]

A Dark and Stormy Knight, a 3.5e module that's a non-tavern meet-up, it lasts one night in game and is good meet quite.

[@darthvader1166]

Time for a CRAB RAVE CHAIN! 🦀🦀🦀

[@kinglod2312]

5:15 he really tried to pull the "this movie isn't stupid you're stupid" from Billy and Mandy

[@mattwesto]

There are so many rpg games that have gaurds that would react if you sneeze wrong. The DM was super reasonable. Also if he's missing an arm he should have disadvantage on strength rolls. It doesn't make sense why his character would even be able to climb a wall. Maybe like a sloped surface.

[@Papakhan9636]

It wasn't missing it was burned and scarred 😂

[@mattwesto]

@dakotaleach1386 still though having damage to an arm like that should a struggle

[@Papakhan9636]

@@mattwesto I know I just didn't want to lose a player so I rolled with it. I learned my lesson

[@symantares9171]

Wigi's definition of doing too much: took any action or participated in the game in any way; in fact, just don't show up, then *maybe* you won't take too much spotlight

[@j-dawg4774]

My reaction to the first story: "Why don't you go hug your mom and cry about it?"

[@Martin_Dimirag]

Its a good end of the week when the King of Crabs post a new video.

[@pace91]

Bold strategy Cotton let’s see if it pays off for them lol good one bro

[@schachmaster]

8:25 I had an idea for a version of the “everyone meets on a tavern” intro. Everyone shows up individually at a walled inn. It’s basically a small town, meant as kind of a waystation for caravans with a big inn, several smaller lodging areas, and a place that tends to mounts/pets. Basically, a place any adventuring party would love to call a headquarters. Though nobody ever met anyone else, everyone gets a sense of Deja Vu. Like everyone has already met each other, if not here then at another place almost like it. It eventually gets out that everyone had more or less the same recurring nightmares. Races, classes, and genders are different each time for the dreamer, but it always ends with the same demon killing them in various horrific ways. And it’s not just the party, but all of the patrons here that aren’t caravaners or staff. The demon that haunts their dreams appears in an illusion, basically says “let the games begin!”, and the staff begin killing the patrons. As it turns out, this demon had been a part of an attempted invasion of the mortal plane centuries ago. Though it failed, the demon slayed several armies before retreating. Since then, knowing another invasion of that sort is unlikely to happen for millennia, he kept himself busy by recycling the souls he collected, sending them to the mortal plane, and manipulating them into invading his realm. Since the souls of every adventurer at the inn (and a few late to the party/refusing the call) belongs to him even if they serve another god or refuse the call, their essence just returns to him to get recombined with other souls when they die. He can be negotiated with to allow a resurrection for party members, and though he’s a manipulator he takes his bargains seriously. (“I’m a bastard, but I ain’t a liar” type.) This way we don’t have to shoehorn a way for the party to team up, don’t have to worry about why the party would trust newcomers, and everyone has motivation to go through the campaign.

[@sparki9085]

"lawful" character immediately commits murder

[@jackjazzhands2357]

That Flowchart was insane!

[@generalgamer50]

Something I’ve noticed that I’m blessed with, with my friends and players. There was once a time where I was the forever DM, but after some pushing, and a little burnout, others started to take a crack at it. Now, we currently have a 5e, PF2E, and a Daggerheart game all going at the same time. Makes it really nice when someone can’t make it, so we just play one of the other games instead, because if 3 of us can’t make it we just won’t play anyways. We also have a fourth, cyberpunk red, game starting up when our buddy gets out of the navy! No plans of ending for any of them in sight either, with at least 1 year for 5e and we started PF during the whole OGL crisis!

[@BobinskiPlum-p9o]

the village being burned down is common in certain anime but the cursed arm thing seems similar to the main characters arm from “Princess Mononoke” though a little different.

[@belliebun4529]

The arm thing is a common chunni trope. Having a demon/ancient power/Maguffin sealed inside a body part shows up everywhere. It *could* be a cool idea if someone used it well enough, but for the most part it’s just an excuse for the character to push people away because “ooo I’m dangerous I can’t control the demon” or randomly double over in pain because it starts acting up.

[@Klomster88]

Reminds me of how i started a campaign. "You meet in a tavern, there's bad weather outside." *Group hangs out and become acquaintances.* "The storm picks up and rips off the roof, then you are all struck by lightning. The surge of power going through you bodies leave you scarred. Choose how the scars look." "Now you are godbound." "Also the tavern is being overrun with draugr, an undead mammoth just killed one of the other patrons. Enjoy."

[@BabyEater]

The dragon arm guy sounds like it's from DotA. Not an anime, but a Netflix cartoon