Making your player cry... Twice | DnD Highlights

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

I started a BRAND NEW campaign with these folks, it's like a rip off of The Mummy but DnD kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaq2h6yVrZ58b68

[@LagiacrusHunter]

This is why we play RPGs. If they're crying they're invested, and that's all a DM can ask for

[@questionablynerdy]

Absolutely. And if ts so great when you're with players that get into it like that too.

[@ADiceySituation]

Reminds me of when my players were fighting a troll and were saved by a sudden Meteor Storm. This halfling comes waltzing out of the tall grass, glowing with a holy light and introducing herself as Sola-Ret, one if the gods of that verse. Cue two players losing their ever loving minds and jumping up and down on the couch. Just as important as crying is squeals of delight.

[@gameactuator7515]

Is it worth it? Yes, yes it's worth it. It's proof of great storytelling and the connection between the players. Not every D&D session gets this level of response. When you get that gem of a moment, it's always worth it.

[@ConstantChaos1]

When a character is getting sacrificed for the greater good it is the obligation of us dms to make it a good moment fuck mechanics we are here for storytelling anyway when a character is sacrificing themselves they should have supernatural strength from their force of conviction

[@NaoyaYami]

I haven't played much DnD but I did play quite a lot of other TTRPGs (same idea, different ruleset). Testing out various systems I came to the conclusion that they don't really matter at all when it comes to what many players play DnD (or TTRPGs in general) for - interactive story. I believe that a good DM could even completely hide the mechanical layer away from players and still make the story enjoyable and fair, but that would require players to trust that DM isn't fudging rolls or they accept that they might not matter if their DM manages to create cool story anyway. Thus, I'm all for going with the spirit of the rules and any restrictions instead of following them to the letter. I remember I had a blast playing Dragonborn Sorcerer in DnD 4e where I used basic spells like improved jump, mage hand, etc. in conjunction with my character's natural strengths (so literally Strength and Dexterity) to jump all around the battlefield (including walls) basically soloing a demon (while the party's tank was busy protecting healer that tried to bring critically wounded idiot of a paladin). It ended up with Demon getting nat 20 on his Fireball's dmg roll that clashed with my character's Dragon Breath that also got nat 20 on the roll... Luckily dragonborn's modifiers tipped the scale but the explosion resulted in all treasure in the room being turned to ashes as well. It was tense, epic and fun adventure that if we played 100% to the rules, would not happen. There was also my warhammer fantasy Grey Mage (stealth and other shady stuff) Elf (plenty discriminated against) managed to find and learn from grimoires of both Necromancy and Chaos Magic (basically only two forbidden types of magic that are not race-specific), was walking around with a book a whole nation of powerful necromancers go to wars for and also had a cursed demon skull in his bag. Oh, he was also blessed by Sigmar (Humanity's God) for helping defending one of his temples but that would at most just stop people from discriminating him for simply being an elf or a grey mage - not from anything else. Sadly my group just dissolved before anything bad came to be because of all those traits...

[@arklytte]

ABSODAMNLUTELY!!! I've had that scenario happen a few times over the years (been playing RPG's since the late 70's), and every time, I did everything I could to make it an epic sacrifice. I figure, if the player is THAT committed, then I had better be too.

[@DoraProudfoot]

Q​@@NaoyaYami

[@ThePCguy17]

You don't make strength checks or dexterity saves when you're going down with the ship. You go down with that ship and *they go down with you.*

[@chax2570]

Honestly as a warforged I believe that he should have said " A DUTY HONORABLY DISCHARGED"

[@stratigangames508]

THEIR SHELTER HAS BECOME THEIR TOMB.

[@SollowP]

IF I AM TO DIE, I DIE STANDING!

[@mackenzierobinson7310]

One of the greatest rpg moments of my play experience had the table crying as my PC got corrupted, and nobody's character even knew because they were unconscious. And just my character running literally faster than the speed of sound because they knew odds were slim and they didn't want to hurt their friends

[@capptaingrizz6242]

How almost every session of any dnd campaign ends (especially if mental torment has been inflicted on the players): DM: *knowing smile, just happy.* Players: *anguished screams*

[@merendell]

Wait wait wait. He sacrificed himself in a catastrophic explosion on a ship. He encased himself and his targets in agiant ball of vines. Why didnt he yell out "I AM GROOT!"?

[@Eliza_Yump]

WE are Groot

[@Priestofgoddess]

Would be kind of immersion breaking though

[@KollbjornYT]

@@Priestofgoddess "We are Acorn!"

[@StephenHutchison]

Arguably it was Acorn who made the tears come out the first time.

[@imperfectimp]

Having only listened to ISG, I've not seen Joel's face before and was kinda surprised to hear his voice come from this Hagrid-looking figure. Really looking forward to the new campaign.

[@dmitrimolotov]

I'm starting a live cry counter for the new campaign.

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

If we can get panda to cry it counts for 10 points

[@ThaGuru69]

How do we get Panda to though? Shits near impossible

[@LadyGainhart]

I think I have legit bawled in our campaign twice (once when my characters NPC girlfriend was killed, once when I died [we both got better]) and my DM made me specifically cry with story moments 2 or three times. If im crying, its because im invested. im here to experience the wins and the losses.

[@rmr1754]

Yes it should be a rare moment but a mix of the highs and lows is what's it's about

[@Clarissa-b3f]

I hadn't even known about these characters until a few minutes ago, and I'm crying too

[@hermannlagrange803]

I really should look into Tale Spire more. Also, this is some purty guud DnD story telling. This deserves more likes.

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

Thank you! I'm a very lucky DM to have the players I do. (Also yeah, highly recommend Talespire)

[@AJAYMPTHREE]

I don't want to say you love to see it, but you really do love to see it.

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

It's not that I like seeing a player cry... I just like that I made them cry. Maybe that's worse

[@AJAYMPTHREE]

@@ZacSpeaksGiant it makes it feel like a personal victory. Like you earned this. (It's definitely worse hahaha)

[@stineberg8795]

@@ZacSpeaksGiant I think it speaks to how engrossed the players were in the story and that you helped weave a real connection to the characters they created.

[@ztk211]

yeah, i had one of my pathfinder characters die in a similar fashion (though more for a mini-boss than the final one, but it had to be done for everyone else to survive) it was a HB mummy's mask campaign set in WW2 egypt, so we had access to (what is labeled as) "modern" firearms and at a cheaper price, that included grenades. now my character, a knock off sherlock holmes who fought primarily his cane sword and revolver (mostly the revolver), and he was the only one with some kind of bag of holding (a handy haversack in this case). seeing the fight was going to shit, with a TPK (at best) 3-5 rounds away (it was one of those days were we quite literally struggled to roll above an 8 to save our lives, while the GM had to fudge half a dozen crits so he didn't kill us faster; as he later told us after the fight was over), I had him cast ant haul on himself (because he dumped STR) and pull out the big crate of explosives we looted from nazis we had defeated a few sessions prior to this fight, while also taking off and leaving the haversack on the ground as part of the same action. the next round, as the mini-boss starts approaching him and the wizard (having already downed the rest of the party), he tells the wizard (who went before him in initiative) to take the haversack and use the potions inside to heal our downed party members. they comply, taking the bag and TPing over to our downed party members behind the mini-boss. my character then [thematically, not mechanically] charged the boss with the crate held under one arm and the other holding a live grenade he had just pulled the pin on. at the end of his turn, both he and the mini-boss went up in a big explosion, killing them both (for the damage, we just multiplied a frag grenade's damage by the crate's weight, and it ended up being around 200d6 of damage + a x2 crit, which the GM gave me for it being a point blank explosion) it was a good selfless send off to a character who started out as a selfish treasure hunter who was looking for his claim for fame, and who eventually figured saving the world would make for a better headline in the newspaper. he sacrificed himself for his fellow party members, who had long grown on him as a new family, with a mighty explosion that would ultimately end up being an echoless whisper in the sands of time, with nobody but a single surviving party member to remember their tale by the time we finished the campaign. it shows that a well placed self-sacrifice can make for some of the best & most tense moments in tabletop games, especially in a grand finale type fight, as well as one of the best finales for a character's development arc if you play your cards right

[@JojoStarmaster]

How much time did you invest in your Tabletop? Just building a small town takes me ages with Tale Spire.

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

Check out the Talespire library, where people have uploaded their own maps, saves a heap of time

[@Watch_DogsFan]

I made a D&D based on Dragon Age (Shut up, I can do it, shut up), and for the last part, I made all of the three players die together to kill the archdemon along with their army of Grey Wardens, thus ending the newest blight

[@Axiasart]

This all why I want to play DND once

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

I've heard it's pretty good

[@pugglesmchuggles]

@@ZacSpeaksGiant duh

[@HidingFromFish]

@@ZacSpeaksGiantis the source reliable?

[@chamacreator]

This story reminds me of one of the most epic moments in my first ever campaign. I'm a player, with a Living Doll (homebrew from the wiki) Storm Herald Barbarian. The rest of my party consists on an oni Zealot Barbarian, a Dragonborn Chronomancer Wizard, a second Dragonborn whose class i can't remember right now, and a Tiefling Bard whose college I never learned. Now, one of the special things the DM of that campaign was doing was giving certain players a parasite/power he called a leviathan. I didn't have one, but the oni and the tiefling both did. The tiefling, Magnus the Red, had the Leviathan of Lyric/Limerick, which, at the time of this epic moment, had caused him to sprout 30 extra mouths all over his body. We were up against a tyrant king with a Crown of Wish. Magnus, after the tyrant used a Wish to put the rest of us besides the oni down, got the crown away from him and used it to put us right, then, he gave us all one round of time to get out of the palace. He then cast Shatter, from all 31 mouths, simultaneously, at 9th level. The palace and surrounding areas were reduced to dust, along with everyone inside, including the tyrant and Magnus.....cue an eight year timeskip where the rest of the party helps rebuild the kingdom, the oni finds out she's pregnant with Magnus's children, and the two barbarians leave the party so Yix the oni can go home to give birth, taking the party's adopted goblin npc with them....Magnus did not stay dead, but he didn't show up again in that campaign. Yix went into Avernus to get him back so he'd be there for their twins and they ended up having a third child as well in the ten years between that campaign and when they showed up as npcs in the campaign I'm currently playing in.

[@glorkeShprork]

I can see your teifling player is a thousand sons player in WH40k

[@chamacreator]

@@glorkeShprork They turned the former site of the palace into a park and Yix made sure they got his statue right before they split up.

[@jeffquinz2118]

GAAAAAHH!!! THAT'S SO COOL! To use a disadvantage to obliterate an enemy and save all your friends. Epic roleplay. :D And them showing up as NPCs must have made you feel a lot of emotions.

[@chamacreator]

@@jeffquinz2118 Oh yeah! Especially since I was one of the players meeting them again and also voiced her for the duration of her time on screen. It was great getting the throw shoes at her underlings. XD

[@davidford85]

Light shines brightest when surrounded by darkness. The sad moments make the joyous times even sweeter.

[@enigmagenesis7341]

D&D sounds a lot more complicated and like its Tactical Wargame Origins than the Role Pkay focussed game we used to play.

[@redlegpainting4022]

Those deep emotional moments make those lasting memories of an amazing campaign!

[@clarissejunqueira1994]

why do we cry watching a movie or a series? cuz we're invested and get attached. either by joy or sorrow, we cry by an accomplishment or a death, maybe a tense moment where we don't know what's going to happen and the anxiety makes us cry, so yeah, i guess it is worth it to make moments like that cuz it shows the players are not just playing, they're in the story, they're in the world. they're not the person behind the dices, they're the character fighting for it's life, and that leads to an amazing story, because yeah, you're the dm and you are the god of the world, but without invested players, the story won't go anywhere.

[@walterengler5709]

I am in great respect of a player like Acorn. Well done!

[@bigpeacepipe9741]

Is there anywhere to watch this campaign? I’m not sure if I want to watch the rest of this vid atm if there’s a longer form and presumably more story this might spoil.

[@corycanter2496]

god i would love to play dnd with some one like you because you make me laugh in a lot of your dnd stuff

[@Shrimplington]

I mean take some inspo from Guardians of the Galaxy, If Groot can do it, maybe Acorns plantings can too?

[@bast713]

It is a privilege to create something people can get invested in. That's why we play. To have stories worth retelling.

[@raznaak]

When it makes sense for the character and moment, and it is the player who initiates the move, knowing fully well he will almost certainly fucking die for the greater good, it's the best moments in a DM's life, and most players remember fondly these epic sacrifices. It still sucks because they need a new character, but that's another story XD

[@Player_36C]

You know youve played a great campaign when the loss of any character feels like you lost sombody IRL.

[@beatrixkaelin5120]

I managed to get some of my party cry by with a stray boss attack. Part of the campaign I have an assault on the walls of a keep setting, with a Fire Giant enchanted with Enlarge as the last attacker during this assault. Before he died, he hefted his spear, and prepared an attack by having its caster give him Elemental Weapon fire at level 5. I didn't declare *who* I aimed for, simply saying he "Threw his tree-sized spear at the wall" on the next turn. Now, in the keep, was the sick, wounded, and down beaten knights who have been holding out in a never ending invasion, and one of the organizers from the guild I put in there, and made very clear she is a Homonculus who is regularly "exchanged" for a younger version of herself with her memories being inherited. The spear attack was to kill her (a level 1 NPC) specifically. Upon ending the fight, and checking what damages were done to save the day, our Bard got the good perception check, to locate the trail of blood, like a body was dragged into the back room of her office. They followed, and found her having pulled herself in half, dragging herself out of sight so the Knights wouldn't see her die. My group correctly guessed "Oh she's a Homonculus that shares her memories with her replacement, she'll be back." And she was. They greeted her like an old friend just woke up. And she responded stiffly, giving stilted and mechanical responses. Of course, they noticed something wrong, but it wasn't till they heard, "Apologies. I could not acquire the requisite memory as the spell was terminated during transfer. Please excuse me. I will be removing filth from this office shortly." They had spent months with this Homonculus being an ever present, happy person. Comforting them for their losses in battle, supporting them in their personal quests. Gone and replaced by an NPC with the personality of an answering machine. After the fact, I reminded them that they had several dozen different spells like Hold Person, Crown of Madness. Charm Person. The bard of the group already managed to Bestow Curse on the Giant to screw with Wisdom Saves, they can't just expect their bread and butter spells to save the day, They have dozens of spells they should use them.

[@nrais76]

These are the stories that still get told decades later. Heck, these are stories we tell pur kids, stupid nerds that we are.

[@danzashadow]

You have an abhorson book in the background!! It's one of my favorite books of all time

[@zichirichi]

dude did a reverse groot.

[@neville21]

Saving humanity and escaping by the skin of your teeth

[@the.Original.G.Ninja.88]

Good DM = total Immersion = emotional investment. You had me 😢 that only took 3 minutes lol

[@drdrugs6032]

If you can’t make them cry but still wanna play the game you ain’t DMing you’re podcasting

[@maximumforce8275]

Id say its worth it *IF* they players are ok with it. And dont do it too much for no good reason especially if it doesn't even make sense story or setting wise.

[@umangsheel7819]

As someone who wrote a oneshot that made someone cry, this makes me happy

[@JacobL228]

It was about the same thing and within a few minutes of each other; I consider that one time.

[@XaranAlamas]

I got invested and I've never heard of these characters before!

[@taylormadenez9081]

Fuck that. I’m crying now.

[@pinklightninggacha]

Actually the emotional moments make it better

[@AstraRune]

My DM’s count for our current Rime of the Frost Maiden campaign is 6, and we’re only on chapter 4. Granted 3 of them were from the same character but still.

[@kajsorensen1207]

i thought we started out enslaved by mind flayers. matrix version.

[@cheshiredeimos1874]

When your player says I don't care about escape I just wanna kill the Mother, an epic character death is not only warranted, it is required.

[@Kattlarv]

The most shocking emotional moment I had in a RPG, was when a character did a sewer slide. And EVERYONE was stunned. But: They then pointed out the VERY obvious red flags that our group of gumshoe eco-terraces *completely* overlooked, since it was "fun space adventure time". And kinda... glanced over the PTSD and heavy trauma the past few sessions... and how the character had reached out for help prior. TO be fair: IC wise, everyone had just returned missing like, half their organs. So the "Hey, wanna have a party?" was shot down kinda naturally.

[@cameronpritchett8300]

That made me tear up and I have no context at all

[@rust5427]

This zac guy is so cute ❤❤

[@maryessency8804]

Good storytelling!! Woo!!!

[@isengarde9490]

If I were the one DM'ing I would've probably gone full grimdark and pulled out a second Overbrain, or whatever it's called. Or figured out someway to end the story with 'and yet, despite their best efforts, and heroic sacrifices, our brave heroes failed to stop the Flayers from spreading their unholy tendrils into the wider world. Ultimately, they died for nothing.'

[@angelobambo4644]

Former "toxic" DM here. Ran a campaign with some friends, one of which had a barbarian with a long backstory involving his little brother being kidnapped by the bbeg. By the time they got to the fortress of said bbeg the little brother had already killed him and taken his spot as the new bbeg. The barbarian had no idea what to do as he'd made a vow to bring his brother back alive. Long story short all of them ended up as undead minions for the little brother /bbeg and I was told I'm a monster.

[@plotholedetective4166]

I have never survived a campaign with my first character intact, I have died every single time. Usually on a moral hill or witless whim.

[@morinehtar4270]

Cry counters are absolutely a thing. XD

[@NotAnOmen]

In my last campaign, one of the players was a Ranger who was essentially a hive of Bees, yes. And the guy wanted to start playing with a different character and he and the DM constructed this whole subplot so we could say 'goodbye' to this character, only we didn't know until the end. It was a one shot and I cried for days because I loved that character so much!

[@Nat_the_Chicken]

OK but the player in question WAS atticus, seems like they'd cry watching any movie and be happy about it (expression of emotions is a good thing)

[@StrapMerf]

TBF, you didn't cause cry 1, Acorn did. and crying because emotional investment? Good!

[@phillydterminaldisease6578]

WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND TIME WTF DONT BLUE BALL ME LIKE THAT PLUS THE ALGORITHM ISNT GONNA PICK YOU UP UNLESS YOU GO OVER TEN MINS. PICK A UKE OR SOMETHING!! 😂😂

[@Priestofgoddess]

There are good and bad reasons to make your players cry. This is the good kind. :)

[@charbird20]

"Is it worth it?" Yes

[@Alexander_Under]

Me, who actually made the Dm cry (it was 2am was doing a oneshot and we won against the villan but couldn’t decide how to actually kill him or injure him enough to not come back, DM started giving us ideas)

[@JoseFernandezAizaakAesir]

That was beatifull😢

[@the.Original.G.Ninja.88]

Fugh, my feels.....

[@Arkay24]

This is pretty cool. What VTT platform is this running on?

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

Thanks! Talespire on steam, highly recommend

[@LuckyBonez]

Not first but happy to be here

[@danielmiller3596]

Only done it once... A year.

[@0rigin3rr0r]

Hey what simulation type thing you’re using

[@Yoder023]

Ok..... i wanna watch!

[@ThaGuru69]

Yeeeeeet

[@theundyingsun8173]

What are you using to play the game? It looks really cool and very useful!

[@Xylos144]

Alright Mr. Giant. Be Honest. Was this supposed to be the Pillar of Autumn blowing up with the Flood?

[@JohnnyH-om3yx]

Curious question (I have 2): 1)why did a ROBOT name himself Acorn? 2) What are you drinking during the video?

[@Transformers2Fan1]

5:34, 6:30 - WHO cried??

[@JokullOrnorvararson-jw7lk]

Atticus, how do you feel about him showing this to us?

[@mauricesaibene5375]

Can I know which program have you used for the campaign? (the battle)

[@justsomeguy9555]

Worst part about this video, Murder Hobo DMs will watch this & think "Killing characters = big drama", and we can just hear their half-wit brains struggling with the idea that this ain't the case. Here, as in all known good examples, the PLAYER decided when the character died, and the GM *helped them create a story of a good death*... in this case, saving others. @ZacSpeaksGiant - you get that, right?

[@mindyourbusiness157]

what do you use for the tokens and virtual table top?

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

It's called Talespire. You can find it on steam, highly recommend

[@mindyourbusiness157]

@@ZacSpeaksGiant thanks

[@campknowledge]

Hey, may I ask, where did you get your swords from?

[@Dan-fw2db]

Wait, what spell conjured the vine blights?

[@emelyhelfrich6533]

ok but WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME CRY x'D i don't even have context for thisssss that's so rudeeeee

[@chezwizard]

What were the TWO cries? Guy dies killing thing, 1 cry. What is the other?

[@mittri1990]

In one of the campaigns I am in, I play as a naïve cute bunny shifter named Rimi who is bubbly and adorable. As a druid and sprouting her magic at a young age she was orphaned and handed over by her parents to druid circle where she lives a happy life together with the elder arch druid she calls gran gran cause she is a 600y + elf. She have some friends, however during this time she has always wondered about her birth parents and all of this time she secretly thought they didn't like her or even hated her. She never said this out to anybody not even the party or her girlfriend who is one of the other players. Later in the campaign they found a lead on a tribe of bunny people on the other side of an ocean and despite my character, Rimi's reluctance the party convinced her to go there. The reason she did not want to go there is because she was afraid that her fears were true and that her parents never loved her and all of that. Naturally this was not the case and facing her step mom since Rimi's dad remarried. I cried so hard and I said one line that made all the party members cry as well. "I have a family?"

[@ghjuyt101]

The bbeg was one of my players patron, and was trying to kill the god she worshiped... she was furious amd proceded to beat the everloving shit out of her patron whos skull she now keeps in a jar and shakes when shes mad (patron is a litch)

[@karrde5566]

ah nice nintendo 64 in the back :D

[@alexsmith7313]

I’m pretty sure ‘cried because D&D’ is the most He/They thing I’ve ever heard /lh

[@Loukium]

What app is being used to create the maps and such ?

[@cowboybarbaryn1302]

What is the campaign this story is from if you don’t mind me asking?

[@metapodmaster0116]

What website were they using for the Dnd?

[@christianaldrete902]

Which VTT was being used?

[@genoshock8465]

what software is this ?

[@HuchiaZ]

Wait, so what's the 2nd time?

[@tylerosborn7596]

Is this a Halo CE campaign?

[@GooberLT]

Hey that's a great moment and all, but what's in that message-in-a-bottle I see? Are you getting plot points imported by real pirates in a different plane of existence? Or something even cheekier?

[@ZacSpeaksGiant]

Cooper you shush your mouth

[@GooberLT]

I gotta make some alt accounts and refine my trolling

[@master_mega]

What was the second cry?

[@diegomarxweiller1814]

What is a story without one of the basic genres?

[@AltoAterna]

Is the lip movements out of sync for anyone else?

[@jayd.doubledubs]

o7

[@nV_Misc]

How do you get into dnd if you have nobody to play with and not much knowledge?

[@imperfectimp]

Try to find a game store where they host DnD sessions. But be careful, you can get really lucky and find a nice and friendly group, or you can find one of those DnD horror stories on Reddit of abusive DMs and horrible players.

[@nV_Misc]

@@imperfectimp thx