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My own introduction to rpgs was fate accelerated with index cards! I always wanted to play dnd and eventually bought the 5e books when all 3 core books were out...and it was not what I had built in my head. So I always enjoy getting to try new games and see how the mechanics support the different types of experiences!

"I sure can pick 'em." haha. Loved that first episode. Looking forward to this campaign. Thanks for a great time.

The game I'd choose to teach a new-to-roleplaying person would depend on their preferred setting/lore/world/etc. But in the abstract, I'd choose Fantasy World by Alessandro Piroddi.

I disagree about the board game comparison, because I love board games and I love roleplaying games…but Sherriff of Nottingham in particular is one of my most hated games of all time. I haven't played Funemployed, but the way you described it, I really think I'd hate it as well. For me, roleplaying games are about having an adventurous story and engaging in the mechanisms. Board games are about puzzles and strategy. I'd love more games that fuse those concepts more. But the board games mentioned are about silly arguing. Hard pass from me.

Finally took the time to finish the rest of the series and it was so great. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this project. I love the characters, the world and now the ending. 🥺👌

To Steve's point around 43:00 min, not wanting to "roleplay" but wanting to play an RPG, that third-person POV style of playing a character is an interesting one I've heard some people discussing before, and I'm not sure what the best way to do it is, especially with a group. I've had shy players who want to just describe what they do but never fully inhabit the character in conversation, and I can get through that easily enough (oddly works best in a D&D5e style where eventually you just roll and say "well there's how the interaction went"), but it still moves forward the narrative in a collaborative way, just not as interpersonal a way, if that makes sense? For solo games, I think the MIRU series and Spencer Campbell/Gila RPGs' Carved by RUNE games occupy an interesting "non RP-heavy (practically nonexistent RP) solo RPG game" niche, but I don't think I'd recommend them for newer players interested in the hobby to encourage more interaction.

Thank you for deciding what I should do for the next hour

I don't know that solo games are going to work as an introduction to TTRPGs every time, but I bet they're a great way in for people who are interested but have anxiety about role playing or making mistakes in front of others (especially strangers!). I'm really enjoying writing out my scenes in Starforged, and I'm playing in a play-by-post D&D game over discord that really lowers the barrier to inhabiting my character. I like that in text, I don't have to be self-conscious about acting, and I feel more safe playing characters that are very different from myself.

TTRPG's provide a certain amount of freedom that most aren't acclimatized to. It's a radical change from most conventional means of modern entertainment. As the limits could easily be the extent of one's imagination (in-game limits notwithstanding), it's no longer a question of which path to take when there's an entire game world (or worlds, depending on setting). Scope and scale can be a tad bewildering. Specialized or focused game system help set up the scope of the game and the setting which the game rules establish (like Call of Cthulhu, for example - gothic horror setting, absurd scope - cosmic horrors).

Awesome job, as always.

Looks interesting..

Thank you for this brief and well-assembled overview. I feel like I am beginning to grasp how this system well enough to look at this game a bit more for my own solo play. This video was awesome, and I will check out your Starforged campaign as well! Much appreciated!

29:40 this is an excellent point - people who start with D&D expect learning other systems to be just like learning D&D. And it's not. First of all, there are many systems where you can easily hit the ground running after a 5-10min introduction, and you don't need to commit to a 6-12 months long campaign. And secondly, if you already are familiar with one, it will be MUCH easier to learn another. Even if it's a completely different system or setting - some of the core concepts are transferrable. Like, the idea that you are supposed to be directing the actions of only one character in a larger story. Or the idea that you need to declare your intentions and then use some kind of game mechanic, usually involving chance, to see if you succeed. Those are things you only need to learn ONCE.

4:44 I find that the blocker is often not "I'm not an actor, I'm not a writer", but "I'm not a little kid, I'm not going to pretend I'm a cowboy or a pirate, this is silly and infantile". People most resistant to trying TTRPGs are not doing this because they are not creative enough, they feel they are Too Adult For This Childish Nonsense.

Damn. Right in the feels. "It's exhausting isn't it ... Doing the right thing"

Really helpful video, thanks! One of the great things about solo roleplaying is that when you don’t know how to move the game forward you can just stop playing in the middle of a session and sleep on it or go away and think it over. In my first game of Ironsworn I was searching the house of a suspected murderer looking for clues to his whereabouts, but rolled a miss on a gather information move. I thought that had to mean I didn’t find anything so I felt like the story had hit a brick wall. I stopped playing, asked about it on the Ironsworn subreddit and someone said a miss should mean something happens, not nothing happens, and quoted Raymond Chandler who said if you don’t know where the story should go, have a man burst through the door holding a gun. So back in my game the suspect’s girlfriend kicked the door in and jumped on me with a knife, getting the upper hand in the fight that followed. I got the information from her and tracked down the murderer in the end :)

I was so hoping you'd involve Lorenzo at the end. Gideon seems like the kind of walking disaster who would throw a screaming monkey at a dangerous woman he is (very unadvisedly) attracted to.

Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over. Thank you for this great story. I cant wait for another Starforge tale from you, if you do it again.

A great episode! I really like the way you portray Gideon and the NPC. Very engaging. Looking forward to the next episode.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. Any chance this ends up as an audio only podcast on Spotify and other podcast things?

Looking at 2:18 and wondering: isn't the use of Momentum equivalent between Ironsworn and Starforged, just phrased differently?

Matt, I love your storytelling and am a fan of the show, and the "but" that's coming is the gentlest one possible: sometimes your sound effects are louder than your voice, either blasting my ears if I'd put the volume up to hear you, or startling me if I'd had the good fortune to fall asleep. It was particularly egregious in S1 Starforged with the little robot chirps and I think it's got better since (I haven't listened to S2 yet) but it happened again here with the music at 24:40 and later with the monkey. If you could watch out from it moving on, I'd be sooo obliged 🙏

Well, that escalated quickly 😅. This new world seem quite cool and it will certainly be interesting to see what trouble Gideon gets himself into.

Very entertaining first session. Pirates aren't my scene, definitely prefer scifi, however I very much enjoyed your story. Looking forward to more.

Well done, mate! You've crushed it!

Wow! That is an incredible start.

Watched this twice just to hear again some of your poetics. Magpie tendencies and few drinks ahead had me laughing so hard.

Excellent production, sir.

Ahoy brave new world.

The smacking has got to stop

Yessss it begins! And whoa, thank you for the shoutout, I'm still just happy you listened at all, and can't wait to share our talk next week! The new graphics look so good, and LORENZO'S NOISES! Gideon is my kind of problematic charismatic protagonist haha

Loving the start. And your dice agree...😅. I cannot wait to see where story goes. The Chef Approves

At last! My favorite show on CZcams is back!

What a nice voice to start things up on! Hope you'll have Lowri back.

My name in Finch, Gideon Finch….

Yay first episode!

Great opener! One quick comment. There was an ear piercing moment in the audio when the monkey "spoke" and I wasn't even wearing headphones

Finally 🎉 loved the new graphics, music, and the fact that you are not hidden anymore under the channel logo 💪 Gideon is awesome, I think we are going to have a lot of fun with him. Don't forget to mark progress 😂

Simply wow! I’ve not laughed aloud so much during an episode. Bravo, Matt. I’m looking forward to Gideon’s future adventures.

Great to have a new series and characters. The music and sea shanty preludes are all superb. The meeting at the manor sounded a lot like a recent games convention you attended recently.

That was fantastic.

Yarrr we go! A fine start to a campaign. Totally on the same page as Gideon re: That Woman.

So excited to see what our new protagonist and his monkey get up to!

Well worth the wait, Matt. The imagery is so vivid, and you nailed the tone!

Awesome beginning! Can't wait for more.

Oh my Fgod! I need more.The wait is going to be so long

This game is fascinating! Collaborating on the narrative elevates creativity in a way that I’d like to envision RPG’s to play out, but most fail to do so. Trophy Dark shines on the element that attracts me to role playing games, improvised creativity contributed equally in group play! Bravo! A truly memorable session! Loved it!

At 5:28, right as you finish saying “he plasters on a smile, and under his breath, he says…” I got hit with an ad for hot sauce. I have to say that for a second I thought this campaign was taking a very weird and unexpected turn

Yay!

HOLY SHIT ITS HAPPENING