So, Your D&D Edition is Changing
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- čas přidán 28. 11. 2023
- It could actually be a good thing...
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Here's some homework for anyone looking for more. Warning! Read at your own risk!
A Farewell to Hexes by Greg Costikyan
www.costik.com/spisins.html
Death to the Minotaur by John Tynes
www.salon.com/2001/03/23/wizards/
A+ Recommendations, I could not believe what years they were written in!
Thank you boss. This whole video was fascinating
Great stuff! I do have a question though: In A Farewell to Hexes, Games Workshop and their runaway success isn't mentioned at all. Am I being thick? Is Warhammer not considered a wargame? Or is it just not as relevant as I think it is?
@@pancakewizard1533games workshop didn't get started until the events after that article. Many years after.
The sex-for-all goblin-first era of WotC as described in the Salon article sounds horrible. I’d hate to work there. I just want thicker lines between my work and my relationships. Those parts of life move at different speeds.
I want to thank all the folks who, within 90 seconds of a 60min long video, were racing to the comments to shit on different editions, extoll their favorite edition as the only one that matters, and otherwise be humorless weirdos. :D
I was worried the Edition War talk was going to seem esoteric and not relevant to modern players, but I didn't need to worry. I know my hobby. :D
I feel personally attacked within 20 seconds of the video.
😂
As a time traveler, 11.4.2e is drastically superior.
There's no point engaging in edition wars! Different editions will suit and speak to different people and groups, and that's ok!
I play 3.5 and after 60 seconds I was thinking that maybe buying the new 5e humble bundle would be useful after all. I'm too inexperienced to draw comparisons. Gold Star.
"Hasbro wants to invest in the BRAND, not the game"
well put. :)
That's what bugged me about the D&D movie. D&D isn't an IP, you can get rid of owlbears and mimics, even orcs and elves, and still be more D&D than the D&D movie.
This video put it so well
@@joshuawinestock9998 I liked the movie. It felt very D&D to me.
@@juliamedina3322 I havent seen it, I've heard it's great, my point is that D&D isn't a specific setting or set of narrative tropes, it's an activity that you do with your friends.
@@joshuawinestock9998well there is DND specific settings and lore. The "activity" is tabletop roleplay gaming
@@joshuawinestock9998 Yeah, but if you call the movie anything to do with "The Forgotten Realms" then nobody knows what you're talking about and nobody will go and see it.
This video is the DnD equivalent of "You are going through puberty here is what is going to happen with your body"
😂😂😂
Hahaha!
Because of your videos, I started a D&D club at my middle school last year. It has grown to the point where I need a bigger room. Thank you for motivating me.
Good work!
Make sure you train new GM's
why would you train new GMs, just let nature do its thing
they pop out of the ground @@jeremyszpicki491
Gosh I’m so jealous
As an anthropologist, I never get tired of hearing how this hobby and culture was shaped over time. Killer vid, Matt!
You also have to understand how “being a gamer” was, and probably still is, a huge part of our self identity. Often bullied, and ridiculed by society for decades, it was like a secret club us nerds could use to relate to each other, and seperate ourselves from the normies. Us gen exers who experienced this, plus lived through the satanic panic would make an interesting study for you anthropolists.
As a (relatively) recent anthropology grad, looking at how D&D and mainstream culture interact is highly fascinating. There's a lot to dig through.
@@ericaltmann5711 leading to the parodied and subverted so many times that I can no longer tell where anyone falls on it meme "gamers: the most oppressed minority". Though that was mostly for videogames.
@@thegreatandterrible4508 yeah, but what he's talking about was a real thing in the 80's and 90's. Not so much in the decades after that. That poster NEVER said that people who played D&D were the most oppressed minority, that's a strawman. The meme refers to young people these days, who usually play video games, not D&D, and are far less bullied for these things than people were in the past decades.
@@robinmohamedally7587 I wasn't disagreeing with him, I was saying that the ostracization created a very insular community which is also what bred some unhealthy attitudes in a small minority of that minority.
Ttrpgs have it far better off than videogames, as they've always had some aspect of letting in other marginalized groups. I mean, over 60% of the people I know who play D&D are LGBT+
There are some Serious Important Things in this video but mostly I just love talking about the history of this hobby I love and I hope folks can see that. This video is mostly fun, it's not that serious. :D
People should not interpret this as me being down on the hobby, in fact the opposite!
This makes me want to rewatch the One Fighter At A Time videos. My friends WOULD NOT believe me that women had different class titles and powers.
My only question was how much of that 58 mins ended up being extemporaneous passion. Great either way.
@@kossowankenobi Seemed like quite a bit of it, actually! And it was great!
I found it fascinating and I really liked that bit about consumers winking out of existence for 9 months when they discover WoW. I've often resented the stranglehold DnD has on trpgs in the public consciousness, but I shouldn't, and one thing I think 5.5e might do, in addition to the OGL debacle, is introduce this newest generation of players to the idea that there are other games. I've said before that there are essentially two completely unrelated hobbies, DnD 5e players, and trpg players. You'll get some trpg players that play 5e, but the majority of 5e players have never played anything else in their life. And I think that might start to change.
Really looking forward to your game. Talent is basically custom made for me. I'll miss the d20 because its my favourite dice to roll, but if the rest of the game is anything like the Talent, I'll have an absolute blast. I'd love to work on something for it some day. I imagine you're not hiring at the moment, but maybe I can try and make a third party class or something. But hey, if you ever need an artist or a complete novice designer, I'm here.
That last part about money...The whole reason I got into D&D in the 80s was because I was a teen that didn't have a lot of money and it was cheap when compared to movies all it took was a little money for dice and a couple of books up front and gas money to get to your friends house to play and you could play all day Saturday and Sunday before going back to school. As much as a VTT is probably inevitable, I like the Idea of getting together with people face to face drinking a few beers and socializing with flesh and blood people....it's one of the things that drew me to the game when I was an awkward outsider kid and it still appeals to me as an awkward outsider adult.
I also enjoy sitting around a table with a group. But most of my games these days are in a virtual tabletop with people I know. But not with loot crates.
Loot crates are why I'm looking for the Pathfinder of 5e. An exit ramp from the official path. Not because of rules but because the business model is not something I'm trusting my time and money investment in.
VTT isn't inevitable; you can continue to play just like you do today 🙂 We have played for decades and intend on continuing meeting up, no matter if we have to keep playing 5e (or an earlier version for that matter).
That's one of the main reasons I struggle getting into the VTT era, besides money. Nothing beats the in person approach.
I just finished their first ever campaign. To be clear, this was a WEEKLY game where I was a first Time DM when I put it together, it was a homebrew world coz I knew NONE of the forgotten realms lore and was played from lvl 1-20.
We started 7 YEARS AGO and it had always been on VTT because it was a mixture of rural, interstate and international players (Australia, New Zealand, Finland and USA). Basically, we made a pact that we would end the game in person and see it through to the end together.
We spent two weeks together here in my hometown in Sydney Australia and completed the last sessions over three days and to say that having everyone who had become family to me in the same room finishing that journey together was one of the most memorable and fulfilling moments of my life would be an extremely large understatement to the value it had to me.
The only reason this game could have succeeded was because of people like Matt Colville, Penny Arcade, Critical Role and Tabletop Champions who basically were all my mentors in how to truly understand the magic that could come from this game.
I love VTTs because it makes it so easy to make snap decisions and just make things happen in a way you can't do in person unless everyone is in a homebase somewhere so you can just whip out what you need; but I truly hope that IRL gaming never truly becomes obsolete as this hobby grows. The energy and atmosphere is irreplaceable.
Sure, we could have completed the game online and it would have been epic and fun and everything, but it wouldn't have had that same "moment in Time" feel to it, that having the custom minis and battlemaps and props and everything.
I'm all for VTT expansion and integration, i just hope they never truly take away that in person experience from the next generation of TTRPG players.
Then again, I'm sure people will always find a way to make it work....TV battlemap DMs already exists with roll20 app integration, who knows?
EDIT: As soon as we finished our epilogues, the gang was like "so, wanna start rolling for new characters now?" 😂😂😂
The next campaign starts in the new year😊
That’s great! I’m happy for all of you!
I'm so glad you got this experience. Nothing like it in the world. I love VTT but it is nice to once and a while at least roll some real bones in a room with the gang.
That is an incredibly heartwarming story.
It's a beautiful and inspiring story :D
@stuprime1126 How did you deal with time zones? Who had to play in the middle of the night? Also hope your new campaign has started off well!
The ironic thing about the new players hating the old players is that once a new edition comes out, they're going to be ABSOLUTE grognards.
100%! :D
time is a flat circle ever repeating, one day what was cool will be lame, or for the younger folks what's lit now will soon be cringe
Only some of them. I've fought in my share of edition wars (cue Luke Skywalker "you fought in the clone wars?" gif), and I don't think I've ever been on the side arguing against change.
Of course, I've been a game designer for nearly a decade now, so maybe that's why I'm like that.
@@N0-1_H3r3 So what you're saying is you fight against changing into stagnancy. We just need to take an obi-wan and pull a certain point of view. Though, honestly, I agree with you. If I don't like whatever is coming next, oh well, I still have all my 5e books and a ton of other games I want to play. Not to mention both the MCDM RPG and Daggerheart both look like interesting twists on the old formula and should be coming out around the time WotC is making the big push for the new core books beyond initial release.
@Deliriumend I like to see things improve and grow, though I don't always think that means throwing out the old. Sometimes, remixing and reevaluating older ideas, looking at them from new perspectives, can be just as valuable as coming up with new ideas, but I never want to be doing something just because it's traditional or expected or the way it's always been.
But, the RPG industry and community alike have vocal corners that lean towards doing things because that's how they've always been, or because they're familiar. A lot of RPGs do things because D&D has always done them, rather than questioning if a given idea has merit for that game. In my more bitter and cynical moods, I've called this Cargo Cult game design.
This is spot on about the anger toward WoW - in hindsight I realize how utterly true this was. I saw longtime groups stop playing D&D in favor of WoW. Was a very strange era in the hobby.
Also, totally geeked to see you mention Shadowdark! 🤘
People love Shadowdark!
I was in college at the time and witnessed more than a couple of classmates flunk classes because of how addicted they were to that game.
Mind you, this same thing happened during 2e, when this funny little card game called "Magic: The Gathering" came out, and people jumped to start playing it so fast the dice didn't have time to hit the floor.
In my group it was the DM who became hooked on WoW. He would heroically run D&D games all sleep deprived from playing WoW right through the night before.
Im waiting for the shadowboat! 😁
I am proud of my gold star ⭐️ and grateful for this history lesson.
I came into D&D only since the pandemic. I watched a little CR and while it was a piece of media I loved, it was overwhelming to imagine trying. The voices, the role playing, the long campaigns seemed insurmountable. Then I was introduced to Dimension 20, and especially Aabriya Iyengar. I understood how D&D could be applied to many settings (regency era, watership down, cyberspace, the brain as a city, etc.) and how I could make it my own. Her “rule of cool” gave me permission not to know or understand all the rules. I started DMing for three best friends and various guest friends running A Christmas Carol one shot we kickstartered, and now my own Agatha-Christie-inspired stuff. We can only meet once a month usually. We use Lego dudes as miniatures. We knit and snack and laugh at the table. I have no idea how many 5e rules I have forgotten let alone not even learned yet.
In the end, a video like this is both a reminder and affirmation that the point is to have fun at the table with your friends, and not to moralize rules and editions as eternal expectations.
56:54
I used to love how, when there was an edition change, the novel writers would come up with some cool story lines to bring the mechanics out, I.E the Avatar Trilogy, etc so cool
We had a guy in our group, the oldest and had been playing since the 70s. He HATED video games, not just WoW. He also hated MTG and D&D was basically his only beloved game. He was such a great DM and made fun worlds and adventures. I am just glad our group didn't have the tabletop fallout from WoW and similar games over the years. I play video games regularly but am glad I rode out the campaigns. He passed away 2 years ago and I miss his games and the times we had. I am ever grateful to have spent those games with him while I could and hope everyone realizes they can have time for both if you manage your time. Keep making memories with your friends playing things you love.
"You don't know me, but I know you," sounds like a line you'd hear in an action-adventure movie. It's usually followed up with, "If you want to live, come with me."
Or the backstory of why they are trying to kill you. Lol
Obscure reference incoming. It brought me straight to the intro of the video for "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" by Mike + The Mechanics.
"You don't know me, but I knew your father. He wanted me to give you this."
@@DirkMcThermot That is an obscure reference. But then again, it's not the Mike + The Mechanics song I recall. ;) I'll have to go and listen to it again.
i thought this was gonna be a video about the philosophy and rationale behind releasing different editions of a game, which it is, but I did not also expect a full detailed retrospective on the entire history of dungeons and dragons lol
I watched the acid trap in the Briarwood Castle in S1 of Critical Role with no context and I ran a mock combat a week later with my friends as level 1 characters in an open field against Mephits. I still remember feeling absolutely sure by the end of that combat that this was going to be my favorite hobby and I've been DMing ever since!
I also want to thank MCDM for my passion for this hobby, I watched the first Running the Game video while searching "How to run DnD" and within a month I was running a level 1-3 adventure with my friends on a weekly basis.
I'm only 10 minutes into this hour-long D&D video so there's a decent chance this will be surpassed in another twenty or so minutes but "the cynics are usually right, but not in useful ways" is possibly the most wise statement about humankind I've ever heard and I may need to go take a break to think about it.
Exaggeration is the defining aspect of CZcams commentary.
+2 to wisdom.
@@spaincrack4934 OMG THIS! Such poignant commentary! The writers really just absolutely knocked it out of the park and the acting is just superb! My favorite scene of my favorite movie of all time! Gosh I just can't stop exaggerating with all this gushing I'm doing over whatever the current content is we're watching! I'm gonna have to sit back and really ponder the deeper meaning...
What was the topic about again?
What does that quote even mean?
@@lordmew5 It means, thats just because you can tell that something IS wrong, that doesn't mean you know what the cause of it really is.
Even moreso for someone coming from a cynical perspective. They can tell somethings wrong, but they are looking for a specific type of anwser and are often blinded to the full reality of a situation because of that.
33:22 "You can't have some people playing one addition" I actually used that for a character in my campaign for one of my players. She played an "ancient hero" type of character, and to make her really feel ancient, she wanted to play with Ad&d rules. It really made her feel like the old knowledge she had was incompatible with the modern 4th characters, and it actually went really well... with a lot of faith and wiggling the rules..
Edit: It was extremely fun... but you are right. I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you have too much time on your hands.
this is actually really interesting to me, can you elaborate a bit? (Coming from someone who has played AD&D and 5th)
@@martinMARTIN244 I don't remember the exact details, but the other 3 at the table ran with the 4th rules and powers, but she ran with Ad&d rules and spells. It wasn't like a groundbreaking way of playing, more so just different terms for her (that sounded alien to the other 3) made her feel completely different. We explained that she didn't know these "modern" powers, but still had some old "ancient" spells from her time.
@Flintkarson Omfg I'm so doing this now.
My GF and I are in the middle of buying a bunch of DnD books so her and I can play DnD for the first time together. I'm gonna the the DM for her [I love reading and writing anyway].
We're gonna be playing in our own version of FR and I'll be RPing a very old [think Erendel from LotR] and passive companion so she ain't alone.
I actually have both Dave Arneson's Blackmoor setting and players handbooks, and I already had the idea that her companion is from Blackmoor.. he's so gonna play by the rules [loosely] of the Blackmoor setting now lol
Love it. Well done.
There's an anecdotal story about Dave Arneson (co-author of the original D&D) running a convention game in the 2000's. He hands out a bunch of pre-generated characters and as the players are settling in, they notice the character sheets are from every single edition of the game up until that point. One of them asked "So what edition are we playing today?" and he just laughed and said "Hey. I'm Dave Arneson."
Matt. I’m a longtime pathfinder GM. This video, like all your videos, continues to perfectly apply to me and my group. We’re transitioning slowly into PF2.5 now and taking a “that’s a great new rule, let’s use it” approach. We will probably be fully moved over by the end of next year.
Keep doing your awesome work!
I think that whatever comes, we can not discount the OGL debacle's influence. It stoked much more resentment toward the money people and the C-suite suits than there would have been normally, and has put a lasting distrust into some people's minds. It is all too recent, only happening this year (2023) it has not "blown over" like the Corpos had hoped. I think because of this, any effects we normally would have seen, will be amplified.
I think the attitude of management towards the fans plays a big part of the game's success, and its downfall. Which is one thing this history lesson failed to point out. T$R wasn't just "clever". For many people it stood for "They $ue Regularly", which was exactly how Lorraine Williams treated the superfans who published supplimentry rules for 2nd Ed.
3E brought the original OGL with it, and a host of 3rd party publishers sprang up creating content for it and giving it free advertising. It helped the game remain popular, and it's why groups like Critical Role could create content without (much) fear of being sued (as almost certainly would have happened back in the T$R days). 4E had other issues, but I've always argued that the GSL was one of the big contributors to why that edition essentially failed. With 5E, the old OGL was reinstated, and the game's popularity surged even though I personally don't think it's a real improvement on 3E or 4E.
Then Hasbro/WotC got greedy yet again, and we had the latest OGL debacle. They've now placed the SRD under two licences - OGL and Creative Commons 4. That should settle the problems for that SRD, but this issue shows that the suits are still looking to either shut down or at least monetize the work of the 3rd party publishers (superfans). A lot of those 3rd party publishers are still spooked. As I think they should be, because one of the long term goals of the VTT is probably to shut them out of the system.
It's strange. Ever since you said that MCDM was releasing a new game, I've felt kinda "Well, okay, but I don't know if I'll end up getting it". But now, somehow, after listening to you extoll the mores and folkways of old editions for the better part of an hour, after hearing about the tradition of some picking up a new edition and some leaving it behind, I think I'm 100% on board for the new game. You're a good salesman, Matt. Keep it up.
I got a gold star! I like these "History of D&D" videos, they're fun! Besides, it's been a while since we got a properly LONG video from Uncle Matt.
I look forward to trying MCDM's Endeavor when it comes out next year.
Some of my favorite supplements for D&D were the Complete Handbook series for 2E. There are so many cool, weird, and interesting things in those books that I still pull from them today for my homebrew games. The best thing about D&D is there is almost 40yrs of material to pull from. I have always viewed editions as guidelines and ran my own thing for my friends.
Definitely. I've went back to the Complete Book of Elves (for the elven messenger arrow) and the Psionics Handbook (for what matter agitation does at each temperature point).
2e Complete Handbook series, such as Kits working as a character class sub class with cultural backgrounds. ( Players Options: Skills & Powers, also know as AD&D 2.75 revised Psionic class powers.)
Complete Humanoid handbook, ever wanted to play a pixie or ogre mage ? Or an orc cleric/ranger that deals in viper venom ? Lizardmen rogue/rangers that stealth hunt people from the waterline and lasso drag their target prey into a watery drowning.
DMG section option " Create Your Own Character Class, which we just use those rules to modify premade current classes.
I had a bard with the kit: Riddle Master, I hate riddles and refuse to deal with them. So I modify my bard to reach 2nd-level as fighter 2,000xp with a few extra non-weapon profs. And took Engineer and thief skill Find/Remove Traps. Also took Dance/weapon kata knife dance/ pick pocket to do stage magic tricks with small blade intimidation. Most other players' PC took my Riddle Master as a Blade Dance.
I only played with Riddle Master kit bonuses and not with the Blade Dancer spinning blade bonuses. Since I had a good Bluff, no one really wanted to test him.
b.) Had in one game a party of a wood elf ranger not happy to be in an underground dwarven city. My Riddle Master human started small talk with the couple of dwarven guides with a charisma check to get them talking about the construction/ Engineer check and another charisma check to make the talk lively and egging the dwarves on about the stonework.
The wood elf wasn't happy, and the grey elf bard/Lore Master got into the talk enough where the dwarves were starting to have a polite tone with her.
The grey elf roll charisma/, .. " Dwarves only live a few centuries compare to elves. I will sing about you and this place for 800years and gods willing for a thousand years."
She roll well enough the dwarves didn't take the life span deference as a haughty insult, and they though she singing proper enough for an elf. So they shared more of their history with her.
c.) The player that PC the wood elf ranger normal plays a dwarf, so to Stay In Character he acts annoyed while everyone else starts singing really bad out of tune dwarf songs.
2.) 2e weapon speed initiative factors. House rule .. IF .. you beat your target init by half then your PC gets a second attack with a -1 atk/-2 Ac. If atks land flip a coin heads does normal dmg or tails does x2 dmg. If your atks fail the target gets an extra action atk against the attacking PC with x2dmg. Want to risk it ?
In one game the rogue beat the fighter with a great sword by 4. meaning knight init divided 4x into the fighter's Gs roll.
Counter roll of dex/str vs dex/str.
Fighter got stabbed 4x in the face through the helmet face slit opening, losing a couple of teeth and a stab sinus cavity. The rogue fail dex roll and received a left elbow and cross guard to his ribs.
Due to other game system such as TMNT and Vampire, rogue had to roll con to keep from getting broken ribs.
b.) WEG west end games Star Wars d6 dice pool system. Double action for stander combat or using force powers requires halfing the dice pool. Just like Whitewolf/World of Darkness (WoD) vampire copied.
My location got in WotC 3e d20 Star Wars in before D&D came to town. So carry over from WEG into our D&D/Star Wars to make a double action without a feat, just half the PC skill ranks. So a PC with 12 ranks as an 8th-level n/Pc instead of making a single skill roll at +12 they could make two rolls at +6.
Or roll Panic and roll 12 rolls with a +1 modifer.
Whatever feeds the drama of a given story.
ahhh the complete left handed albino dwarfs handbook....
This was TSR trying to compete with GURPS, by providing so many classes that it 'might' be able to compete with a classless system.
Player and DM since 1982. Game store owner covering the period of 3.5 to 4e. Your description of the events, mood, and business of the 3 to 4 transition is spot on.
I think video games cannot be underestimated in how people are introduced to D&D. Baldur's Gate 3 is a stellar example. I was introduced to D&D by Neverwinter Nights back in the day.
It was Icewind Dale for me
@@thomascheckie2394 It was BG1 for me. At the time I had no idea what a TTRPG even was. At some point I learned the Baldur's Gate was the video game adaptation of this weird talky board game thing. It wasn't until covid lockdowns that I ever even played my first (virtual) tabletop D&D game.
I've spoken to a bunch of people who have played BG3 and loved it, but have never played tabletop. Most of them already know what D&D is, and that it's a TT thing, but they never would have thought about joining a group. Playing BG3 is giving them enough of a taste that some of them are now thinking about it.
Neverwinter nights with dm client for me
My partner and I were jonesing for a co-op RPG, and while waiting for BG3 we played through several campaigns in Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Was her first introduction to D&D specifically, and we both had a good time.
Yeah, it really is tragic that we never got a 4e-based video game.
Don't get me wrong, I hated 4e at the table as much as everybody else, but it would have made an AMAZING video game. It may have been a poor tool for creating imaginary worlds and characters, but it was a great, well-balanced game.
Wow, as an electronic musician, when you started the tangent about east vs west coast synthesis, I felt like laughing because I already knew exactly what you were about to say! It's amazing how knowledge that niche can randomly come up, huh?
I love how Matt speaks from experience and the heart about things like this. It makes his voice all the more valuable in the sea of noise
As someone who's only ever played 5e, but always wondered about the previous editions, this video answered a lot of my questions and put it in exactly the type of context I was looking for. So, thank you for the explanations and sharing your experience - it was delightful.
It's funny to look back 10 years, when someone tried to get me into D&D, but at the time I wasn't as interested. I only really got into it some 4-5 years ago, and weirdly enough not because of anything like Stranger Things or Critical Role, but simply because of curiosity about roleplaying as an activity. I didn't know anything about any editions or anything, I simply got dragged to a discord server and given a PHB. A few days later, I was on my Blue Dragonborn Druid, playing a battle theme on my flute to inspire my allies, on my first turn in my first combat ever.
Fast forward to today, I'm working on a massive project, making an entirely homebrew setting, content and rules for a unique D&D game, using 5e as a basis. It's been a ride.
Me: "sweet! A video about the history of d&d! That's one of my favorite things, next to the history of synthesizers"
Matt: "hold my potion"
I was a middle schooler in the 3.5-4 edition wars.
I remember spending all my money on the core books for 4e and then getting mocked by the people I was going to play with. Cause they all meant 3.5….
So I found some players and we played 1-30 and slayed orcus and thwarted his plans to overthrow the raven queen.
Good times.
This is how you win DND. 🎉
4e still my favorite edition
Fucking radical
Hell yeah! Sounds awesome.
Dude, if you made a two hour video where you just read the ingredients lists on shampoo bottles I would still listen to all of it. Such an amazing storyteller voice.
I honestly love these videos. As an art history major and 5e dnd player, any opportunity I have to learn about what came before, why it’s important, and how it’s happening again right now is so appreciated.
Can only speak for myself, but I think lots of us are actually relatively new to D&D, and our formative TTRPG experience is being "on-boarded" by Uncle Matt. I've only ever known 5th edition. So silly things like edition wars is actually very alien to me. This video was super useful in putting things in perspective.
Great vid. Honestly, you could add a Part 2 and go for another hour. Maybe after 5.5 or 6e happens you could make a, "So, You're Tying Really Hard Not to be a Grognard Now" video.
That'd be great! :D
lol, indeed!
I gave up trying not to be a grognard and embraced my internal old grumbler.
💫 Yay, gold star! Thank you for this, btw. It makes me realize how our own game group is so split on trying something new at times, because we have Gen Xers who grew up with AD&D and Millennials with 3.5 and Gen Z kids who have only known a single edition.
I shared this with my D&D group after discussing the idea of changing versions, interestingly because at some point if I remember correctly my dm plans to use your system once it releases. This is something that I feel like we all need to see so we can come to the table and discuss everything before a change does happen.
I can't believe those "running the game" videos are that old already. I re-watch these often; your enthusiasm for dnd and gaming in general is contagious and when I hit a wall in my dming I just watch those for inspiration. Your contribution to d&d is just as big to some as Critical Role and Stranger Things... because you are a river to your people.
Same here man. Hit the lows, succumb to a bit of burn out, or just lose the love and a few old episodes of Running the Game brings me back to life.
I would love to watch a series where Matt plays all kinds of games especially if it helps out those rpgs with small audiences right now.
He does have a board game series, they did digital overlays so you can see the table.
Since he has worked a lot in game design I would love to hear him discuss these other rpg games. From what they try to do and how the rules lean towards a certain playstyle to interesting mechanics you can steal for other games
Great video, I love these longer form videos that exposite the history and culture of dungeons and dragons as well as the hobby in general. Your passion for this hobby shines through every time!
45:22 I lost all my original D&D group over 4th Ed. I’m with you. I felt like they really made D&D more accessible to new players and it was so easy to run games and not get bogged down into arguing about rules. I love 5e as the new shiny but 4th Ed made it simple to just play. 3.5 was great but man did it get tedious sometimes.
Matt: “Who doesn’t like Loot Crates?”
Everyone: Raises their hand
Thankfully, it's illegal in my country :)
Every time i watch a Matt video, my love for the game reignites. Matt, you have such an infectious love for the game, and i hope i can have the same effect on my players
There's little I love more than a deep dive into the history of a thing.
If all of your stuff (i.e. videos) are this interesting, then I only wish I had stumbled across your channel sooner.
Matt this was a fantastic video that is part of a channel that has done so much for me as a new DM. You tackle so many parts of the game, the culture and history in ways that help me to find my bearings and when I have doubts to establish a confident foundation to tell my own stories. Thank you for another great video, and you are very good at what you do (in my humble opinion).
I watched the stream VOD version of this so I’ll say this here when I couldn’t say it there: this is a great bookend the D&D content era on this channel. Looking forward to the future!
Not related to the video at all, but I want to thank you Mr Colville for inspiring me to run my first campaign after being a player for many years, It's going well with 7 players (help) and I'm on my 46th session this Sunday with the party just turning level 5 from level 1. In February of 2024 It'll be running 2 years strong.
This hobby has brought me so much joy and I enjoy your creative monsters, rules, and stories / insight. Thank you again for what you've provided for this hobby and for this amazing game.
46 sessions and you're only hitting level 5? Thats glacial progression.
Congratulations! That's awesome!!!
@@LoveProWrestling players arent complaining and neither am I.
@@danacoleman4007 indeed!
This video really gave me a different perspective on gaming. I was one who grew up in the 80s dealing with the Nintendo to Super Nintendo evolution where you invested in so many games under one system and now the new Wow game system is coming out and the old ones are now obsolete. Your video put D&D into a very different perspective that opens my mind and attitude to the new changes. Thank you Matt. Keep making videos like this. We need it. We need more Running the Game too.
Yes, Mr. Colville. Generation X does not exist. And that is exactly the way we like it. :)
As another second generation gamer, I feel you are very much spot on in your history and your analysis.
O Captain my Captain.
That is a very Generation X thing to say.
I think the reason Gen X 'doesn't exist', is because boomer has become, at least in popular media, a synonym for old. I don't know if you're gonna like it, but while the original meaning of the term doesn't apply to gen x at all (as in the result of the baby boom), you've become a boomer.
Give me THAC0 or give me death!
Copy that mate. I have noticed that people seem to have forgotten us gen x ers, and I also like it that way. However, I find it absolutely hilarious when I am called a “boomer” because I have grey hair. I think the word have a different meaning now, and simply mean “old dude”.
I got so excited when I got the gold star! This was a great video.
Me too! XD
+
Thank you for this video!
First of all, I love your depictions of the history behind it all - there is so much to learn from the evolution of editions, features, monsters etc.
Secondly, this is the first video in a while from you, where I really FEEL your passion for DnD. Not that it is an exclusive passion, but a passion none the less. I am such a casual DM that I don't really want to delve into other ttrpgs at the moment, and you have always been my greatest source of inspiration on being a DM. Therefore, I have feared for a while that all the work with your new game would mean the end of a wonderful era for me, where you could inspire me to become better.
Other youtubers provide input and inspiration, but for me personally you have provided exactly what I needed in a way no one else have measured up to.
So thank you for this video. I hope for new videos in the running the game-series, and generally just wish you all the best.
I always love the Staples Center DM story. I forget when you told it before, but it's always stuck with me.
Thank you for all of the videos! The first few you put out got me into running my own stuff and Delian Tomb is my go-to for folks who are new to the hobby!
I’ve been around for a while, but the worst experience I had was when 3.5e transitioned to 4e
I liked 4e
I liked a lot of what it did, I liked a lot of what was changed, and I appreciated the way it made it easier for DMs (me) to do what I loved
Unfortunately, that meant that I was a pariah in my own hobby:
If I talked about 4e, I was told I was a fool - if I was vocal about my appreciation, I was shouted down - if I posted a discussion about all the things 4e does well, I got literal, actual *death threats*
I have experienced the edition war, and they are a fools game
Thankfully the idea of what 4e is and what people *think* it is… is slowly changing - people are finally realizing what elements made it good
I wish I would have been wise enough to just enjoy the game rather than even involve myself in the wars
4e did some things well. It also did some things _very_ poorly. While the same can be said of pretty much every edition, the problem was that the things 4e did poorly were things that 3.x did well. It didn't help that the marketing and hype around the new edition focused on the meme "the math just works", which was false (demonstrably so) because they literally kicked the guy with the math degree off the design team. By the end of the edition, they _still_ hadn't figured out how to fix skill challenges, for instance.
Check out 13th age! It's awesome! If you liked 4e you'll love it.
Several people who crafted Pathfinder Second Edition actually worked on 4th as well. I never got to play 4th edition, but I've seen people talk about how PF2 actually borrowed a lot from it and how they feel that PF2 is its spiritual successor. I've wanted to look into 4e since I learned that. It's always good to reflect on how we got to where we are today.
THIS. People who weren't there have NO IDEA what it was like being a fan of 4e around these parts when it came out. Imagine that at the height of the latest OGL fiasco you'd been like "I'm glad Wizards is doing this, I see nothing wrong here," how people would respond, how your upvotes and comments would look. This is what it was like being in online spaces at the launch of 4e and thinking it was better, or more fun, than 3e.
@@PedanticTwit I don't have much experience with Skill Challenges in 4e, but I hear people say they were "broken" very often, and I'm not sure what is meant by this. What exactly was it about them that was broken?
Truly the greatest of all central conflicts - the money people, vs the devs, vs the grognards, vs the excited players - I'd play that campaign!
You start off using the jankiest old rules as a party of devs. Every time you defeat a board member (boss fight) you get to upgrade to a less janky version of the rule 😂
The tavern your party found itself in is being ambushed by the goons of the local investors. One of the local grognards say "These were the stakeholders.. it´s been forever like this. These ambushers are the best type of montization the village can afford. An endless cycle of destruction and reinvention". Assemble your team of excited players and devs for a search of The Ultimate Rule Book, bring the battle to castle Stakehold and take the money Dindi village so desperately needs!
We ARE playing that campaign irl
@@D_A_D_Ha, a literal „boss“ fight, nice
Tag your alignment; I'm excited-money
Great vid! One of my favorite things about RPGs is exploring the different rules sets. I like a big campaign, but I also like the variety different rules sets allow, including with the same family of games, like D&D. They all offer something in one form or another. It's one of the things I actually struggle a bit with my group. They tend to want to stick to one rule set and just play long campaigns.
Not since the story of how you held your post on the Day of Thunder have I felt my stomach drop at the feeling of a real life time abyss, and wished to be there in the before times when it happened. Thank you, Matt, for onboarding so many of us into running the game, and for passing to us some of the traditions that make it the hobby
I appreciate that this video is not only a history of the hobby, but also the history of THIS channel. With a side of the future of MCDM to boot. Thanks for giving back to the community all these years, and here’s to many more.
This is like the Hardcore History of DnD. I love it
ITS RPG... THE EVENTS... THE FIGURES.... THE DRAMA... THE DEEP QUESTIONS... ITS HARDCORE RPG
QUOTE *HEY EVERYBODY MATT COLVILLE HERE* END QUOTE
@@oliverbaunach4395I can hear his voice lololol.
That's the vibes I get from this. This was a quality podcast :P
@@alalalala57 "... to everyone else.. welcome to the fifth installment of... 'blueprint for how to make a fighter in every edition'..."
I could listen to you talk about the history of D&D all day. I really appreciate how you are realistic about it and comprehensive. Your firsthand experience is particularly insightful. I love how (most of) your group got excited about new editions and that you have stayed excited about the hobby for decades. For what it's worth, I would appreciate more history of D&D, rule change history, how supplemental materials were received by your group etc from you.
This is the first video of your's that I've ever watched, I think CZcams auto played me here while I was sleeping because it was 9 mins into playing when I woke up this morning. What a cool piece of history with breakfast.
As one of the many contemporary classical composers who also runs D&D (no, really, there's a shockingly large crossover), I was so delighted by the tangent veering into early tape music history. Phenomenal stuff.
Cool!
I may be one of the few people who found Matt Colville because of Critical Role, but didn’t actually watch Critical Role until Colville convinced me to. Specifically: my teen daughter started watching CR in early 2019, and wanted to play, so she persuaded me to run a game for our family. Well, of course I had to first figure out how to do that, so I searched for DM tips, found Colville’s Running the Game series. CR itself seemed daunting to start watching - but when I saw Colville’s video about the Vox Machina finale (ignoring the spoiler alert because I was never planning to watch CR anyway), I was so impressed that I decided it was worth it to dive into watching CR from the beginning. It was, and was still extremely emotional when I finally saw that finale in context.
Wow!!! This is such an awesome video! Thank you for all the work you put into it.
Matt, I find your videos inspiring. I remember the days of high school and playing every weekend. Miss those days. I've played since first ed. and played everything I could get my hands on. As a dm, I've pulled some rules for all editions and called them 'house rules' to come up with my own Frankenstein dnd game. It works and my players love it.
Matt, just hope you know I spent all video trying to figure out the words here but you bring that 'Excited to go watch cartoons on a Saturday morning as a kid' feeling to dnd.
That’s a great way to put it!
Matt, this is the first one of your videos I've watched in quite a while. No insult here, I just kind of dropped out of most things ttrpg for a while. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. At the 35 minute mark, I got disappointed that I was over halfway through it. It should have been 2 hours! 😉Anyway, keep up the good work, my friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back and watch everything I've missed...
You can listen to Matt for 2 hours, if you visit his twitch channel. :D
Look up his “History of D&D, One Fighter at a Time”.
It’s his best stuff. That, and “The Railroad versus the Sandbox video”.
I see that he linked the “History” videos in the description box.
@@cavalier973 I still use his Diplomacy series in discussions amongst my sci pol/writer colleagues. What a masterclass.
Classic Matt hooked me in Gold Star ⭐️ certified. Played from ‘81 to today. Working on a pirate themed campaign with my 25 year old son and his buddies that I’ve DM’d for since they could roll dice. Joy is the gaming table. Thank you for all you do.
Firstly, this is my first watch of your channel. You had me at the Atari Adventure clip for your channel. Secondly, I started playing D&D in 77 in the BSA. I played pretty much solo AD&D 1st Ed. until 1983. I moved on to more modern TTRPG's that were motivated by the times, Marvel Super Heroes, Boot Hill, Top Secret,Traveller, Twilight:2000, MERP, Battletech, Car Wars, Cyberpunk 2020, GURPS Cyberpunk, and Shadowrun. Here, 40 years later I'm returning to my D&D roots with the POD copy of D&D Rules Cyclopedia. Thanks for your channel!
Ryan Dancey, former Wizards VP and the dude who brokered the deal between WotC and TSR, talks about the Hasbro Board and the idea of Core Brands and the path to $100m a year.
www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-ddi-4e-and-hasbro-some-history.661470/
While I am genuinely thankful and acknowledge Ryan Dancey greater role in furthering our beloved hobby, his Pathfinder Online was a irksome misstep. It’s been awhile since I saw the Running the Game with the sample PC’s from the begging of this video, anyone kindly remember which episode it was on ?
@@imissnewspapers many younger or casual gamers will not be aware that Ryan Dancey was the architect and advocate of the OGL some two decades ago. The third party industry, Pathfinder & MCDM included, owe their genesis to that bit of gaming history/providence.
6:35 I disagree a bit - I don't particularly like 5e and don't play it, HOWEVER what they did with the rules system was very clever from a design point of view imo. They essentially simplified 3e, and with the universal proficiency modifier made the system much easier for new players to comprehend.
Also the Subclass system was brilliant as they were really the legacy of the old Prestige classes, but asigning them directly to classes made it a lot easier for players to 'get'. The result is those first few levels of 5e, 1 to 5 lets say, are very exciting for new players to experience.
So they did do a lot of good design stuff. Are they as creative as other editions of the game? Not even close, but they did research and altered the product to make it more widely available and it worked!
I still love 4e.
The monsters were too tanky but the player balance and ease of explanation was like no other.
@ollieknoxx And of course Prestige Classes themselves were the hand me down / remastered Kits from 2nd Edition’s The Complete Handbook series. Just as the Bard class was the OG Prestige Class from 1st Edition.
I think it's worth noting that 2nd Edition had it's own "x.5" iteration in the "Player's Option" era that happened during TSR's deathbed years.
For sure. We abused the hell out of those Kits. Cool new abilities at the “cost” of a social reaction modifier? Ha! And IIRC the fighter book had new rules to abuse beyond just the Kits.
2E Kits were the genesis of today’s subclasses I’d say. I really liked how 3E did prestige classes. 5e subclasses are hit or miss IMO.
@@jasonp95083.5 is peak D&D
Precisely. For me, 1.5 was the introduction of Unearthed Arcana in '85, 2.5 was the Player's Option and DM's Option black books in '96, 3.5 was 3.5 in 2003 a mere three years after 3rd edition came out which pissed off Monte Cook enough to form his own company, 4.5 was Essentials, and now... this.
@@Interfect727 Right on with UA as 1.5. Although that’s when I was first getting into it, so I didn’t notice. However the Wilderness Survival Guide def changed how my friends and I played the game, so maybe that’s my 1.5.
I got a gold star! Thanks Mat. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about edition history, but this taught me a ton of new tidbits.
My god, I am such a DnD nerd that I knew the story of the hobby and rhe big movements already. But I really liked your version of events, especially regarding personal situations, and I agree with your message, we need more positivity in the world. Stay well!
You're totally right with most people won't notice much of a change between 5e to 5.5, I was interested in a more radical change when OD&D was announced but now I'm not sure if I have another 10 years of the 5.x framework left in me. I am enjoying the wide variety of other games on the market and I hope everyone who is in a similar boat to me begins to explore the rest of the RPG market, there's so much great stuff.
Yeah man. The earlier ODnD tests were basically a partial revert to 4e - a lot of standardization and clean up of system elements. It played way better. It had some neat ideas in it. Class-specific powers (coded as spells, but let's be honest), unified spell lists, standardized progression, daily powers (sorry. PB/day abilities).
People hated it. Grognard is after all derived from the French "to complain."
@@SeanBoyce-gp Totally, my group and I are in our early-mid 20s so none of my friends have played previous editions but I have slowly accrued a great collection of books from previous editions from used book stores, book fairs and the like. I steal so much stuff from 4e, the monsters are actually interesting other than bags of hit points, and the abilities that players get are actually really great, I compare them to the cavalier from Xanathar's. Seeing OD&D dipping back into that 4e style rather then just streamlined 3.5 got me excited, 4e is something I really want to run but it seems monolithic to break into, but I made my players play 3.5 so possibly 4e next. Give them some perspective.
But you're right, seeing the D&D Next fighter was so close to a combination of 3.5 and 4e fighters but WotC listened to Grognards who just wanted to swing their swords, my favourite fantasy heroes are men at arms, I play a lot of fighters and they are always easily dead last in usefulness in the party, hopefully we can come back to classes being interesting. We are never going back to first edition where you got magic items instead of class abilities, despite how interesting it would have been.
I'm absolutely here for a discussion of East Coast vs. West Coast synthesis.
matt, you are amazing, thank you so much for your work. cheers from Brazil, from a GM who never played D&D, but absolutely loves your content.
Man, the section where Matt talks about companies making a product and then firing all their employees seems unfortunately well timed.
Stranger things is what got my daughter into d&d she saw them playing it and says "Daddy I wish I could play that game" which I responded with " Oh yeah I got all the books (3.5) in the attic!" Grinning ear to ear 😃
I wish you and you daighter the happiest of true D&D role playing times. If I were near you, I would want to join. I have a bunch of AD&D/2e as well as 3.5 myself.
And.......?
At least we're past the era of 58 minute videos beginning with "Hey everybody Matt Colville here, I'm hoping this is going to be a short video"
😂😂😂
Your videos are entertaining and informative as well! I am one of those that played in the 70s/80s and didn’t follow the whole changing of hands and what WotC/Hasbro did to D&D. Heard about it but didn’t know the details. Thank you so much!
This was a wonderful video. I lived through all of this, since I'm a 1st generation player (according to your definition), and your comments are spot on. I always played lots of different RGPs and never got into either the edition wars or controversies over which rule sets were better; they were just different and to be enjoyed on their own. Thanks for the nostalgic trip through time.
I have some thoughts on the new edition already, but I'll be damned if I ignore an hour long video from Matt.❤
I legitimately didn't look at the time right up until the second he said "...we go as long as I say." Gave me a good chuckle.
In Aliens Hudson, "Fucking A."
Hey Matt, just wanted to comment and thank you for making your videos. I have been DMing a group for the past 3 years online, started during COVID, but just did our first in person session a few days ago and it went really well. I think your point that DnD sessions are "full of memes" definitely has helped its popularity among the younger generations, myself included. Something about the spontaneity of failure in a genre that is usually quite serious creates comedy that feels very relatable and resembles day to day stories. Sure in real life we don't slay dragons or save royalty but we all have a time we slipped and fell or did something incredibly stupid and can laugh about. Its part of what makes the game so human. I think we often get caught up in the rules, when ultimately that is what we are looking for; A reason to hang out and tell stories to each other. Would love for you to talk more about this topic, your passion is plain to see. Keep making great stories.
Hello, this is my first introduction to you, and it's weird seeing all these assumptions about things. It's exciting, and I can't wait to go back and see what you've had to say for apparently a very long time.
I started with 3e, bought the core 3 books, but never found a group to play. When I did, they were playing 3.5, but told me the "3.0" PHB was good enough to start at level 1 and they'll just tell me if something big changed. I fell out, but was still interested. I eventually found a new group, and bought a whole bunch of 3.5 books. I played games, I ran games, it was super great fun. I even got ahold of old modules and adapted them for 3.5 in exactly the way you described, though I had no previous edition experience to easier determine what was supposed to be easy vs challenging so I just winged it more. I enjoy the homebrew scene, especially how easy it is to create new player character options, classes, spells, feats, all that, and make some of my own. I enjoy the technical side so much that when Eberron came out, I was in awe of how tightly integrated the mechanics were to the subtle cracks and semi-flaws of 3e, and that's something that just can't be replicated when they took the flavor forward.
Anyway, 4e comes out, and I'm not a basher or edition warrior. I loved the system for its tactical skirmish mini-wargaming side. Though I had and still have criticisms of it, which I'm rarely able to talk about, because it's hard to find someone who isn't an edition warrior and thus won't entertain the idea that I appreciate multiple systems, or find someone who doesn't just assume I'm an edition warrior and don't care to listen because they're just tired of arguments. Mainly that complexity was unified, which don't get me wrong was a good option, but it removed the "choose your own character creation difficulty" that made fighters and wizards so different to build. And I didn't like how complex classes were from the perspective of homebrew, meaning it took a lot more design to make a new class or modify an existing one that I kinda gave up trying. Also, it was more work to run older adventures, as not just monster replacement was needed, but whole new tactical maps with interesting features and terrain were so integral to 4e that "30 kobolds in the middle of a cave" wouldn't do the game justice. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate a lot of the under-the-hood stuff that went into 4e's design and implementation that actually underpins 5e and more modern gaming, and it doesn't get enough credit for that.
For various reasons, I switch "back" to the 3e ruleset with Pathfinder. I still had a lot of old 3e/3.5e books after all, and pf1 let me straight up run all those "old" adventures and modules written for it right out of the box with very very little modifications. This is also where I first started toying with Ravenloft, taking cues from the 3e Expedition adventure but also previous versions. 4e never had a fully contained Ravenloft adventure the way 2e, 3e, and 5e had. Plus, pf1 was just as easy to homebrew for as 3e, with classes especially being easy to modify or create. I also could take the lessons learned from 4e about interesting tactical maps and terrain and move them into my games. I kinda missed Eberron though, because while it still existed, and I now had two whole series of books to pull from for flavor, the tight integration with the cracks in 3e was missing. Like how you can appreciate a car for its good suspension over a bumpy road, but it feels less special when the road is smoothed out? The car never got less good, but it still felt that way. But eventually Pathfinder got long in the tooth, *because* it was so complex and got tons of material out for it, plus all the content being accessible in the OGL made new character builds brought me panic attacks from analysis paralysis with having five million feats to sift through when making an otherwise simple character at level 1-3.
5e comes along, and it's an instant switch. Just as easy to homebrew for as 3e/pf1, a lot of under the hood changes that made it a unified gaming system (thanks, 4e!), and I still appreciate that the supplement churn hasn't gotten out of hand. I wouldn't be surprised if there are fewer mechanical character option books produced over its lifetime than there were 3e/4e/pf books released in six months during their respective heydays. Again, it's easy to dig through old material for adventures and flavor. Tactical combat is nice, but for simpler encounters it feels like a breath of fresh air to not have to pull out a map and engage people into heavy thinking mode for optimal play, while still having that big setpiece battle with all kinds of interesting terrain and positioning.
Currently I'm personally invested in Pathfinder 2e, especially since it's now easier to handle all their free online content, and the refresh with the new (as of time of commenting) Remaster making things exciting. I find I don't have as much enthusiasm for homebrew or creating my own stuff as I used to (two jobs and declining health can do that). I feel like I'm being left behind the newer generation of tabletop RPG players though as I have hangups about online play, and the explosion of performative gaming like Critical Role. It's harder to find in-person games than it used to. I know that shouldn't be a complaint, because really it's increasing the accessibility of gaming, from people who just find it more convenient, to bringing in people who would've had problems trying to meet in person, plus bypassing being limited to your local area for finding fun people to play with.
I'm keeping a critical eye on WotC, having not liked a lot of the things they've done as a company lately, and have been open to other alternatives. The biggest problem is finding other people who are open to other systems and able to meet in-person, since I have such anxiety about online play.
Sorry for the huge wall of text, but since you shared some of your stories, I thought I could share some of mine.
Thank you for makinh such a detailed video with perspective and lot of us don’t have! :) Especially for encouraging flexibility and thoughtfulness; remembering that game designers aren’t doing the things that might have upset you.
I've never been an edition warrior, but I've been around since AD&D 2e, so I've seen plenty of it. I've always been amused at how many 4e mechanics are in 5e, just disguised with non-4e terms (i.e. Healing Surges into Hit Dice).
Good idea's, not good design. (in general)
I started in 2014 when on active duty. Critical Role and Stranger Things weren't really a thing yet. I feel like I got an organic upbringing just before it became super popular to play the game, I only played with people who were willing to try it out or had already played. Me and my coworkers were the weirdos on deployment but it's some of the most fun I've ever had in all of gaming.
I got a similar thing. My stepdad was an old dnd nerd, and he still had all his 3.5 stuff just before 5e was hitting shelves, so I got brought in on that. Nothing else existed to me as far as dnd was concerned, and I had a fantastic time. 3.5e is still my favorite just due to nostalgia, but I've come to have a lot of respect for every other game and edition I've messed with since. What a cool hobby
I got in just as crit roll started and didn't discover it till a year and half later
Had my 3.5 books and some ad&D 2nd ed books from friends parents
My head of maths at school / college is why i started being able to get into it. Even covered old naval combat amd long turns for making it playable with reloading canons
Thank you Toddy
The very best coverage of the various changes, history and politics of this game I have ever heard or read. A true love of the game itself and not a hangup on any one system or era.
Thank you Mathew, the time and energy put into this is so needed and welcomed right now and I was riveted to the whole story.
I got into DnD in 2015 in my sophomore year of high school. I had tried to get into MTG the year before, and like it, but I bounced off because of cost. However, I had been looking to do something within the same fantasy vain, and I decided to look for dnd videos to see if I’d like it. Having just read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss I saw he had a video where he played dnd and ended up tearing through the Penny Arcade PAX Acquisitions Incorporated videos. I found some random people at my school to play with me and they’ve been my closest friends ever since. Matt, your videos were very helpful throughout my years as the dm and have been helpful over the last couple with my best friend taking over that slot. So thank you!
A great distillation of all of the History of D&D videos with the current context. A+ work Matt
The moment I realised I was done with 3.5 was when I ran an adventure with a Nalfeshnee demon and saw it's spell list and abilities. I took one look and thought, "I don't want to keep track of all that."
Oh my god same. Jesus that design.
@@mcolville And yet, I've heard lots of people complain about how "sparse" and "lifeless" modern stat blocks are because powerful monsters don't have lots of random abilities to draw upon, even if they would never get used in an average adventure! They liked how a Marilith could cast Animate Dead to terrorize low level NPC's!
For me, it was when I spent over 4 hours designing an encounter with a unique high level adversary only for my players to trivialize the encounter in 15 min real time.
@@danhooper3723 I feel like that is always going to be a thing. Sometimes the dice bounce weird. You can buffer with "story points" and fudging but sometime epic badies are just going to go down quick. All you can do is congratulate your players. That IS easier if the prep didn't take your whole Saturday.
@@trikepilot101 If it were just about lucky dice rolls.. or a clean strategy, I don't think I would have felt the sting as bad. In this case, it was just broken character mechanics. It did take time to create the encounter, but I must admit, I had fun doing it. I just didn't want it to be beaten by player cheese. Which is the space we are in these days with the current iteration of 5e with the supplement bloat. Well minus the 4 hour encounter building at least.
However, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia earlier this year, thanks to sorting through old books. I usually run a holiday themed one-shot game between X-mas and the New Years, so this year it will be a 3.5e system game. We will see if the burn out has persisted.
Matthew, I loved this topic and what you had to say about it. I am certain I will not be the first, I am going to write our hobbies history into a campaign. Thank you for all your hard work. You are very appreciated my friend.
I genuinely love how positive you are about everything, and the perspective you add to this whole situation. Thanks for the gold star,
I think a huge factor that helped people find 5E and consider playing wasn't just that Critical Role happened, but also that there were women at the table.
I know so many people who tried to play dnd in highschool but were the only woman at the table, and didn't have a great time. I was lucky that I did have a good time playing with a group of all guys. Seeing a group with woman playing, having fun, and being welcome probably made a LOT of people go, "oh maybe this could be for me too!"
True, and part of that is fed by or feeds into how different nerd culture is these days. It's not the AV club loser stereotypes anymore (if it ever truly was). The slider for what's nerdy has moved a lot, especially when nerd franchises started getting movies, and pop culture became nerd culture (or at least a major flavor of it). So now nerd stuff is mostly just normal stuff for "normal" people. I don't know which way that feedback loop goes, but regardless, it means women play the heck out of the game and love it, and that's awesome.
We had a girl at the table in Middle School/HS in the late 80's early 90's and it was amazing. Very rare. But she eventually discovered boys and popularity and well...she stopped playing.
That's a good poinnnt. Feminism making DnD bigger and better woo
YES.
As well as visible members of the global majority and LGBTQ+
For me, I invested a lot into 2e and so did my friends. We loved the edition and there were so many varied worlds to play in. This is why we all stayed in 2e because there is so much variety.
Thank you for this video. It really helped set some of the my concerns at ease, and it's great to hear such a fair and balanced perspective from someone who has seen this game through so many of its "generations." Keep being amazing! :)
this was a really well made video. great script and well delivered. my voice would have been so tired, and i would have been stuttering every couple minutes haha. you killed it. great to listen to, super informative. just great stuff :)
Great video. I know MC is a busy dude, but damn I miss these long form video essays. Also, dope to see Shadowdark get a nice little shout out. Can confirm it's the survival horror style dungeon game with wonderful modern (3rd Ed+) style mechanics. Chefs kiss to this video and to Matt doing what he does. Also, this feels like the "end" of the history of D&D series, which never covered 4e and 5e, so ... yeah that would be cool too. :) (with a cherry on top)
⭐ I lived through all the editions you did, though I probably didn't play them as much as you, and this is a great history of the game. Who needs Joe Manganiello's documentary, I'll just point people here.
Looking forward to the MCDM RPG!
Entertaining as usual, you answer a lot of questions with outstanding journalism. Kindness and Understanding is what this hobby is all about. Amen to you !
50:15 You nailed it right here for me! I was an AD&D kid (1981) and we played 2nd Edition because it had cooler covers and BLUE INK on the inside!
I got back into D&D because of 3e, and I started feeling left behind by 3.5 and 4e. Pathfinder was SUCH a breath of fresh air because it felt like AD&D with 3e rules! Loved it. I was never really aware of the edition wars - like you said, I tended to like the game that I knew.
But I also was excited about the new thing and Critical Role brought me fully back to the game and now I’m on year four of running a campaign with my brother and some friends from college.