Narrated D&D Story: Party Unintentionally Ends Up Saving A Princess Of The Abyss
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Have your plans ever fell apart during a campaign?
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Video Editor: Murtaza Bohari (msurtaza77@gmail.com)
Editors: Lonny Foran (written4reddit@gmail.com)
Narration: MyLo (Twitter/VoMylo)
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Background Music: ‘At the Stroke of Midnight’ by Moments (Licensed with Soundstripe)
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Have your plans ever fell apart during a campaign?
Thankfully no
All Things DnD When do they not? I’ll have to think of one that stands out though.
I have ways of preventing my party from making unplanned decisions.
Yeah, when a warlock decided to solo and beat the literal shit out of a fort that the dm was planning on having us ambush. With a wheel axle.
Ugh, I wish I could think of one that's actually dnd but I would be lying if I said I've had interesting moments in that sense 2018.
Anyway, an online friend had a discord campaign that I joined (Just finished the first epilogue actually.) where my character were idiots. Raymond once didn't realize that the person talking to him was a succubus, in the lust field of the underworld, while she was using very suggestive language, and after being told by a party member to stay away from her. Yeah. Anyway, that's not the main story I want to tell. Basically, after finding he can't get rid of his self destructive nature, Raymond decided to make absolutely certain he wouldn't keep doing this. By mentally altering and/or splitting his mind and soul in a battle with Lorelei(Ironic name for the situation, I know. Especially since she's divine.) he had a son take control of his body, Will. He actually considers Lorelei his mother like a chick imprinted on someone. Though TBF she assisted in his creation some. Tangent.
Now, everything up to this point is to show that my first character is stupid and the next one is supposed to be less self destructive. Just to add to how ridiculous this is. Anyway we later fought this famed general who was mind controlled by the BBEG, Maxim. This guy has a power that allows him to take the stats and properties of anything that hits him in a round, then adds it to his next attack. So what does Will do? He uses his absolute strongest attack, something unique to himself, causing Maxim to have the power of 2 unique arts which is completely unprecedented. Also in this same fight he was the only party member who can undo the brainwashing, but he messed up initially due to being inexperienced and when combined with the previous factor... it's a wonder there wasn't a TPK, not to mention everyone lived.
When the dice allow for the impossible to be possible...the best stories are made.
I disagree, I apologize for the complete foil in my opinion but I must protest, I as a DM believe Dice should be something that shows whether you succeed or fail something that is possible, not something Impossible. I feel D&D campaigns should have things that are impossible, and that those impossible situations can only be solved by a person's proper intuition and not the brute force of a Polyhedron. I feel There are ways to derail a campaign with the "Natural 20 algorithm" which is what I call the "if you roll a 20 you always succeed" mindset, for example I have had a PC in the past with the "Natural 20 algorithm" mindset and when she asked me if she could roll to do some impossible task like impossible physical feats of strength not exactly possible for a -2 STR Warlock Tiefling, I told her that the feat wasn't possible for a high strength character let alone her feeble armed Tiefling, she decided I was simply a bad Dungeon Master and she would no longer played with me. I can actually recall where it explains in 5e The Ghosts of Saltmarsh rulebook where there is an encounter where you could not reveal the NPCs true intentions despite rolling a Natural 20 Insight Check. As this is a reproduction of an older module from an older system i believe it reflected what the original writers of D&D invisioned for their creation, you can do anything! Within reason.
@@kentip3444 Indeed. I always warn new players at my table about this with this example; If you try to jump a 30-feet wall (without any special assistance) and you roll a nat-2; congratulations. You take no damage as your face collides with the stone.
Do The Impossible
See The Invisible
Row! Row!
Fight The Power!
Touch The Untouchable
Break The Unbreakable
Row! Row!
Fight The Power!
I remember my character becoming a god because of a extremely lucky percentile roll as well.
Meh. 20 should be the best possible result. For example : "I try to fly nat 20!" DM should "your arms flap strongly enough to give you two extra feet of jump height" or "a nearby wizzard misses a featherfall spell and causes your character to feel like his arm flapping slows his decent so much that he takes no damage". Not "you learn that you actually innately know fly / featherfall and cast it in this moment of need".
I often miss being able to play D&D for hours on end.
And then I realize: "You have a campaign you play weekly, for three hours at a time. People would kill to be in your spot."
But I still miss playing D&D for eight hours lol
A soul for a soul
I'm currently running Curse of Strahd for my friends and somehow they've not noticed what's going on with the women of Old Bonegrinder, so we're in the final third of the campaign and the campaigns have been plucking off children from Vallaki but have somehow endeared themselves to the party enough that my friend's had their characters write wills leaving all their worldly possessions to the three nice old ladies in the windmill who sold them pastries and ferry orphans to Vallaki from Izba. And this was after they'd already given them the deed to the windmill after finding out the three of them lived there when going to claim landlord taxes.
Sounds like a case of "too dense to play RPG's".
@@silvergreylion No. they’re having fun. That’s literally all that matters.
Amazing story , Curse of straud story twist, The dice gods were there and blessed the dice.
I'm a great fan of puffin forest, I knew this was curse of Straud, I even recognized the story of a javelineer names Crit .
@@davehudlow_x3441 i LOVE Puffin Forest!!
So the fallen Quetzalcoatl more or less merged with Anastacia, with the former PC still mostly in the driver’s seat? That’a pretty dope.
Even tho that's really not what Quetzalcoatl is about. Still was a fun little story
Wife: W-who are you?
NPC: I'm you...
Sidenote: My brothers and I do this too so far we haven't run into any of our other characters but I'm excited for the day it happens since it will eventually as the many campaigns all exist in the same world and same region.
Well I mean... they saved the princess
What if she were actually in another castle
It's hard to argue with this assessment
god damit!
@@Atlas_1127 XD
Now they need to save her and the corrupted deity from themselves.
Thinking about a story I had that had a plan successfully failed.
So this is the story of how one of my players became a leader of a heroic mercenary guild by just being his humble self.
So for some background and characters that influenced this. The player characters that were heavily involved with this were the group's Ninja and the group's Barbarian. The Barbarian was a potential candidate for the election of a leader as the previous leader died in battle. That same battle, the Barbarian had mounted guns he invented to put on the walls of the fortress, killed one of the demonic generals, and succeeded in keeping the demons away from the innocent people that inhabited the fortress. He was a bonified hero that has helped take down dragons and colossal beasts and has done so while asking for no praise. He felt it was his duty to protect people in ways he wasn't protected when he was a child and the demons took his family and home. Thinking about it, he sounds like he'd be a great Paladin.
The Ninja was involved in the Barbarian's election for a different reason. There's an organization run by a very powerful and very influential benefactor that the Ninja works for. The Assassin's Guild of my world called the Gilded Rose is the organization's name and the benefactor is named Rosenthal. Rosenthal is like the Kingpin of the area they are protecting, he's extremely cunning and very cutthroat with how he tries to accomplish his goals. So when Rosenthal wanted to gain control of the mercenary guild the Barbarian was being potentially elected to help lead, Rosenthal sent the Ninja an order to convince her friend or his life may be taken. The Ninja understood how dangerous Rosenthal was and talked to the Barbarian in private. The Ninja told him that all he'd have to do is agree to working with Rosenthal in the future, after the Demonic Invasion is over, and he'd win the election guaranteed. The Barbarian said he'd think it over and the Ninja told him directly to not tell anyone of this deal Rosenthal was giving him.
So, after this warning, of course he decided to discuss with one of Rosenthal's greatest enemies, a roguish spy named Lawrence. Lawrence has helped the party on many occasions and had been suspicious of Rosenthal's plan to rule the mercenary guild, so he had contacted the Barbarian to try to help him win the election out of spite and duty to oppose Rosenthal. Immediately after the meeting with the Ninja was over, the Barbarian contacted Lawrence to tell him he was right and ask if he should take the Ninja's deal. Lawrence said to not take it, and apologized because he might genuinely have to start plotting to kill the Ninja. The Barbarian understood and kept getting ready for the election.
Lawrence had brought on a team of writers to help the Barbarian win the election with a world class speech. He told the Barbarian that all he had to do was read it word for word in a convincing tone and method. They gave the Barbarian speech lessons and really went all out to try and help him.
The Ninja reported back to Rosenthal's kill squad after the Barbarian told her that he was refusing the deal. She said to them that she didn't want to know the details or be involved with the assassination of her own friend and left after the report.
So now it's election day, everyone that is anyone attends the party before the speeches and ceremonies that are before the election. They meet the man that is running for Rosenthal, a man named Gustavus Adolphus, as he is talking to people during the festivities. The Barbarian is usually reserved and quiet so he doesn't talk to too many people. Lawrence gives the Barbarian the speech and tells him to read it over before he gets to the stand and the player party is looking for the assassins in the festivities. They manage to get one of the assassins pinned and unable to work around the rooms.
So then the speeches take place, the party can't find the other assassins. Gustavus went first, he was an NPC I made with the Diplomancer build from 3.5e, a very good build for anyone who hates fighting as you can talk your way out with an easy 50+ roll of Diplomacy. That in mind, Gustavus had the crowd cheering for him, his suave and silky words giving credence to him. Next up was a couple of other candidates and they had similar claims and accolades but none with the Charisma of Gustavus. The Barbarian himself had a pitiful amount in diplomacy but his script and practice gave him a massive bonus of +30, still not enough to beat Gustavus and his 52 but if he rolled over a 16 he would take it. He rolled a natural 20, so his speech stood a chance, roll to confirm. Natural 20 again, ho boy.
I described to him how he starts the speech with confidence and ask what he wants to do. He said I want to speak honestly, and not from the paper he was handed. I detail how the Barbarian shared his past and trauma. How he never once felt like a hero, or like he was worthy of the position of leader for the guild that helped save his life. He just wanted to save lives, he just wanted to help lead from the frontlines. The Barbarian player was happy with the speech I improvised, he isn't too keen on talking too much. The player has autism and was very invested in this character from the start, and to finally get recognition for him was a genuinely cathartic moment for the party. The crowd cheered and went to discuss their thoughts amongst themselves before the voting began.
Gustavus wanted to talk to the Barbarian in private after the speeches. Gustavus tells him that he doesn't work with Rosenthal but is doing what he feels is best to help keep order and peace after the Demonic Invasion is over. He believes Rosenthal has the resources and motivations to do exactly that, and that he knows if the Barbarian dies tonight it would work against that goal he himself has. After that the Barbarian is trapped in the room and Gustavus leaves, claiming that the assassinations are starting and he was hiding the Barbarian will be safe in the room.
The party looked everywhere for the assassins, eventually sending someone to find the Barbarian. Eventually the Druid had a run in with one if the assassins alone and was knocked unconscious in the hallway leading to one of the mercenary leader's private quarters. The rest of the party looked for the Druid, helped her up, and ran into the leader's room to find him dead. The election hall was filling as people of the guild were voting and the ballots were very quickly being magically counted.
The Necromancer used speak with dead to talk to the leader and get more information. He answered the questions with basic answers, giving them the idea that this was an assassination and that he was killed in a plot most likely orchestrated by Rosenthal. The party panicked, this means the election was meaningless and they had to reach the main hall to find the imposter that took the place of the now dead leader. The Paladin wanted to show the whole guild that the leader was a farse by smiting the imposter where he stood.
The Paladin and martial characters marched in the main hall and called to the leader that looked like the corpse found in the private quarters. The mean time the Cleric was reviving the dead body and he woke with a cough and a smile "It worked." The Cleric questioned him as the man took off his disguise to reveal Gustavus. He told the Cleric that he was so moved by the Barbarian's heart felt and personal speech that he knew he was backing the wrong group. Since he was knowledgeable about the assassination and the plans they had, he figured he was now obligated to help prevent death and make the election worth something. He convinced the assassins to aim for another leader, he took the leader's place before they got in position, and he took the fall. The Cleric asked "How did you know we'd revive you?" and Gustavus simply answered "I didn't."
The Paladin and martial characters brought the leader thought to be assassinated to his room where the leader sighed and told them to leave in a huff. They were no longer welcome in the ceremony for their intrusions.
The Barbarian was given the title of leader, and the plot of Rosenthal was delayed again. All because he spoke from the heart and convinced those who conspired against him.
I like how the hags' deals would do something specific to cripple the characters. I know this freaks some people out when their favorite concept gets ruined, but in game it's never exactly how you imagine it. I like chances like these to RP in a direction I hadn't foreseen. That said, I like the way they solved the dilemma.
Playing Straud myself. My gnome illusionist died from Jack in the box vampires at the coffin makes shop, drained me like a can of soda. Buried at the church. New character, and about a month of play later we're back and he crawled away. Never had to go hunt myself before. Love it. Hope I get to myself first.
Scheduling issues is the real BBEG of D&D
Painfully true
Dont play with people that you don't know, or people that you don't know can be consistent.
I like this sort of approach. Games that I use to DM were all pretty much set in the same world, just different regions.
This meant that PCs from past campaigns could pop up as NPCs or even be reused should a PC die midway through the current campaign.
Additionally, this also meant that actions had consequences. Failing to stop an evil scheme for example, could of had an impact on future gaming sessions.
one of my best stories comes from keeping a player after they left.
there was a bard called diego, honestly more rouge than bard. his main things were fabulous clothes and glitter, lots and lots of glitter. he did many illegal things while he was around including but not limited to murder, theft, assault on civilians (via glitter), assault on officers(via glitter), assaulting a noble in waterdeep(can you guess what he used?) and several charges of kidnapping. he left the campaign by being hauled off to jail (big surprise) and we only got wind of him when a month later guards reported him "acting strange" we investigated and found that he had broken out and hired a doppelganger to stay in his place. half a year later there were multiple reports of vampires we investigated and found an underground complex in which there were paintings and tapestries of deigo everywhere. once we managed to reach the throne room we were all really mad at this guy, so he comes out with a grandiose speech and we just murder him then and there.
as a Bard i am inspired to use glitter now XD
I don't like it how people haphazardly throw around names of Aztec gods without at least knowing a little about the original context. I am personally very passionate about this mythology cause I find it interesting, am very happy to share this information, but unfortunately it often gets overlooked or bastardized in contemporary media, especially Quetzalcoatl AKA the Good Snek Dad.
While Aztec mythology is infamously known for its ritualistic bloody human sacrifices, Quetzalcoatl was the most notable Aztec god who actually hated and was disgusted by the practice of human sacrafice as he was the creator of humanity and used his own blood to give us life. He prefered smaller offerings such as Flowers, Incense, Seashells, and Cocoa.
Speaking of Cocoa he was also believed to be responsible for gifting humanity with the Cocoa bean, Corn, Art, and Music always trying to provide for humanity and improve our quality of life
There was a story where he was driven mad though. Throughout Aztec mythology Quetzalcoatl constantly conflicts with his equal opposite brother Tezcatlipoca.
Where Quetzalcoatl represents all good things like: The Day Sky, Wind, Light, Rainbows, Weather, Sunrise, Life, Fertility, The planet Venus, The direction West, Justice, Mercy, Order, Knowledge, Kindness, Art, Creation, and Resurrection
Tezcatlipoca represents: The Night sky, Night Winds, Hurricanes, Darkness, The direction North, Earth, Obsidian, Enmity, Discord, Deception, Rulership, Divination, Temptation, Beauty, Sorcery, Jaguars, War, Strife, and Slavery. Think of him like the Loki of the Aztec Pantheon.
One day Tezcatlipoca tainted Quetzalcoatl's drink and it drove him mad through the night. Sources vary about what happened but either Quetzalcoalt slept with a Priestess, his Sister, nothing actually happened by Tezcatlipoca convinced him it happened, or Tez himself slept with his priestess/sister and blamed it on Quetzalcoatl. Either way it went Quetzalcoatl felt bad about it and either exiled himself till he could return a better god or ritualistically incinerated himself so he would reincarnate.
...Then everything changed when the Spaniards attacked.
In the last game I played, my celestial warlocks patron was a couatl. I am eternally disappointed in my DM for not only never capitalizing on it, but never even acknowledging it in game. I was really hoping that my character would finally get to briefly interact with her patron at level 3 when she was supposed to get her familiar. I even snuck in several hints and openings for the DM to use. Nothing. *sigh* My champion of light and justice and her lore were wasted on that campaign.
@@Takisan111 I'm so sorry to hear that, one of the great things about playing a Warlock is their roleplaying potential given their relationship with their patron, it's a shame your DM let that go to waste.
No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
@@sovelissgalanodel3500 I appreciate the Monty Python reference
Ah yes, I remember Cortez.
Anastasia's player: i thought you stopped existing?
Anastasia: my lack existence was, greatly exaggerated.
Alwyn has a Raven familiar named Poe?! That's actually amazing!!
And here I thought a group I was part of freeing Orcus and unleashing him onto the world was a bad scenario.
I may or may not have destroyed that windmill with an upcast Thunderwave. We managed to dig the children out though and they were okay lol
I've played CoS twice, and never encountered these hags.
I lost too many characters in the first one, but all of them would have attempted to kill the hags on sight.
In the second campaign, my character was a literal god of evil and undeath. He could have offered them beauty. Or taken their souls (their own and the children's) by force. Or he could have turned them into non-magical slugs. Or simply absorbed them.
Isn't that character a little bit over powered for CoS than?
@@Kino_Cartoon Technically yes. The lore for that character was he was kicked out of the heavens by his twin brother and had to possess a mortal host, limiting his powers. The DM was kind enough to give me *one* god roll.
I used it to protect the woman (Esmerelda? Elizabeth?) from Strahd with a pendant that made her undetectable by any means to an undead (preventing Strahd from ever finding her so long as she wore it).
With a group of friend we have a never ending camaign, every time it ends, the survivors return as NPCs or even as the BBEG
It amuses me each time to see my players’ reactions when they learn what the pastries are made from 😈
shades of Sweeney Todd :D
@@deborahcapuano1223 LOL 🤣
Anyone else looking at the trees on the right trying to see if there's a word in there? Almost looks like it's trying to read out as "thank you", maybe my imagination is just too active
I always think of Hag pastries as those sweet rolls in Skyrim.
I love CoS for its replay value. Never know watcher gonna get!
Windmill is spinning backwards...
Clearly it is from the island of Tropico.
In our campaign we never fought morgantha infact we saved her we inspired her to walk down the path of redemtion. And we even cured her, she was no longer a hag, and she join our party. Why you ask? Well essentially the way the GM roleplayed her made her a very funny and likeable character and despite being a child killer she endeared herself to our party, out of character we knew what she was and what she was doing to children but in character we were clueless and we made no effort to change that cause we didnt want to have to kill her. Morgantha is definitely going down as one of the most memorable and funny NPC characters I've encountered in a campaign.
If you're playing in Ravenloft that Marilith is going to be several different levels of pissed off when she finds out she can't leave.....
Notes from a NG human idiot;
Greetings from lovely Restenford(rather decent day, considering i got rained on....)!
It's good that they managed to save all the children in the Bonegrinder, though they DID release an(arguably) greater threat than The Devil Strahd[spits] onto Barovia(Maralith wouldn't be able to leave as long as The Count Lives). But i learned in all my Adventuring that sometimes, you have to take what victories against the Darkness you can....
May your pantheon ever favor you(especially in these trying times),
Baron Trevelyan of Restenford
Good to hear from you again, Trevelyan.
@@aaronimp4966 Thank you, my friend! So, how have you been?
Greetings sir baron, always good to see you.
@@dorianrobinette9712 thank you Dorian. It's good to see you as well!
I had a wolf when I was playing a Druid and I managed to have the wolf trip a shadow.
Okay, when I finally did get a "breaking in" to D&D and joined a group more experienced than me (self taught with only a DMG from age 10 or so...)... There were some "traditions" that I've found to be relatively popular even outside that original group...
GM's often take the Character Sheets of PC's they've killed in-game... Some GM's treat them like trophies, BUT I don't advise that thinking. Most of us reskin them slightly and let them pop up in reincarnations in later games... I often give the original sheets back to the Players, too... PC's are too beloved to just steal them away, trophy or not... I just copy it off from the original into my compendium records and have a new NPC I can toss into the Game at will...
It can often fall to the GM to keep up with the Character Sheets for the Players. This often makes it easier, as it only takes a single folder to hold a Game together, and could be slipped into the module box for whatever adventure/campaign was being run for that group... This also has the added benefit that the GM CAN reskin and reuse PC's "left behind" rather than throw them out if a Group comes apart, or a Campaign simply fizzles out for whatever reason... AND there are myriad reasons.
I call them "traditions" rather than "house rules" because they're not in the Canon anywhere, BUT so many groups just fell upon the same ideas, it's hard to avoid. AND having a few spare PC's "just laying about" can be a fine option for a GM with a noob' who wants to "try it out" mid-game, or when a PC inadvertently dies and there's no good literary license available to resurrect them... It happens. Adventuring is dangerous... SO rather than have someone "roll up" a WHOLE NEW PC in the middle of a session or campaign, I've been known to thumb through a stack of Characters of adequate level and "no current plans" to hand them something they can then reskin in a handful of minutes while we snack, chat, and recharge for whatever remains of the session... ;o)
That was a good game if you ask me. Gotta love curse of Strahd module
At 5:10 in the video my brain went: “NIGHT HAG!!!”
Funny. I am new to DnD.just started playing with my friends. We are 6 girls all playing for the first time. Only male is our DM. He is quiete veteran so he helps us and teach all of us how to play. We are right now on our fifth sesion and all of them had at least 6 hours. Even sesion zero and 1 :D
My party just burnt the windmill down
licked on the video
heard the name "ol' Bonegrinder"
realized I have to wait a few months to watch this until we either beat Curse of Strahd of die
Quetzalcoatl was the god of arts and crafts, the wind, and merchants... not human sacrifice, which was the domain of the sun god.
The mind of an artist
Blegh!!! I hate pastries!! Muffins are much more preferable. Daah that bastard strahd is always ruining deals, YIRBEL LIVES.
engineer gaming was I ever truly gone?
IT’S MUFFIN TIME!!!
@@SuperBatSpider just gotta find the muffin button.
Wow. Great voice acting !
These latest stories kind of seem like white noise compared to the older ones. I still like them, but yeah.
I feel you my man.. back in my day-!
*but for real... I miss the quality.*
(Hail Astoshan and self like mode on.
I agree
To be honest, some of those older stories are about how ridiculously broken the game was rather than being an actual good story. This game was played without the outlandish nature inherent in the aforementioned ones which makes it seem a little dull, but I don't find my BS meter going off like it does with those other stories where the whole plot is based on how the DM allowed the game to be broken or handed the players a "win" they couldn't have achieved.
@@craigtucker1290 You seem new.. we don't speak about those stories either... We speak Astoshan old.. Some of the first ones actually
@@user-dz8ir9fi7i Only to this channel, but much older to before D&D was corrupted by the new ones, before Astoshan was conceived. Astoshan hails from the era that followed mine and it is this era that I speak of, the time of the new ones.
A great Hag encounter not gonna lie
Ketz-all-ko-ah-tul, for those wondering how to say Quetzalcoatl.
Hey everyone how are you doing today
how did you add those emojis? those aren't in the standard list.
@@Sparrow_Bloodhunter they are member perks I love to flex
*Looking back to 13:45*... Can I ship it? I... kinda wanna ship it.
Wait a 7 hour session is considered long... I thought the was the standard
I need to play some D&D
Great idea!!!
Um..Quetzalcoatl is the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning...
Mictecacihuatl is the goddess of death and rebirth
Awesome Dnd, GG too.
Does anyone know if there is something similar to creepypasta, meaning there's a bunch of narrators on CZcams, but with happier and more fantasy like stories? D&D is the closest I've found so far, but its not always exactly what I'm looking for.
============================================================
Dear diary...
Last night was a particularly sour night for me and I kinda feel the need to pour my heart out somewhere, to let off my excess steam, as well as passing some of my salt further to make myself feel less salty.
I've been running my D&D campaign for three years now and last night was my 56th session, on-line of course. I'm still waiting for my first live session, perhaps it will come eventually... but... nah let's get back to the main subject. Over the course of that time I had to reset the campaign once, due to my players schedules being knocked out of sync so hard it became impossible to gather them up regularly. I swapped players as they came and went, doing my very best to integrate every single one of them into my world. Pretty much everything they would provide me with through their background, their selection of race and their quirks was stored in the back of my mind to be built upon, to be gradually weaved into the everlasting story I'm trying to tell and have fun while doing it, even when there's barely anything to work with.
Since the very first session I strived to keep the PC's on an equal footing, to provide equal attention to all of them so no player would be left out. I also strived to keep a level playing field and choose no favorites, even when the circumstances force me to provide the party with a DMPC to fill a role they're missing out on. I make my dicerolls in private and rarely reveal them, I use two dice when making my GM rolls to provide myself with Advantage or Disadvantage to suit the moment I'm trying to bring to life, one dice would often work against me but I discovered that two dice are far more fair in that regard. I form up detailed DMPC character sheets and provide them with all their abilities, traits, spells and characteristics in advance and I absolutely refrain from changing those elements further down the road to benefit that DMPC.
So... yeah... Three years down the line and I've lost several players due to several different reasons, but never a PC. I've kept the storyline in the forefront while retaining the mechanics in the background, I provide the foes my players are facing with floading hitpoints and adjustable armor class to keep the encounters vivid, I also keep up my end of the bargain by following the most logical steps all foes would take (falling into traps, noticing things and adjusting accordingly, flanking when they know they have the upper hand, retreating when it's clear they're on the losing side, etc). But then last night roles around and I lose my first PC in a way that undermines pretty much everything I've building up to this point, it undermines everything I stood for in D&D.
Last night my group started off in an underground tunnel after barely managing to escape the fort they sealed themselves in within an enemy town. The caster, the boss' 2nd in command, had just escaped through the secret tunnel and closed it off behind him, they saw him enter and they barely managed to find the switch to open the passage and follow him in. Turns out that secret tunnel hasn't been used in quite a while and the lackey got himself stuck in front of a cave-in about a kilometer down the line, to they coup de graced him (with a goddamn critical success stealth check woah). They cleared the cave-in, moved ahead, made a short-rest and moved deeped into the tunnels, caving them ocassionally in as they went along to prevent anyone trailing them, which the foes were infact trying to do. Further down the line and several branching paths later, they stumble into a hidden wall and try to work they way with it. I decided to put a small stone button on the adjecent wall as the switch for it, but since most of them had Exhaustion due to not sleeping for over 24 hours and had Disadvantage on Investigaiton, none of them noticed it.
Guess what, the player with the least amount of patience starts bashing the wall with his hammer. Now, this player has consistently shown his lack of patience and I'm getting pretty frustrated with it, so I decide there's now a Glyph of Warding on the damn secret wall and if anyone bashes it there's gonna be a Fireball spell stored there. He bashes the wall and it deforms slightly, I use my DMPC because she has 16 INT, the Keen Mind feat and the Observant feat because I made her that way in advance, and realizes this is a moronic move to back away with her three NPC fighter escort. I move her token without saying a word and, sure enough, two of the players immediately notice that and start moving away as well. In a couple of seconds that impatient player is the only one standing next to the secret wall, everyone backed out waiting to see what happens.
Sure enough, after the third hit the secret wall crumbles, the Glyph of Warding triggers and the impatient one suffers the blow, gets half-covered in dirt and sealed away from the rest of the party. Now, the others diligently start digging their way back to him, using their shields and swords as shovels, but instead of waiting he decides to push onward alone... a Human... with no darkvision... in an underground tunnel... with a Light cantrip someone casts on his hammer... without torches... with only the firebolt cantrip to light the way when the light goes out...
He reaches the first intersection, realizes the path branches in three different paths and realizes he's trully lost due to his own initiative, but instead of turning back he starts having a nervous breakdown. Now that's one thing I have to give this player credit for, he did it all in-character and I found it rather interesting, I gave him a Perception check with Disadvantage as I moved a giant GET YOUR ASS BACK TO THE REST OF THE GROUP TOKEN LABELING THE SWARM OF ENEMIES COMING DOWN THE MAIN PASSAGEWAY IF YOU STAY HERE YOU WILL DIE.
One of the members of the party breaches through digging and rushes to find him, he clearly hears his hysterical screaming through the tunnels and finds him at the intersection. Both of them have disadvantage on Perception due to his hysteria but they both pass, fortunately, they can hear the enemies coming. THAT'S YOUR SIGN GET THE FUCK BACK TO THE OTHERS... OR YOU WILL DIE... RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW...
But then, the hysterical character just stops hysterizing... turns to his ally and turns his money over to him, says his goodbyes and charges at the incoming enemies head first. Honestly, I was in disbelief. Yes I was aware he was somewhat sick of this character and he began behaving eratically in hopes of getting himself killed, but this was downright insulting to me as a GM. I've been building up all of the characters, developing their backgrounds and surroundings on a basic level, writing down footnotes as we went along to eventually work out the regions they came from... and then one of my Player Characters gets thrown out into the garbage like it's nothing.
I was left there as a GM... dumbfounded... the player perhaps didn't see it that way but he gave me the virtual middle finger, virtually kicked me in the sack. My tone lowered as I barely mustered the strength and the determination to keep the group going through the tunnels, fortunately their initiative and inquisitiveness picked up and I managed to leave that dumbfounded moment behind me.
The session lasted for two and a half hours longer, we passed a sulphor gas trap, entered the cult house, sealed the door behind us. Some characters got electrocuted by traps, others had their feet pieced and slashed at, logical traps were triggered. The sulphor trap behind them got triggered by the enemies, an earthquake insued. Three characters found themselves in the path of the steel door as it was hurdling through the air with the speed of sound. My DMPC got the short end and rolled the lowest DEX save.
She lost her right arm and instantly went into negative hitpoints, she got healed and bandaged up by the group. They went on and concluded the session not long afterwards.
Then, as soon as the session is over I check my chat and... the player who gave me the virtual middle finger and a nut kick is making another character. Not going to lie, I was pissed... genuinelly pissed at that moment, but that quickly faded away. I did remember him asking me about five minutes after his previous character died if hies next one will be on equal level with the party and I responded "YES" because I wasn't thinking straight.
But then my inner demons started working... You know, I'm a compassionate guy, I can feel with people and I want to help them whenever I get the chance... But my inner demons aren't that way, those guys are vindictive as fuck. If you manage to piss me off, you're gonna get the horns up your ass all the way to your teeth.
As soon as I see his lines my demons start working my vindictiveness out... You fucked with me I'm going to fuck with you... IT... IS... ON... You will be one level behind the rest of the party as the punishment for deliberately killing off your previous character, you will be able to choose the name for your character but I am asigning his surname right here and right now... Mr. Watafak...
Half an hour later we finished creating the next character, I left a gap in the background for him to work out until the next session roles around. I go to sleep but I'm unable to sleep.
Damn... I always held my group in high regard, making sure logic prevails over all and that every action has a fair and just reaction. I knew that sooner or later I will have a PC die on me, circumstances will turn against them and the poor choices will catch up, but I never expected to be in such a messed up way. I feel like it's perhaps my mistake, maybe I did not provide that particular player with enough engagement, maybe I failed to pick up on his hints.
There I was, waking up three times in the middle of the night, wandering what did I do wrong? Sure that player wasn't exactly the brightest lightbulb in the pack but there had to be another explanation why he suddenly snapped and decided to kill off his character then and there. I just don't know and I'm still too sour while writing these lines down to lighten up and observe a more objective view.
... and that is how I lost my first PC and how it messed up my vibe ...
Only me or anyone else have the ladies of the woods vibe from the Witcher 3?..
Hey, uhm, your pastries are running away.
ah yes, the dream pastries
They were so obviously night hags.
We love you!
From Israel
I know this is a dumb question (Probably) but how do you find a DnD group. I’ve looked up videos and pages to find an in person group but I’m still having issues with that, despite living in a large city. I’m open to online. Any input?
Try facebook
is there such a thing as online dungeons and dragons? how would this work and how can i begin my adventure?
You can look at forums and try to find a text based discord game or get on roll20 make a free account and find a group willing to take in new players.
If you haven't done so I would suggest getting on Dndbeyond and making an account there. That's the easiest way to build characters. You should also probably own the Players Handbook. You can buy a digital copy on Dndbeyond or buy a physical copy on amazon or your local game store.
That windmill in the background is turning the wrong way and it's triggering my OCD. The bar on each arm is in the direction that it rotates, the fan blades do not lead the rotation but they instead trail.
Anastacia kinda. Very very pretty
Why will the captions not stay off?!
awesome :)
Wait you are telling you don't put family members in burlap bags when they come to stay with you?
The ending was not really all there. Sure, the hags were dead, but the story just cuts off, and goes into the black mist / Quetzalcoatl backstory. 30 secs of rounding it out would've made a big difference.
wow
I’m trying to get into dnd or dnd-like games. Can anyone help or guide me in the right direction
What do need guidance with specifically?
Do you do all the voices yourself, or is there someone else to help you?
I do not get that interlude story about a old PC turned NPC.
Was she killed and turned into that Marilith?
In a way this reminded me of a character idea that I had it's a half elf Prince who's crazy and is slowly becoming an eldritch deity (to reflect that they are a divine soul sorcerer great old one warlock multiclass character I plan for them to get 3 levels of warlock and 17 levels of sorcerer)
Yo
Sup
@@gabeduke9305 The sky.
I thought it was a direction
Gabe Duke That’s another way to look at it.
@@WDinATX no me
To the dude the one dislike, not cool.
OMG that is some shit!
ohhhh
Hag.
Why are captions on as default for this specific channel? Is this just me or are other people noticing this too?
Same
Because they turned them on. It is a deliberate choice
Well it’s kind of annoying
@@pearcesun about 80% of All Things D&D viewers disagree with you
Well I suppose it is what it is. Any reason as to why it is the way it is?
Hey guys I'm looking for people to try a campaign with. I have gm'd several session s before it's going to be 5e or pathfinder
Hi y'all
How have you had this many rollplaying adventures when you don't sound a day over 500?
Wow, thats alot of self backpatting jf i ever saw it.
Meh...
👍 I guess
9th
First
Third person!!