When Wizards of the Coast started talking about launching Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons the talked about a “transmedia” operation where the game would be brought to the world across a wide variety of formats ranging from books to video games and everything in between. In a lot of way this signaled a renewed confidence in the game that has been lacking in recent years from the official channels; however, this hobby isn’t about waiting on the official channels to tell us what to do and how to think. With the rise of the internet this hobby has found ways to create new games, stories, adventures, and videos to showcase our love for it without worrying about what the industry expects us to do. The creative output from people in this hobby is truly staggering with thousands of blogs, hundreds of games and adventures, and countless videos being produced every week. Today I’d like to share 10 of my favorites videos with you from Vimeo and YouTube that help inspire my games and that get my creative juices flowing!
This is PART 1 of two parts. Check back next week for PART 2!
[h=4]10. The DM’s Craft by DM Scotty[/h]
Let’s be honest, not everyone is going to be able to drop a couple grand on Dwarven Forge tiles to present the most gorgeous three dimensional terrain available for their role-playing games (though God knows we would if we could). That’s where the DM’s Craft comes in!
In this fantastic series DM Scotty teaches his viewers how to make their own dungeon tiles and gaming props. The series reminds me of the old PBS painting shows featuring people like Bob Ross as DM Scotty always seems to be telling you that these projects aren’t beyond you and that you can do them. For supplies he makes an effort to find cheap materials, such as junk cardboard and relatively inexpensive paints, and then demonstrates how to make those into an effective tile and prop for your home games. His videos are easy to follow and his steady presentation style are great to help novice and experience prop makers alike.
[video=youtube;B4a4m_FPuww]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4a4m_FPuww[/video]
[h=4]9. The Brothers Barbarian by BrothersBarbarian[/h]
The Brothers Barbarian is a web series written by and co-staring Ken Whitman which follows the exploits of a pair of cursed barbarian brothers, Art (Tim Gooch) and Russ (Ken Whitman). The two brothers were once young only they were cursed into middle-age by a witch (Margret Weis) and the series follows their attempts to find her and be returned back from, in their words, their old, sexy bodies into their young, sexy bodies.
The series puts a clever spin on both the frustration that can happen for multiple adventuring parties within the same area and on the mischief that players get into in every campaign. Light hearted and often silly the Brothers Bararian is an enjoyable binge watch with new episodes for season two slowly making their way online.
[video=youtube;AdsxcA1-KnE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsxcA1-KnE[/video]
[h=4]8. Don’t Split the Party by Emerald Rose[/h]
The Emerald Rose is a four man band that combines Celtic music with their own original songs for an experience that really can’t be duplicated. The song Don’t Split the Party has a great rhythm and a catchy chorus that will have you singing it long after the video has stopped and your wife has begun reconsidering whether she made the right choice when she said, “I do,” eight years ago. Since it came out in 2007 this has remained my favorite song that the Emerald Rose has done.
The video is a stop motion, Lego style film that was lovingly referred to as a “brickfilm” at the time. It was shot in 240p (as 1080p quality was a long way off) but that only seems to add to the film’s appeal rather than take away from it as it beautifully captures the feel of a dungeon crawl. And nowhere is that feel better illustrated than when they all start wondering away from each other and the chorus comes in!
[h=4]7. A Gentleman’s Duel by Blur Studio[/h]
This animated short is every campaign I’ve ever been a part of in a nutshell. Two people want the same thing, in this case the affection of a beautiful young lady, and they begin to argue about it. Soon things escalate to fisticuffs - or earthshattering magical spells and giant robots! It’s a lot of fun and the film manages to perfectly convey the utter meaninglessness of it all while at the same time showing why none of us would have ever walked away.
[video=youtube;FXET1kvEOAY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXET1kvEOAY[/video]
[h=4]6. Standard Action by Rob Hunt[/h]
Standard action is by far one of the best acted and most enjoyable Dungeons & Dragons styled web series I’ve seen. It follows the exploits of an elf barbarian, Edda, a druid, Martin, a sorcerer, Windy, and a bard named Fernando. The group is formed of a mismatched pairings with Windy and Fernando having been part of another party that was waylaid by Hobgoblins and now has brought Edda and Martin to help rescue their friends. The writing is clever and the actors tend to make the most of their scenes with Edwin Perez (Fernando the Bard) stealing most every scene he’s in.
Standard Action feels like a well-run campaign as it intertwines each character’s storylines and sets up future adventures by careful foreshadowing. There are villains you’ll love to hate, heroes you’ll grow to love, and a memorable storyline that will keep you coming back episode after episode. It’s currently in its third season and still going strong with the help of successful Kickstarters and merchandising.
[video=youtube;BZfyIRnPPrc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZfyIRnPPrc[/video]
This is PART 1 of two parts. Check back next week for PART 2!
[h=4]10. The DM’s Craft by DM Scotty[/h]
Let’s be honest, not everyone is going to be able to drop a couple grand on Dwarven Forge tiles to present the most gorgeous three dimensional terrain available for their role-playing games (though God knows we would if we could). That’s where the DM’s Craft comes in!
In this fantastic series DM Scotty teaches his viewers how to make their own dungeon tiles and gaming props. The series reminds me of the old PBS painting shows featuring people like Bob Ross as DM Scotty always seems to be telling you that these projects aren’t beyond you and that you can do them. For supplies he makes an effort to find cheap materials, such as junk cardboard and relatively inexpensive paints, and then demonstrates how to make those into an effective tile and prop for your home games. His videos are easy to follow and his steady presentation style are great to help novice and experience prop makers alike.
[video=youtube;B4a4m_FPuww]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4a4m_FPuww[/video]
[h=4]9. The Brothers Barbarian by BrothersBarbarian[/h]
The Brothers Barbarian is a web series written by and co-staring Ken Whitman which follows the exploits of a pair of cursed barbarian brothers, Art (Tim Gooch) and Russ (Ken Whitman). The two brothers were once young only they were cursed into middle-age by a witch (Margret Weis) and the series follows their attempts to find her and be returned back from, in their words, their old, sexy bodies into their young, sexy bodies.
The series puts a clever spin on both the frustration that can happen for multiple adventuring parties within the same area and on the mischief that players get into in every campaign. Light hearted and often silly the Brothers Bararian is an enjoyable binge watch with new episodes for season two slowly making their way online.
[video=youtube;AdsxcA1-KnE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsxcA1-KnE[/video]
[h=4]8. Don’t Split the Party by Emerald Rose[/h]
The Emerald Rose is a four man band that combines Celtic music with their own original songs for an experience that really can’t be duplicated. The song Don’t Split the Party has a great rhythm and a catchy chorus that will have you singing it long after the video has stopped and your wife has begun reconsidering whether she made the right choice when she said, “I do,” eight years ago. Since it came out in 2007 this has remained my favorite song that the Emerald Rose has done.
The video is a stop motion, Lego style film that was lovingly referred to as a “brickfilm” at the time. It was shot in 240p (as 1080p quality was a long way off) but that only seems to add to the film’s appeal rather than take away from it as it beautifully captures the feel of a dungeon crawl. And nowhere is that feel better illustrated than when they all start wondering away from each other and the chorus comes in!
[video=youtube;waa2ucfgVgQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waa2ucfgVgQ[/video]
[h=4]7. A Gentleman’s Duel by Blur Studio[/h]
This animated short is every campaign I’ve ever been a part of in a nutshell. Two people want the same thing, in this case the affection of a beautiful young lady, and they begin to argue about it. Soon things escalate to fisticuffs - or earthshattering magical spells and giant robots! It’s a lot of fun and the film manages to perfectly convey the utter meaninglessness of it all while at the same time showing why none of us would have ever walked away.
[video=youtube;FXET1kvEOAY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXET1kvEOAY[/video]
[h=4]6. Standard Action by Rob Hunt[/h]
Standard action is by far one of the best acted and most enjoyable Dungeons & Dragons styled web series I’ve seen. It follows the exploits of an elf barbarian, Edda, a druid, Martin, a sorcerer, Windy, and a bard named Fernando. The group is formed of a mismatched pairings with Windy and Fernando having been part of another party that was waylaid by Hobgoblins and now has brought Edda and Martin to help rescue their friends. The writing is clever and the actors tend to make the most of their scenes with Edwin Perez (Fernando the Bard) stealing most every scene he’s in.
Standard Action feels like a well-run campaign as it intertwines each character’s storylines and sets up future adventures by careful foreshadowing. There are villains you’ll love to hate, heroes you’ll grow to love, and a memorable storyline that will keep you coming back episode after episode. It’s currently in its third season and still going strong with the help of successful Kickstarters and merchandising.
[video=youtube;BZfyIRnPPrc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZfyIRnPPrc[/video]
