D&D (2024) Deborah Ann Woll and Matt Mercer consulted on the 2024 DMG.

WotC consulted with celebrities including True Blood's Deborah Ann Woll and Critical Role's Matt Mercer when revising the upcoming 2024 edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Apparently another (unnamed) consultant provided advice on running game for kids.

That's it; that's the news.

 

[Oofta]

There are a lot of easier ways to get female knights with mustaches, it just takes a disguise kit.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I'm not a fan. I actually dislike Critical Roll and it's ilk. That of course is a personal opinion and that makes it a negative for me, but I can totally see why others love them. I like Deborah Ann Woll in True Blood, Daredevil and Punisher. I just don't like the 'watch D&D played' format that's popular with a vocal portion of the playerbase.

See it as, I don't want that streamer mentality in my core D&D.

It can be good marketing without it being a ploy. Calling something a ploy because you don't like it is a non sequitur.

 

[Hussar]

It's funny. Anyone remember Mortality Radio? Used to be a regular user here (Adlon) before he passed away last year. Anyway, long, LONG before Youtube and whatnot was a thing, he, and others, were doing live streams back in the early 2000's. And I never heard a single person complain about it, or grumble about it or have anything negative to say about it at all.

Now that live plays are actually popular, it seems that they are a bad thing. I cannot possibly fathom how it could impact someone's game, but, apparently I'm out of touch with the pulse of the average table. Fairly mainstream actors promoting the hobby? NO, we say. That must never happen. Thousands and thousands of people tune in to watch Critical Role and thus the hobby grows by leaps and bounds? Not on my watch. Dammit.

The amount of "git off my lawn" going on here is eye watering.

 

[Reynard]

The amount of "git off my lawn" going on here is eye watering.

If you think this is bad you should check out the art reveal threads.

 

[Hussar]

If you think this is bad you should check out the art reveal threads.

I know right? I said this over in the other one, but, I gotta say, I don't get it.

Endless bitching about how WotC isn't doing enough to promote the new release and the 50th anniversary. Then, when they do release stuff, endlessly bitch about every little thing they release.

And people wonder why WotC refuses to actually have anything to do with fans directly anymore. It's the measured, thoughtful responses that just make fandom such a joy to partake in.

 

[bedir than]

I'm not a fan. I actually dislike Critical Roll and it's ilk. That of course is a personal opinion and that makes it a negative for me, but I can totally see why others love them. I like Deborah Ann Woll in True Blood, Daredevil and Punisher. I just don't like the 'watch D&D played' format that's popular with a vocal portion of the playerbase.

See it as, I don't want that streamer mentality in my core D&D.

They aren't just streamers. They are people who DM, a lot. Frequently not on stream. They also write D&D adventures and other material.

If you don't want proficient DMs who have written D&D material in a DMG who should write it? Politicians?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

They aren't just streamers. They are people who DM, a lot. Frequently not on stream. They also write D&D adventures and other material.

If you don't want proficient DMs who have written D&D material in a DMG who should write it? Politicians?

My initial reaction was that politics might be improved by more DMs in politics. I am sure that people will shortly inform me of the downsides to this.
The thing that astonishes me about this negativity toward Mercer and Woll is that, to my memory, in prior editions the consultants and minor contributors in these kinds of books rarely got a mention.

 

[Cergorach]

It's funny. Anyone remember Mortality Radio? Used to be a regular user here (Adlon) before he passed away last year. Anyway, long, LONG before Youtube and whatnot was a thing, he, and others, were doing live streams back in the early 2000's. And I never heard a single person complain about it, or grumble about it or have anything negative to say about it at all.

Now that live plays are actually popular, it seems that they are a bad thing. I cannot possibly fathom how it could impact someone's game, but, apparently I'm out of touch with the pulse of the average table. Fairly mainstream actors promoting the hobby? NO, we say. That must never happen. Thousands and thousands of people tune in to watch Critical Role and thus the hobby grows by leaps and bounds? Not on my watch. Dammit.

The amount of "git off my lawn" going on here is eye watering.

Did the Mortality Radio change the D&D landscape? No. Did Critical Roll change the D&D landscape? Yes.

If there's something in the D&D (community) that I don't like, but doesn't impact the D&D landscape, then I can just ignore it as it doesn't change D&D.

If there's something in the D&D (community) that I don't like, but does impact the D&D landscape, then I can't just ignore it as it does change D&D. This news item clearly shows that it's changed core D&D (DMG).

See the difference? I have been able to ignore this particular popularity game for the last decade or two, but with the direct influence in the DMG, how can I ignore it?

It's not that I dislike streaming per se, I watch a ton of streaming/YouTube. I just dislike this particular version of streaming, it feels/sounds fake to my ears/eyes. Again, this is what I think, I can absolutely see the appeal. But I also don't like reality TV, like Big Brother, dating shows, etc. These RPG streaming series fall right smack in the middle of that category for me.

Facebook might have been instrumental in connecting D&D communities together, do you want Meta consulting on the DMG? I wouldn't.

I don't need to like everything D&D. Some people don't like D&D Lego... I don't mind them not liking that. I think that making a MtG D&D sourcebook is cool. But I don't want D&D Lego or D&D MtG becoming core D&D in the PHB/DMG/MM either.

At what point are we no longer allowed to say that we don't like something? This has 0 political angle, this is purely what someone likes or doesn't. I'm not even being dismissive of the two consultants or the streaming they do. At a certain point I have to start wondering if people are just looking for a fight when you disagree with them...

 

[Reynard]

At what point are we no longer allowed to say that we don't like something? This has 0 political angle, this is purely what someone likes or doesn't. I'm not even being dismissive of the two consultants or the streaming they do. At a certain point I have to start wondering if people are just looking for a fight when you disagree with them...

Wait, you want to be able to say you don't like something on an open public discussion forum but don't want people to be able to say they disagree with you?

 

[Cergorach]

They aren't just streamers. They are people who DM, a lot. Frequently not on stream. They also write D&D adventures and other material.

If you don't want proficient DMs who have written D&D material in a DMG who should write it? Politicians?

Yes they are proficient DMs, so am I, so are you. But the reason there's a news item about them is because they are famous and WotC announced they consulted on it. Did WotC announce that Nina Hess worked on the 5e PHB? No. These two didn't even write/edit the DMG, they just did some 'consulting'. They might be great consultants! I don't know. But that's not the point, if the content was why they were hired, then the content would speak for itself. But they chose to give it media exposure...

Let me put it this way: Before 2000 no one cared that Vin Diesel played D&D, almost no one knew Vin Diesel. When he became famous, it was a big thing he played D&D... And I don't care if they are (famous) actors, we had a lawyer here that ran a D&D compatible game company a wrote oodles of D&D compatible books, now he's a judge. I know a great DM that was a politician. People have day jobs, pnp RPGs generally don't pay very well or at all.