D&D 5E Encounter Roleplay interview of Chris Perkins on the eve of Stream of Annihilation

[darjr]

It's Will's Birthday and Chris Perkins was nice enough to answer the call for an Interview. I've just started watching it myself but it looks like they'll talk a bit about the Stream of Annihilation.


[video=youtube;AVzfPBrNcaA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVzfPBrNcaA[/video]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVzfPBrNcaA

 

[darjr]

He rattled off a list of products they make, and he mentioned playmats.

Are there D&D playmats from WotC? Was this a mention about a future product?

 

[Quickleaf]

Nice discussion about how to portray the unique voice of each of your NPCs.

I always thought I was fairly mediocre at portraying NPCs, until I had dinner with my old gaming friend, and he lights up while we were reminiscing and says, "I could always picture your NPCs! There was this one gnome, and the way you talked and your body language – like how you held up this gem and peered at it." That was back in the 90's, and he still remembered it!

The moral for me was that there's lots of stuff we do subconsciously/unconsciously as DMs that seeps into our portrayal of NPCs.

One trick I use when portraying 2+ NPCs at the same time is turning my body at different angles – this is a storytelling trick to differentiate characters in the mind of your audience.

 

[Quickleaf]

Neat hint about future content hidden in the interview...

At the end, Chris asks a question: WHATS ONE ADVENTURE FROM D&D’S DISTANT PAST THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE TACKLED?

Answers given by the audience (omitting campaign settings like "Dark Sun", "Spelljammer", and "Al-Qadim")...

Mines of madness
Undermountain
Isle of dread
Temple of the forbidden city
Dragon mountain
Age of worms
Dwellers of the forbidden city
Lich queen's beloved

And Chris said he was certain one of those was in store for the future.

 

[darjr]

Neat hint about future content hidden in the interview...

At the end, Chris asks a question: WHATS ONE ADVENTURE FROM D&D’S DISTANT PAST THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE TACKLED?

Answers given by the audience (omitting campaign settings like "Dark Sun", "Spelljammer", and "Al-Qadim")...

Mines of madness
Undermountain
Isle of dread
Temple of the forbidden city
Dragon mountain
Age of worms
Dwellers of the forbidden city
Lich queen's beloved

And Chris said he was certain one of those was in store for the future.

Ha! It's wonderful because it's a trick answer!

 

[Quickleaf]

Ha! It's wonderful because it's a trick answer!

It's a trick answer?

 

[DEFCON 1]

It's a trick answer?

[MENTION=52905]darjr[/MENTION] might be saying it's a "trick answer" because we're probably all thinking of the "new reboot" style APs that we get in the fall... whereas there's a good chance that the next book in the spring of 2018 will just be another Yawning Portal type book, in which any one of those modules could be reprinted. So seeing the "Isle of Dread" come back for example would not be nearly as interesting if its just reprinted in the spring book of old modules than it'd be if there was a whole new storyline based around the premise of Isle of Dread (without it actually being an IoD adventure.)

 

[darjr]

Because Chris Perkins is a tricksy DM. He never asks "are you sure?".

 

[darjr]

It's because it's more than one of those!