D&D 5E Matt Mercer Just Changed My Mind About Multiclassing

[robus]

I haven't watched any of Colville's games, but I do enjoy a lot of his videos. What made you disappointed?

I expected the game to sparkle with talent and yet it just kind of slogged. Colville's narration seemed particularly weak which surprised me given his authorial talents (and how to vids) and there were some rules questions (and opening the game up to outside input via twitter seems like a bad idea). Also some of the players seemed quite unengaged/unhappy. It wasn't what I imagined at all. Very low energy.

I didn't make it through the first episode of "The Chain" to be honest, so perhaps it got better, but it also made me sympathetic to those who say watching people play D&D is not enjoyable.

 

[Bawylie]

Yup. Whenever I give advice about running the game I start with the number one thing that dramatically improved my game. Asking each individual player "What do you do?" after presenting the scenario.

Table talk reduced, player engagement increased especially on the non combat pillars of the game, spotlight was evenly shared (maybe not perfectly, but close enough to keep players satisfied).

Number 2 is the adjudicating actions thread.

Anyway, I'm very glad I stumbled upon the Summer at the Lake campaign write-ups on the old WotC forums just as I started DMing.

Summer at the Lake was a hell of a game.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Summer at the Lake was a hell of a game.

I believe it since it was even fun to read.

 

[Satyrn]

The internet has taught me not to give a flying fig about metagaming.


(It probably originally taught me that metagaming is cheating, though, so it's kind of a wash.)

 

[CleverNickName]

The internet has taught me not to give a flying fig about metagaming.


(It probably originally taught me that metagaming is cheating, though, so it's kind of a wash.)

Similarly, it taught me not to give an airborne coitus about the 'nature of hit points,' either. It's just a number on the sheet, folks. Add and subtract as needed until you're dead.

 

[MNblockhead]

I’ve adopted the roshambo approach that was posted on Enworld, but I’m curious about this. Is there a good link to share?

Pretty much the entire DMs Craft YouTube channel is an example of gridless play and making amazing terrain with relatively cheap materials. But the following video is a good place to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94aqO7jQp8E


I stopped making terrain (no time) and use a digital battlemap now, but I still still have all the gridless play measuring sticks I made using DM Scotty's directions (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTT1ZU5pDBg&t=2s) and they are now an essential part of my DM and player kit. Even when using maps with grids, I use these sticks because they are so much more convenient and quicker than counting squares.

 

[MNblockhead]

I expected the game to sparkle with talent and yet it just kind of slogged. Colville's narration seemed particularly weak which surprised me given his authorial talents (and how to vids) and there were some rules questions (and opening the game up to outside input via twitter seems like a bad idea). Also some of the players seemed quite unengaged/unhappy. It wasn't what I imagined at all. Very low energy.

I didn't make it through the first episode of "The Chain" to be honest, so perhaps it got better, but it also made me sympathetic to those who say watching people play D&D is not enjoyable.

I'm not surprised. I feel like I'm a much better writer than speaker. Many good writers mull over word choice, edit as much as put words on the page, and are thoughtful. These traits do not always translate to improvisational narration. Similarly, many people who are charismatic, witty, and good with the spoken word, are not necessarily great writers. Mercer hired people do do much of the writing/polishing of his campaign guide. Coleville has been done the brunt of the writing for his Strongholds book.

One advantage of Colville is that his style of DMing seems more reachable, which is kinda his whole shtick: convincing you that you can and should run games as a DM.

 

[iserith]

I'm not surprise. I feel like I'm a much better writer than speaker. Many good writers mull over word choice, edit as much as put words on the page, and are thoughtful. These traits do not always translate to improvisational narration. Similarly, many people who are charismatic, witty, and good with the spoken word, are not necessarily great writers. Mercer hired people do do much of the writing/polishing of his campaign guide. Coleville has been done the brunt of the writing for his Strongholds book.

One advantage of Colville is that his style of DMing seems more reachable, which is kinda his whole shtick: convincing you that you can and should run games as a DM.

I actually watched part of the first episode of Colville's "The Chain" and, while I would say it needs a lot of improvement in some areas, I think it's a lot more like an actual gaming session than what we see on Critical Role. (Admittedly, I've only watched that very sporadically as well.)

 

[robus]

I actually watched part of the first episode of Colville's "The Chain" and, while I would say it needs a lot of improvement in some areas, I think it's a lot more like an actual gaming session than what we see on Critical Role. (Admittedly, I've only watched that very sporadically as well.)

Absolutely, which was the surprise. I guess good to see that not every notable DM is also a natural storyteller, but it was not compelling to watch. I should probably give a more recent episode a go, just to see if it wasn’t first time nerves. The early Critical Roles were a bit dire, but mostly on the technical side.

 

[Yardiff]

Absolutely, which was the surprise. I guess good to see that not every notable DM is also a natural storyteller, but it was not compelling to watch. I should probably give a more recent episode a go, just to see if it wasn’t first time nerves. The early Critical Roles were a bit dire, but mostly on the technical side.

Maybe watching Matt's Campaign Diary video about session one will give you some insight.


Edit: I agree that session one wasn't what I was expecting from Matt.