el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
So the discussion of Bob World Builder's recreation of the "Do You Love Me? Yes/No" WotC survey got a little sidetracked with the discussion of which, if any, D&D you tube channels are worth watching. I love You Tube in general and find a lot of fascinating stuff to watch/listen to while I do stuff like build DIY terrain, paint minis or even non-D&D related stuff like folding laundry, cooking, or emptying the dishwasher.
So I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss which ones we watch and why. If you can, please also include links to the channels you list (Note, this is a + thread - so while I imagine a little bit of critical opinion will slip in if we discuss why we prefer one channel over another, this is not the place to start ragging on a channel for no purpose or on the whole idea of D&D YT channels in general).
Anyway, I will begin. . .
Bob World Builder - It actually took me a while to warm up to Bob, but I think his interest in Dungeon Crawl Classics and adopting rules from it for 5E games piqued my interest (I play both) and in general I find him personable and funny in a dorky sort of way that I appreciate. I kind of love his genuine reactions to stuff like meeting Matt Mercer or being sent boxes of free stuff from gaming companies to discuss on his channel. I get Wayne's World "we're not worthy vibes" and that makes me smile. Also, his videos where he tests how fast you can drink a potion in real life or how far you can march in 8 hours are also neat.
Matt Colville/MCDM - While MC's "Running the Game" videos don't really happen as often anymore, I find a lot of value in the stuff he discussed, explored, suggested in those first few years of videos and have rewatched some of them multiple times. Even as an experienced DM, I find a mix of stuff to try, confirmation of the stuff I already do, and even ideas I bounce off of that nevertheless makes me think about the issue in a new way.
The Lazy RPG Talk Show w/ Slyfourish (aka Mike Shea) - I usually watch this every Monday. I will admit I do tend to skip ahead because sometimes it feels repetitive or he is just spending time discussing something I am not that interested in (but while I am not that interested, for example, in the kickstarters or humble bundles he highlights because I am trying not to spend $ these days and I need products in print to use them, I do think a lot of people would find that stuff very useful), I don't feel bad about skipping parts because that is what chapter breaks are for and because I do get a lot entertainment and/or use out of his discussion of both gaming industry and gaming culture issues, his discussion of stuff he is working on (the last KS I supported was for Forge of Foes), and how he answers questions from his patrons (which I like to imagine how I would answer them). In general, I find this show to be a great example of someone who I might not game with well because of different assumptions or things we find fun, but who nevertheless has interesting things to say about gaming. Plus, he seems like a nice guy.
The Eldritch Lore Cast - I watch this one every week as well. I have never read, let alone purchased, a Ghostfire Gaming product, but I do like how this group of four designers and gamers discuss what is going on in the industry, explain their own approaches to the game, and answer questions from listeners. I think the strength of this podcast are the four voices who are personable and funny but also opinionated without being jerks and not in lockstep with each other. I also enjoy how every few weeks they have pinch hitter hosts to stand in for one or more of the regular folks. For example, this week the Dungeon Dudes (whose channel I am not really into) are guest hosts and in discussing their upcoming monster book I got ideas for homebrewing what they call "deadly conditions" - something I might not have encountered if I did not listen/watch the Lorecast). Again, I don't always agree with everything said here and probably enjoy some hosts opinions more than others, but nevertheless I always find it informative and fun. I also enjoy thinking about how I would answer the listener questions.
Page 121 - I started this simple and straightforward series of videos a month or so ago and have devoured a lot of them. In it, this old school DM (whose name I cannot recall) simply (and perhaps rather dryly) goes through and reads various entries and excerpts from AD&D 1E and then discusses the way the item, monster, or rule has played out in his long history of running D&D games. I know this one is not for everyone, but I find his brief and to the point war stories fun to listen to and it occasionally reminds of stuff that has fallen by the wayside in the intervening editions that I want to homebrew or grandfather for my current games. He also covers a lot of Traveller stuff, but never having played Traveller, I skip those videos. Edit to add: Something else I like about his videos is that most are under 10 minutes long.
There are other channels I watch more selectively, like Questing Beast (for info on OSR and indie OSR games), Monarch's Factory (which is Dael Kingsmill from the Eldritch Lorecast's own channel), and Black Magic Craft (for terrain builds). I also watch a few history and culture podcasts that I find are great inspiration for world building and campaign construction.
I am always on the look out for new things to watch, so I am eager to see what other folks contribute.
So I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss which ones we watch and why. If you can, please also include links to the channels you list (Note, this is a + thread - so while I imagine a little bit of critical opinion will slip in if we discuss why we prefer one channel over another, this is not the place to start ragging on a channel for no purpose or on the whole idea of D&D YT channels in general).
Anyway, I will begin. . .
Bob World Builder - It actually took me a while to warm up to Bob, but I think his interest in Dungeon Crawl Classics and adopting rules from it for 5E games piqued my interest (I play both) and in general I find him personable and funny in a dorky sort of way that I appreciate. I kind of love his genuine reactions to stuff like meeting Matt Mercer or being sent boxes of free stuff from gaming companies to discuss on his channel. I get Wayne's World "we're not worthy vibes" and that makes me smile. Also, his videos where he tests how fast you can drink a potion in real life or how far you can march in 8 hours are also neat.
Matt Colville/MCDM - While MC's "Running the Game" videos don't really happen as often anymore, I find a lot of value in the stuff he discussed, explored, suggested in those first few years of videos and have rewatched some of them multiple times. Even as an experienced DM, I find a mix of stuff to try, confirmation of the stuff I already do, and even ideas I bounce off of that nevertheless makes me think about the issue in a new way.
The Lazy RPG Talk Show w/ Slyfourish (aka Mike Shea) - I usually watch this every Monday. I will admit I do tend to skip ahead because sometimes it feels repetitive or he is just spending time discussing something I am not that interested in (but while I am not that interested, for example, in the kickstarters or humble bundles he highlights because I am trying not to spend $ these days and I need products in print to use them, I do think a lot of people would find that stuff very useful), I don't feel bad about skipping parts because that is what chapter breaks are for and because I do get a lot entertainment and/or use out of his discussion of both gaming industry and gaming culture issues, his discussion of stuff he is working on (the last KS I supported was for Forge of Foes), and how he answers questions from his patrons (which I like to imagine how I would answer them). In general, I find this show to be a great example of someone who I might not game with well because of different assumptions or things we find fun, but who nevertheless has interesting things to say about gaming. Plus, he seems like a nice guy.
The Eldritch Lore Cast - I watch this one every week as well. I have never read, let alone purchased, a Ghostfire Gaming product, but I do like how this group of four designers and gamers discuss what is going on in the industry, explain their own approaches to the game, and answer questions from listeners. I think the strength of this podcast are the four voices who are personable and funny but also opinionated without being jerks and not in lockstep with each other. I also enjoy how every few weeks they have pinch hitter hosts to stand in for one or more of the regular folks. For example, this week the Dungeon Dudes (whose channel I am not really into) are guest hosts and in discussing their upcoming monster book I got ideas for homebrewing what they call "deadly conditions" - something I might not have encountered if I did not listen/watch the Lorecast). Again, I don't always agree with everything said here and probably enjoy some hosts opinions more than others, but nevertheless I always find it informative and fun. I also enjoy thinking about how I would answer the listener questions.
Page 121 - I started this simple and straightforward series of videos a month or so ago and have devoured a lot of them. In it, this old school DM (whose name I cannot recall) simply (and perhaps rather dryly) goes through and reads various entries and excerpts from AD&D 1E and then discusses the way the item, monster, or rule has played out in his long history of running D&D games. I know this one is not for everyone, but I find his brief and to the point war stories fun to listen to and it occasionally reminds of stuff that has fallen by the wayside in the intervening editions that I want to homebrew or grandfather for my current games. He also covers a lot of Traveller stuff, but never having played Traveller, I skip those videos. Edit to add: Something else I like about his videos is that most are under 10 minutes long.
There are other channels I watch more selectively, like Questing Beast (for info on OSR and indie OSR games), Monarch's Factory (which is Dael Kingsmill from the Eldritch Lorecast's own channel), and Black Magic Craft (for terrain builds). I also watch a few history and culture podcasts that I find are great inspiration for world building and campaign construction.
I am always on the look out for new things to watch, so I am eager to see what other folks contribute.
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