Since recording this video last night, Jorphdan has managed to resolve the situation with Hasbro: The copyright strike has been removed, but Jorphdan has also taken down the video. I've heard similar reports from others affected by this and, as I said in the video, it seems the situation is likely to mostly resolve while leaving only a bad taste in people's mouths. UPDATE: I've seen many people very confused by this. As I said in the video, although Jorphdan went the most public with this, he was NOT the only one affected by this. I'm not going to get into an argument about his specific video. The broader principle of "here's the rules... you uploaded a video? okay, now there are new rules!" being completely unreasonable is what I'm focused on (and what you should be focused on, too).
Hmmm, giving early access to some creators and encouraging them to do reviews while silencing others. Looks like a powermove to control the youtube comunity that hurt them during the OGL scandal. I had no problem with people accepting money from Hasbro to do reviews on their material... but this new fact certainly puts all that in a new perspective. Congrats on the ENNIEs.
If books weren't bought at Gencon, it would tell Hasbro that something is off. But people did buy. It is time to take measures to protect our hobby and creators
I'm guessing this was a case of different parts of WotC/Hasbro not talking to each other (yet again). While the D&D promotions team were encouraging people to talk about the book, the IP protection team were still operating under the normal rules for sharing full images of the book pages online (something I think is covered by it's copyright or OGL, or somewhere). The promotion team should have given the content creators a heads up that they could talk about the book but that broadcasting pages from it was out of the question (although to be honest the content creators should have been a little smarter and less amateur about this themselves - not saying it is their fault, but when ever do large companies like anyone broadcasting the high resolution internal images of the products? Always best to get full permission in writing first).
LOL at that casual flex. "I loved [Technoir] so much that I bought it... literally. [...] I bought the rights to Technoir to make sure it stays available, and it still is." If only all of us could save our favorite games this way. Congratulations on the Ennie awards!
Order of appearance: 20- Pathfinder 19- Blades in the Dark 18- Ars Magica 17- ShadowDark 16- GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15- Burning Wheel 14- Numenera 13- Mothership 12- Pendragon 11- Technoir 10- Night's Black Agents 9- Eclipse Phase 8- Call of Chtulhu 7- The Quiet Year 6- Microscope 5- Shock 4- Ten Candles 3- Alice is Missing 2- Infinity 1- Magical Kitties I would add Warhammer Fantasy or 40K-related... 2D20 games (if not already mentioned in original list)... HoneyCon (designed for quick yet memorable fun)... Cyberpunk... and it's not counting the deceased products that are still relevant... (Star Wars D6, Old World of Darkness, Feng Shui...)
Kinda surprised that Pendragon and Call of Cthulhu were listed but Chaosium’s other big game that falls between them in popularity, RuneQuest, wasn’t. RuneQuest is awesome at sucking people into the game by having players generate life events going back to their grandparents and puts a lot of emphasis on family and community in the game and lore.
WotC: Killing people's enthusiasm for a product that everyone WANTS to be excited about since 2022 (and before) by shooting themselves in the foot over and over.
@@pallenda To be fair to them, what possible incentive is there to learn from their mistakes when their mistakes have absolutely no consequence? Everyone continues to buy their stuff regardless. Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows that's a foolish long game to play, buy WotC lives quarter by quarter, and aggressive protectionism is great optics and metrics for [this quarter]. 😅
@@guldcat1619 it did have consequences for the movie though. But for the books you qre totally right. Personally only way I buy any of the 2024 5e books is if the DMG us tge vest game master guide ever made. I will not hold my breath. 😃
Started playing MTG in 1994. Was out of the game by 1997. They killed that game almost 30 years ago. WOTC isn’t a great company anymore since Hasbro bought it.
Great video. Gary Gygax wrote in his book Master of the Game that “You can not master game mastery unless you run many different game systems, with different groups of players, in different settings especially conventions, and finally that you publish your own works” (paraphrased). Gary wasn’t an advocate for just D&D, nor of just buying and playing TSR products, he was a champion of gaming and gamers. Your promotion of other game systems, and genres is the healthiest approach for our hobby. The TTRPG hobby will go on, even if its largest and most well known game system fades or even disappears.
Congrats on that ENNIE!! I'm currently in love with two systems: everything that uses the Year Zero Engine (currently running a Coriolis campaign - loving it so much!) and Savage Worlds! You can literally run EVERY possible setting with it without learning new rules every time.
Always excited to see people encouraging more systems! There has never been a more deep and varied landscape of RPG systems than right now and there's some fascinating and innovative games out there. Always so frustrated when people try to beat DnD into something it's not meant to do instead of trying something new.
I'm 100% with you on the approach to the recent situation. WotC doesn't want content creators showcasing the PHB for DnD 5.24 by showing the product ? Ok then. Let content creators showcase other games instead !
just for solidarity community wise i would also recommend: Basic Fantasy RPG (currently in 4th edition: and virtually free), Runecairn RPG, Heartseeker RPG, Mausritter RPG, Monster of the Week RPG, and Outcast Silver Raiders RPG.
Cool list, I add quest, cairn, knave, skate wizards, troll babes, dogs in the vineyard, paranoid, dread and Warhammer fantasy. Congrats on the Ennies too.
Fantastic book Justin, my only "complaint" is I've had to slow down and leave some parts unread while I try and bed in all the ideas I've got from just the first two chapters! (and I've been DMing since the early '80's)
OMG! The Alexandrian! I can't tell you how much your articles in the website/blog have helped me with pointcrawl and hexcrawl design. I literally owe you two multi-year long campaigns.
Well deserved on both of your Ennies, Justin. Your site, and this channel, have been treasure troves of knowledge for players such as myself. You've truly created an outstanding source of inspiration, wisdom, and imagination for the world.
I'm in love with call of cthulhu since i've first time played it. I've always struggle with creating my homebrew scenario until i've read about node-based design. It really helps me. Thanks for you work. Book is awesome!
Congrats on your Ennies! You’ve done so much for the community over the years. I’m glad you’re getting further recognition. Thanks for promoting other games, so many folks get stuck in Hasbro’s DnD silo.
What an amazing video, once again! For anyone interested in the world building games "the quiet year" and "microscope", you should also know that TQY has a sequel that might be even more fitting for making a fantasy world. It's called The Deep Forest and instead of a settlement of post-war folks, you play as a gathering of monsters that have 1 year until the civilized people invade their forest (or whatever other location you chose) ams try to kill them/drive them away. As a GM, you can make this world together with your players, and then have them BE THE INVADERS! The drama!
Congratulations for the Ennies, it is great that you get your totally deserved recognition! I'm also glad that Numenéra is in your list, the game surely has it's flaws but I love it... Both settings and system. I'm looking forward for the Gunslinger Knights setting now
Congrats on the Ennies. I'd like to make a shout out to Forbidden Lands. I bought the box set right around the time the new version of D&D came out. Definitely don't regret that decision. Forbidden lands is beautiful and the setting is captivating. Another shout out goes to Mothership RPG which you.mwntioned in this video. I love the dice system it uses. Actually in the process of merging the Mothership dice system with Forbidden Lands setting and exploration rules. Motherlands!
Great video by the way! I LOVE Cypher/Numenera but have also really enjoyed Blades in the Dark, Call of Cthulhu, City of Mist, Quest and Troika! the Magical Kitties game looks really fun too!
There are so many good games out there and on my shelf that I don't need to spend another dollar on any WoT$ee product. Current favorite game to run for my players is Shadowdark. We're loving it. Congrats on the ENNIES!!
Lots of great recommendations there! I particularly enjoy ShadowDark and Call of Cthulhu, but Mothership, Night's Black Agents and Pendragon all look excellent. I might add Classic Traveller (the 3 little black books, not the Mongoose versions) precisely because it *lacks* a universal task resolution system, and instead relies on the Referee to make interpretations and calls for every task. It may sound onerous but in reality it flows very smoothly.
I left 5E about 16 months ago and stepped into the world of the OSR. But it's amazing how WotC just seems SO determined to make sure I never come back.
First off I want to congrate you, you definitely deserve it. I have been reading your blog for a couple years now and fully support not only what you do their but also content like this, calling out the bs of wizards is definitely something I can definitely support and I love seeing these games get some screen time too. Also, in case you're interested, my favorite series of yours is all of your articles on blackmoor and od&d personally.
I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but I am long time fan and I have read and own your book. I was glad you were spotlighting some other non-WOTC games but I was very disappointed you didn't mention Delta Green. It ALSO won an ennie this year, maybe one of the most prestigious, best long form campaign. I hope you make a video about it or mention it in the future.
You are doing the RPG-gods work here! 🙏 Good job! P.S.: ♥I am a Blades in the Dark GM and we use it for everything. Not just for heists. We love this game. ♥Microscope is my second favorite game of all time, after Follow
I have no intention of ever moving to 5.5E. I have tales of the valiant on the way, as well as P2.5E, so I am ALL super good with fantasy TTRPG for years to come!
Your site and your book are amazing resources and it was just a matter of time before an official stamp of community (and "expert") approval was delivered. Congrats. Seriously: I feel like I have a masters degree in gaming after soaking in your material.
I've used Microscope to generate a solar system for a LANCER campaign and it was such a useful tool to get the players invested in the world. I've also used it to fast forward a campaign by a few years. It's great on its own and in my opinion an even better resource when paired with another game as you've suggested.
Your book, blogs, and videos have completely changed the way I run my games... in a good way. I can't remember the last session I ran with my players not wanting more. Thank you for your hard work!
This is probably the best rpg related video I've seen in a long, long while. Both you disappointment with WotC and your enthusiasm for those other games really came through the screen. I couldn't help myself from grinning from ear to ear as you gave WoTC the metaphorical finger by plugging the great work of good people. Bravo Sir!
Congrats on the awards! The Alexandrian has been a go-to resource for me and my group for years now, so it's great to see your recognition growing! I really don't know what whoever at WotC/Hasbro made that copyright strike decision was thinking. You won't be the only content creator on RU-vid who will decide not to risk discussing the new edition in light of it. Mind you, I'm done with WotC/Hasbro anyway - there's nothing I could imagine they could do at this point to win me back as a customer.
I'm glad to hear and see that I'm not the only one continually disappointed by WotC and their ability to keep stepping on rakes. Good on you for promoting other RPG's that people can check out. I know I have several from this list that I'm particularly interested in checking out now! D&D isn't WotC's it's ours, the communities. We don't have to play it with their ruleset to keep it alive.
Congrats on the Enni! I’ve been using all your posts to help me write my next adventure for SVMP. Some outstanding sage advice. Thanks for all the help!
I'd have to make a saving throw to dodge the value being throw here, but you know what? I'm just going to take it. I'll be returning to this one frequently. Subbed
Congrats on that ENNIE, Justin! Can't blame 'em, really good book, I devoured it. Also recommending you Wildsea. You like Blades in the Dark, and you enjoyed UVG, so I think you'd enjoy the post-post Apocalypse where you sail the canopies of the mile-high forest blanketing the world with your chainsaw ship.
@@TheAlexandrian Oooh, exciting! My current Wildsea campaign used a lot of your wisdom on campaign structure, can only hope that you thoroughly enjoy the setting as much as we do :)
Congrats on the wins! I'm kind of hoping that all the D&D content creators take this opportunity to talk about any and all games that are not WotC. There are so many great games that deserve to be talked about more, and WotC has time and time again shown use it does not deserve a community of creators.
I'm going to shill Lancer, just had a second print run, it's probably the best mecha TTRPG out there. It also comes with the free tool CompCon, which sets the bar for proper online support for a rules system.
What great timing. I picked up a copy of So You Want to be a Dungeon Master last month. I haven't had much of a chance to do much other than leaf through it. Congrats on the award, I haven't heard anything but good things about it.
Justin, so glad to see you get more exposure as I've found your website blog to be the best blog for RPG thinking on the net. THanks for a bunch of recommendations today!
I'm gonna add to your extensive and great list :) Dungeon Crawl Classics - if you want to 'play DnD' but make it less videogame'y and more pulp fantasy where unpredictable is the norm and even the warrior class is so much fun to play. 'Without Numbers' games by Kevin Crawford's Sine Nomine Publishing - Mr Crawford has some really good d20 based games that will seem familiar on the first glance to DnD 5e players, but each of those games do something different. Theres Worlds Without Number - a postapocaliptic fantasy with a premise similar to Numenera, but can be played as a classic high fantasy if you want that, there's Stars Without Number which can cover most of SciFi tropes for you or Cities Without Number for people that want to dive into cyberpunk dystopia. Kevin has other games, but this series become his flagship for a reason. And you can get 95% of each of those full games for free on DTRPG!
First of all, congratulations on your awards. Now I wanna comment on WOTC and the new D&D. It would seem to me that the reason WOTC is paranoid of reviewers is because they’re aware that there is a negative wave that many are riding on about their company. Even if this new edition of D&D turned out to be their greatest ever, that won’t stop many people from trashing it simply because they don’t like the company that made it. The success of this edition of D&D is essential to the WOTC financial. So the company is protecting their property from a disgruntled Internet “cancelling” the new D&D - because, well, they can. However, WOTC has not communicated well with its consumer/creatives (to say the least). We know (And they know as well) that It is ESSENTIAL that we don’t hate WOTC if we’re going to love D&D. WOTC hast to lighten up - get friendly - and show some love for it’s faithful gamer community. Peace and happy Gaming to all!🎉
For what it's worth, Jorphdan's copyright strike was removed and all is well. Ish. He unlisted his video and got a pretty good scare. Lawyers of wotc was quick... this time. The lack of communication and common sense in Hasbro/Wotc is really staggering. If I was a creator I wouldn't risk working with them.
If I were a D&D creator, I wouldn't review this game until SRD 5.2 drops, then proceed to show only those things that are fully protected by the CC license. It reminds people that you can play the game for free without illegally pirating anything, and protects the channel from Hasbro ineptitude in the customer service department. It's increasingly clear over the last year that the employees at WotC are good people who want what is best for their game, but after the Pinkerton incident on the MtG side and the reveal that Chris Cocks himself was ultimately responsible for the OGL fiasco that big daddy Hasbro and it's legal team are frankly anti-consumer.
I feel as a GM I really like Numenera as well. The hard sell is getting the players invested. The use of their "hp" to act in the game as well felt bad to them, specially on failed rolls. And the rolls for 17, 18, 19, 20 crits always felt clunky as well.... but the character creation is so cool! Monster sleek and awesome! CYPHERS! Oh well...
Please promote Kevin Crawford's World's Without Numbers! It is one of the most adaptable OSR systems that is friendly to 5e players, with a really slick system that feels like a modern system whilst still keeping the feel of the edgy OSR dungeon crawling dangers ... where you feel like a hopeless dude with a iron spoon in a hellhole when you really want a sword.
Congratulations on the Ennie awards!! I'm currently playing two Traveller campaings and I recommend it so much! It is an amazing Sci-Fi focused ttrpg, with a bunch of character customization and a lot (I mean A LOT) of resources for the GM to advance the story with! It could also be the perfect Cyberpunk system, since it has so much variety in gear and upgrades for your character, it's really so much fun
Congratulations with the two wins! I personally only play D&D because for the first time in almost 5 years, I am a player. I am collecting energy to figure out what I want to run next. Several of my candidates are among the 20 you mention. Great list!
Congratulations on the well-deserved Ennie for So You Want to be a Dungeon Master! I tore through it with my highlighter and pen -- it's been fantastic. Oh, and I'd throw out a recommendation for Electric Bastionland.
If we're throwing out RPGs that aren't D&D to recommend, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention World of Darkness. (Also Chronicles of Darkness, for different reasons). Incredibly rich series of games that started in the 90s, with classics like Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Hunter: The Reckoning, and Changeling: The Dreaming. (You can also read the Wraith: The Oblivion books, if you want some deep lore; I don't think even fans of Wraith would recommend playing it, though). Games that weave the "Three Pillars" of adventure design (Combat, Exploration, and Social) together in complex ways. All while encouraging you to look cool being a Vampire/Werewolf/Wizard/etc. If you ever liked Blade/Underworld, you should already know about World of Darkness. Personal bias, but I recommend checking out the 20th Anniversary Edition versions of these games, rather than the slowly releasing stable of 5th ed ones. Both because WoD5 isn't compatible with older supplements the way WoD20 books were, and because WoD5 profoundly changes fundamental aspects of what each game even IS and how it works. In ways that may or may not make them more approachable, but which removes all the fascinating depth and texture of the old titles. (Among many and sundry other problems I won't go into here).
Great content from the Alexandrian. There are a plethora of great TTRPGs to play and the Alexandrian promoting those games helps inform those who may not be aware of all the great games that exist.
11:00 Not disagreeing with you, but I'd like to point out that you don't always need "fresh and new" to have fun. Sometimes grabbing older editions or even completely abandoned games can be a fun and rewarding experience. One candidate that comes to my mind for that would be the old Alternity system. Well, it really is more of a framework, allowing you to play in virtually any epoch ranging from Stone Age all the way to (good) Star Trek levels of sci-fi. Alternity was once published by TSR and discontinued around 1999 or 2000 or so. So yes, it has been basically forgotten for almost a quarter of a century, but the books are still out there. Another older edition I am quite fond of is Shadowrun 4th edition. 5th just dumbed-down too many things, and don't get me started on 6th. That one might as well not exist for all I care.
Congratulations on the Ennies! Quite an interesting video. I moved away from DnD years ago because I found certain aspects too restrictive, and those seem to be mostly present still. My journey went through Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP, Traveller, Paranoia, Cyberpunk (R. Talsorian), Iron Kingdoms, Call of Cthulu, and GURPS, among others, before I discovered Monte Cook Games' Numenera, Invisible Sun, and Cypher System - I really like the MCG creative openness and focus on storytelling within them (especially the surrealism of Invisible Sun). As supporting material, I still buy RPGs from other systems, such as Pendragon, The Expanse, Altered Carbon, and Free League's One Ring and Vaesen. You gave me a couple of other systems to investigate, so thank you!
Congrats on the ennie! Your book is fantastic and your web content helped me a lot in running Night's black agents. Great video! For all of you that want to play a sword &sorcery game I recommend the setting Beasts & Barbarians using the Savage Worlds rules. In comparison to Dnd the game feels more Conan-esque with PCS spending all their money, able to kill a demon but running from a bunch of random guards,warrior PCS without armour...
Great vid. Any and all enthusiasm for 2024 DnD has long been robbed of me since the fiascos of 2022/23 and on into this year. Officially dOneDnD (although I have been perusing AD&D 1E for the 50th and may run that). Love MCGs Numenera, such a great game, and Crane’s Burning Wheel too. So many fantastic games out there.
Right on, man. First, congrats on the double win. You deserve it. Second, having read, say, the history of TSR and knowing what happens when a large company takes control of a legendary pop-culture IP, I'd like to note that THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. Who can forget the Pinkertons? Hasbro-WotC are severely lacking in customer good will right now--probably the worst time for that.
Awesome compilation! I'm a big Burning Wheel fan and can't recommend the game enough. You need to commit to the game, but once you've wrapped your head around it, it's like unlocking another level of TTRPG. BitD, Microscope, and Ten Candles are in my shelf as well but haven't seen the attention they deserve, yet. Btw, I'm currently chained to the radiator so I can't spend a 100 bucks on the Mothership Deluxe Set, and thanks to this video I'm flirting with Alice is missing AND The quiet Year as well...
Your accolades are well-deserved. Whatever rewards you are given are well due. You're one of my go-to people for really good GM advice. Anyway, idk why people still put up with WotC's shenanigans. Like how much more will people take? I moved on from them earlier this year. I'm running DC20. It's a blast. I'm playing Blades in the Dark for the first time this weekend. I can't wait to play Mothership, Knave, and Shadowdark. And I'm genuinely looking forward to running Nimble 5e for some friends. I've even been eyeing Cyberpunk RED. OH! And of course, Call of Cthulhu was always a blast! I've decided I much prefer rules-light games. These games seem super interesting. I'm gonna take it one game at a time though, haha! I'll like this video though, so I can come back to this and find something cool to play. Again.. congrats on the nerd cred! You absolutely deserve it!
