How to Customize Creatures! (GM Tips w/ Matt Mercer) 

STEALTH

*gets king of the hill flashbacks*

rest in peace dale

Calm down Satan xD

That's evil

Albino Red Dragon in an ice cavern? So an invisible fire breather while everyone is surrounded in ice? ... Yeah Imma steal that

holy fucking shit. I never thought about albino dragons! Stealing that (laughs as I construct encounter)

If players have been doing this forever, why wouldn't a random guy in the bar be doing it?

I built an encounter around a guy who uses various kinds of pocket sand both alchemical and magical to fight

My Dream Weaver's Level 11 Summon Night Knight minion uses a Sleeping Sand ranged attack... :)

In real life it would be a good tactic, especially for a rogue type. Good distraction and really painful if it gets in the eye. About as effective as pepper spray.

You haven't tasted what pocket sand can do until you sucker punched a fallen deity with it.

The scary part was at the frequency that he KEPT saying "TPK"... (is VERY afraid for the next episode) O_O

I can still see old man Matt doing them

Don't forget to check out Matthew Colville's series. He makes references to Critical Role and even gave Liam that neat Meteorite die. He gives you very basic rules and even gives you a mock set up if you want to try out some things.

Being a GM is pretty fun. I started out my D&D experience as a GM, and I can say the bit of advice I can give is don't over extend, know you're not going to always be right, and don't let it get crazy with homebrew. With my first point, by don't over extend I mean you should aim for a party size of 4 or possibly 5. Matt makes running a game for 7 people look easy, trust me- it's really REALLY not. Oh boy did that second point kick my ass in the beginning. Try and stick to the books and other WOTC material, and if you do allow homebrew content keep an eye on well made content. Also make sure to take the time to completely read over the content. My DM currently, for example, allowed someone to play a class which essentially let them be the Hulk. Doesn't sound bad on paper until he convinced the party wizard to make him grow every combat and he also had stolen a minotaur's axe- so all and all he became very powerful very early. With that last point, however, you are GM and if you are adamant about something the players disagree with just settle it in a civil manner. "Look, this is happening and after the session should you all wanna talk further about this we can- but for now we are moving on."

I really like Matt Mercer as a DM, he is so amazing at preparation and story telling, just everything! He only has so many videos with DM tips I can't wait until he makes more. However there's also "How to be a Great GM" that can also help too. Tons of videos and advice there to help you become a more knowledgeable DM. I think Matt is a fantastic example but don't be afraid to look around a bit for more advice as well!

I think an important comment from one of Matthew Colville's videos is "don't compare yourself to Mercer, he's an expert who has honed his craft over the years". It's more of a 'i'd like to do that' rather than 'i can never be that good' kind of deal

Yeah, I use Mercer as an example, myself. I'm totally new to DMing and fortunately, the team I'm playing with is mostly novices so little mistakes are overlooked (and sometimes swept under the board). It was a bit scary trying to GM at first especially using Mercer as an example. I soon realized that there is one thing Mercer does innately that is the first rule of all good GMs - no matter what happens, just make sure everyone is having fun. When that hit me, I quickly found out that our play sessions were great because my first goal was to analyze everyone and see if they were enjoying themselves. If suspected someone was getting bored, I'd focus on their character and change the situation in some way that the bored player's character would be a perfect fit for success, or would otherwise ingrain their character into the situation to give them a risk/reward scenario they could get into. And if at any point I or someone else messed up on a rule, we'd consult the book, correct it, and then move on to the next fun scenario. As long as everyone is having fun and everyone can agree on how to fix mistakes or incorporate new ideas into the game, you're succeeding!

And a DM's plans go sideways in record time lol

DM plans mean nothing, I've been running a campaign for a year now and I write half a page for a month of play. My PC's make their own fun and take their sweet time doing things. We are hopeful going to finish our Halloween even soon. Yes they are still doing it. They spent two hours messing with a lich bard and his orchestra.

Lucky! We are roughly 20+ hours in, but we have clocked about 150+ hours getting there. I honestly don't mind it; in fact it is quite funny watching them try and open a door that requires a key (think fire door from LOZ or Resident Evil) by saying fire in every known language, writing on it with blood and ink, pouring water on it, kicking it, arguing about how to open it only to find that the Ranger/Rogue has gone off and found the keys and killed everything while the other 4 messed with a door. They don't get subtle hints... like the door has a massive keyhole in the center of it.

Yep, I made a campaign set in a completely customized world with completely customized foes. All my creatures take homage between Lovecraftian lore and H.R. Gieger weirdness just to make them terrifying. Of course, my first attempt was to role stats from the ground up and that went.... okay. Someone in the group recommended to use stats from DnD monsters (as you mentioned), tweak a stat or two and reskin them with my own ideas. So far that has worked pretty well, so I'd agree that anyone wanting to create their own monster should start there. The Monster Manual has a ton of great starting points!

Alternatively, just put in more low level enemies to help the boss escape, or give the boss a couple of PC levels (side note: a Lich’s stats are really weird (rules as written) in making it less powerful than it ought to be by (1) only giving it 3 Cantrips instead of 5 (what an 18th level wizard is supposed to have), (2) and not giving it the 18th level wizard ability to cast 1 level 1 spell at will and one level 2 spell at will, (3) and also that Liches ought to have the 14th level necromancy wizard ability to control an undead creature with an intelligence less than 12 forever (such as a ghost), (4) that liches ought to have the 6th level necromancy wizard ability to have their own proficiency bonus added to the damage rolls of undead creatures the lich makes (as well as have the max hp of its undead creatures needing to be increased by 18 (the level of the lich)), that the lich must be immune to having its hp maximum reduced, and a lich really ought to also have a Simulacrum and Familiar (from Find Familiar) allies if they are going to be a real wizard).

Scanlan sung it in an episode of Critical Role to Clarota, it's gold.

it's a critical role reference :P

TheLastWiller then you have a good reason to rewatch :P

Praise the S..! No, wait, that's from something else.

lol

GrimBrotherIV I called him Mercer-Sama (Sama in japanese means "Lord"

roll20.net is the answer friend

I went from having one friend who liked it and now im DM for a 9 player party.

I do gaming from skype

Google adventures league

mRPG is what I'm using during this quarantine. I call it "D&D, corona style."

soulkutu In my custom world there are no gods only genies, for this sort of situation usually PCs will have a wish spare that they gain from doing cool stuff. they say the wish 'I wish this dragon was covered in flamable oil', i roll fudge dice to see how the genies will react or just choose myself if they abuse wishes. then usually the the thing happens. I find its a fun way to help along struggling parties or get an advantage after some unlucky rolls during bosses. plus it means I can kill off a charater or two, they'll jump at the chance to bring a PC back from the dead with a wish.

Pixie-Chan try it out! it's great

I'm gonna try to learn

Pixie-Chan here are some resources to help you: www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/5c5isq/my_favorite_videos_for_dms/

thank you so much!

If you have a local comic /game shop, they sometimes have a LFG ads there. I know a few around me do, also maybe through FB,G=. I have been RPGing since '79 with the original D&D.

I think Thordak's been in it since they changed the setup.

The ironic part is that a truly devastating spell attack dies not always have TO BE about damage dealt. Case in point at Level 18 my Earth Render's can turn an opponent to Stone, my Sages can totally wipe their minds clean, and my Magicians can 'lock' someone away frozen in Time....

Veng3r Poisoned is as likely to kill anyone as damage. When you roll everything at Disadvantage... The Paralyzed condition is basically death. Every attack on you is at Advantage, and every hit is a Crit. A simple effect like Frightened can channel foes into hampering or dangerous terrain, as they will not willingingly come close to you. It can be brutal

The Advantage & Disadvantage dynamic is a fairly recent 'crutch' addition that is way WAY overused IMHO...

A really easy way to do it is to look for a different monster that can cast spells in the books and then call it a goblin spellcaster. Something more or less the same level as a goblin but with a few tricks up its sleeves. I mean, customizing is great and all, but it's worth a look first so you don't just end up duplicating effort. From that potential near-match you can then tweak further and get the ideal kind of enemy for a fight. It helps to think of the enemies in books less as discrete monsters and more as "pre-balanced stat block templates".

Thanks. I have ended up combining a base goblin stat line with a scaled down version of a mage. A fellow player has had a look at it and he reckons it should work well. I have also added a cliff element to the cavern the fight will take place in. If it playtests well it I will use it again.

You could try giving it class levels if you want to give it a boost without going too in depth, maybe a level in barbarian to give it a rage and ac boost and a couple of levels of a spellcaster class.

As an addendum to that last idea, perhaps have the multiple initiative slots tied to different forms of attacks. Say you are fighting a two-headed Ogre, each head has their own initiative-one will focus on melee attacks and moving the body, while the other is an accomplish sorcerer, casting spells around the battlefield. Alternatively, maybe they are fighting a Giant Dragon, with three initiative slots. One represents it's claws, how it snatches and digs into those in it's range. The second represents it's head, where it can either bite or use it's breath attack. The final one is it's wings, which it might not use for the first few rounds, but when it's sufficiently injured, suddenly it has a new slot, allowing it greater mobility around the battlefield-or just a new buffet of wind attack. This helps the players plan around the enemy's turns, but also encourages the GM to be creative. They can't just keep double moving, or punch a player twice a turn. They need to work all aspects of their monster.

Definitely, if your creature allows for it of course. For a master swordsman I'd have them attack a different person each turn - to highlight how they can take on four/five skilled opponents at once and not be put on the defensive. Also your idea of 'unlocking' new turns is really neat. I might steal that the next time I run FATE.