That is literally my group when I use to play. It definitely turned into a fun wacky adventures because we had a serious issue of wanderlust, curiosity combined with lack of morality and no desire of self preservation. We were low tiered likable villains that basically saved the world.
My party once constructed an airship out of the corpse of a gigantic bear, an uprooted tree, a levitation potion, a rudimentary knowledge of carpentry and taxidermy, and some rope. We called it the Bearship.
I’ve done similar, but less absurd. All of us has backgrounds which gave use proficiency in artisans tools, which we all had different stuff. So on day we made a small hot air balloon air ship which was our traveling basecamp up until the final battle were it was shot down by the dragon boss. It had a big balloon bit, and a small hut on the bottom. It had beds, a cooking set and an alchemists station.
I was in a group that did the same thing except throughout the game the big bad made illusions of himself to speak to us then wed interupt him. So at the end we all assumed it was just another illusion...until he broke our ships table probably the first time we shut up.
I find the show, don't tell rule applies to role playing pretty well. Don't have your villain spell out their plan, let the heroes piece that together on their own. The only time the villain should ever go out of their way to talk to the heroes is when they have something, or someone they can use to lean negotiations in their favor.
I'm about to introduce (well, they were in a PC backstory, but not a villain then, so maybe more reintroduce??) a villain as a bunch of smoke. I'm worried there will be interruption
just kill all of them in their sleep no one will suspect, they have a very bad detective work on skyrim. Like, real bad, they should put their shit together
Reminds me of the time I had a holy weapon possessed by a god and a demonic weapon possessed by an archdevil, The DM told me it that nothing good would come if I brought them together and that I couldnt physically make them touch by forcing them together. So i thought this through like a physics puzzle and put one on the ground and dropped the other one on top and let gravity do the rest. Long story short I cause a nuclear level explosion that killed the whole party because I wanted something interesting to happen.
He was experimenting with giving the players all kinds of powerful weapons that were all for the most part plot related. Any ways he ended up retconing it after 10 minutes because he couldn't figure out how to save his campaign. Instead I thought he was just going to kill me by having the archdevil just come out of the staff and off me, but the God showed up too and saved me and i nearly shit my pants. Glad it didnt end there because our party was beautifully dysfunctional.
Jason Lee I would've found some kids and given it to them as a present and cartoon tip toe outta town while they let the cosmic alignment penises touch that or just threaten to touch them like a cold war situation anytime someone argued with me about morals lol
I discovered a giant whale can safely cared a man with a machine gun and 476 sticks of dynamite a lot of ropes died in our campaign, somewhere between a million and too many, used it to kick off a character arc
At level 6? Sounds like a very possible number for a Paladin as well. Of course, it would require a near max damage crit, but it's possible. I've done something similar once.
I'm doing a melee stealth build super mutant in a fallout rp group. It's exactly as crazy as it sounds. We hacked a sentry bot that was balanced specifically to kill our group off because the mods didn't like us setting part of oasis on fire.
@@hunterkoons2008 lol, it's funny, he called himself a "Steathbarian" and took expertise in stealth and athletics. He would constantly sneak up behind people, and then grapple them to choke them out. It was hilarious. He had 13 dex, 20 strength, and used a rapier and shield (using str with the finesse weapon to have STRONK sneak attacks).
My whole party are instigators. It's great cus I make up most up most things on the fly with only a basic premise and loose idea of what's going to happen. Shit goes off the rails pretty often but it's always a good time. One time I gave them a plot hook and just straight up ignored it and went on a quest to find the worlds greatest weed. Once while I was a player we saw a goblin ambushing a cart... we helped the goblin.
Warning! Extremely bad grammar! Our DM was a...how do I even describe it...chaotic instigator with homebrew rules. Half of our party were his friends, weirdos like him, and other half, me included, were so charmed by all the buffoonery they inducing, that sometimes become even insane than them. It was a shitstorm, every time I played with them I felt like my IQ dropping a dozen or two, but I loved it.
"sorry. I almost had a brain aneurysm, because you just said that combination to me." Oh God I love you guys so much. I don't care which channel it is on just keep making these amazing, and hilarious videos.
I'm a DM, and I'm not gonna lie: I love playing with an instigator. Personally, there's almost nothing more entertaining to me than when my players do some shit I wasn't expecting, and I LOVE players that really take initiative. I can offer two pieces of advice for DMs with all types of players: One, never bring something to the table you're not prepared to entirely throw out. Two, if you haven't stated the explicit whereabouts of something, you can drag and drop it in front of the players no matter where they go. It just takes a little patience sometimes.
I solved a puzzle in 30 minutes that was supposed to take us 3 sessions. I just kept staring at it when my character wasn't doing anything (and thus she was working on it too.) And I suddenly looked up and shouted "Its not a riddle it's a palindrome!" The look of exasperation on my GMs face was amazing.
Well done. Part of my pride in this achievement was being the token atheist in a largely religious group. Getting slurs from a religious gm with the majority of PCs was an achievement on its own
@@patrikg.6320 I don't even want to make riddle for my players that can't be easily solved in a way even a newborn wouldn't be able to catch on to just because..well..yeah...We think very differently what I might find obvious they wont and the other way around so have to think that through a lot.. Now I only make riddles/puzzles like "You see a hooded man force his hand into the spike screaming in agony before collapsing dead before the portal opens and then closes again almost right after again" Now there is an obvious easy solution to solve it..just have someone sacrifice themself! Now the question is raher or not you have anyone who want to sacrifice themself or if you are going to find someone to trick into it or if you are just going to force someone to do it. There are probably several other ways to do it as well if you just think and learn about the machine..I mean a portal that you can't use alone isn't the most useful thing but maybe you don't feel like you have the time for that and just force the poor slave you have with you to do it for you.
@@bibbobella heh, welp I do a lot and I mean a LOT of descripton on everything and thus sometimes my players asume that thigs that are just there for flavor are somehow useful for the plot :D like one time I described a torch holder as being very wel crafted and the kept pulling it thinking it was a switch. It depends a lot on the players, some can have a dragon burn down a town before their eyes and dont realise that they should slay it and some check every stone you described just slightly more in detail then the other stones
This channel is genius. someone talking about what they know and putting together skits that actually make sense and give me a chuckle every now and then. Lots of heart and genuine interest in these videos. Subscribed. Keep it up dude.
@@jaxrammus9165 We're aware. Our bow was bought cheap at a flea mart and will be used for nothing other than videos, so we're not gonna be upset if it's damaged.
Rule of thumb, always add a beggar to your campaign in almost any city setting and make the beggar have a somewhat legitimate reason for being poor (such as getting laid off or more expensive housing costs). The reason for this is it create an opportunity to really let the players show a side of them when it comes to generosity. Some may be kind to them while others will spit in their face, so it may even cause moral conflict within the party. Plus it adds some realism into a city that most likely has an unemployment rate.
For anyone else wondering about the song playing during the "taking down the goblin camp alone" sequence (07:02): The lyrics are: "Just take it from me, I'm just as free as any daughter . I do what I like, just what I like and how I love it. " And the song is "Living in the sunlight" by Tiny Tim
meeeeeee as hell. I was recently in a one shot that I ended up pulling the party into the sewers in attempt to get out of a heavily guarded city and the dm had to make a dungeon on the fly, and the shenanigans that ensued set the game back almost two hours
Amazingly, we had a case of this that sped up the overall campaign (though the DM had to make stuff up on the fly as well). We were hunting 1 half of an artifact and find it, along with a Warlock and 4 wererats after the same artifact. DM intended it to be a straightforward encounter, but party decides to talk because we had previously encountered the wererats (not in a friendly manner mind you). It turns out the warlock is working with a thieves guild and hired the wererats as goons, but as we deduce, the wererats are beeing screwed over in the deal. We manage to convince them to turn against the warlock who prombtly surrenders as it is now 9 on 1. He offers us information on the other half of the artifact in exchange for his safety. Turns out the other half of the artifact has been found by the warlocks compatriots, but is still in transit to the thief hideout (the hideout was an intended dungeon by the DM). We put together a quick heist at an inn where the people carrying the artifacts are staying (involving a Tankard of Sobreity to cheat at a drinking contest) and aquire the other half of the artifact without even a combat encounter. The DM subsquently praised us for our quick wit in turning the wererats on the Warlock (which he rewarded us with the additional info, normally we would just have gotten the hideout location from a piece of paper) and for putting together the heist, basically skipping a dungeon. It was really fun and might lead to some more trouble with the thieves down the line since we did not take out their headquarters.
It helps to know how to improvise both Player and GM side. My knight was attacked on a street by slave traders and decided to run away screaming until he attracted attention from both townsfolk and the police. So I was safe. Dunno how much I messed up the GM's plans but it was fun to challenge the "me stoic me accept this unfair fight" brave knight stereotype.
3:48 Hero: Why man why’d you kill them? Instigator: Because they were there in the way of the explosions handsome hero: How’d you kill them Instigator: With explosions *cough cough* evoker 🧙♂️
1:51 good to know i’m actually a good thing. i often feel as though i’m hogging the attention by barbarian-ing my way in and out of things when everybody goes dead-quiet for no reason.
This is SO me! At the start of the campaign we where attacked by Bugbears, three had died and only two remained. One with it’s arm missing and the other completely unharmed. My Sorcerer persuaded both with a Natural 20 to leave, as they would’ve died otherwise. Later on we where attacked by Merfolk on a bridge, and I froze the water, stopping them from attacking further. After that we went to the Dungeon where a Red Dragon Wyrmling was guarding the artifact we sought. Because of my Draconic Bloodline I maneged to persuade the Dragon to stop attacking. We had a brief conversation before I Intimidated him. I completly obliterated it with 24 damage. The Dragon was at 4 HP, so that was pretty badass. In last week’s session we found a Goblin that had a seemingly infinite stash of wares. I wanted to look behind his table to see what was going on, and I rolled a Natural 1. I fell into a pocket dimension where I saw his infinite amount of wares just floating around before the Goblin pulled me out and told me to leave his shop. In that sane session, we also found an old man in a cave, waiting for a letter. One of our clerics knew from a rumor that the one that would give him the letter would be rewarded. So instead of doing the entire quest, I hit him with a FIREBALL for a total of 36 damage. Instantly killing him. It only got crazier, my entire group, except for the Bard, turned on me. That same Bard was also attracted to my character and was gay. My character didn’t feel that way about him. So the Fighter/Rogue charged at me and I attacked him. The Elf Wizard tried to bring me to the authorities, I declined. The other Cleric (who also Multiclassed into Monk) was furious about this betrayal (his and my character where bros up until this point), which made it kinda sad. My character tried to justify his actions, but the group didn’t agree with his methods at all. So without warning, the Demon Lord Graz’zt showed up and asked me to be his servant. I agreed, as did the Bard (Graz’zt offered me as a reward). The group ran off except for the Cleric/Monk who told the others that he would never forgive himself if he didn’t fight till the bitter end. This turned into an utterly badass moment, because he was only Level 6 at this point. Graz’zt tried to use Crown of Madness on the Cleric/Monk and the Cleric/Monk BARELY SUCCEEDED his saving throw. Then he made an attack, almost killing the Cleric/Monk. My character’s turn was now. I missed with my cantrip. And described how frustrated he was at this point. So I then made my damage roll for Scorching Ray, and I rolled a *NATURAL 1.* I took 36 damage. With my arm blown to pieces and with only 6 health left, Graz’zt teleported to my character and stabbed him through the head, killing him. The Cleric/Monk multiclasser summoned his God, the God charged at the Demon Lord and both vanished. Now with only the Bard and the Cleric/Monk left, he wanted to kill him. He would’ve done so too if it wasn’t for his God telling him that redemption was possible. And so just knocked the Bard unconcious. Now I play as my Sorcerer’s sister Eldritch Knight. Who’s not at all like her brother. Now, I spoke out loud how awesome it would be if my Sorcerer was revived as one of Graz’zt’s minions, and the DM seemed to have liked that idea, as he told the others that the Demon Lord had taken my body with him. Which probably means that he’ll be a Miniboss of sone kind. Needless to say, this was the best session yet, and I can’t wait for this week’s!
The first campaign I dm'd, there was one person who basically lead the entire party. The others just went with it, since he was a Goliath Barbarian Fighter, with a pet Manticore (long story, he rolled a Nat 20 on animal handling and named it Spike) and basically couldn't be stopped. He ended up killing himself while trying to remove a cursed necklace from around his neck.
I can imagine someone just watching these kids in Burger King crowns and weird costumes running and jumping around by a storm drain by their apartment reenacting dnd scenes
5:11 i love this part i just love how cheap it is they just grabed some branches and no rope its the kind of cheap that isnt anoying but funny as hell kind of cheap
As a DM who’s not always the best at planning but is alright at improvisation, these sorts of players can be a real help for me. I can totally see why these types of players would be a problem to those who like campaigns that are very planned out and set in stone, but I’ve always found that discovering half the adventure alongside my players to be more entertaining. In a way these players are perfect for me.
I played in a large party of 7-9 people per session, our bard never had much to do in combat because he mostly existed to role play and help in other aspects. Before battle one time he found some things in the dirt and a few bottle of components from around the party to make a bomb, i wild shaped into a giant eagle and dropped it on the skeleton army from the sky, honestly one of my favorite experiences in that campaign.
At 4:20, I imagined that was a barbarian (or any physically capable sword wielding character) using cleave, and that rage power that stops you from falling unconscious, unless there's no enemies nearby. Amazing video! Thanks for the upload!~
I am the instigator in both games I play. One is a cult leader and the other is the fabled Godking from a faraway land. Both are SOCIAL WIZARDS but talk in the most frustrating accents for the rest of the group. The trick, I found, is to provide a lot of ACTUALLY helpful information in the most unhelpful way possible. The others tend to start "Ok Artyom, let's go before you-" and then are flabbergasted that a +12 to persuasion and a generous amount of gold tend to solve many of our problems. /shrug
DM: "you track the goblins footprints and arrive at a small cave entrance" Me:"okay i fill the whole Thing up with flammable Material, pour all my oil on it, and Set it on fire. Then i Cover the entrance with my tarp and get ready to stab any Goblins that come running out from the smoke"
to me as DM an instigator is mainly a blessing. dealing with every possible situation possible? np, give me a couple seconds. but i'm not assertive enough to move people along should they start to slow down. (yes, i'm a nonassertive DM)
I've played with an instegator, we had alot of fun, because it gave our DM NPC attachments and other motivations that helped drive the campaign forward.
“I think this is going to be a good fit. Congratulations your an astronaut now..” I can’t wait to give my next interview and end it with that to see the look of confusion on their face. Beautiful.
5:46 It hurts me to see someone holding their bow like that. The string is on the wrong side. That really is bad for the arms of the bow, especially if you draw it (even worse, without an arrow) like you did.
Barb 5 rouge x. Gets you 2 attacks from barb, then maximise the sneak attack dmg. If your barb path has a nice 6th bonus you can go to that, and 7th works well with assassin, so you might want to consider going to 6,7, or even 8. Note that sneak attack requires you to use a Finesse weapon, but not to use dex, while rage requires to use str. So your best bet is using a rapier. You can also either use a shield for +2 ac, or have a free hand for Grappling (since you have str advantage from rage, expertise from rouge can be put into athletics, and cunning dash, you make a very good grappler). You could also use 2 short swords or scimitars for dual wielding.
4:38 I actually love this as an idea. The party went off to do their own thing? Well, they weren't there to protect the city when it was being sieged. Just as long as it isn't pulled out of nowhere.
