Plot twist: MCDM is contracted by McDonald's to create an RPG setting that outshines Wendy's with golden arches puns and showcases game mechanics with Grimace.
I loved the added effects for the stat blocks. That was dope. I love the charisma and energy for Willy. I hope he becomes a permanent addition to the team! I especially love that the video felt very MCDM but had just enough of Willy's style to not make it a copy of a Matt Colville video. Honestly I've loved all the new faces making videos on the channel. 2023 will be the year of MCDM, I swear it
Great video Matt Colville (note: not actually Matt Colville)! Those rules have completely changed my games. My players treat mounts, just horses, as treasure! That's wild to me but I'll never complain about it.
The Matt Colville impression, and the rest of them, humor, and animated delivery were phenomenal. I've watched this video 3 times still laughing. If Willy ever made a YT channel, I'd be all over it like a bard on a persuasion check.
When he brought up a dungeon as a mount, my brain went immediately to howl's moving castle. I know for a fact that at least one person in my group would give up their heart to have a tiny calcifer moving their own custom junk house. I also have an idea for my fey rogue who has a mimic pet for when that thing gets bigger.
(Disclaimer: this is coming from the perspective of a DM that was running Dnd5e) First off, let me say that I appreciate the attempt at coming up with a solution of the mount problem. I have run mounts in my campaign before and ran into similar problems. This does create additional game balancing issues. Mounted rules in 5e change depending on if the mount is controlled or independent. Controlled mounts (aka mounts you have trained to ride on) can only take the actions Dash, Dodge, or Disengage. Independent mounts can do actions like the ones in your stat block, but have the drawback of doing something they decide to do and not what your character decides to do. If we look at this mount as an independent mount, this stat block would be much more balanced. But independent mount rules are confusing. Who controls the mount? The DM, the player? How often do you decide that the mounts actions are in line with the characters? The implication of the rules is that it does it's own thing, not the characters (unless the character makes an attempt at convincing it). From a game play perspective, it can be frustrating to both people. The player having to use ready actions and do things that are sub-optimal. And for the DM, it is another monster to control on the battlefield, and would likely foster tension between them and the player if the mount does something other than what the player wants. Okay then, lets just use the controlled mounts rules. Less load on the Dm, the player can coordinate the two better and all is good? Except per RAW, they can't use all those cool actions. So, a good chunk of that stat block goes to waste. But what if we did allow them? It would just a straight buff. So what? Well combat balance is already not very good in 5e. I can already feel the headache coming on trying to balance encounters when my party decides to get 4 of these mounts. If they were worried about getting hit? Just dash! Dash all day for perma disadvantage on all enemy attacks. Want to nova an encounter even more? Just spam Swingblade to get advantage for more juicy crits? Out of uses? Let's just go take the rest of the day off. My mount dies? Just go buy another one and attune to it during a long rest! If your table is playing a power fantasy type home brew game this works and lets the players feel awesome. Using these mounts in Curse of Strahd? Well I hope you don't mind buffing your monsters or using cheesy tactics to nerf the mounts. Otherwise the players will probably kill off the BBEG by level 5. I like the idea, but it just needs more tweaking to be viable. Like perhaps only unique creatures in the world might have a similar stat bloc when tamed. (You can't go down to the local town and buy a replacement) Or features get unlocked by level, similar to classes. (This might be the level 15+ version of the stat block) Perhaps all of this is in your mounted combat rules, so it is already taken care of. But if i just went off the video and stat block, I wouldn't use it. I am not a game designer and don't have the time and willpower to take an idea and fully flesh it out/balance it.
Great video. Fun and informative. Looking forward to how mounts might play out in MCDM’s rpg. That and the “Clown Prince of TTRPGs” made me laugh more than it had any right to.
As someone playing a mounted knight in our current game, I was a bit miffed to discover that (citing Treantmonk's build) the best RAW way to keep your mount alive is to go sorcadin (clockwork soul), cast Find Steed, share Agathis with horsey, and cast Aid and Warding Bond to keep it nice and healthy. As too often happens in 5e, the answer is _"become a caster."_ It's a cool build, and I've been enjoying it, but it's not how you make mounts viable in 5e - this is!
I don't play D&D, and I have no use for clever mounted combat in my games (mainly Delta Green and Vampire)... but man, Willy "playing" Matt, using Matt's speech patterns and intonations, but giving it all his own twist, what an absolute delight just listening to him enthusiastically explain his ideas. Stellar video! 10/10!
I'm two minutes in and I can already tell I'm gonna get a lot of use out of this for our barbarian, who is super into riding into battle and tamed an enemy warhorse in the middle of his first combat with some godly rolling. Thanks for sharing all this!
I absolutely love how much the guest stars have their own vibes in the MCDM domain. Really wonderful presentation from Willy and I remember how jovial Amy Vorphal was as well.
The impression of Matt Colville's cadance and intonation was actually amazing at the beginning of this video. Also really cool mechanics! I've seen some of the mount problems you mentioned in my own games and these seem like great solutions
I already made an Axebeak for my party's Paladin. All it does is lurch towards any enemy that hits them and attack it if it gets close. It's got better base stats cause it's specially bred, but I still feel like I'm shortchanging him after seeing this crazyass dinosaur. Great system, Williboo.
I never had my players ask for a mount, but they did buy a donkey once, which they named Speedwagon Vincenco. Because I didn't have a donkey artwork, I just googled "ugly donkey" and used one of the first pictures that popped up and the token has been a continual source of joy since.
The one time I've been in a campaign where a mount actually made things more interesting, it was because the mount was my PC, with a homebrew playable dragon option. Amusingly, despite him being on paper just my loyal minion, my brother's kobold character who was riding him around honestly ended up being the real star of the show with my character mostly serving as a delivery mechanism and a way to proc sneak attack constantly. Really interested to try this the next time I play 5e.
Great job Willy! I feel like some folk will say "oh that axe beak is too strong!" but like... I realize I don't have to put all much onto a mount as was done on this video. Really great presentation and charisma.
Exactly! I wouldn't give the final version of beaking goodness to my L3 PCs... but if they kept it around long enough it could gain all of those cool abilities as they level up. IMO, that would make it a more dynamic mount anyhow, by showing that it gains new abilities just as the PCs do.
This was really great. I wish stuff like this would get more attention on the channel. I know you haven’t cracked it yet but I do think MCDM could support more hosts and personalities given the right format tweaks.
These are cool! I would gate the powers behind levels/teirs, so that the mount feels like it's improving beyond just numbers going up. So Your regular axebeak gained at low level, it has the Talon Trot, Water Walk and health improvements. Next tier, it's basic attack goes up to the Cleaving Head Slam. Top tier axebeak, gets Swingblade. This way the mighty and powerful level 12 fighter, and the level one wizard, don't have a mount that does the same thing, but is just tougher. It also gives a person with an axe beak something to look forward to as they level up. Also, this was good advice, but something that might be more helpful to a DM with less design experience, would be a list of abilities one could give a mount. Like, Talon Trot, could be good on a bunch of thematic creatures. Having a list of mount abilities or feats that could be applied to some creature, means DM's don't have to sit there and work through the difficult part of design (is this even a good idea?) because you guys have already done that bit. You know why those abilities would be good for a mount to have, and could include the design principles behind what you should add if you make your own. Could be good in a monster book...just saying.
A giant mantis that can wield weapons in it extendibles. You mad lads. To think giving players something they get to keep that you don't just take away with some loophole mechanic or it dies because its make believe. Actual useful mechanics can be done. You're not alone. Don't forget enlarge, haste or other magical influence for more ground covered, more thump, and all around good fun. Spider climbing a dual casted giant axe beak over the walls of a fortress leaves a lasting impression. Literally.
my first thought when you mentioned the steed and warrior fantasy was "oh like Kokuoh and Raoh?" and now I want to make...that dynamic where it's more difficult to fight on the steed but the steed can make massive attacks
I think my only main complaint is that this system really fails the class that wants this the most - the cavalier. The cavalier's main thing is getting an attack as a bonus action, and this mounted combat system kind of goes over that? that's my thoughts anyways
Easy-stealer book titles: "Willy's Mounted Castles"... "Houses on Legs"... "It Walks!" As options for making dungeons rideable of course, if they aren't books already.
I don't know, it seems like a lot of additions to a mount. It makes the axebeak way more complicated than it really needs to be. Like, the added temp HP, AC, Proficiency Bonus, and ability to attack on a bonus action is good and necessary for high level play. But I think giving it loads of new abilities is going slightly overboard. At the very least, I think they should acquire them over time, as the PC levels. So their mount gets better and gives them more options as they train and bond. You're not dumping a whole host of powers on the player at once. But I do really like the idea of a heroic character making their mount more heroic. In retrospect, it's weird that D&D doesn't _already_ do that. Plus, this system can cut both ways. If the PCs charge into battle with empowered mounts, the high level foes they encounter probably should too. It really should be slightly difficult to knock a dark knight off their steed, or a Nazgul off their flying fellbeast. It's also just less samey than giving every high level bad guy a Nightmare or whatever. They can still have a normal horse (or whatever "normal" fantasy mount), just _more badass._
I like some of these ideas. AC + PB, temp HP, and bonus action attack. Horses dying to lair/legendary actions is a mechanical drag. That said, 5e actually has really excellent mount mechanics, and the AoE, trot, and waterwalking are absolutely nutty. Giving disadvantage to all incoming attacks on Dash makes Dodge and Disengage irrelevant, and already trivializes difficult terrain. Why eliminate the existing mount decisions?
If we're sticking to rule sets already in 5e I see no problem with giving all mounts sidekick warrior levels equal to their PC's level. Dump all ASIs into con, give them evasion on all saves at higher levels, and you're pretty much done. As for prefered mounts if it's not a Chocobo I ain't riding it. Keep the axebeak stat block, give it cure wounds by 3rd level, lesser restoration by 5th, and after 10th level give it a fly speed under medium load and either fireball or minute meteors. Final Fantasy Tactics fans will know what I'm talking about.