I had a party go against a werewolf, and the bard and rogue, realizing they had no silver weapons, starting throwing silver coins at it while singing this song.
Looks like he wakes up with a freshly brewed cup of iced coffee, the beans of which he ground himself, and hits up the bar with his friends in the evening to grab a nice craft ale.
One quick thing about the video subject: that type of specialization seems to me like it would fit well as a way to seperate different area's monsters, like maybe the direbears in the warm, lush forests aren't cold resistant, but instead poison resistant, so using tranquilizer darts may have worked in the tundra you first saw dire bears in, but not so down south.
Oooo, I think I'm going to use this idea in a campaign I'm roughing out right now! Each of the "mini bosses" has minions, but I haven't been able to really figure out how to make each fight unique though the "bosses" are of the same coven, so biomes and differences in resistance works amazingly for similar minions. Thank you!
@@herecomemacOnTT You're welcome! Maybe try matching the resistances up _very_ slightly with the mini-boss's character? Like if the group's brains was in the swamp, he'd give the minions poison immunity injections, or if the most brutal of the mini bosses is in a cold or hot climate, he just made different minions stand out in the elements for days at a time until some of the minions came back; little clues like a frozen zombie at a cliffside watch, or a hidden pile of twisted, mutated corpses under some vines or something might be fun little clues for observant players, too. Just some ideas.
Tbh, the one thing I dont like about the core minsrer manual, is that the monsters arent separated by type &/or environment, its straight alphabetical. I think they show alternative listings in supplementary books like Volvo & xanathar, but the mm isnt the best for planning based on any particular axis
Here are some cool "folkloric" vulnerabilities. A virgin blade (Blade that has not been used to kill before). Or the opposite a cursed blade, a blade that has felled a 100 innocent lives. A metal weapon forged under the full moon. Or when harmed under a full moon. A spear made from the bones a human being. Or the antlers of an elk To the "resistances" I would like to add maybe as an alternative some "conditional regeneration" by making the creature regain a 10th of its total hitpoints if: Not exposed at least dim light for a round. Not fully submerged in water 1 minute after killed. Not being looked upon during a round. Not in the presence of an infant in the past minute. In other words make 1 of the suggested resistances or the vulnerability something that the players might have to work to get first, something so specific that becomes mystical but mundane enough so that a barbarian can get its hands on.
One trick I learned from some Pathfinder players was to track HP in health chunks. Like let's say you have an enemy with 150 health, you split it up into three bars of 50 HP, and damage doesn't carry over from one bar to the next on a single attack. If the first bar is at 10, and they do 20 damage, it would deplete the first bar but the monster will have 100 hp instead of 90.
I did a Witcher style encounter in my game I'm running. I took a Manticore and gave the players some lore about what it could do, and things that it was attracted to. They were able to use this and make bait for it. They also knew that it was dangerous when flying, so they figured out a way to ground it. Bolas and fire damage would work, as would doing enough damage at range. I like the idea of using simpler items to overcome resistances, rather than just "magic weapon."
Well, the idea that fey are vulnerable to iron and especially to cold iron is already there. Were beasts to silver. Wasn't it Ash wood that was supposed to be particularly effective agaimst vampires? Maybe not remembering last one right. Anyway the lore is there if your willing to dig that deep and find a way to work it into the game.
@@jacobfreeman5444 That's already known, it's right there in the statblock, but it's blatant and obvious to anyone who already has the monster manual. Othertimes, it also depends on how you play the monster too. Some monsters if played more intelligently can get far more annoying, and that's what I did with the Manticore, while also giving players a hint on how it'd act and operate. Use of lures as well means the players can actually prepare for a fight, which helps them overcome tougher CR. 5e doesn't have expansive materials either so usually any metallic weakness is just shorthanded to 'silver'. Additionally, a lot of monsters don't have all the features or variants they did in prior editions. (E.g., the manticore in the 5e Monster Manual is a plain one, but venomous ones also exist.)
@@Zedrinbot Ah, I was not clear. By knowing these vulnerabilities you can concoct uniquely potent poisons...which is the witcher way. The oils they use are more or less just poisoned oils brewed to that monsters specific weaknesses. Silver of course being the main ingredient for oils used on were beasts. But you can use that logic for them all. They could use magic weapons to bypass the usual defenses...or they can use some alchemy to make something a bit less permanent but more readily available. Also not all things a beast is weak to would be good to make a weapon with.
@@jacobfreeman5444 The only problem with limiting it to base vulnerabilities, it'll mean the vulnerabilities are kinda few and far between, and the players don't have to do much of the research process, if any (they could just look up the stat block.) Tweaking the resistances a bit gives you more opportunities to play with lore and more researched approaches.
4:03 this stage is a great one to make your PCs use Int base skills like Nature, Arcana or Religion depending on the type of monster they will be fighting.
What did you expect? Zee is a gold dragon that takes human form (alongside his mate) to help us mere lesser beings with the game of D&D. Of course he and his mate (who is also a gold dragon) are going to be hot.
Oh HELL yes. My man. I want to craft an entire glossary of worthy opponents using both of these rulesets. Then, I could just build a campaign between them!
I've tried it! It was for a two-session one shot where my players went basilisk-hunting in a marsh full of water snakes. It was quite a lot of fun building the final encounter, though in the end the players plan was so effective the combat was over after two rounds. Also, this reminds me a lot of Vaesen, a RPG set in Victorian-era Scandinavia. It is all about investigating mysteries involving folklore creatures, and often ends up with the players performing some sort of ritual to appease them. It feels a lot like a crossover between The Witcher and Call of Cthulhu.
Recommended channels: Seattle by night: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f2smsDmVfco.html A cool vid from Adam: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ljpn5p6c73k.html Matts newest video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-canhaxHlFg8.html
"You know what to do." My brain: "...you know what you doing". Man, that 'all your base' meme is still funny! Anyway. If you're doing interviews with worldbuilders, please try interviewing Brandon Sanderson (or someone from his writing team). His Cosmere is enormous and well written, with intricate magic systems (at least relatively speaking).
Yay! A Zee Bashew Video! AAAAAA! A face reveal! (Okay, Face Cam Bashew is nice, too.) Now we know what the human form of the gold dragon that does all of those videos looks like.
This is all well and good, though R. Talsorian Games has an official Witcher RPG. If you want to do a Witcher game, why not just use the Witcher core book and go from there?
@@user-gv5dl6zi8z Maybe it's just the games I've been in or witnessed, but as characters gain levels I've noticed a kind of detachment that develops: players become less interested in the game's setting and more intent on immediate goals and reactions; or the DM throws all the exotic stuff at them because it's a higher CR to the point where nothing seems real or grounded anymore. It might be as simple as high-level games have characters grow to be enormously powerful but still lack any real responsibility so the DM keeps throwing calamities at them to justify their continued careers because they no longer need to adventure just to keep a roof over their heads.
I love this video. I've just started giving lingering injuries to my players when they are knocked to 0 HP. One player lost a finger to a crocodile and are now owning that characteristic during role play.
@@noskalborg723 if the patches are from damage rather than natural symmetric growth pattern then you can always try dermarolling and it'll fill up more even if not completely.
For what it is worth, I really dig the post-notes section and interviews discussing the topics in a bit more detail, I encountered my first post notes recently and it drew me back in to watch more videos. Keep up the good work and make 2020 an even greater year for yourself!
This is why I watch every video you put out. Because you not only give an idea/nugget of wisdom, you take the time and help people understand the reasons/mechanics of doing it that way. All in a very well thought out and eloquently articulated manner. It's a nice personal touch that is all too rarely found these days.
For those not aware, there's an official Witcher TTRPG system out there. I've played it and it's super mechanics heavy but in a good way, at least in my opinion. It also has stats on a handful of the monsters from the games and books so if you want some inspiration for some D&D homebrew I suggest picking up the book.
Hey Zee, thanks for another great video. been watching for the past year now and i'm never disappointed, from your spell book videos to your advice on game mechanics I find each and every video helpful and entertaining. Thanks for the content.
Thank you so much for the awesome videos! So entertaining and genuinely funny and just EXACTLY the kinda content I love. And thanks for the great advice!
So my first ever DnD character was based on the witcher. We had his as a cleric of Kord in 3.5 so he could be a caster that fights in armor. He died within about an hour due to drowning. Good old Jurras was replaced by his brother Surras(and later on Durras). It was definitely not the best intro to DnD and I still have a crippling fear of water in this game 10 years later.
I absolutely love all your videos. I got started on the animated spellbook series and I’ve watched quite a bit now. This is definitely something I’m going to do with my homebrew world.
The second I stumbled upon your channel I fell in love as someone who has been playing about a year I’m looking into (have started) writing my own campaign and I love the input all of your videos have given me much much love my man
Question: What happened to all of the content on your channel? Looks like most are gone. I couldn't find the materials components video to reference in a post on casting spells. Was it COPPA?
Love this idea, I'm seeing a party traveling through a town and hearing about a monster terrorizing the townspeople. Maybe take a monster and give it a different ability, "it sounds like an umber hulk, but I've never heard of them breathing fire before."
A really helpful video Zee. Among other things you've clarified for me why I miss the 3.5 damage reduction system. Having a monster completely no-sell an attack just worked so well. It makes such an effective piece of immersion and it genuinely makes the monsters work as a monster when the vampire ignores the fact that you stuck an arrow in its eye or the axe blow to the chest doesn't phase the werewolf in the slightest (plus damage reduction can be overwhelmed by a lucky hit or weapon skill so its not as harsh as a flat out immunity). On the other hand 3.5 system rewards players who are versatile, prepared and/or do their homework just as you describe in your video (as opposed to the 3.0 system where everything was on a linear scale so it just encouraged players to get hold of the most powerful magic weapon they could, which they were going to do anyway). With 5th edition half-damage system on the other hand in my (admittedly fairly limited) experience players just tend to shrug their shoulders, say "well at least I'm doing some damage" and continue battering away. In fact I'm thinking of testing 3.5 style damage reduction as a houserule the next time I run 5th edition. Zee, if you have the time and any suggestions on how to balance things out they wold be most welcome.
I do Monster Hunter type enemies in my game, where creatures have different damage resistances on different body parts and the like. Each body part has its own AC and HP, and breaking body parts can cripple a monster, eliminate some of a creature's attacks, or reduce its overall AC.
Love the videos! And wouldn't mind seeing these post-animation notes again once in a while! Easily one of my favorite RU-vid animators and D&D animators.
"I have to talk about it as a human being instead of as my avatar" I can't tell the difference. Aren't avatars supposed to be exaggerated? It's just your face.
Avatars are meant to be a simplified or partial representation of a more complex person. Look at my avatar. Do I neccesarily look as it looks? Not really. Is it an exageration of who I am? It's more like a partial representation bc music is not my only interest, and even in music I enjoy some Prokofiev or Stravinski and also darsynth and other kinds of music, not only metal.
Avatar's aren't supposed to be exaggerated, they're just representations. Whether or not they are exaggerated is up to the represented. It's no different than the actual definition of the word "Avatar".
They are Masters of all Four Elements Reincarnated in a cycle between the Four Nations to maintain peace and harmony in the World between the Four Nations, and between the Spirit World and Living World, and preserve Nature...
Great video man, awesome content with some solid ideas on making encouters more strategic AND interesting. There will be a lot of great group stories to come from running a game like that.
This was a very interesting video with great ideas to give a dnd campaign a different feel, you sir have just widened my horizon and I thank you for that.
Loved the video and the idea of witchering the D&D monsters, however I’m struggling implementing the formula. It seems that it starts to get really overly complicated very quickly and trying to build an encounter this way for a level 4 party is not easy. I like the knacks and the adding of lore as well as adding more vulnerabilities and including Blade Oils to bypass certain resistances, but i think i’ll refrain from adding 7 different resistances and 2 immunities to a Mind Flayer. It just becomes too difficult to track, despite the tips you gave in the post notes.
You can just look up the beautiful book of horrors on reddit. It has all of the witcher monsters made in the book/pdf. Ran a campaign with those monsters and it was fun. Just make sure you know how to play the monsters otherwise they are really easy to kill.
I would just make the vulnerability abuseable but very difficult to find out. And diagetically explain that you think the monster is unkillable without this one weakness. i.e. just make sure to choose the mindflayer vulnerability, and maybe give the party a way to disable the abilities or disrupt them
@@PropheticShadeZ Super late reply but... You could also just have it to were exploiting a particular weakness either temporarily or permanently suspends or lowers the creature's other resistances. That could make things easier atleast for players wanting the witcher experience but not necessarily always deal with the extra bloating of keeping track of everything. So for a mind flayer say their critical weakness is to elemental ice magic so by hitting them with any ice based attacks lowers or even suspends certain resistances and immunities making things easier for the party. This could even be set up in a way to encourage great synergy between characters that is to say one player best equipped to target a creature's weakness and hit them hard gives their fellow party members openings and options to use in the rest of the fight.
