"No." | Running The Game 

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government…"

Oh boy the lengths I have taken to stop my druids creating a drug cartel with druidcraft...

The problem with joke characters is that there is no joke so funny that it will continue to be funny for an entire campaign.

A DM needs to learn 4 phrases: "Yes, and..." "Yes, but..." "No, but..." "No, because..." These are your tools. Use them wisely.

Matt: "yes, but no funnier than it would be if they got hit in the face with a cream pie" Boss: "Great idea Matt, we should add cream pie!"

Player: "My character [insert suicidal goal]." Me: "Your character, having access to knowledge you apparently lack, would know that such action would result in certain death. Do you still intend to do this?" Player: "Yes." Me: "You could just ask to make a new character you know."

"This elf is going to become THE elf, the one everyone thinks of." Yes! This articulates the issue I have with the "just make an exception" approach, but I haven't been able to articulate it before.

I feel liberated by this! Say Yes to the No!

"There is /almost/ always an exception" is a fun sentence

"If a paladin of exceptional purity- that's me" I don't know Matt, I've read your books.

Remember: Always distrust statements that begin with "Always"

"Yes, and..." Should be best friends with "No, however..."

My GM had a great way to handle "Your character wouldn't do that." He tended to ask us to explain our thinking, in character. And it's come up either way, sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's vetoed.

I'm The Dandy Highwayman. A swords bard who you're too scared to mention. I spend my gold on looking bold and grabbing your attention.

Your cream pie anecdote reminded me of something one of my friends liked to do in competitive debate back in school. Whenever someone argued that their policy would create jobs, he would ask them, “wouldn’t building a one-to-one scale model of the White House out of gold also create jobs?” Often left people speechless or floundering

As a GM who fights very hard to preserve tone, I feel this.

“That is my nonsense” - my GM career encapsulated.

As is true with most things: limitations breed creativity. Saying no isn't limiting your players, it's encouraging them to define their characters uniqueness in the world rather than their character sheet.

This is great, I'm so tired of DMs on social media telling new DMs that they have to say yes to everything, that their world and lore are meaningless and that they have to change them to fit what ever character idea their characters come up with

Giving a reason for no is so important. I remember making a character for a friend's game, but every time I'd pitch an idea, I'd be told, "No that won't work. I can't tell you why though." After it fell apart because he wouldn't just say what he wanted, the reasons for my ideas being shot down were that he wanted me to play a very specific character/backstory, but wanted me to somehow read his mind and just come up with it myself. Yuck.

Seeing the title without any further context: "But I want to...."

It's always a fun hit of seratonin to get notified about running the game

You can "yes and..." a game into a slapstick Tom and Jerry ludicousness that no one has fun trying to one up and sustain. I agree that sometimes gruel makes you appreciate steak that much more.

One of my favorite item-related stories from my games was one of those "players read item description and use a useless ability to do something really creative in the campaign. I'd given the PCs this ancient banner that would give them several bonuses on a charge and, as a little cosmetic bonus, it could change its colors and symbol to match whatever faction the wielder was thinking about. In short, I had this big NPC that was hiring the PCs for a job, but she was an undercover agent from another kingdom. As suspicions grew, one of the PCs started to question her about her allegiances and, in the middle of the conversation, threw her the banner. Immediately her secret was out, and that changed the entire direction of the campaign, as that revelation was supposed to come waaaay later.

Never clicked so fast in my life. THE RIVER IS FLOWING AGAIN!

I've seen the 'making of' on twitch. All in one take, unbelievable! ;)

I would love Feats being something you earned in the world. They aren't a part of 5e's main balance since they are optional rules already, so it would be cool to design feats specifically for players who gain them via actions in the world.

Its like making a Gnome character that is 7ft tall, covered in fur and growls and cackles like a hyena... its just not a Gnome.

I agree Sometimes the DM has to say “No”.

"Picking up a random magic item, then later reading the description in a moment of despair and using it to get out of trouble is peak DnD" Flashback to the Cupcake Gambit in Critical Role S2...

I like a magic sword as much as the next guy, but I will take a contrary view. I like a game best where the characters are defined by what they can do, not by what they have. One of the things I like best about 5th edition is that fighters come into their own. They are powerful because of the abilities they've cultivated over many adventures, not so much because of the magical baubles they have accumulated. Beowulf chose to face Grendel with no weapon in his hand. I love that a 5th Edition fighter can be awesome because he's awesome, not because he has a plus five sword.

"If you compare a 1st edition fighter to a 5th edition fighter" You know, that would be a good idea for a video series: "the history of D&, one fighter at a time".

I think it’s easier as a player to say “I want to play this ancestry because it has this ability” because I have a book in front of me about abilities not a book about elf culture in Capitol

I'm so glad you are still making these, its a treasure for all DMs to enjoy.

This absolutely happened to me at my last game session. One of my players told me in a private message that he wanted to propose to the NPC he had been courting for the last several sessions. In Real-World Outside-the-game time, he had been courting for over a year. But in game time, inside the world calendar, they had known each other only 8 weeks. So when he told me he wanted to propose, I didn't say "NO," but I did ask "Are you sure? You've only known her 8 weeks in game. I'm okay if that's what you want to do, but I didn't get the sense your character was a 'whirlwind romance' kind of person." He agreed, and changed his mind to a less drastic decision. The power of No is hugely important.

Somehow watching the recording process increases the value of the finished product even more

When I saw this come up, I exclaimed "No!" and, after a pause, muttered "I mean, yes."

Welp, I'm totally stealing that lake enconter

One of my favorite campaigns was much like your one friends, the party all had to be dwarves of certain cultures. Its turned into an epic saga, that sadly is on hold due to the pandemic, of horror and woe as the dwarves encounter horrible monstrosities and evil empires in the underground chambers and caverns their people once called home.

That story of the paladin walking into the lake is straight up agreeing to an Archfey Pact of the Blade.

I'm glad someone of more authority is saying this. It has a greater need to be said these days.

Anyone else get the “big brother” vibe from Matt? Like someone who knows what’s up and how to talk about this wonderful hobby?

Being comfortable with both saying no when yes might be easier and saying yes when no would be easier are both skills that help make both a great DM and a great person.

Thanks for the video! I like the idea of giving the chracters powers as a reward for in game choices. Instead of handing out magic items I gave "a power" to one of my players directly. I put a cursed dagger in the game as bait. The intended player (rouge) fell for it. Him slowly discoving that he is not really being followed by some weird undead goul but that he is cursed with hallucinations was one of the most exciting parts of the adventure for him. I also rewarded him less XP than the others and he thought that was part of the curse as well making it an important objective for him to get rid of it. And then came the reveal: One night the enemys caught up to the party and were about to ambush them. The rouge's pet looked at him and he heard something like a voice telling him about the approaching enemys. The curse had "awakend" his hidden magical potential and he was now able to "cast" the equivalent of "speak with animals". I was very happy how that turned out but in the future I will try to mek it less of a "plot point" and make it more about the characters choice. That's something I took away from this video.

GM's need to feel empowered to say no to player ideas that would obviously (to the character) not work. Great to see RTG again!

Are we all just going to gloss over that amazing Amadeus reference? "Too many notes, Herr Mozart."

"Perhaps today is a good day to die... PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEED!"

I would say this video was absolutely phenomenal, but that wouldn’t do service to just how much I enjoyed it. Hands-down your best video to date and did an excellent job of encapsulating how I feel about things

Matt: “No.” Running the Game. 2020 me read: Not running the game.

When my players ask to be “three kobolds in a trench coat”

I would like to tell people how I handle my tables progression. I use both XP and Milestones, XP is used as normal to gain levels and I do allow the Alt rule for feats, but I also use Milestones to indicate prominent character moments, campaign resolution, or major feats. Once you gain 3 milestones you gain a custom designed feat based on the actions you took to gain said milestones. It does end up in a very high power campaign (my magic items don't help either), but I find most of my players enjoy that hero fantasy and I still challenge them with custom monsters and often unique encounter mechanics and design.

I really wish my DM had done this to another player recently. We've been playing Curse of Strahd and we were level 8, so nearing the end of the campaign. My DM is a fantastic DM and I would never wish for another one, but this has been bothering me. One of the other players says (for the second time) "Hey, do you mind if I invite another person?" Keep in mind we've got six players already. Right there I wish he had said no, because adding another character into the mesh when our characters had already become so embroiled in their interpersonal stories with each other was going to be a tough ask. But, he put the question to the group. Most of the people in the group are people pleasers so several yes's were had and I just had to keep quiet as I was the only one with an objection. Keep in mind I had been wanting to get the guy who introduced me to DnD involved in the game for a long time but had kept that to myself because I didn't want to pressure anyone into accepting another member to an already full group. So this guy joins, and is known for all of his characters being named after Bob Ross. Sure enough, his character is named Bob. He has an automaton named Ross. He's a Warforged Artificier. In Barovia. For those of you who aren't familiar with Barovia, it's a very dark and serious toned place. There is almost no magic in the setting, specifically magic items. Strahd has basically confiscated them. There isn't even a way to buy potions. But for some reason, this guy is a warforged artificer whose profession is creating and selling magic items in the main city. Now I have to look at this guy and in a very serious tone because someone just had a huge revelation about the death of their parents call him "Bob." Really sucks me out of the world. I really wish I had at least raised an objection about adding someone who I know wouldn't have taken it seriously, and I really wish my DM had said no to such an obviously tone breaking character.

Matt doing "brllrl" has made me laugh so loudly and suddenly the cat has jumped from the table :D

Wow, that was wonderful and altered my scope. 1) I finally understand the “No” in my friends campaign 2) I love the clarity of your reasoning 3) I can now say “No” as a DM and do it prudently. Thanks Matt, great talk.

That example of the sword, Crusader, was epic. I DEARLY wish I had the time to read through the old adventures for gems like that.

I don't always agree with what matt says but it always gives me the feeling that i should set aside some time to digest the advice and I always come away inspired

"Yes and..." doesn't mean that players need to be coddled.

14:15 The story of Crusader (from Lalibela), in the module "Mines of Bloodstone".

“Always” and “never”... only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Talking about the idea of Exceptions becoming the Rule reminds me of how most people completely misunderstand the idiom "The exception proves the rule." Prove in that context means 'test', the phrase literally means 'a rule isn't a rule if it has exceptions'... but gets used for the opposite intent.

This is legit the video I needed to explain why players can’t just ignore the stuff I took time to write up because my world is not generic D&D

Okay, I can empathise with Galadriel for that remark about magic because a similar conversation happens at work several times a month. I work at a first aid and medical supply shop and we’ll occasionally get someone come in asking for “Elastoplast”. We probably do have what they’re after but there’s a problem - Elastoplast is a brand name, not a dressing. Just saying you want Elastoplast tells me “okay you want one item out of the dozen I can think of off the top of my head that Elastoplast makes.” It’s like walking into a car dealership and saying “I want a Toyota.” Okay - do you want a ute, a sedan, a hatchback, what?

OMG, thank you! I’ve been a DM for over 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of interesting philosophy on the subject, a lot of which I agree with. But being able to say “no” is so important. You were spot on about how it is the DMs job to preserve the tone of the campaign, and this is especially true of high concept campaigns. This is why I always write and distribute a “player’s guide” for any setting that I create/run. It’s so much easier to get all the players on the same page when you can point to a document and say “this is what we’re trying to achieve. Your character idea is creative and interesting but it is at odds with tone and theme of this campaign.”

18:15 "Would you share a cupcake with me?"

Matt: ramming ships is ahistorical Me, an Ancient Greek trireme: crying

HELL YES! My man Matt Colville is BACK

As a paladin main, I died when he revealed what the magic item from his game was.

This might be my favorite video you've ever posted. Resonates within me. Deeply.

I've personally never been super enthused by magic items I find in the world. If I can make one, then that's awesome. It becomes like an extension of my character. Magic items I find just feel like things I've found. I really like feats. They also feel like expressions of who my character has become.

5:00 I've had these arguments a lot recently on forums. What perfect timing "Can't you just make an exception so that _my_ druid does wear metal armor?" No. I can have you quest for "iron bark" armor that's mechanically as powerful as the armor you want, but you can't start with metal armor. You're going to be the representation of druids in this world to the party. The fact that you don't see them covered in metal is, at least in my setting, part of their visual identity.

When it comes to Organized Play, back in the day we had a GM's Guild of sorts where that group ran Conventions and held local games, so it operated similar to an RPGA, but was its own thing, and they used a concept like your character, based on level, can only have so many Hard items, and so many Soft items. A soft item was any item that was useable once or for a limited number of times, like a Potion, or Scroll, or perhaps Tea you brew but heals a low amount of healing but can brew up to 4 doses, like d4 healing, or other minor magic items. A Hard item would be anything that is a permanent item, like a +1 sword, or a Gem of Seeing, but since 5e items have changed the nature of Wands and other items with Charges so they never truly lose their charge, but rather recharge but limit how many charges they have during a Day, say 7 charges, but these are regained at a certain rate. That type of item would be a Hard item. We then got those items on Index cards that had to be signed by a GM of the Guild, but the main limiting factor is you can only have so many. Say you are 4th level and the limit was up to 2 hard Items and 4 soft items. Then a GM can reasonably allow all your items as long as they don't violate the count, but the GM is free to not allow a particular item if it proved problematic, and that simply means the Player character still owned it, but they left it at home or effectively didn't have access to it for that game. That is the power or Right of the GM to rule like that. Most GM's most likely won't do that, for any reasonable item. That is why a more general rule that states if an item is from the Common or Rare list it should not be questioned by the GM unless under circumstances where that item would be problematic for that particular game. Like a Ring of Dragon Control, in a game where you fight a Red Dragon and if that character brought that item in, there is really not a fight, it is that character going straight to the dragon, using the ring saying 'Fly away for 12 hours' and then the Player Characters loot all the treasure, No Fight happens, Game over, and the players walk out without any harm, stinking rich, and an Anti-Climatic end. That GM could then restrict that item for that game. The GM can say No to items.

This. This is one of your best videos. I'm a "kid of the 80's" who grew up playing the game. I have been away from it for decades, but then, I had kids. Last year, I jumped back in head first, to introduce my kiddos. Protecting the fantasy and magic of whatever game you choose to create is a very good thing! Some lines are ok to draw, especially if they preserve the mystique of the world, and keeps everyone enjoying the process. Well done sir. Thanks much!

I watched how this sausage was made on Twitch, and watching the finished product now, it boggles me how well-edited this is. The cuts are barely even noticeable!

Yes to everything about this video. I've always felt free to say "No" if I felt it was justified, but this was a great discussion of when and where to do so.

It's hard saying no! because the players are your friends, you love them, you want them to have a good time. But at the same time you have to have some foresight, some perspective about what the game is about. If everyone plays a serious character and you have only 1 or 2 meme players it ruins it for everyone and everyone has a bad time. So even tho is hard you should say no on ocassion, and usually follow it with an explanation as to why. I find that no player has ever complained about a time I said not after I explain them why. They kind of go "yeah that makes sense" and find other way to have fun. It's great. p.d: I love your videos Matt you were my inspiration to start dming some years ago.

Big agree (with the main content; I have a very different take on feats and magic items). Between the two games I run I do this a lot more for one than the other because one game's setting is really carefully crafted while the other is not, but I'm fortunate enough to have players who understand this and will go along with not always getting what they want in order to preserve the core feel of the game. Good video.

I think this summed up my deepest desires as a DM. Your video addresses every facet of how I wish I could run my games, maintaining the believability of the worlds I work so hard to craft, and the way I want people to gain power.

I saw JoCat's DMing video with that entire *"the DM must always accomodate even when the players are being extremely disruptive"* thoughtline. But then Matt posted this and rekindled my hope for humanity and the TTRPG community. Thank you again. Seriously. People _needed_ to hear this stuff.

Best, most memorable line of nearly any movie ever...."You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

To expound on the what Matt said, one of my favorite lines is "Based on what You told Me about your character, they wouldn't do that." OR "... what's you're intelligence?" (waits for answer) "Based on that you character is smart enough to realize that that is a bad idea and WILL die horribly" (the example that came to mind was a level 1 rogue that thought it would be a good idea to try to pick pocket the king... who was 15 feet away on his throne... in a well lit throne room... surrounded by his King's guard.)

First and foremost, thank you for the video. As a DM sometimes its nice to be told you can say no. Crusader as you described it Matt...is not just a magic item. Not even older D&D. That is a massively powerful "legendary" as we would reference now or "artifact" item. Those are easily memorable with or without feats. The memories attached to items is something I keep alive in 5e by the way I make my homebrew magic items. It does require me to have to make my monsters to keep things balanced, challenging, and fun but its worth it.

"Dwarves are cool"

I love the concept of "earned feats" and other character aspects. I've given them out as additional boons, but the concept of putting them behind a narrative is closer aligned to my preferred style.

The problem is some DMs have a very narrow idea of what their world is like--so this is definitely a rule to follow in moderation. The last time I played an RPG game, the DM had such a specific idea of how things worked in his world that playing his game was a matter of guessing what he wanted: "My character does this--" "No" "Well, then she does this--" "No" "...she does this?" "Finally the correct answer! Go ahead and role." I quit playing.

I love Matt still calls it the doobleedoo.

Praised be, another video from Matt! Truly, a Christmas miracle!

Your best video in ages, Matt. An important and valuable subject!

When I was new to DM'ing I didn't know that you could say "No" to your players, I thought my job was to make what they wanted to happen happen and if what they wanted to happen didn't happen or if I tried to stop them then I was being a bad DM. Unfortunately I learned the hard way when I had a player who took advantage of that and decided that since they could do whatever they wanted, they would do whatever they felt like, regardless of what everyone else wanted or thought. This ruined everyone elses fun and I didn't think there was anything I could do about it, I'd sit and think "I don't want them doing this, but it's not my place to stop them" and I let it go way too far before I finally put my foot down and realised that being the DM isn't just being the storyteller and adjudicator of the ingame rules, you are also the moderator of what is and isn't allowed and if you let things go when they shouldn't then you're as much to blame as the person doing it.

** SPOILERS FOR ENDERS GAME** Matt when you talked about starship ramming you succinctly describe why Ender was given control of the fleet. He was a player that believed it was a simulation and sacrificed his fleet to win.

Heist confirmed! As soon as matt said that he was doing a heist spinoff, I immediately ran my own, and I'm so excited to see his take

This is an excellent video. Much of your brilliance comes from finely articulating ideas and concepts that we utilize but do not explicitly express. Doing so makes our worlds richer and accessible to ourselves. For a moment, I felt the wonder of playing D&D again when I was young because you said these words. Thanks, Matt.

NO!!! I ran out of Running the game videos...After 2 months of watching them in my spare time. I have enjoyed them and now I'm caught up and waiting like everyone else. On a different note, Thanks Matt for keeping the channel G and for all of the great advice so far. Strongholds and Followers is on my wish list. Stole, ah, borrowed a lot of your ideas for a game the first D&D game I just started running.

I had an NPC once have a breakdown due to the circumstances of the game. One of my players thought it would be funny if they force-fed her a piece of sushi to get her to stop yelling. This was the first and only instance where I said No. No, I would not allow that to happen. That would detract from the scene, and be incredibly violating in general.

"It's cute. But don't do it." A late friend of mine who had a 40-year career in advertising and illustration once told me his boss told him once and it stuck.

I think a lot of this comes down to talking with your players and establishing expectations early - on both ends. Also, that paladin story is awesome. Experiences and memories like that are definitely one of the best things you can take away from a game.

Matt, you are an amazing teacher. You are articulate and gripping. I wish I had a teacher like you in school!

Thank you for giving me hope that the chain will return.

He used the example of getting hit with a pie, but in the last codenames couldn't connect "face" with "pie" smh... love the content!

After viewing this video and watching the Christmas Eve stream, I had a revelation: the magic items in DnD are just products. Roll on a table, get a cool magic item. Go to a store, buy an item from the shelf. Where is the history? Where is the sense of achievement? Where is the development of the character for getting this item? It now all just seems so commercial, and I now want to do better for myself and my players. As a side note (if Matt or MCDM reads this), I would love to see MCDM’s take on magic items and stories in a future product (in the vein of the Holy Avenger adventure). As a DM, it would help me both enrich my world and create a memorable experience for my players.

It is so good to hear someone as esteemed and as absolutely TOP SHELF as Matt Colville, echo so identically, the feelings and thoughts within my own heart and mind about protecting the setting, and saying no and being fking stroppy at people who abuse mechanics and have no interest in narrative selection. It is the purest form of vindication I could ever hope to receive.