Raising the Stakes (with Brian Murphy) *FANTASY HIGH SPOILERS* 

“Emily is one of the best D&D players in the world...but she was sent from hell to kill me.” This is the best sentence I’ve ever heard.

When Murph said, "People think you can't DM if you've never played or something like that. But someone who has watched Dimension 20 for 30 hours has a much better grasp of the game than someone who's played three times." And then Brennan said, "If you've watched Fantasy High, you can DM." I was like OH IT ME Confidence boost!!! (I'm about to start DMing my first campaign and I've only played a one-shot.)

10:30 When Murph says that having super powers in New York is stupid I couldn’t help but laugh knowing he ends up becoming Kugrash in the unsleeping city.

I definitely see Murph just in his chair looking like he’s trying not to blurt out “STOP FOOLING AROUND, WE’RE ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE”

"NPCs are there to die and it's up to your players to stop them" has such powerful "Mister police, you could have stopped me; I gave you all the clues" energy.

"There are people who have watched critical role for 4 years and they think they dont know how to play D&D" I have never felt so attacked, that was so me when I started.

"I wanna play a video game, where i can die forever. That's why I play D&D" -Murph 2019

*looks into Brennan's dead empty eyes when he talks about only ever levelling up a character to level 7* damn bro I'll give DMing a shot for you, you ok man?

"I think NPCs are there to..." Me, finishing the sentence: "tell a story" Murph: "torture your players emotionally". Well...

Props to Murph for being one of the longest involved (onscreen) members of Collegehumor.

one of the things i really liked about Fantasy High is the fucking around in the beginning raised the stakes of the first battle, that the funny things they were doing while roleplaying had huge consequences when they entered a battle already at half health. moreso than the fact that two PCs died and Fig had a connection to the lunch lady and two NCPs with personalities that they'd had full conversations with died, I most felt the stakes when the PCs had the realization of "oh fuck, the stupid shit we were doing when no Big Bad had shown up yet had huge consequences, every part of the game matters"

Murph calling Brennan the dad and himself the older brother is so so accurate

As a dm I try to be as "Clippy from Word" as I can be: oh, it seems, your are attempting to attack an ennemy that is likely to parry, do you want to add Bardic Inspiration to that roll?" and I think Clippy is the Final Boss of Word.

the look on brennans face when murph mentions a powered adventure in new york doesnt interest him is funny given he then proceeded to give them a powered adventure in new york.. great episode, love these guys

- 51:23 “The hobbit is better than LOTR”. I love how you can clearly see brennan having a stroke.

Seeing a short of "If you watched all of Fantasy High, you can DM" kickstarted my spiral into this hobby. I started DMing because of this show.

“A fondness for dwarves, at the expense of elves”....yeah I feel that

"You have super powers but you live in New York? Give me a break." Oh Murph.

DM: "You can start out with 1 magic item each." PC1: "A portable hole." PC2: "I want a-" PC1: "Bag of holding, you want a bag of holding." DM: "Stop trying to nuke my villains at lvl 1."

I’m starting to realize all of Murph’s characters are short non-human characters.

59:46 “You’re Legolas not Bugs Bunny.” -Murph Truer words have been said yet

54:00 i think Sophomore Year made everyone notice that Brennan is the type of DM that doesn't say no (for reference see: Hilda Hilda, disguising yourself as him, and all of Kristen's attempts at ribbon dancing)

When Murph did that fake laugh beat the beginning and was like “come on, focus up gang” all I could hear was Ren from Naddpod 😂

Only one minute in, already surprised to hear Brian (and Emily) has only been playing for 3 years. They sound like such naturals when playing Edit: Okay one hour in, with a teacher like Brennan and hearing him give examples in this podcast, I get it ;)

39:58 what I understand from this is that after binging Dimension20, Critical Role, and/or other DnD shows you have been basically Mister Miyagi'ed into being able to DM a game even without ever playing one.

I had watched College Humor for a long time, and Murph was always my favorite. Now I'm just pissed that I learned his name isn't just Murph. I thought that was his first name.

One time I played D&D in the back of a van on a multi-hour road trip. No books, no character sheets, no dice. I flipped a penny to determine dice rolls. Either out of 2 if it's something you're good at; each player got to pick two things their character was "good at." We had a great time.

People often bring up improv courses for DMing but one thing you can really take from it is that the rule is not just "yes and". It is also "yes, BUT" as in, yes you can surf on your shield but it will take a hell of an acrobatics check or you will take damage and maybe fall right into the enemy. And there is also "no, but" which is "your shield would probably break on those but if you want to do a wild Xena jump off the stars and the wall to land on the enemy and stab them in the neck, you can try!".

Watching Murph breakdown why the avengers lost in infinity war so brashly dug up all that pain i thought had been resolved.

When Murph and Brennan said that if you have watched Fantasy High you can DM (40:30) I was filled with a blessing of security I didn't know I wanted. I have been so so nervous about being a DM to my first one-shot having never really played D&D before. Now I'm just super excited, so thank you guys!!

We've lucked out with our D&D group. "Nobody ever wants to DM." I'm literally the fourth person in our five-person group to start watching these videos and read the DMG because I want to DM.

My brother and I started playing only verbally - no dice or character sheets or stats - just storytelling with a character and a DM - like psychos. haha

Someone get Murph a dice tower! I curse every dice I touch and my stats improved once I got one and was able to take myself out of the rolling equation

Brennan: start in a small village or setting Also Brennan: so we’re in NYC

Like, I already knew that Murph was the perfect man, but the line "The Hobbit's better than Lord of the Rings" really made me remember that

Brennan talking about playing dnd one on one with his brother really resonated with me. My Dad taught me math by playing DnD with me when I was five years old. He played two of the other characters and I had a human fighter named Roger haha. I cherish the memories of that campaign, going from 1st level peons to 12th level feudal lords, riding hippogriffs etc. I also grew to be able to play the other two characters as the campaign took place over about 3 years. Some incredible memories of that time :)

54:15 for anyone wondering where that Emily callout was

"FOCUS-UP, GANG!!!"

I'll throw my hat it, I'd love to DM a game for Brennan. Level 1-20, high fantasy, low fantasy, medium-well fantasy, whatever. Just wrapped Fantasy High a week ago, and am currently getting every D&D player I know into it. Keep making awesome stuff, can't wait for season 2!

Murph is such a great DM.

Brennan has to get on Naddpod

Riz fits Murph so well. He’s a nice guy who very quickly reveals a morbid fascination with being a gun toting badass.

“I’m building a tolerance, I need some weirder shit to do it for me” ... a phrase used in every category of life 😉

The "bullies in town" comment reminds me of a time I had someone be rude to a customer service worker in a game and a player was like. I'm going to threaten this man's life

That circle and slightly larger circle that Murph mentioned is exactly what I'm doing as a DM and I thought that was just me being lazy and inexperienced. Apparently I'm doing great

I did not experience Emily's mentor hanging from a noose. But I have experienced my own moments like that. I can feel that righteous rage. And its one of the reasons I love DnD. Having the power to say no, AND THEN do something about it, is amazing.

Riz was always the one to finish off the bosses

I'm going to DM my first game ever, I've never played before ever. Planning was honestly incredibly daunting almost until the point where I almost gave up and canceled, but watching this has filled me with determination, and I'm really excited again to do this.

3:01 Murph internaly considers becoming a competitive gambler

this is why i love playing D&D with my theatre crew, because we all have that basic understanding of "character need motivation"

Murph: "You have super powers but you live in New York? Gimme a break" Brennan: "Yeah" *actively working on The Unsleeping City in his mind*

I actually had a player do that roll three nat 20's in a roll he wanted to tame this custom wolf i created he was a fighter not a ranger too but he rolled 3 nat 20 in a roll and i didnt know what to do after that other than give him the wolf

"You're Legolas not bugs bunny" is one of the most important things a DM can learn for player moderation.

"Share the inspirations" That's the solid advice there! I tell my players that default inspirations are Immigrant Song, Princess Mononoke, and 13th Warrior, until they choose new ones in Session Zero. Touchstones are essential!

its funny how murph is like "you have super powers and you live in new york?" and then he goes on to be rat jesus of NYC

“We all have a favorite Knight of the Round Table, right?”

I remember when I started I had a group that had never really played and we all just jumped in. I have been the forever DM ever since and absolutely LOVE IT. When it comes to anything it’s always best to fuck around and find out

I'd DM for Brennan any day, I'd love that, kinda setting up my own community to run games for newbies and forever DMs.

53:35 looking at you Caldwell lol

I'm remembering when Efink wanted to cast Sanctuary on the ship... "No"

If I could DM for Brennan just once in my life it would make my life a good one regardless of any future events

Did anyone else catch when Murph said “You have super powers but you live in fucking New York? Give me a break!” I fucking WHEEZED! Oh Murph little do you know what’s to come!!🤣🤣🤣

Brenan that poor soul of a forever Dm I see and have lived your pain, I hope in this last year you have managed to get a game in (thought with the new seson of D20 that seems to have happend). Just know you would be welcome in any of my games, thought im shure the comment was more a joke XD

Fantasy high + Naddpod, thank you universe

43:30 Brennan I will DM you bro... past level 7! Just please, don't look into the camera and convey that sadness again, I wasn't ready for it and it hit me like a truck.

Dude, murphy is so cool Imagine playing d&d with your wife and her father That's the dream

Spoiler: ‘It’s rare for a PC to die’ Haha...ha...ha *cries in candian* *sees ep 9* *weeps in candian*

The two rule enforcers. I love them so much

I'm hearing this as a dm to a 5 year old toddler, wanting to take the advice but can't. So far, I've only introduced her deaths when she's being reckless with her accumulated pets. But she's very fond of a scaredy cat werewolf sworn to protect her and cleric grandmother who keeps giving her cookies for health points. Glad I found this video tho, been wanting to find ways on how to raise stakes on a story I'm giving to a very rapt 5 year old.

I'n running a game club in my university and a tiktok clip of this interview gave me the courage to finally start DMing (I tried it once like 5 years ago and it was a really bad experience, none of it was enoyable) and realising that watching your games actually gave me more experience and knowledge of this game than playing 3 times a year with my cousins pushed me. Thank you so much, I'm binge watching this podcast while creating a setting to get more ideas and pointers and I can wait to make all of my players have fun!

Can't look away from his imaginary mullet or rat tail going on behind Brian. That wall pic lol

Brennan, I'm about 4 years late to this party, but if you're ever in Arizona, I will absolutely DM for you. Snacks included.

I will DM for you Brennan! Haha, I can't even imagine how incredibly fun that would be.

As someone whose never played before but has watched season 1 and 2 of Fantasy High two times through, that one bit at 40:00 really calmed my nerves about DMing a campaign in a few weeks. :)

Murphs face when he says "it's great" talking about how much fun it is to DM for emily and her dad is so wholesome. Truly the ideal wife guy

stakes is the issue we're having with my current campaign. the worldbuilding my GM came up with is that we were all born about a month ago, fully grown and formed with level one abilities and weapons we were just apparently also born with. and so far we've just been told that our mission is to transport our town population to a new town (i dont even remember if we were given a reason we left our old town) and then given errands at a town we stopped at on the way there. my character is ending up a True Neutral because i truly don't feel compelled by any goals, only a laid back nihilism that's willing to go along with the group even if that means we'll die. but so far we havent been given any villians or overaching conflict, just "here there be monsters" that pop up like pokemon in a field that we roll for initiative to kill

If anyone is nervous about DM'ing for the first time, just know the first time I did, it was with 0 prep, 100% on the spot improv when the dude who was supposed to do it could not. It was honestly the most fun I've ever had, and DM'ing "properly" has been a bit of a let down.

DMing for Brennan would be both a wonderful gift and a horrifying curse

As a newer dm, a copy of your initiative sheet Brennan would be amazing! If not its cool just I heard about the concept of that and I literally stood up and freaked out at how smart that is.

If there is one video/podcast/DM advice episode out there that tipped me over from "Man, I am fascinated by the DM's role but I could never do that" to "Hey guys, I know I'm the second-newest D&D player here but if ya'll really _do_ want to play a campaign, I could try running one!", it is this one. Thanks, Murph, for saying you ran your 2nd game ever. We're 5 sessions in and having a blast!

Yo wait Brennan has connections to Heart Machine? Thats so cool, Hyper Light Drifters is awesome

best D&D advice talk out there, thankyou so much, love these :)

Honestly I think this is one of my top 10 favourite videos on RU-vid. I've listened to this podcast at least half a dozen times and I'm still finding new nuggets of advice to glean from it. So much of my philosophy on how I play d&d comes from this podcast. Thank you for being willing to share it :)

You have inspired me to not only take an improv class, but also to give d&d another chance (I started with Rifts and Vampire)

Man this interview/ hangout was so good! First time Dm here, and I've writing notes furiously from both Brennan and Murph. Comparatively I think I'm approaching it correctly by what they're saying, but they added so much to think about. Gonna start doing pre encounters and the tabs with laptop.

Not for nothing Brennan, these videos are invaluable. I have lots of idea but haven't DM'd for maybe 20yrs. Thank you very much for a refresher on some of the basics behind the DM screen. It really can feel daunting sometimes. I really appreciate your time.

When I saw this I had already seen most of NADDPod and all of Fantasy High, and I was inspired to DM my first game which was so fun, even though I’d never played before!

Brennen is a rules public defender

2:29 and 2:37 Bless you crew person.

New to DMing and decided to watch this to and get some inspiration and it helped a lot. Not heavy with small details but gives the perfect amount to help with designing and creating a new world for adventures.

Holy crap this interview perfectly captures my current dilemma. Players give me character traits without goals so I'm having a difficult time hooking them narratively. But now I'm working with them to discuss motivations. Very informative interview 10/10.

Such a great episode. Keep these types of videos up please!

Just now watching this in 2021. Brennan and Murph give so much confidence to people trying to DM for the first time. Never DM'd and still in my first adventure but I have started trying to figure out the start of my own for when I do and only because of Brennan and Murph saying YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

I would LOVE to sit down and talk DMing with Brennan. I have been DMing for 20 years or so and have adapted to myself and to my players so many times, that through every episode I keep nodding in agreement, or having counterpoints, or even changing my own opinions WHILE listening. This is fantastic.

I am a first time DM. I have only been a player for 3 years. I decided to do a fully home brew space campaign. I'm 3 sessions in and my players are begging to play more and it makes me so happy. All I want is to make them have as much fun as I always have as a player.

i love the fact that in starstruck odyssey, murph goes so far from the paladin, get-shit-done kinda character, gives me so much joy to see him lean into bozo barry

The thumbnail looks like a discount Good Mythical Morning

I am now seeing how lucky I am. I got into dnd and randomly mumbled it under my breath (something I do with almost everything) and I got 8 or 9 people that came to me wanting me to dm which I accepted happily. Now I have a campaign that I have to figure out with a ton of people. It’s a little much to have so many people, but it’s awesome because no one knows what they’re doing. I was a big mythology guy before I got into dnd. I was constantly researching Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythologies. So I actually knew a lot of the beings in dnd. Obviously there were things I didn’t know about, like grung but it was much easier to get into the monsters.

Great stuff, I'm just now getting into dnd and roping my children into my really bad story. Thank you for these, they are really helpful for trying to kinda flesh out motivations and understanding how to handle players and dm interactions

I'm doing a Knights of Redwall themed campaign as my first time DM'ing and I'm watching all of the adventuring party videos to get advice TwT