RollPlay Presents: a 5E Roundtable Discussion (EP1) 

"He's 'good' Matt and I'm 'evil' Matt" TiaMatt?

I've never seen Colville sit quietly for so long

It's nice to see a gnome, elf, dwarf, and human hang out.

*Adam:* "D&D is super deep and philosophically indicative of human conscience." *Mercer:* "It's fun!" *Colville:* "It's serious." *Mike:* "I'm just happy to be here today!"

15:59 When the Matts aligned

Imagine a game run by the two Matts... Colville's political-strategical savvy and Mercer's drama and voice acting.

I love how the two Matts have resting DM face.

You can physically see how difficult it is for Matt C to sit there quietly lmao.

I love how Mike just can't stop smiling. It's infectious

At 8 minutes in, when Colville mentioned that he's philosophically opposed to the 'intro to rpg's start of so many of these books, I paused, and grabbed my 5E players handbook. Foreword by Mike Mearls.

Good lord, Adam barely ever let Matt Colville talk

I wanted to play D&D for years, but never had a party to do it with. Once the group was finally gathered, they made me the DM. I was taken aback at first, because I already had a character I really really wanted to play, but making a world for everyone to enjoy turned out fairly fun as well. The group went from 4 characters at our test game to 8 people for the second session (bringing spouses/boyfriends-girlfriends along), and damn D&D brings people together. 7 hours of strangers indulging in "pretend shenanigans" after a week of hard work, family issues, you name it, just to unwind. D&D is awesome.

I like how they say "Evil Matt" and "Non-Evil Matt", but not "Good Matt" lol

When Mike talks about initiative for social encounters... That's what this interview needed.

Me: "I wonder how serious this is going to be." "I am evil Matt." *Red filter.* These are my people.

"When somebody hasn't spoken in 5 or 10 minutes..." Well played, Mike.

Holy shit, allstar lineup

My favorite ruling that I've ever had to make was one of my players wanted to try to help a women to care for a child. The players started discussing what roll it would be, but I quickly asked "Make an Animal Handling check plz" They laughed so hard.

Colville's face when he's listening to the others is priceless. That is totally worth the watching of this video for me.

*Hits someone with my car* Me: It's what my car would do

Adam's response to anybody saying anything: "yeah that's exactly what I'm saying".

“I don’t agree with that” -Colville

You can really tell, hearing Mike talk, that dnd is in great hands, they love their own game and that is perfect for us

Evil Matt shaking his head and smiling at something Adam says, and Good Matt seeing that and grinning... It absolutely fills my heart. I am not yet sure with what, but it fills my heart with something.

15:59 = Synchronized Drinking Matts

24:30 - This part from Matt Mercer rings so true to me. I remember entire sessions of D&D not as me and a bunch of my nerdy friends rolling dice, but the actual stuff that was happenign in-universe in our games.

I have to agree with Evil Matt about the fighter art in 5e. That one piece of art did more to change my outlook on the fighter than anything in the entire game.

I am most amazed by Matt Mercer getting his group from level 1 to level 20. In 30 years I've never been able to do that.

This is like a really easy game of 'Guess Who?' "Does he wear glasses?" "Does he have a beard?" "Is his name Matt?"

I don't want to have this come off the wrong way because i think Adam did a great job nearly the entire time on this. He did a great job of hosting this talk, moving from topic to topic, making sure there was no silent moments, and keeping everyone involved. The only thing i would say, is as a host I think its important to make the "guests" shine more than yourself. There were a few times when he cut people off, or talked over someone to give his own opinion. I enjoy hearing his opinion but I think it's important for the host to just take a backseat anytime someone else is talking. No hate, just a thought

Anyone: well Adam I think- Adam: I’m gonna need to stop you right there

Matt Mercer- drinks water from a whiskey glass Matt Colville- drinks whiskey from a water bottle The easiest way to differentiate.

I am a huge Critter and Colvillian, so I was looking forward to hearing the Matts talk. When they introduced who Mike Mearls was, I was also very intrigued by what his opinions and insights would be. I had never heard of Adam Koebel, but I welcomed all opinions. Those were my expectations. And they were shattered time and time again by Adam asking a really good, interesting question, letting whomever answer for 2 seconds, then interrupting with his own opinion. He interrupted and even tried to talk over Matt Colville at one point. He was really rude and annoying, and I quickly lost interest in his opinion. It's just a shame; this discussion had so much potential and star power behind it, but I ended this video so disappointed. It just flopped a bit. But despite that, I did get to hear some interesting perspectives from the two DMs that introduced me to DnD. So I can't say it was a total waste; it wasn't! But it could've been so much better.

Matt Colville’s comment about “players know when they’re getting away with something” was great because I’ve seen it in action lol. Our gloomstalker ranger(revised) multiclassed into fighter and realized he could have up to 4 long bow attacks, all with advantage, the second and 4th getting an extra d8, and all using sharpshooter with hunters mark. That’s up to 6d8 + 4d6 +48 assuming no crits at 5th level. He and the DM agreed that the action surge didn’t trigger the dread ambusher 😂

This video would have been so much more enjoyable if Matt C ever got to talk without Adam hijacking every point he tried to make half way through trying to make it.

Alignment: people like putting things in boxes and simultaneously hate being put in boxes

Matt Mercer and Matt Colville in the same video YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Props to Matt Colville and Adam Koebbel for showing some love for Basic D&D (BECM) and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia. There's still a hard core fanbase for this game out there. :)

Adam really likes the mic. This round table is more like Adam plus mm, mm, and mc sometimes chat

I would love to see these 4 play together. With none of them as a dm.

Good group, where is the DM and when does the roleplaying start?

Watched this live but wanted to come here to like/comment, and thank everyone involved. I really appreciated this roundtable, hopefully we'll get to see more like this from RollPlay

7:01 Matt: I disagree Adam: 👁👄👁

I know some communities have strict copyright policies. But I got into D&D through pirated content. I'd printed out the character creation parts and DM'd my first half dozen sessions using a PDF on my tablet. Because I didn't know if it was going to catch on with my friends, but 4-5 sessions in I'd realised this was something my friends wanted to continue with, and since then spent hundreds of $ since.

This group is just so perfect for this type of discussion. Thank you for doing this!!

i loved seeing colville smile as night below was mentioned

I can listen to this all day every day. There's so much knowledge in this group. I do love every person here.

Immediately when I opened this video, I started wondering if Taliesin Jaffe's character, Caduceus Clay, was at least partly inspired by Adam Koebel on an aesthetic level. Like, "Woah! Caduceus hair!"

After experiencing several morally vile DnD DMs on Twitch/RU-vid, Matt Mercer's closing comments couldn't be more on point. Keep your campaigns safe as much as fun for every player.

Mike Mearls' unabashedly joyful smile is awesome. He looks like he's having a blast!

I really enjoyed that. Thank you so much to all those involved for sharing your time and talent.

There aren't words to explain how much you all inspire me; as a DM and as a person. Thank you for being role models for us, and for sharing your knowledge and perspective. I believe that role-playing is a crucial outlet for gaining perspective, empathy, teamwork and problem solving skills. It has opened me up as a person, and I continue to learn and grow from it. I hope to one day share what it has taught me just as you all do ♥️

Their bit of conversation about becoming the DM is so accurate. I literally got voted into being the DM of my group. I had the PH, I was helping them make their characters, I had my sorcerer ready to go... and we realized we had no one to DM. And because I had the book, I got elected xD I flipping love it, and all the advice gathered from Good Matt and Evil Matt has helped SO MUCH. I homebrew and I got my own Campaign setting, 'cause I love world building. But if you haven't tried being a DM, go for it! Try a One Shot! There's TONS of premade one shots out there. It's not overwhelming once you warm up to it :)

This group of DMs/Creators was fantastic. Quite wonderful to watch and absorb.

One of the most insightful and incredible conversations I've ever seen. Everyone's roles in this conversation helped perfectly balance it. Yiss

Love this roundtable. I have been thinking about getting back into D&D for over a year now, but haven't been able to find time to get myself into a group. Videos like these keep making me want to make time.

Thanks, watching this has really taken away a lot of my disparity as an upcoming DM and to really understand that the rules aren't rigid, they are as flexible as you want them to be :)

Two Matts' - One Show. My new favorite.

Well said you guys. Thanks for the video! It was a lot of fun to watch, and I hope Mercer had a great night at his party.

Mike Mearls is the face of happiness I love it!

I have been playing D&D for more than 35 years and not once have I ever seen anyone turned away from a game, or my own living room table, because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. Not once. Anyone and everyone that has ever shown a genuine interest in wanting to play the game was welcomed with much enthusiasm into the nerdy herd of dungeon delving friends. I have never thought or even heard of anyone being anything other than happy to meet another person who loves this game. And i live in the south! There has never been a problem with inclusivity within D&D culture. That is why I cannot agree that having 4 white guys talk about D&D on the internet is a problem. Have you considered that your panel of white guys may not be indicative of the norm? That being said I love you guys and the work you do. You guys are awesome! I have watch hundreds of hours from both Matt's. Keep up the good work but there is no need for cultural Marxism in D&D. It will only ruin the game. p.s. if having a panel of 4 white guys is a problem why didn't Adam invite a woman and a not white person? It makes me wonder who is the one focused on race? Did you only invite other white guys so you can virtue signal? Stop with this bs!

Anyone else had those awkward conversations trying to explain tabletop RPGs to someone who's fixated on adversarial gaming? "But how do you decide who wins?" "Oh, so it's everyone against the DM? That doesn't seem fair...." "Oh wow, the DM determines what everyone can do, all the rules, and everything? That REALLY seems unfair!" "But...why does the DM let you buy healing items...?" I eventually had to compare it to Pandemic (the board game) when explaining it to my parents...it's the only game I think they've ever played where the group is trying to win against a common adversary rather than directly competing against other players. Those of you who've played Pandemic should know why this was kinda a last ditch option... :P

What a great discussion! Thank you all for your time!

This was fantastic to watch I hope all 4 of you enjoyed talking as I'd love to see you and other voices in the community talk more. I love hearing conversation from the high council because you guys have so much experience it's wonderful to be able to draw on that even though I can't talk to you. Having progressed past the just learn to talk to your players to solve the problems, finding resources that talk about the game in a deeper way has been the hope. So, thanks to all 4 of you for doing stuff like this to help a DM like me gain a better understanding of the game I enjoy.

Be fun to see this cabal as a play group (mike DM?)

Mike: "I think there are much closer to a sport than a table game" I'd say more like Professional Wrestling than a typical sport. Your telling a story using the mechanics of a game/sport where the rules are more suggestions than hard and fast rules.

I've never played D&D before buying the PHB, MM, and DMG and becoming the DM for my group when we all just kept going back and forth wondering how in the world we'll even get a game going. This was all a month ago. Everyone wanted to be a player and nobody initially wanted to DM. However, I am loving world building, coming up with encounters, and hooks for the players to enjoy. I used Colville's first dungeon taken directly from his Running the Game series and the bard charmed the party into stomping it easy mode.

*scrolling through RU-vid looking for something to kill time at work* My favourite D&D people did a roundtable?! Yesssss! Not disappointed guys, loved it from start to finish.

Thank you Matt Mercer for vocalizing your wisdom about how the world, including D&D and gaming worlds, are going to change. We are hearing loud death throes. We will outlast, however.

It seems D&D is less a game and more a platform on which persons can exercise the development of narrative together, the development of a culture that is certainly unique to itself~ It's flippin' great :)

Adam, great questions and topics raised here, with some wonderful viewpoints and ohmigod, awesome to have Mike Mearls here as well. :)

Meeting once as frogmen is probably the best way to meet.

I cannot wait till the next critical role campaign

Oh my gosh, I am genuinely impressed to see this many big DnD people on one thing. Good work whoever set this up (Adam?)!

Thank you for this awesome moment! =) have a nice life you all!

What an AMAZING discussion. I enjoyerd and learned a ton of things! This is real quality stuff!

I get hyped when someone uses their feats correctly, and when they make an extra attack

I loved the discussion at about 1:27:00. I got into Critical Role initially because it was a D&D stream, but stuck around because I fell in love with the world building, characters, and the narrative. I've tried some other D&D streams (or other tabletop RPG games) but fell away because I didn't like the characters, or felt like the story wasn't engaging enough. I think the thing that can bring new players in would be something to do with letting the new players know that they can do ANYTHING. That's how I always explain D&D to new people. Like a "Have you ever wanted to climb that one wall in a video game that the game didn't want you to? Now you can just knock that wall down" kind of example. Great round table!

It was my intention to only watch a few minutes of this and continue later because it’s late AF but I couldn’t help but watch it all ! This was fantastic thank you for this !

Man this host is smothering the hell out of the guests. Like seriously let your guests answer. If you just wanted to share your opinions make a solo video

Something I appreciate and that this roundtable evoked is that 5e, more than prior D&D versions, gives people a second life if they are brave enough to adopt a complete experience. Part of the reason Critical Role is so good is that the players and DM are used to taking roles. D&D 5e makes the mechanics of developing a persona (actor's role) much easier.

I'd like to see 5e live 10 years or longer before the next edition is released.

I can’t help but smile every time Mike Mearls smiles

I love them all! Colville and Mercer have such different dnd philosophies, it's fun to see how Adams philosophies interact with that.

I love the UA discussion. And the whole video. This is fantastic. Thanks so much!

Woah, this Mark Mercer guy has voiced a ton of my favorite characters and I didn’t even know it

I'm about to run my first game of D&D and it will be my first time with D&D at all. all of us are completely new, but i feel like ill do fairly well despite being so new. my obsessive nature has led me to watching over a days worth of time of tips and tricks videos for 2-3 months now. i know i wont be perfect, but i have the people in this video and others on line to thank for giving me the confidence to do this. i never would have thought about half the ideas i have if it wasn't for such an awesome community.

Good job by all. Thank you for putting this together.

As soon as I opened the fifth edition D&D player handbook (the first edition I knew), I fell in love with D&D. Everything was amazing. And the first time I half-harassed my friends into playing, they were in love with the game by the end. Since that time was my first time ever really playing D&D at all, and also my first time being a DM, I can be 99% that they were falling in love with D&D, not me as a DM. Because I'm sure I was at least a little terrible, because that's the way it'll be for any new DM.

Every time they brought up different tables playing differently or monkeying with stats, I couldn’t help but think of how my table approaches monsters and BBEGs. We pretty much exclusively use home brew monsters and it’s really enhanced the game. Because we genuinely have no idea what we are facing and what its abilities are. It raises the stakes and adds a sense of surprise to each combat.

This was great. Thanks for putting it together.

this was effing awesome! please make another installment with these pillars of the community

My dear sweet sister saw the screen of these RPG gods and said Theres a Pink Haired Human (Adam), a Long Haired Elf ( Matt M), A short-bearded dwarf ( Matt C) and clean faced gnome ( Mike) Cannot unsee!!!

These guys are why I am starting my first campaign as DM.

I am very thankful for this combination of the minds i appreciate in the culture of DND here conversing of what it means and how it is. This is great!

The analogy between video games and TTRPG and watching sports blew my mind. Definitely gonna use that IRL

"Fuck off Raistlin" - I'm stealing this, thanks!

“That’s a whole other fettle of kish!” Love this!

So inspired, still today by all these folks. I've met some and would love to sit at a table with them someday. Definitely, the reason I came back to D&D and became a GM.

I could not agree more about how we remember the greatest moments of D&D as ourselves in the moment. I remember high points from 30-35 years ago in that way back when I was still just a player. As a DM I ran a group of five other people about 12 years ago that summed up a two year, weekly campaign with a total party kill against an ancient huge red. When occasion happens that that campaign comes up every member of that group has strong happy memories about that legendary fight with a shape changing, magic using, ancient dragon. They always refer to themselves as "We" & "I" and the smiles on their faces is what tells me how those moments have stayed with them for all these years. As a DM, a smile from those kind of game memories means a lot to me.