I really enjoy your videos. I played basic D&D (blue box) when I was about ten, way back. We we're too young to really understand the rules as such, so we made it up. I've been trying to get back into after all these years, which is how I got here. I admire your passion. Thanks for the videos!
That is a really cool idea. Gotta appreciate someone who takes time with their monsters. They aren't just their to die and give ya treasure. A good ecology can and has, really lead to a whole campaign.
I agree having a large amount of differences from a standard setting is a great idea & dark sun is loaded with that. And while a lot of their ideas are a little out there, you cannot play the standard D&D game there, it does offer a great & interesting setting. I've done a vid on my fav campaign setting which I'll upload soon.
I really shouldn't have put Pathfinder in the title, just have been tagging my D&D vids with that & wasn't thinking about it with this one. But to answer your question, I'm not a big fan of the game (think it is okay) but haven't read anything of theirs that would push into the top 10.
This is very true indeed. I had a tiny bit of problems at first as well, not being a native speaker, but after a few videos you already know the style of speech and pronounciation and its fine.
There was also a great scene where after learning that the monster they were fighting was immune to magic, she went off somewhere to do her nails and let the party finish it off.
Thank you. I enjoy hinduism too, I've had a lot of hindu friends over the years, the bhagavad gita is a great book. The other degree I have is in English. My wife has a doctorate in psychology. I find it fascinating to study the building blocks of civilization & thought how it all came together & why people feel the way they do.
Thank you for saying so, I really appreciate that. I hope you end up back in this great hobby. There are a lot of games out now with far easier an intuitive rules that D&D.
At first, I was surprised to see the Magic Item guide in there. But then, if the guide is good about the weird/esoteric/eldritch sort of way you create an item, then it's golden. I'm nuts for alchemy mostly because it's all about getting the flavorful (literally!) bits of the game world and making them work for you and exploring the ecology of the world. Plus, you can make drugs! Huge fan of Lords of Madness. You reviewed that, one of my first comments. Aboleths forever!
Oh, this has made me think of another list. A list of videos revolving around books for game magics, dark arts, and supernatural creatures. That mostly came to my mind because of my deep deep DEEP seeded love of necromancers, summoners, demon tamers, and other people who use magical creatures and magic in general. @_@ Great Video though! I can't wait to see the next.
I've done a few reviews on using no rpg books in rpgs. I plan on doing some more. I enjoy using books like the Greater Key of Solomon in my games to give summoning magic a more believable feel.
Dark Sun was a very interesting setting, overall I didn't like the idea of everyone having psionics there as it made it not special at all but it did help make the setting different, along with a lot of other parts. I really liked that they did with elves, very interesting.
I find it interesting you found so much use out of those books. I do think Stormwrack is the best of the 3, what do you think? Do you use the Killer Whale people from it? They seemed interesting.
If you wanted to play a Hell Raiser type game I'd use Wraith the Oblivion. Cenobites may well be angels to some demons to other but in WOD they are specters. The first campaign world builder vid I did was on Gods, so check that one out. I also did a How to Run COC video. As far as demons you'll have to wait for my rpg to come out before you get that, I think the idea I have for them is far better than the way they've been presented in any other rpg.
That's because Athasian elves do not use you as provisions or your weapons as cooking implements for aforesaid provisions. :D Interactions with them usually go to a deeper level than estabilishing your nutritional value or the best beverage to serve you with, so elves are developed in a more complete way... :)
I don't get you wrong, in facts. I was just pointing out how much more complex athasian elves are in comparison with the local feral, cannibalistic shorties. Athasian halflings are more "extreme" when compared to their normal counterparts than elves are, and that's why I think they did better with them: both races were changed, but halflings were changed the most. And I like when a setting is really different from the standard ones, especially when coming to what lives in it.
What they did with halflings there was even better... ^^ It's not that everyone had strong psionics, but just that everyone was a very weak wild talent, something that in 3rd edition was unwisely left out psionic rules (like if everyone had a couple cantrips in normal settings). Since most of the monsters in that settings had some of psionic powers, having a couple mental defenses and a trace of power usually meant the difference between life and death. A very clever characterization imho.
intresting selection of books you chose, some were surprising, the magic item book. others were not. though as usual a good video as always. do you plan to do a top 11 books for white wolfs games by any chance?
The only thing I'm worried about is it moves fast. I've already let him watch Pumpkinhead 4 (best of the sequels) which didn't seem to bother him. I just wouldn't let him watch really scary movies like Nightmare on Elm St or Halloween. Good luck with the project you're working on, writing short stories can be a good way to help you develope your world.
Funnily enough, I once had a goblin knife-fighter character that basically did that. The ferryman was some sort of skeletal monster that could teleport other but not itself. It managed to take out the other 2 characters in the boat and I ended up grabbing it by the rib cage and throwing it out of the boat. Turns out skeletons can't swim. Wrestling is so useful in a fight. Hell, I've killed an imp familiar with 1st level sorcerer by drowning it in a horse trough. Sizes matters bitch.
Ah thanks, with work it has been moving slower than I'd like but I'm advancing both the novel (in chapter 20) & the rpg (which currently looks like it'll be 4 books total). Might do a full book on a city too. Yeah, love the evil dead movies. I'm waiting until my son is a little older before we watch them again. Maybe we'll do Army of Darkness when he's 5.
Personally, I really liked the Dragonomicon just for all the great information on Dragons (how to hatch their eggs, their psychology as they age, etc.)
I did not look through your videos, but do you have an suggestions for a horror themed campaign? I have pretty much been pulling from my own creativity which is great, but it would be nice to have something more....solid? haha. (either player creation or DM based would be fine). I have run some CoC games, and one don't rest your head game, and everyone loved them, so I really want to incorporate the bizarre creepy into my new campaigns for next semester. Thanks!
Polearms are fine and dandy weapons, and if I were forced to fight, I'd probably want a glaive or a halberd, but I never needed a table to tell me that there were guisarmes, glaive-guisarmes, bec-de-corbins, blah-de-blah de blah. ;) (I don't remember 2nd Editions DM Guide at all, though!)
I totally disagree with the idea of wanting monsters & spells spread out all over the place. If I need a monster, I'll go to a monster book. I'm not looking in the wizards book. They need to put more rp explanation in those pages, you are totally right about that. What I think it comes down to, is they are told to fill a certain page count & spells & monsters can be just thing they to add those extra 11 pages to the book. It annoys me too.
For me that's only the beginning of divinities, for the lessers it is about creating a spiritual hierarchy, deciding what created what and why, then deciding who is against who. I don't like the 2 sided fights, so there are many camps with many differing ideas. The lesser divine, such as most angels, are expressed in terms of spirits in my game. The major divine fall into multiple categories.
Now you know one that indeed liked it. ;) I was also fond of DarkSun, in which psionics are everywhere, so it's not that strange I liked it. Many of the issues of that manual where corrected in Skills & Powers, so it became even better for me. But I can understand you: there are many who dislike 3.0/3.5 psionics too, for a variety of reasons, even the same that make you dislike 2ed psionics. :)
You better have said "Unearthed Arcana" No doubt! "Unearthed Arcana" is #1! "Book of file Darkness" rules! I liked Exhaulted Deeds but your right about that feat and exalted monks. Libris Mortis was good PH II could've been higher. "Arms and equipment guide" would've made my list.
Just finished a video on it, just for you my friend. I have a lot of vids on my comp still to be uploaded but it'll be out some time in the next 2 weeks.
Exactly...I got my first taste of them in Dragon Magazines,,,and loved them since. To hell with a stat block, give me a reason why they are the way they are.
All of those books did retain their value pretty well which means people enjoy using them or there is something useful in each of them. I thought the cityscape book was pretty interesting. I'm mixed on dungeonscape.
Yeah, you really should get the book, it can give you a lot of options for changing the basic rules of your characters for a game. It can let you experience the 3.5 world differently.
I actually liked the government types, totally remember that, I'm totally with you on random tables. I hate random tables, they are just for lazy DMing. Don't remember a polearm table. I'm a huge fan of polearms though, as I enjoy the weapons others don't take. I do agree that overall all the DM guide books were very poorly done, they don't really teach anything but the most basic form of role-playing.
I think I just put pathfinder in there on accident, I've become use to putting it in on all my D&D vids, seem to help with the views. I'm not a big fan of Pathfinder. Yeah, I would do a top list of WOD books.
I share much of your top 11 list, with just two exceptions: I would toss BoVD away (I'm evil enough myself to learn anything from that book :) ) and put Miniatures Handbook in his place, even if it's only half useful (4 base classes, lots of good feats, even non-worthless PrCs, but blame for the miniature skirmish rules). The second difference would be Expanded Psionics Handbook in place of Unearthed Arcana: I would use a lot the former and just sparingly the latter, so it's an easy choice.
Yeah, they put monsters & spells in everything which was 1 of the worst parts of that line. The 2e book had loads of pics of different versions of the weapons in it that is what I liked about it. This one didn't have nearly as many weapon pics which was a down side. It also gave some historical info about the weapons which helped.
This may sound like a naive question, but do you know if it would be possible to run a D&D game using the d100 system? I mean, could I run a raw, gritty game without the d20 system and AC and all that jazz? Basically a d100 fantasy game. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Well there are a lot more books for it which give you a lot more options. The problem with Pathfinder is it is power gaming to the point of playing super heroes not sword & sorcerery type characters. Even basic abilities like smite became outlandish.
Yeah, most of the time my players don't even think to attack the monster first. They know the monster is "real" which means if they share a language they might be able to talk to it and spair themselves being viciously attacked. I make combat horrific not romantic, so the characters don't want the thing that can happen to them happen. It is & should be a last resort not a video game style xp bubbles popping up. Combat happens but other things can happen in an encounter too.
Got the spell compendium from a guy at my comic book store or $10. I don't play 3.5, but I run pathfinder. I like to treat my wizard to spells from that book from time to time.
I haven't played DCC RPG but on the face of it, it seems to address some of the min/max and power gaming you deride. You start as a near premie without much but your anatomy and some trade gear. From this, if you survive an initial trial, you enter the world and forge an existence. Doesn't start out with a tv pilot, but does have sparks of life that can have creativity from happenstance. You get the feeling you are watching the character form and grow as you watch it play out.
Well, there are two different properties called that, there is a module series that is similar to AD&D 1e mods and a D&Dish game. From what I could gather from the mods they are pretty basic and from what I could gather from the system it doesn't flow well enough for me. In all games what I find is most important is can the game flow like a TV show or movie when mechanics are involved. A lot of fantasy games make their rules sets too as you said chaotic.
Can you give me a better idea what you mean by paranormal? I usually think of ghosts & psychics. Yeah, I think I'll do one of the WOD books as I had about 5 requests for it on this thread. I think COC is the best horror rpg there is. There are a lot of others too like Chill & Savage Worlds works well.
I love the UA. Expanded Psionics is really a well done book, it handles psionics very well & let's face it over the years D&D has put out some terrible psionics books, so I was surprised at how good a job they did on that one. Miniatures Handbook is good, it does have some good classes in it but there is just so much useless info in it & it is so 5 foot square.
I disagree, elves were the joint in Dark Sun. I think they did do a good job with halflings & they are far more interesting than normal ones but the depth to the elves is really great.
Going outside the game is certainly a good move, if you don't you really aren't doing too much as a DM. Yeah for me, I'll use anything for my game. No, you'll never read everything in that pdf group but you'll read some & get something out of it.
I have a lot of them. I did a video, review on one of their books I'll upload soon. I've run two year long campaigns in that setting, so I'm very familiar on it. Is there 1 you are particularly interesting in?
Having a hard time recalling 2e A&E. It's been a while and I don't own it now, maybe I never did? What's not to like about the 3e version? I think there' was a couple monster in it too in case you don't have enough! "D&D 3e there's a monster in every book" (in pirate voice) sales pitch my group came up with during 3e's time.
Savage Species would have been on the list until 3.5 where it became rather useless as the monster manual did exactly what it attempted to do. I did enjoy it at the time though.
Of course you could. Do you mean to use a D&D setting in this game? The D&D feel (especially 4e/pathfinder & up) is fantasy super hero and as far from gritty as you can get.
How about number one on the list of most USELESS books for roleplaying, the original DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE, for first edition AD&D? Long lists of government types? Check! Pointless random tables of ever damn thing you can think of? You betcha! (Especially the infamous POLEARMS table.) There was probably a grand total of 5 pages of information in that book that could actually help you DM. And we LIKED it!
You might want to check out my vids on Nephandi & devils, just put those words & woodwwad and you'll find them. My vids on call of cthulhu might be useful too.
Yeah, Miniature's Handbook is only half-useful, because half of the manual is dedicated to the skirmish game D&D Miniatures and only the other half is dedicated to the rpg (but it's a very useful, even if limited, resource). But since I have no use for BoVD and I like some military options for my campaigns, MH is a good replacement in my Top 11. Despite being so good, I like EPHB much less than its 2nd Edition equivalent, where psionicists were so much less just variant spellcasters.
I don't have Sandstorm, I do have Stormwrack & have read Frostburn. Wasn't that impressed with Frostburn, I think Stormwrack is pretty decent. You bring up some good reason why you enjoy those books though.
Fair enough..good suggestions btw. I am not so pro Pathfinder that I don't think D&D still has good things to offer. I grew up with them and I will say..I LOVE ecologies too.
It is zoroastrianism, Zarathustra was the prophet. Ancient religions are certainly interesting, not sure if you knew that I have a college degree in that discipline. I greatly enjoy zoroastrianism, it is my favorite world religion.
Dude this is great, fook the books you are the entertainment. You act just like my boy Scott. He is an ex-brawler always you know to remember of the state DOC. Then one day, "Bam" a born again Christian. That was like 17 years ago. Once in a while the old Scott will bleed through to the surface. He was witnessing to these cats downtown and one lit up a joint. Scott proceeds to smack him full force with a three pound leather bound King James Version right across the temple. Whilst shouting "I rebuke you Satan in the name of Jesus leave this man's body." All the while sounding like a mix of Jerry Falwell and Randy Savage. People aground thought it was was a script for a movie, like it was a scene from a movie that was being filmed. They didn't think it was real, that's how I off the wall it was. I was dying laughing, he kept saying "it's not funny Darren it's not funny!" Thing is you never knew when he was going to switch or snap up like that. Although it was always for a good reason, or so he says. He's one of those cool Christians though he knew where to draw the line. I mean he was still the same old cat. He never got that better than thou complex. There was never a dull moment , my best friends in the world. Man the way you talk, the mannerisms, your body motions, are just like his. If you ever met you would definitely hit it off. And then mayhem and calamity would ensue.
Slapping a template on a "monster" does not make an ecology. Can I come up for a reason why their are "desert gnomes" yes. That shouldn't be my job..just saying. That is an easy example even...you know that.
Thank you, I played a warlock & the class has some terrible design points. While I thought it was going to be very interesting it really lacks the flavor that class should have. They were basically made for the 5 foot square, doing the same attack over & over again, it isn't creepy or disturbing or unwholesome, it is just boring. I think I've come up with a vastly better way to handle that idea.
I am loving all the books. Some i own and some I want to own. My only, and it is minor gripe..why no Pathfinder actual books? I know it is not your fave but they have some good stuff too.
Well, I want to build my own campaign that is more low fantasy, more realistic and with less dice to stress over. I'm sick of the whole HP thing, slitting someones throat should kill them but with hit points like in D&D you can't get that level of realism. So I thought perhaps a d100 system...I'd also like to work magic in a way that anyone can do it with the right skill level. I have heard of Runequest, I also wonder if Unknown Armies combat system could work in a world like that.
