Jeremy Crawford on UA Minotaurs & Centaurs May 31, 2018Zoltar <br /> okay and welcome back to Dragon plus I’m<br /> always looking off in the wrong way it’s<br /> that camera oh I do the same thing where<br /> I was wondering what are they looking at<br /> we have no idea what we’re looking at<br /> somebody I don’t know if it was you or<br /> somebody else mentioned this had been my<br /> most tense hour of the week and now it’s<br /> the most relaxing hour of the week<br /> because I’m not I can step away from my<br /> desk for the next hour yeah yeah we get<br /> to just chat about D&D yes it doesn’t<br /> get much better than that so uh boy<br /> where to begin obviously we have back<br /> Jeremy Crawford I’ve got a new bio for<br /> you because I just put it up today oh<br /> wow Jeremy Crawford is the league rules<br /> designer of Dungeons & Dragons in<br /> addition to being the game’s managing<br /> editor he led the design of The Player’s<br /> Handbook and co-lead design of a variety<br /> of other DMV books including it the<br /> Dungeon Master’s guide<br /> XANA Thor’s guide to everything and<br /> Morden cannons Thoma foes which I even<br /> brought with me because today’s the wide<br /> release so of course it’s like I have to<br /> carry it everywhere I go today now this<br /> part this is new information for me<br /> before coming to Wizards of the coast he<br /> wrote for the games Blue Rose Warhammer<br /> Fantasy roleplay and mutants in master<br /> life you learned something every day and<br /> I did not know any of that so I know I<br /> might have suspected that you had other<br /> industry but but I’ve now been a wizard<br /> for almost 11 years working on D&D<br /> so I mean at this point it’s just he has<br /> made many many Dungeons & Dragons books<br /> yeah well welcome back for folks that<br /> were with us two weeks ago we sat down<br /> with Jeremy and to speak about minotaurs<br /> and Centaurs released in the latest<br /> unearth Arkana we wanted to continue<br /> that conversation we do have some news<br /> and announcements leading up to the<br /> stream of many eyes taking place boy<br /> this weekend which<br /> little frazzled because it’s taking<br /> place this weekend June 1st through 3rd<br /> in Los Angeles California we hope that<br /> folks in the area might be able to<br /> attend there are still tickets for these<br /> Sunday games but please jump on those<br /> quickly as they are getting snatched up<br /> and you can always stream the entirety<br /> of it on our dandy twitch channel which<br /> you are watching right now and if you’re<br /> there and you see me make sure to say hi<br /> I will be there for the whole thing and<br /> bind earth of alphabetical order you are<br /> now our number one special guest oh look<br /> at me well I like spotlight yes this was<br /> the we were gonna do some new headshots<br /> so we’re gonna schedule you for an<br /> updated although this is quite well well<br /> thank you but just outside my house so<br /> Before we jump into talk we covered in<br /> the minute our last time we were gonna<br /> talk a bit more about the centaur other<br /> side yes<br /> but before we jump into the Centaur we<br /> did have some questions as mentioned we<br /> get great questions in the chat we don’t<br /> always have a chance to be able to to<br /> respond to them so we look back through<br /> the chat logs and compile many of the<br /> questions you did not ask you did not<br /> like my question I created what<br /> chiropractic care does is sent our<br /> request maybe if there’s time at the end<br /> of the stream I’ll get into chiropractic<br /> care for centaurs and other hybrid<br /> bodied beings is this personal question<br /> because I’m in physical therapy now for<br /> sciatica oh no oh man<br /> what what does a centaur have to do this<br /> is my other question true or false the<br /> organization of evil centaurs is known<br /> as the centaur ouch you came at me right<br /> with the pun dagur wow man<br /> it just it’s just so obviously but you<br /> were so subtle I was not able to cast<br /> the shield spell fast enough<br /> to make it so that my my ears would not<br /> hear it yeah there’s a reason dad jokes<br /> and bad jokes are sounds and you are a<br /> dad where he issued a book a book of dad<br /> jokes yes yes I think I think so my my<br /> stepdad in particular is amazing at dad<br /> jokes and also at puns and I think he<br /> was so amazing that it like it fried out<br /> in my teenage years all of my tolerance<br /> for it because it’s like I got the best<br /> but I got so much of it I can’t take it<br /> anymore<br /> I had a university professor that if the<br /> conversation stalled out like if she had<br /> a question nobody was right she would<br /> just start giving out puns until people<br /> I stopped and they started participating<br /> Wow well I worked well but that’s sort<br /> of like a store cranking the music up<br /> yes well in that case they’re trying to<br /> get you to get get you out of the store<br /> so we asked you last time what are you<br /> reading watching playing do you have any<br /> new or different answers for us as a<br /> lead-in<br /> yes reading cuz I’ve I’ve been kind of a<br /> voracious reader lately so this past<br /> week I read this charming fantasy novel<br /> called the witch’s boy it’s by Kelly<br /> Barnhill it’s I think written for<br /> children but it’s a great read for<br /> adults too about the son of this witch<br /> who ends up having to bear her magic and<br /> it is very perilous magic good story I<br /> recommend it all right which is what was<br /> the the Irish legend Oh<br /> so yeah last year last time I<br /> recommended that if people are<br /> interested in learning more about Irish<br /> mythology a fun place to start is Lady<br /> Augusta Gregory’s book gods and fighting<br /> men and that gives you a great survey of<br /> different Irish myths including the bit<br /> I talked about last time where you you<br /> basically get a description of a bunch<br /> of different types of spellcasters<br /> you’ll also see different inspirations<br /> for certain magic item<br /> and whatnot that appear in D&D in<br /> addition to just getting exposed to a<br /> great myth tradition this is why I have<br /> this live stream just so I can ask<br /> questions as as far as playing Saturday<br /> we played my dandy home game big treat<br /> because normally we’re we’re usually<br /> only able to schedule maybe one session<br /> a month because of our schedules but<br /> this month we got to play two Saturdays<br /> in a row so that was a great way to kick<br /> off the Memorial Day weekend spent good<br /> part of Saturday with yet another crazy<br /> session in what has turned out to be a<br /> totally bonkers whore campaign and this<br /> is UDM this camp yes yep this is the<br /> campaign idea and you weave in things<br /> that you would like to play test as well<br /> so I guess I probably haven’t told you<br /> before told all of you listening on the<br /> stream that one of my rules in my home<br /> game is that for that game this is as<br /> opposed to games that I play here at<br /> work because we also play D&D here in my<br /> home game no play test material though<br /> because I want my home game to truly be<br /> a home game not only so I can relax<br /> playing this game I I’ve loved my entire<br /> life but also there is actually an<br /> important work reason for me it’s so<br /> that as the game’s lead rules designer I<br /> never lose touch with what it’s like to<br /> play the game using the material that<br /> everyone out and out in public has to<br /> use because not everyone listening has<br /> access to all of the stuff that you know<br /> we’re constantly developing I’m because<br /> we’re working on things that won’t be<br /> out for several years and if I had too<br /> much of that stuff in my home game I<br /> would really quickly there would be the<br /> risk of me quickly losing sight of the<br /> current state of the game as it exists<br /> out in the world outside of the walls of<br /> Wizards of the coast so I like to play<br /> it in it sort of its store-bought<br /> version although the campaign itself is<br /> entirely homemade<br /> and then that also means we get to relax<br /> because you know several of my players<br /> work here at Wizards you know Chris<br /> Perkins is one of my players James Wyatt<br /> is one of my players it means we can sit<br /> down<br /> we’re not play testing anything we’re<br /> just enjoying Dungeons & Dragons all<br /> right<br /> so we did have some questions that folks<br /> had submitted as well that we did want<br /> to cover again before we get into a bit<br /> of a discussion on the Descent time we<br /> had a couple of questions come in luna<br /> pine and ghost tack 159 i guess there<br /> were 158 goes tax before but it was kind<br /> of a broad question about sort of Magic<br /> the Gathering tends to look at a lot of<br /> different real world cultures<br /> mythology’s areas to weave into their<br /> various card sets on the on the D&D team<br /> is there a similar approach are there<br /> other cultural areas that are being<br /> considered that have been considered how<br /> does that work so DnB going back to its<br /> inception in the 70s is filled with<br /> inspiration from different myth<br /> traditions in our world so you know<br /> going back to first edition the game<br /> pulled in material from Norse mythology<br /> Celtic mythology Greek mythology<br /> Egyptian mythology and more I mean<br /> Arthurian legend even the Cthulhu Mythos<br /> you know was a big part of it there was<br /> inspiration from the the cosmos in<br /> Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels and you<br /> know and on and on and on and on and so<br /> those influences have always been a part<br /> of deities DNA and then as we’ve<br /> developed the game we definitely<br /> continue to dip into not only those myth<br /> traditions but into others as well<br /> rarely to bring them over wholesale in<br /> 5th edition we’ve maintained in the<br /> players handbook the list of Norse gods<br /> Celtic gods Egyptian gods and what have<br /> you<br /> partly because it’s traditional for the<br /> game<br /> we’re unlikely to do that with the gods<br /> of other real world Pantheon’s but we’re<br /> certainly open to being inspired by them<br /> there there are elements speaking of<br /> other myth traditions in Morden Kanan<br /> stoma foes and some of our cosmic<br /> storytelling that are influenced by Adam<br /> Lee and my own reading of various<br /> stories in certain Eastern religions<br /> Adam and I have both studied Hinduism in<br /> fact when I got my master’s degree in<br /> religious studies the focus was on<br /> ancient Christianity but also I spent a<br /> fair amount of time studying vaishnav<br /> Hinduism and so that actually influences<br /> some of the the cosmic storytelling that<br /> I do and I know that Adam has some of<br /> those influences and there are other<br /> members of the department that also like<br /> to dig into you know the ancient stories<br /> of our own world so that we can build<br /> resonant fantasies stories in the worlds<br /> of Dungeons and Dragons right I mean as<br /> a separate world of Dungeons and Dragons<br /> is still hard to completely divorce it<br /> from the players the creators having a<br /> grounding in real world pathology and<br /> not wanting to influence it or or being<br /> inspired by it I imagine yeah and and<br /> it’s often found that fantasy is the<br /> most powerful for us when you can kind<br /> of trace a thread that goes back to<br /> something in the real world and that can<br /> be something cultural in the case of<br /> myths as we’re talking about<br /> but then something I loved that j.r.r<br /> tolkien talked about is it also means<br /> including everyday things fantasy often<br /> is best when you know people are<br /> drinking ale and in simple bread and<br /> walking in a beautiful forest and near<br /> the mountains like unlike science<br /> fiction which is often filled with the<br /> alien fantasy is often filled with the<br /> familiar but then that familiar thing<br /> suffused with magic and so it to me<br /> really successful fantasy does a good<br /> job of<br /> balancing these ancient familiar things<br /> you know rocks and bread and wine and<br /> mountains and gods and mixes those in<br /> with with magic and monsters and<br /> adventure and it turns into this kind of<br /> this very special alchemy that has<br /> inspired humans for thousands of years I<br /> know we’ve talked about this before I<br /> mean that that point in the force<br /> awakens with raised bread you know mmm<br /> magic<br /> element again it’s my story but as we’ve<br /> discussed Star Wars certainly arguably<br /> as strong fantasy at least in the<br /> original trilogy is as anything else<br /> yeah yeah electrum electric um alright<br /> sorry<br /> however it’s pronounced there is a<br /> question any ideas for campaign this is<br /> coming from a user that was starting off<br /> dungeon mastering mmm-hmm and wants to<br /> know about where to get started<br /> what advice for kicking off a campaign<br /> whether it’s running one creating one<br /> what what might you recommend for that<br /> wow I could do a whole series of these<br /> talks just on campaign design maybe we<br /> should work that in in the future once<br /> so the really short answer I’ll give<br /> which again could be instead a multi how<br /> her answer is when possible start small<br /> what you want to do is don’t design<br /> don’t spend months and months and months<br /> designing this math massive story only<br /> to find in the first session that your<br /> players are going to go off in a totally<br /> different directions as they will<br /> because they will what’s important is<br /> always just have your next session<br /> designed and and have a broad framework<br /> of material that can lead to later<br /> sessions and when I say a broad<br /> framework of material I mean have some<br /> interesting places for your player<br /> characters to go to have a few fun NPCs<br /> for them to talk to and have a juicy<br /> villain or two whose motivations will<br /> help drive the story because often I<br /> find that if you have even just<br /> one really good villain who has<br /> ambitions that could drive multiple<br /> sessions of play you will often get<br /> weeks and weeks and weeks of D&D play<br /> out of just that villain and that<br /> villains minions and then you’ll start<br /> coming up with other villains who oppose<br /> that villain and then often your prep<br /> well you’re as a DM we’ll just turn into<br /> deciding before each session all right<br /> what’s villainy doing what’s villain be<br /> doing about it what are the the three<br /> MPC groups doing about it and then you<br /> basically just set them all running and<br /> then in the session you just watch what<br /> the player characters do in response to<br /> all of these NPCs and villains crashing<br /> into each other or you know going to<br /> some interesting location like a dungeon<br /> or a castle or a haunted temple or<br /> whatever that location is that you’re<br /> focused on in a particular session<br /> I have very suspicious players I have<br /> never started off an adventure where the<br /> patron hiring them for the quest or<br /> whatever MacGuffin they’re trying to get<br /> after they are not immediately convinced<br /> that he or she is developed somehow<br /> they’re sure that’s that’s the one<br /> trying to get in my way so I speaking of<br /> that I have to be careful with some of<br /> my long-standing players not to at the<br /> beginning of any game have what a person<br /> I know to be a benevolent NPC yes not to<br /> sound too much like a hag and because I<br /> use so many hags in my campaign that if<br /> it’s just like kindly old woman they<br /> meet it’s a hag<br /> so sometimes sometimes if you use<br /> certain tropes enough you’re it can it<br /> can cause your players to just they<br /> start they start thinking something is<br /> hiding in every bush that was the<br /> question I wrote down and because that’s<br /> kind of the trope which is whatever half<br /> you think you’re gonna set for your<br /> players go this way they’re gonna go<br /> that way<br /> mm-hmm do you ever intentionally design<br /> sort of quote-unquote false doors where<br /> it’s clearly meant to be this way and<br /> you<br /> because you know they’re gonna take a<br /> left turn so you’ve planned that left<br /> turn all along and and and that false<br /> door never really led anywhere in the<br /> start do you do you design your<br /> adventures anticipating players to go<br /> off the rails almost immediately oh yeah<br /> I and that’s why my prep tends to be<br /> pretty light I make sure I have enough<br /> material to improvise with for each<br /> session but I do not fix in advance you<br /> know what I’m expecting them to do<br /> I’ll have kind of broad story beats and<br /> this is again why I focus on here’s what<br /> like the villains are gonna do here’s<br /> the danger they’re gonna put the player<br /> characters in and then I see what what<br /> do the player characters do in response<br /> and that makes it really fun for me as<br /> the DM because then in a way I get a<br /> show you know I even though I’m running<br /> the show at the same time I get to watch<br /> the show because the players are the<br /> ones deciding what their characters are<br /> doing and they will often come up with<br /> things that I didn’t expect great<br /> example of this from my game on Saturday<br /> the group spent a good deal of the<br /> session in the Faye wild keep in mind I<br /> never planned in this campaign that they<br /> would go to the Faye watt this is a<br /> gothic horror campaign but they decided<br /> for various reasons I won’t get into<br /> right now because I could gobble up the<br /> Hat you know the half an hour going into<br /> the ins and outs of the story but they<br /> decided to go to the Faye wild and that<br /> ended up essentially being a session<br /> that designed itself and all I really<br /> had to come up with was the place that<br /> they were gonna spend time in and the<br /> main NPC they were going to be talking<br /> to and their the the session unfolded<br /> and it did end up having a hag in it I<br /> can’t resist them so much and we and we<br /> kind of talked about in the past when<br /> you guys you when you design when when<br /> the D&D team designs elements there’s<br /> there’s no you know killed darlings<br /> they’re just set aside mm-hmm do you do<br /> the same thing for your own campaign in<br /> a similar way oh you guys want to go to<br /> the FEI wild I happen to have a file of<br /> other<br /> and encounters that I’ve had in my mind<br /> I didn’t know where to plug it in but<br /> now I can just pull that one absolutely<br /> I save things constantly so I might<br /> design something that the players decide<br /> never to go visit and so I just hang on<br /> to it and when I have a chance to use it<br /> later I use it or I also going back to<br /> my session on Saturday I had some<br /> important story information that I<br /> needed the player characters to get so<br /> that they would know what the heck was<br /> ahead of them at the story because I<br /> don’t like my my player characters to be<br /> wandering around not knowing like what<br /> are we supposed to do but they actually<br /> missed entirely the NPC I thought was<br /> going to be the information givers so I<br /> just took that information and gave it<br /> to another NPC and they ended up getting<br /> getting that information from a sage in<br /> the Fae wild in Saturday session not at<br /> all what I had planned but I liked it<br /> better because I didn’t plan it because<br /> then it that’s real the real magic of<br /> this game that again I as the DM got to<br /> watch the story unfold in ways that I<br /> had not planned in any way so if you’re<br /> prepped enough and you’re giving your<br /> characters your players agency enough<br /> then it’s it’s sort of you get to sit<br /> back and just interact with them in a<br /> fun and meaningful way as opposed to I<br /> don’t know force things along<br /> artificially right right and that’s<br /> that’s why anytime I give people prep<br /> advice I go again and again back to this<br /> idea of prepare a framework don’t<br /> prepare exactly what they’re going to do<br /> create a set of dangers but they’ll have<br /> to reply to create a set of NPCs that<br /> they can interact with and create a set<br /> of villains whom they can oppose or they<br /> might decide to help them like I don’t<br /> even assume that there there are some<br /> vampires in my current campaign that I<br /> was ready for the group to oppose a year<br /> and a half ago when they first met them<br /> they have yet to get into a meaningful<br /> fight with them and I keep kind of<br /> unwittingly helping the vampires so<br /> again I I tried to assume as little as<br /> possible<br /> going into a campaign about how they<br /> will react and then by doing that it<br /> means I can respond very nimble II to<br /> what the players have decided to have<br /> their characters do because I’m not<br /> blocked by my preconception of how<br /> something is supposed to end up now what<br /> that does mean though is I also keep<br /> having my villains do their thing on the<br /> side and so what that means is if the<br /> players just decide never to really try<br /> to stop them yeah<br /> the villains can win so in a way my is<br /> this has happened this has happened yep<br /> so in a way Mike and my campaigns are<br /> Lu’s abaut even though of course you<br /> never win or lose in D&D you’re always<br /> winning if you’re having a good time but<br /> but I have more than once over the years<br /> have had essentially the player<br /> characters lose a campaign in terms of<br /> the big story because they just didn’t<br /> they didn’t go after the villains<br /> aggressively enough and I just like<br /> players you can do whatever you want I’m<br /> not gonna railroad you but the villains<br /> are gonna keep going I would find that a<br /> more satisfying campaign as much as I<br /> find that a satisfying Movies ripped as<br /> well yeah right don’t<br /> once again I’ve said this a hundred<br /> times to you once I know what the heroes<br /> are meant to do then they’re gonna do it<br /> and I’ve lost a great percentage of<br /> interest well and what’s also<br /> interesting is not only is that<br /> important to kind of constantly have<br /> them hungry for what what are we gonna<br /> do next what’s next what are we supposed<br /> to do but then if they lose you know<br /> yours later my players who are in those<br /> campaigns we’re basically the villains<br /> one they still talk about those<br /> campaigns so it actually can be<br /> thrilling when the villains win yeah<br /> because partly because then the players<br /> really see our choices really mattered<br /> that we weren’t on we were not on Rails<br /> the choices we made led to this outcome<br /> and that is really powerful because then<br /> there really makes it feel like you were<br /> in a living breathing world where what<br /> you do really matters on the flip side<br /> that means when my players win when they<br /> are victorious they know they earned it<br /> that you know they made the choices that<br /> led to this great victory and my<br /> campaigns tend to have very epic finales<br /> so if they are victorious they have<br /> usually accomplished something that you<br /> know will be remembered for the ages<br /> nice well so electrum I hope that gave<br /> you some thoughts and ideas for starting<br /> up your own campaign I definitely concur<br /> it would be great to do at least a<br /> session dedicated to campaign design we<br /> did have a question about adventure<br /> design and adventure and we’ll get to<br /> down yeah there is a great deal of even<br /> online resources that I would like to<br /> pull together especially for new players<br /> new dungeon masters where do I start<br /> what tools are available and there’s<br /> great tools that are available between<br /> the downloadable rules D&D beyond the<br /> starter set obviously has lost mine a<br /> fan delvar in it too to be able to run<br /> it anytime so yeah so why don’t we uh<br /> why don’t we jump into the the Centaurs<br /> Jeremy behind the screen we’ve got –<br /> sorry – Jeremy’s in the studio why don’t<br /> we put up the Centaurs stat sheet and<br /> then folks viewing from home so these<br /> are the the Centaur traits these<br /> recently appeared in unearthed Arkana<br /> which is available now on the DND<br /> website of course also I believe it is<br /> available on DD beyond<br /> yes it’s now and Indian beyond so for<br /> playtesting purposes last time we kind<br /> of walked through in particular<br /> minotaurs that they had recently well<br /> not recently but minotaurs had appear a<br /> while back in on Arthur canna and then<br /> made a reappearance and in this most<br /> recent one centaurs have they appeared<br /> in uh north or Canada previously nope<br /> this is their first time to show up as a<br /> playable option in fifth edition it’s<br /> worth reminding everybody that nothing<br /> in unearthed Arcana is official these<br /> are all play test elements that we’re<br /> trying out sometimes these elements do<br /> end up in one of our books as you saw<br /> with many of the options that were in<br /> zennith ARS guide to everything so once<br /> we put the surveys out for any of these<br /> things do please give us your feedback<br /> we’ve read all of it and your feedback<br /> can help shape the future of these<br /> options as well as the game as a whole<br /> sometimes the options because of the<br /> feedback they go away forever other<br /> options we dig in because of your<br /> feedback we make changes and they’ll<br /> show up in a product later and become an<br /> official option so sent our Minotaur<br /> that you see right now again this is a<br /> draft and we’ll see what you think<br /> I’ve been reading feedback already on<br /> reddit Horace that’s right that’s right<br /> a draft horse the puns<br /> I’ve been reading feedback are on reddit<br /> on Twitter and elsewhere already but the<br /> surveys are especially helpful because<br /> we end up getting feedback usually from<br /> so many of you all right so the Centaur<br /> first off I should point out because the<br /> Centaur size was a big topic of interest<br /> when we first released this I should<br /> point out that D&D for many years going<br /> back at least goodness gracious at least<br /> twenty eight so it’s been twenty eight<br /> years at least if not longer the D&D has<br /> actually had centaurs of different sizes<br /> the classic monstrous centaur that<br /> appears in the Monster Manual is large<br /> and that’s been true going all the way<br /> back to the first edition Monster Manual<br /> but D&D<br /> Dragonlance as well as in alka deem<br /> introduced other centaurs who are medium<br /> and in our art over the years we have<br /> shown centaurs of both sizes we have<br /> also when it comes to centaurs<br /> backgrounds talked about them being<br /> monstrosity zazz they are in the current<br /> Monster Manual but there have been also<br /> times in the game’s history when they’ve<br /> been strongly associated with the Fae in<br /> fact even in the fifth edition Monster<br /> Manual where their creature type is<br /> monstrosity we still talk about them<br /> actually interacting a lot with elves<br /> they know the Sylvan language which is<br /> the language of many fake creatures so<br /> they have long had this association with<br /> the Fae and again there have long been<br /> different sizes of centaurs so I wanted<br /> to bring that up because some people<br /> thought whoa this is crazy<br /> centaurs have always been large and so<br /> it’s important to bring out this little<br /> history which honestly would have been a<br /> great thing for us to put in the<br /> unearthed Arcana article to say hey<br /> there are both types of centaurs in the<br /> D&D multiverse this playable version of<br /> the centaur is focusing on the medium<br /> type and in our last video when talking<br /> about the Minotaur I also mentioned that<br /> there are also game design reasons for<br /> us to push player character options<br /> toward the medium size as opposed to the<br /> large size if there’s time later on in<br /> today’s stream I can drill into that a<br /> little more if people want to ask about<br /> it in the stream but first I want to<br /> talk about some other things specific to<br /> the Centaur absolutely so yes again if<br /> you have a question please press your<br /> comment in the chat with a question all<br /> caps is easy way to catch our I will try<br /> and catch them as they come otherwise<br /> we’ll definitely save them for for a<br /> follow-up also I want to say in terms of<br /> sort of different types of centaurs it’s<br /> important to remember that<br /> in the DND multiverse we have long had<br /> this notion of there being different<br /> types of the same creature you see it<br /> actually in some of the playable races<br /> where elves have many different<br /> varieties and we get into the story of<br /> that in Morden Canaan stoma foes dwarves<br /> have different varieties and sometimes<br /> the varieties get dramatic enough that<br /> even their creature types can be<br /> different we like in Morden Canaan stoma<br /> foes we say they’re even there are some<br /> Aladdin who have been in the mortal<br /> world long enough that their creature<br /> type is humanoid and there are other<br /> elad rune whose creature type is Fae we<br /> also have creatures that are the same<br /> type of creature but have different<br /> sizes and so yes in fact yes yes<br /> hag’s we have many different sizes and<br /> whatnot so I just want it it’s important<br /> to have that broader context also to<br /> address another fun thing about the<br /> speed and this this one amused me a bit<br /> because one bit of feedback I saw a<br /> number of times was well son tars the<br /> playable ones should be large because<br /> the horse is large this is a funny bit<br /> of feedback to me because there is no<br /> stat Block in D&D called the horse in<br /> the Monster Manual we have three horses<br /> there is the pony that is medium there<br /> is the warhorse that’s large and there’s<br /> the writing horse that’s large so even<br /> in our horses we have we have a variety<br /> and one is medium and to our large also<br /> it was funny too to see when the centaur<br /> came up that people were kind of needing<br /> to learn a little bit about horses<br /> because some people I saw thought ponies<br /> were baby horses they’re not so that<br /> ponies are ponies are just a type of<br /> horse that would be my immediate<br /> assumption for respond right you’re<br /> telling me that’s not that’s not correct<br /> a pony is not a baby horse a pony is is<br /> is a type of horse that is just has a<br /> smaller body than say a Clydesdale or<br /> another very large horse what would a<br /> baby horse<br /> they’re like what are they folds or is<br /> that am i mixing up animal types but<br /> yeah not a pony<br /> Nicole’s the Colt thank you thank you<br /> I’ve even watched Colts be born<br /> no personal fact my mother was a she was<br /> on she was an administrator at Cal Poly<br /> and San Luis Obispo in California in the<br /> animal science department and one of the<br /> things I what I got to enjoy growing up<br /> is going out and looking at the horse<br /> unit and even that includes getting to<br /> see them be born I’m realizing now than<br /> the Indianapolis Colts the football team<br /> their mascot then would be it’s a baby<br /> horse the Chicago Cubs I you know baby<br /> bears so I erase that right it’s not so<br /> far afield all right so let’s so let’s<br /> dig in so the Centaur is strong we see<br /> strength score increasing by two and<br /> then the wisdom score increases by one<br /> this edition of wisdom was something I<br /> actually did fairly late and I did it to<br /> really dig into the fact that<br /> particularly the medium-sized scent arts<br /> that have appeared in dnb’s past like in<br /> Dragonlance and Alka deme have been very<br /> associated with nature having sort of<br /> perceptiveness you could see them being<br /> effective druids and Rangers so this is<br /> one of the reasons why I gave them this<br /> increased a wisdom in addition to the<br /> increase to strength because of their<br /> their mighty builds and it’s a good to<br /> point out that often would we make these<br /> abilities score adjustment decisions in<br /> fact almost all of the time it’s being<br /> driven by the DND story of the<br /> particular species and we look at that<br /> story and we see what would be<br /> appropriate and also because we we lead<br /> and this is<br /> appropriate talking about a a people who<br /> are part horse we like to lead with a<br /> carrot rather than a stick and in terms<br /> of guiding people toward particular<br /> class options we don’t mandate that any<br /> race option be aligned with a particular<br /> class option but traditionally the<br /> ability score increases sort of not<br /> positively nudge you in particular<br /> directions but of course you could<br /> ignore it even though these bonuses are<br /> to strength and wisdom you could make a<br /> centaur wizard and we have we that’s why<br /> we don’t handicap you from going against<br /> type do you have a chart anywhere like a<br /> heat chart of here are the ability score<br /> bonuses that certain races have and<br /> seeing okay there’s quite a few races<br /> that are hot here and we don’t have any<br /> race that gives you a bonus say with I’m<br /> trying to think of it a charisma and<br /> strength so you know you know so we all<br /> of that stuff is in spreadsheets<br /> suspicious especially for the official<br /> races but it’s really good for everyone<br /> listening to no we don’t do what I call<br /> we don’t do fill-in-the-blank design<br /> that’s where I was so so often fans will<br /> point out well hey we don’t we don’t<br /> have many races that sort of favor<br /> intelligence for example so Wizards you<br /> should do that<br /> well that isn’t art design ëthis our<br /> design athos is we design things to<br /> reflect the story of the material that<br /> we’re modeling in our story based game<br /> we’re not going in and filling in a<br /> matrix and say well we don’t have enough<br /> intelligence races so that’s what we’re<br /> going to do so you like the nooks and<br /> crannies of the of the game system where<br /> there are certain gaps that could exist<br /> and there’s some strengths that exist<br /> right not a need to fill it all up<br /> absolutely not we have not designed the<br /> game for it to need all of those little<br /> spaces to be filled up in the same way<br /> one of one of the one of the design<br /> approaches that<br /> I would bring up to the team when we<br /> were designing fifth edition and that to<br /> this day in fact just last week I<br /> reminded one of our designers of this<br /> that to always avoid needless symmetry<br /> it’s really tempting for us as designers<br /> as nerds too we want to fill in all the<br /> blanks and that can lead to some really<br /> odd design and we’ve done it before in<br /> our department and so we very<br /> consciously avoid that kind of you know<br /> I’ve made a spreadsheet and I’m gonna<br /> design something just because it fills<br /> that spot it needs to be resonant it<br /> needs to be grounded in a story it needs<br /> to sing with the other parts of the game<br /> that people already have this is peaks<br /> and valleys I think what I was going for<br /> instead of nooks and crannies but but<br /> going back I used to play a game called<br /> asteroids call mm-hmm and there are<br /> different weapons that had different<br /> damage types and there was always hey<br /> there’s a lot of swords but none of them<br /> do the blunt damage type and you know as<br /> their swords right there never will be a<br /> baseball bat right right<br /> I mean similarly I get asked sometimes<br /> you know is it intentional that some<br /> abilities get used for saving throws<br /> more often than others yes that’s<br /> intentional there there are never going<br /> to be as many things in the game that<br /> make you make an intelligent saving<br /> throw as there are that make you have to<br /> do a dexterity saving throw for example<br /> and and we’re very aware of how the<br /> different abilities are used and you<br /> know what what things in the game push<br /> you toward different things and in in we<br /> are almost never going for symmetry when<br /> we make those design decisions we want a<br /> balanced experience not a filled-in<br /> matrix if that makes sense<br /> all right let’s let’s keep going the<br /> centaur has a base walking speed of 40<br /> feet this is a juicy ability and<br /> actually frankly this is where a lot of<br /> the Centaurs juiciness is a<br /> for some reason I’m liking juicy today<br /> maybe I want some eye candy or something<br /> it this is aware a lot of the appeal of<br /> the center is that and you and where<br /> you’d expect because this this these<br /> people have horse like legs that a<br /> traveling type of race yeah and so forty<br /> feet is is fantastic now associated with<br /> that influenced by the centaur in the<br /> Monster Manual we have this charge<br /> ability and by the way whenever we are<br /> designing a playable version of a<br /> species and are taking inspiration from<br /> a monster stat block will often try to<br /> echo something in that stat block it<br /> doesn’t always pan out we will often<br /> find in play testing will end up<br /> flushing the thing that came from the<br /> Monster Manual and designed something<br /> else because frankly we design things<br /> and monsters to work for monsters and<br /> that’s it actually another great example<br /> of how the game does not designed with a<br /> bunch of symmetry in mind player<br /> characters for instance are<br /> intentionally different in how they<br /> function in many ways from monsters and<br /> so that means there are some things we<br /> design on the player-character side<br /> where they’re awesome as options for a<br /> player character but kind of junk in a<br /> monster just last week I was reviewing a<br /> stat block for a book we haven’t<br /> announced yet and the monster had in it<br /> abilities that were mimicking some of<br /> the rogues abilities in the players<br /> handbook and I ended up cutting the<br /> abilities and telling the writer of that<br /> particular stat block the ability or<br /> mimicking is great if you’re a player<br /> with just one character to control and<br /> you can deal with some of this fiddle<br /> enos that’s the same set of abilities<br /> that you put in a stat block unless it’s<br /> a legendary creature and the DM is just<br /> focused in an encounter on running that<br /> one stat block that DM might have three<br /> or four different stat blocks there you<br /> in a particular encounter so that<br /> ability that was great in the<br /> player-character you suddenly put it in<br /> a snap lock and the dm’s eyes are gonna<br /> glaze over and say I don’t want to use<br /> this in my game so that’s why sometimes<br /> when we take inspiration from a stat<br /> block for a player character option the<br /> same kind of thing can happen where it<br /> just doesn’t feel as natural on sort of<br /> the other side of the DM screen so we’ll<br /> see where charge goes I already know and<br /> I knew this when we sent it out into the<br /> world that some people would bulk at<br /> this being an ability that recharges on<br /> a short or a long rest because what we<br /> have found and here I again I was like<br /> to pull back the curtain when I’m on<br /> talking with everybody what we have<br /> found ever since the D&D next play test<br /> is that if it’s a magical ability and we<br /> say once you use it you can’t use it<br /> again until you take a shorter or a long<br /> rest<br /> no one blinks I mean most people don’t<br /> blink I say no one but though you know<br /> we always get feedback of all sorts yeah<br /> but by and large D&D players will say<br /> yeah that’s fine mm-hmm if it’s a non<br /> magical ability and we say the thing<br /> recharges on a shorter or long rest<br /> often that will be pushed back because<br /> this is this feels like an innate<br /> ability of Who I am and I should be able<br /> to do this or not it it’s interesting<br /> that when we’re in the realm of magic we<br /> have found that players are often able<br /> to easily suspend their disbelief about<br /> how often things work because it’s magic<br /> so it’s already you know not following<br /> the rules of our world if you’re<br /> shooting lightning bolts out of your<br /> hands or you know transforming into a<br /> pixie people are able to accept the the<br /> rules of magic being mysterious right<br /> but as soon as it’s about how your body<br /> functions people can get uncomfortable<br /> about well why and that’s that is always<br /> the question I want people to ask is why<br /> because again it’s a story game it needs<br /> to feel natural so often what we’ll do<br /> and it never surprises me when I see<br /> people on reddit on Twitter and<br /> elsewhere suggesting this as an<br /> alternative is we will instead tie the<br /> number of uses to an ability score<br /> modifier or we will redesign the things<br /> so it can be used in an unlimited<br /> fashion<br /> now this chargeability we’re unlikely to<br /> let you use in an unlimited fashion it’s<br /> it’s a little – to use today’s word of<br /> the day juicy for you to be able to use<br /> it an unlimited number of times per day<br /> but we could certainly tie it to you can<br /> use it a number of times equal to like<br /> your constitutional modifier or<br /> something like that and what we have<br /> found it’s funny as soon as we do that<br /> people are usually okay with it because<br /> as well if they can see kind of a<br /> narrative connection yes to your care to<br /> your character and that’s also can be<br /> satisfying because then people feel like<br /> it’s something they can grow into that<br /> as that ability goes up I get to use it<br /> more times and one of the satisfying<br /> things in D&D is that sense of growth so<br /> there is a good chance that if the<br /> Centaur keeps this chargeability at all<br /> and if I wanted to keep it as juicy as<br /> it currently is or make it even juicier<br /> I will probably tie number of uses to an<br /> ability modifier I’m thinking in my life<br /> there’s not many activities I can do<br /> without a short rest I think I think<br /> often when we are doing initial drafts<br /> we we will use just the short rest on<br /> long rest as the recharge mechanism<br /> partly because it actually gives us the<br /> number of times per day maximum that we<br /> are comfortable with but you know it<br /> also could be the fact that many of us<br /> who work on the game or middle aged and<br /> maybe we we get tuckered out faster than<br /> our younger players in da<br /> again yes I could do this charge once<br /> and then I’m gonna read for an hour and<br /> then I can do it again all right let’s<br /> go on to hooves the hooves these are a<br /> natural melee weapon pretty<br /> straightforward similar to the Minotaur<br /> which you<br /> you<br /> because again this is Jeremy do we have<br /> audio on when we lose audio oh did we<br /> hit we have no sound alright are we back<br /> are we back we’re back alright yay okay<br /> so powerful build it we’re gonna take<br /> this back for the last 20 minutes you<br /> know everyone gets to hear it all over<br /> again and I’m gonna say completely<br /> different things alright so far it’s<br /> tiny yes yes the center is now tiny and<br /> has wings which that is a thing from DN<br /> DS past weird that next time when we<br /> delve into misstara we will get those<br /> delightful creatures and I’m not being<br /> sarcastic because I I have a I have a<br /> high tolerance and enjoyment of cute<br /> things so we are we lost from hooves<br /> alright so hooves all I said about<br /> hooves is that they’re like the<br /> minotaurs horns and that you can what<br /> people with them it’s essentially a<br /> weapon you have with you all the time<br /> and so I wanted to go on to echoing<br /> build which is this really three tweets<br /> three traits in one<br /> so the first trait inside equine build<br /> is basically a modified version of<br /> powerful build that goliaths have the<br /> main difference between this and<br /> powerful build is powerful build in<br /> addition to increasing your push drat<br /> you’re pushing and dragging capability<br /> it also makes it so that you can lift<br /> things easier echoing build doesn’t do<br /> that it instead just makes it easier for<br /> you to push and drag things using your<br /> your horse half now the next part of a<br /> coin build is honestly something that we<br /> could have done in the monster centaur<br /> but didn’t bother because the monster<br /> centaur is controlled by the dungeon<br /> master but as soon as we take some<br /> things that work just fine in the DMS<br /> hands and put them into player’s hands<br /> they will sometimes need a few extra<br /> rules and so we realized we needed to<br /> account<br /> the fact that a player character who has<br /> four horse-like legs with hooves on the<br /> end is going to have a hard time<br /> climbing ladders and other things that<br /> are designed to work with human-like<br /> hands and feet<br /> yes that was my question kind of sent<br /> our climb a ladder so we we had an<br /> earlier version of this that basically<br /> just said your DM will decide that you<br /> can’t climb certain things but we<br /> decided we wanted to try out this<br /> approach of a simple rule where it just<br /> it costs you more feet to move on<br /> certain surfaces which is really just us<br /> tinkering with an R in the existing rule<br /> which I often like us to do because that<br /> way you feel like the game is sort of<br /> evolving naturally within itself it’s<br /> building on itself it’s not becoming too<br /> complex and it was also too juicy for to<br /> resist having it cost you four extra<br /> feet because of your 4 extra feet oh yes<br /> I’m not kidding James James why James<br /> Wyatt and I did that I beg all of your<br /> forgiveness I sent our organization oh<br /> so I am also guilty of many dead gems<br /> all right<br /> so finally the last bit of echoing build<br /> this this this multi-part trait is that<br /> a that the Centaur can serve as a mount<br /> for another medium creature yes and we<br /> put this in here at the last minute<br /> because we thought oh it’s so iconic for<br /> people to ride on Centaurs of various<br /> sizes you know there and so we thought<br /> well let’s put this in now I’ve gotten<br /> some wonderfully hilarious tweets about<br /> centaur stacks and what not about<br /> centaurs all climbing up on top of each<br /> other as I said by Twitter if that is<br /> your bliss please do it D&D is your game<br /> oh because<br /> our medium creatures they are medium<br /> creatures yes and so let’s take a look<br /> at the rule here because this is<br /> actually a great example for me to talk<br /> about rules design so it says a medium<br /> or smaller creature can ride on your<br /> equine back if you allow it in such a<br /> situation you continue to act<br /> independently not as a controlled mount<br /> okay one of the things that this rule is<br /> not doing well and I will critique this<br /> rule that I wrote which I often like to<br /> do because as I’ve off as I’ve often<br /> said one of the keys to being a game<br /> designer is be ready to critique your<br /> own stuff and kill your own stuff so one<br /> of my critiques of this rule is it is<br /> not obvious enough to the reader that<br /> this is tweaking the mounted combat<br /> rules in the combat chapter of The<br /> Player’s Handbook it just sort of<br /> assumes hey you have the rules in your<br /> head reader and here’s a tweak to it so<br /> one thing that would immediately help<br /> people comprehend the purpose of this a<br /> little bit about mounting is to say hey<br /> there are mounted combat rules go take a<br /> look at them now read this and this will<br /> hopefully make sense because the mounted<br /> combat rules say that for a creature to<br /> be a mount it must be one size larger<br /> than you it must have an Anatomy that is<br /> suitable for you to write on it and then<br /> once you’re writing on it that creature<br /> then either acts independently or it is<br /> entirely under your control okay<br /> so what this rule is doing is it’s<br /> saying very indirectly that when you use<br /> the mounted combat rules you’re still<br /> going to use those rules but with the<br /> two exceptions that are in this role<br /> which is you can be a mount for somebody<br /> who’s your size or smaller because<br /> normally the rule is they must be<br /> smaller than you and once they’re<br /> writing you you are always an<br /> independent mount it is not an option<br /> for you to be controlled by your writer<br /> what this does not do is get rid of the<br /> general rule about anatomy being<br /> appropriate and so that’s why we didn’t<br /> feel it was necessary to say<br /> tarz can’t write each other because<br /> they’re the general rule already covers<br /> anatomy and that if the DM decides that<br /> horses riding horses or horse you know a<br /> person with a horse like anatomy riding<br /> another person with horse like anatomy<br /> is appropriate anatomy that is that DMS<br /> prerogative and again follow your bliss<br /> but it’s important to know the intent<br /> here is that this is making two<br /> exceptions to the mounted combat rules<br /> which otherwise stand and that’s how<br /> exceptions to the rules always work<br /> whenever we make an exception to a rule<br /> we are only overwriting the parts that<br /> we explicitly overwrite otherwise the<br /> other rule stands now that all said this<br /> rule could be written better so that it<br /> actually tips you off as a reader of oh<br /> hey I need to go over and read the<br /> mounted combat rules now that all said<br /> there is a good chance that in the next<br /> round we would just cut this this bit<br /> about medium creatures writing these<br /> medium centaurs unless people are jazzed<br /> for it and then we’ll keep it alright we<br /> are almost done with the Centaur and I<br /> mean even how about we shall we be<br /> naughty and go a little pest we’re good<br /> let me let me shoehorn in a couple of<br /> quick announcements before we finish up<br /> with the Centaur we are in route to the<br /> stream of many eyes many of us are there<br /> already Pelham is already there Greg<br /> Tito is already there<br /> Chris Perkins might or might not be<br /> traveling so there is no DNG news today<br /> and dice camera action will be postponed<br /> until the Friday dice camera action game<br /> so I think Chris Chris is actually<br /> taking today off to prepare for well<br /> partly what he said this morning as<br /> having a day off yesterday he got a<br /> little too addicted to having a day off<br /> it might also have been there was too<br /> much insanity and my D&D game on<br /> Saturday<br /> no I think I think Chris is unbreakable<br /> yes so uh so this will be until we get<br /> to maze our can of this evening so no<br /> Dean dnews no dice camera action today<br /> we are so so we’re gonna go let’s go a<br /> little past three oh yeah no we’re fine<br /> going a little a little all right all<br /> right especially since we’ve lost sound<br /> there for a bit and we can we can wrap<br /> up the Centaur and then maybe answer a<br /> couple questions so maybe we’ll go<br /> toward like maybe 310 315 sure all right<br /> unless unless the stream says no and<br /> hits the gong and so it gets us out of<br /> here all right next up survivor this is<br /> this is a what I call a ribbon for those<br /> of you who haven’t heard this term<br /> before this is a term I came up with<br /> when we were designing fifth edition to<br /> refer to any feature in a character<br /> class or other element of the game<br /> that’s really there as a piece of<br /> character building a part of the world<br /> it is almost never meant to increase the<br /> character’s power if you’re wondering<br /> why I call it a ribbon it it it it is<br /> because actually I talked about it’s us<br /> tying ribbons in the character’s hair so<br /> you can imagine because they’re all so<br /> often things we add late in the design<br /> so it’s sort of like we have this fully<br /> formed design and then often I will come<br /> in at the end and tie these ribbons in<br /> the designs hair and then send them out<br /> the door I was thinking of a<br /> participation that that you can also you<br /> can also imagine it that way but so that<br /> said survivor is a ribbon this is not<br /> increasing the Centaurs power in any way<br /> this is a power neutral ad but again is<br /> tying in to the sort of reign jury and<br /> druid eel or that we were modeling when<br /> looking at the sort of medium centaurs<br /> of our of Dandy’s past for inspiration<br /> now we get to the hybrid nature trait<br /> which I talked about in our last stream<br /> about the Minotaur this is me<br /> experimenting with the creature having<br /> more than one type right quite honestly<br /> since and here again you get to see game<br /> development happening alive sin<br /> releasing this I’m already over hyper<br /> hybrid because because I have convinced<br /> me last time I know I want to try and<br /> see if there’s interaction so so I am<br /> demonstrating live on camera killing<br /> killing my own darlings it partly<br /> because I did a number of studies<br /> looking at our different creature types<br /> looking at other ways of achieving the<br /> design that I want us to achieve you<br /> know and realized I can achieve what I’m<br /> going for without walking down this<br /> potential crazy train of giving people<br /> more than one creature type for instance<br /> there’s a very good chance that if we<br /> take this centaur to the next step that<br /> its creature type would become Fae<br /> particularly because these medium<br /> centaurs are based on our most fail ike<br /> centaurs I had mentioned concerns about<br /> having nonhumanoid player characters<br /> particularly because of some hidden sort<br /> of immunities you get like suddenly a<br /> spell you know that targets only<br /> humanoids doesn’t work on you but since<br /> then I’ve I have analyzed all of the<br /> options in the game that do do that and<br /> actually the benefit you’re gaining from<br /> that immunity is pretty low because and<br /> also the number of monsters you’re going<br /> to meet who rely on casting hold person<br /> on you or something like that they’re<br /> actually are actually quite low so it’s<br /> a bit of complexity without a lot of<br /> utility and so that and that’s why the<br /> hybrid nature thing it it I am often<br /> eager to kill design including my own<br /> that ends up posing more questions than<br /> it answers so a good rule serves the DMS<br /> and the players in a straightforward way<br /> as possible the danger with this hybrid<br /> nature is it just starts posing all<br /> sorts of questions and we designed our<br /> game assuming everyone has one creature<br /> type<br /> that said we could make this work but<br /> also a decision I often have to make as<br /> the lead rules designer is what is<br /> worthwhile for us to make work because<br /> making these things work and have them<br /> not disrupt the game as a whole is an<br /> investment of time for us and I always<br /> have to decide what’s worth it because<br /> we want to make sure everything else is<br /> working well and I don’t want us to have<br /> to do a bunch of infrastructural work to<br /> make what’s ultimately a niche option<br /> functional when we can do it in a more<br /> straightforward way okay finally the<br /> these centaurs can speak common in<br /> Sylvan very appropriate especially for<br /> their they’re sort of Fae like origin so<br /> that’s that’s a little a fly through the<br /> centaur we had let’s see if we out gosh<br /> lots of questions yes can I kind of sent<br /> our write a broom a flying but that<br /> might just be for that that the DM can<br /> so in many of these many of these<br /> questions like what is an appropriate<br /> Anatomy for one thing to ride another<br /> these questions actually already exist<br /> in the game if you’re playing with just<br /> the players handbook because of the<br /> ability for people to change shape you<br /> know you already there’s the possibility<br /> that because of different body altering<br /> spells in the game and different magic<br /> items you can end up with an unusual<br /> Anatomy and anytime unusual and ahead of<br /> me meets some other object in the game<br /> if the rules don’t say how it interacts<br /> it’s it’s really up to the DM and in<br /> this and there’s no real wrong answer<br /> when it comes to crazy corner cases I<br /> say DMS follow your gut go for what’s<br /> the most fun for your group if you make<br /> a decision that you regret just let your<br /> group know and make another decision<br /> another time there is no change in<br /> evolving how you run your home game<br /> always in the pursuit of what’s fun for<br /> you and for your players let’s see some<br /> more questions we’ve had a quick one<br /> about you had mentioned in passing about<br /> a book and development when will new<br /> books be announced we will<br /> be making announcements at the stream in<br /> many eyes on the uprise weekend mm-hmm<br /> yes so look for that at 4:00 p.m. on<br /> Friday 4:00 p.m. Pacific time I don’t<br /> think in that particular case but as far<br /> as the the next books coming out do MMX<br /> yes I guess there are other centaur<br /> races that the<br /> let’s see honey things from dnews past<br /> oh let’s see what’s this one this is<br /> from raving ROG Jeremy what PC race<br /> would you want to add to 5e if you could<br /> add any from the Indies past that is a<br /> good question I so I love kind of all<br /> things faith so I would just keep<br /> bringing back certain Fae options that<br /> have appeared in the past satyrs we’ve<br /> had in the past yep we had Pixies in the<br /> past all of those I think would be fun<br /> to bring back at some point I forgot to<br /> ask you<br /> the Oxford comma yea or nay Oh the<br /> Oxford comma we use the Oxford comma in<br /> our books partly that’s because our<br /> publishing relies on the Chicago Manual<br /> of style and Chicago is all about the<br /> the Oxford comma I also like the Oxford<br /> comma because it’s hard to go wrong with<br /> it doing ap style where you don’t use<br /> the Oxford comma it can be very easy to<br /> end up with with goofy constructions<br /> where you eat shoots and leaves yes yeah<br /> you can you have the funny thing of like<br /> you know the valedictorian thanked her<br /> parents Nietzsche and God and if you’re<br /> missing the second comma then suddenly<br /> her parents are Nietzsche and God so yet<br /> where we are in an Oxford comma house<br /> any potential for playable races that it<br /> would include perhaps the gif or an Uzi<br /> or something along an outlander let’s<br /> say outliers on those lines possible<br /> that’s possible yeah<br /> like the gif which are in one Canaan’s<br /> Toma foes again our baby that came out<br /> today yeah if enough people want the<br /> gift let us know and it’s possible that<br /> it would be playable in in the future<br /> especially if we did something in the<br /> future that was focused on spell jammer<br /> then there’s a really really good chance<br /> that in a product like that the gift<br /> would be playable hey you know we did<br /> portals last year for extra life maybe<br /> there’s a case to be made for something<br /> like that as well yep<br /> oh I see someone saying the manual<br /> manual of style discussion is the<br /> nerdiest part of this so watch out I<br /> could do an entire talk on a Chicago<br /> mobster<br /> let’s see oh dude there was one about<br /> playable content beyond level 20<br /> if beyond 20 yeah<br /> so oh here we go is there a possum Jake<br /> for 13 question is there a possibility<br /> of adding prestige classes or levels 21<br /> through 30 or will we stay capped at 20<br /> the the level cap is unlikely to go<br /> above 20 part of that is we find and<br /> this has been true throughout the Indies<br /> history except for in 4th edition when<br /> the game’s cap was 30 that very little<br /> play occurs anywhere near level 20 and<br /> in fact even in an Edition like 4th<br /> edition where the levels went up to 30<br /> it was rare for play to go beyond level<br /> 20 so we’re we’re far more interested in<br /> just giving new stories for people to<br /> play in levels 1 through 20 and for<br /> anyone who hasn’t seen these options<br /> because I discovered actually quite a<br /> few people haven’t seen them there is a<br /> section in the Dungeon Master’s guide<br /> that gives a set of epic boons for 20th<br /> level characters and we designed those<br /> is essentially a way for you to keep<br /> advancing at the level cap and the boons<br /> are really neat because they give you a<br /> set of almost superpowers where you<br /> become this being capable of things well<br /> beyond what a regular adventurer could<br /> do if we find in you know the next few<br /> years that there’s huge demand for love<br /> for play at the level cap or beyond we<br /> would explore options but right now<br /> again and we’ve seen this not just in<br /> 5th edition but in first edition second<br /> edition third edition fourth edition<br /> like even when when<br /> pick options have been provided that go<br /> beyond level 20 very few people use<br /> those options no matter how they’re<br /> designed no matter how straightforward<br /> they are most people tend to want to<br /> play between about levels 1 and 10 or 12<br /> or so and so that’s that that is where<br /> we tend to focus our efforts but we we<br /> do as we did in Morton Canaan’s Tama<br /> foes make sure that we do you know each<br /> year have something for DMS to use it at<br /> higher levels there’s a good chance you<br /> may or may not hear about something soon<br /> that also has some higher level stuff in<br /> it so but yeah keep talking to us we we<br /> listen we it is rare for us to say we<br /> will never do something because one of<br /> our our main things is listening to all<br /> of you and play we play DMD constantly<br /> so we’re also always have our eyes out<br /> for things that pop up in our own dandy<br /> play and and see ha there’s a new<br /> direction for us to go in we’ll see<br /> maybe one more we’re getting close to<br /> 3:15 so again thank you so much for<br /> everyone<br /> tuning in thank you to our followers and<br /> subscribers as always it’s all greatly<br /> appreciated we will be seeing many of<br /> you hopefully during the stream of many<br /> eyes taking place in June 1st through<br /> 3rd on the DD twitch channel look for us<br /> 4 p.m. Pacific on Friday – to kick<br /> things off and yeah there are still a<br /> few tickets available for the sunday<br /> games so if you are in the los angeles<br /> area please consider a ticket and you’d<br /> be able to get get your feet into the<br /> set and watch a live game and get a cool<br /> bag of dean d swag which I believe<br /> includes a copy of Morton Kamen’s nice<br /> yes yeah and come so you can talk to me<br /> yes so take a look at the DMV website<br /> we’ve got the list of special guests<br /> that will be appearing we continue to<br /> add to that as the<br /> the days go by so we got one more one<br /> more question and that will go on yes<br /> yeah yeah up one here<br /> rebooting settings there’s I’ve seen<br /> dark Sun pop up multiple times so more<br /> than once I see here is dark Sona when<br /> not and if so in the core books we have<br /> direct and indirect references to almost<br /> all of Dee Dee’s classic settings and so<br /> we consider all of them possibilities<br /> and we we are fans of many of those<br /> settings like I often say on Twitter how<br /> much I love dragon lands I love<br /> Ravenloft there are things I love in<br /> gray Hawk and misstara and dark Sun and<br /> you know many people in the department<br /> have different settings that are you<br /> know their favorites and all of those<br /> things are are definitely in the realm<br /> of possibility okay that that we as we<br /> did with cursive straud you know we we<br /> like thinking about going on journeys to<br /> different places in the multiverse and<br /> really it’s just about you know when is<br /> a good time for us to do it and you know<br /> how best can it slot in to the other<br /> stories we’re telling because we also we<br /> really kind of like this organic field<br /> that we’ve started to develop of feeling<br /> like the products tie in with each other<br /> in various ways so I’m hearing a firm<br /> non-committal but the doors are always<br /> open well and I think I think you can<br /> look at even a book like Morden Kanan<br /> stoma phos which is filled with with<br /> references to many different D&D worlds<br /> that you can see that in product after<br /> product that those pot those doors have<br /> possibility remain open right it’s it’s<br /> a different approach right I mean if not<br /> a book maybe there are pieces that have<br /> already appeared and books and continued<br /> will continue to appear<br /> folks moving forward yeah yeah cuz we at<br /> the end of the day whenever I get asked<br /> like what is what is DS official setting<br /> and the answer I always give is the<br /> official setting of D&D is the D&D<br /> multiverse which includes all of the<br /> classic worlds and it also includes your<br /> home campaign settings that there’s this<br /> idea that all of these worlds somehow<br /> tie together in in the grand D&D cosmos<br /> you know with these cosmic villains<br /> trying to worm their way into different<br /> worlds where you can go on you know<br /> grand planer adventures and visit these<br /> different places so that ultimately is<br /> the DND setting and that’s why we focus<br /> on the multiverse in the players<br /> handbook because you’ll notice then The<br /> Player’s Handbook no particular world is<br /> focused on as like the world of D&D we<br /> mentioned you know we mentioned<br /> Dragonlance we mentioned Grayhawk we<br /> mentioned the Forgotten Realms we<br /> mentioned misstara<br /> and more ever on and and so on and<br /> that’s because again the setting it’s at<br /> all of them and we’ll just see where<br /> where the journey and that great<br /> multiverse takes us all right and we’ll<br /> be finding out more of that journey on<br /> on Friday<br /> that’s my Segway yes again thank you for<br /> tuning in today and we’ll see you on<br /> Friday again for folks tuning in a<br /> little bit later here<br /> there’s no dandy news there’s no dice<br /> camera action today folks are getting<br /> ready for the stream of many eyes in Los<br /> Angeles on Friday through Sunday and and<br /> we hope to see you then<br /> so thanks as always if we did not get<br /> you a question we will be going back<br /> through and collecting them so please do<br /> not feel that it was sent out into the<br /> ether we do read all questions even if<br /> we don’t have an opportunity to to<br /> address them all all right well it was a<br /> pleasure as always Jeremy thanks Barton<br /> we’ll we’ll do it again real soon great<br /> bye everyone<br /> [Music]<br /> Share this:TweetWhatsAppTelegramEmail
