Dear Tom (otherwise known as the Grungeon Master), I've tried to capture in the words the feeling that your videos invoke in me for quite some time. And I think I've finally done it: your videos make me feel like a child, exploring new wonders of the world, that I never heard of, seen or even knew existed. I've consumed a whole lot of content over the years and sometimes it feels like it all has been done before and we can do nothing about it. But then your video comes out and you tell me about those who were chosen to be the shepherd of all, and I sit on silence for a few minutes, flabbergasted by the sheer fact that no one talks about it. It is so evocative, inspiring, creative and simultaneously so simple that I can't help my self, but to applaud you for the work you do. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!

So an interesting chosen people that I've seen are the Catfolk in Pathfinder who claim that they were uplifted by the gods from normal cats as guardians against threats to the world and the other sentient races leading to them becoming common as monster hunters and other types of adventurers.

The best way to use prophecy in games that i have experienced is when the GM uses them against the players. A player as the chosen one is boring and alienating but when the players have to stop an antagonistic chosen one, they either win a battle against a supposed destiny or the story resolves with the ramifications of the bad guy winning as it comes to pass. If you really want a player to be the prophecy hero, you could make it vague enough that any player could fulfill it and that could be interesting if the player is also forced to accept a tragic end for their character. Plus it allows me to keep PC mortality in doubt and i do love that...

I’d love to hear your take on Charisma.

A friend and I are running a club, which is up to 5 tables now (5 DMs), and we are running a mega campaign, where everyone is technically a chosen one. It falls under the chosen people/group, and it's working out great.

Another way to do the chosen one is to have him be a complete unknown. So say, a prophecy says _'the hero will be born in the year of the great meeting, in the land of the earth's fire'_ . It can be interpreted in a dozen different ways, and maybe everyone misses the hero, because they were born on some far-flung desolate island that happens to have been raised by a volcano, and the 'great meeting' with a bunch of tribal chiefs gathering to discuss the fact that the fishing was bad this year, and now they're short of food. And then he turns up, and manages, seemingly by accident, to overcome the big bad, and it's only when it's all over that everyone realises he was the 'hero' all along, but they all ignored him, because "hey the people who live on those islands are nobodies, they'll never amount to anything".

Not chosen one, but I made with my dm a small list of omens for him to put into the game as my god's influence (I was playing a cleric). Unfortunately this adventure didn't go far but the idea was very cool.

I quite like the approach of Practical Guide to Evil, where there are people that fall into a narrative and thus ARE the Black Knight, The Wise Mentor, The White Knight and the like, each empowered and bound by the story they represent.

Many deities - singular chosen Single deity - chosen people

As a.ways, well researched, debated in depth while keeping dynamism and ease of usage in play… congratulations for the powerful work, Tom!

Here's to my buddy Russell, who played a priest of Helm back in the 3.5e days.. The group always teased him for being a 'chosen one'. 😅😊

Frodo was a chosen one because he was the least dangerous one to take the ring. Part of the point was that Gandalf, and Galadriel, and Boramir couldn't take it.

One thing is D&D heavily leans into great man narratives just by its mechanics and world. In real life, Napoleon only commands an army. His only power above anyone else is that he is tactically brilliant and a lot of armed men have invested their loyalty into him while being under his command. Napoleon was just was just as vulnerable to damage as anyone else. Was average height for the time and place. Was not better armed than any other reasonably well equipped soldier. Was not better trained in individual combat, etc. The only thing he can do that can really influence the world more than one soldier is help inspire and coordinate large groups of people. That is NOT how D&D works. Anyone with more than a couple of adventurer levels, especially in anything magic, probably can beat Napoleon in a one on one fight and transform the world completely singlehandedly in ways that would require Napoleon to have an army.

Nice little Good Omens reference there

I want to see more Characters chosen to be Villains or Major Antagonists in history

I think the wheel of time books handle this situation quite well, spoilers if you haven't read, while there is a chosen one in the character of Rand as the Dragon Reborn (a prophesied reincarnation), two other characters, mat and perrin, are chosen as Ta'veren, those able to affect lives and probability unknowingly both for the positive and the negative, both of whom resist that they are important, but in addition to those three chosen ones, the books also contain multiple other main POV characters that have dramatic impacts on the world and events through effort and determination unrelated to being "chosen". I would say that this kind of model is ideal for TTRPG, give other characters things that the chosen one(s) cannot do

I came up with a character (not for DnD, an original story i want to make) who is a "false" chosen one, in that he's invented his own myth, but by the end of the story he fulfills his prophecy

This kinda makes me think the cosmere, and especially Stormlight Archive, is actually packed full to the brim with chosen ones. Every Knight Radiant is chosen by their spren, who feels a pull to them based on them exhibiting potential for their order. And then there's the possibility of more subtle chosen ones: a chosen one who isn't destined by some prophecy or pointed out by a power as chosen to do this or that duty, but rather a mortal who is set up by a god (or other similarly powerful being) as a pawn to do a thing. There are several cases of a Shard (powerful godlike beings in the cosmere) choosing a mortal for a specific task, not telling anyone about it, and manipulating circumstances in such a way that the task gets fulfilled. The presence of such chosen ones really highlights chosenness being a burden and an imposition on your free will (even if it doesn't fully do away with it), even if the chosen one doesn't get reluctant about it. Because in these cases, finding out you were chosen to do something means finding out you were manipulated. And in Mistborn era 2, we do get a reluctant chosen one, who argues with his chooser. Reluctant chosen ones are a much older concept, but this chosen one has some power in conversations with his chooser: due to how the magic system is set up, he can basically end any conversation with the chooser whenever he wishes. The biblical equivalent of this would be if Noah, upon being tasked to build the ark, went "bro please I've done enough, let me rest" and cut the conversation so that God has to send an angel to persuade him into doing it. And in era 1 we get three different types of chosen ones: we get the pawn who we don't know is chosen, we get the prophesied hero who fits the prophecy but the prophecy is so vague that the ascription of the title from the prophecy happens after the fact based on the character fulfilling the prophecy, and we get a character who is openly given power at the end of the series by a godlike being to do a task to preserve and cultivate something (said character is history by the time era 2 rolls around). And Warbreaker, one of my favorite cosmere works to try and phrase in generic fantasy terms: a world in which one country ignores and fears chosen ones for the requirements the magic system puts on them, and another country fosters a culture of chosen ones shirking their chosen duties in favor of living in ostentatious luxury. Also, casual necromancy is common there, and the chosen ones who spend their time loitering in luxury keep an army of undead. Necromancy of course is taboo in the other country we're introduced to, but only because all magic is taboo there.

Tom out here giving out information you normally need college-level comparative religion courses to get. No, that is not an exaggeration. I believe I said this in the prophecy video, but Wheel of Time plays with both Prophecy and Omen in clever ways. Prophecies are always true! But they're rarely *clear* . Or they're clear, but people don't think them through. One character gets one from a character who is never wrong about them: she finds out her unborn twins will live to accomplish something in the future. So she starts behaving like she's immortal...until she's brought down and nearly captured by enemies who are fully capable of caesareans and evil magical processes to finalize gestation. She escapes this, but adjusts her behavior. And this is one of the circumstances where people were sure of whom the prophecies even applied to. Because normally they're tied to *omens* that can and do apply to multiple people, often at the same time. As to Chosen people. Karen Miller's Empress and the following books explore what happens if the deity that did the choosing is viciously evil. D&D has Chosen *individuals* often. Sometimes it's as simple as Elminster and Mystra. Sometimes as complex as Farideh and...well, spoilers. But D&D has an interesting version of a Chosen *People* told in ludonarrative. The Shadar-kai (I may have commented this before) were malicious shadow-fey, who were so offended at the existence of other beings that they tried to conduct a ritual to shunt the Material Plane into the Plane of Shadow. Heroes intervened, dramatic sacrifice, etc. The ritual inverted, and ripped the Shadar-Kai through instead. Now trapped in the Shadowfell, cut off from the nature they were intrinsically a part of, the whole species began to waste away. The only way they could find to stave this off was extreme sensation. Any would do, but pain and associated sensations are easiest of course. So they built equipment that caused it, and went on Material Plane raids for victims to inflict it on, and yes they were made after Warhammer 40k's Drukhari, why do you ask? But the species was still doomed, for all of this. Except that, in 5e D&D, they are more elves than full fey now, akin to the change Eladrin underwent. And they are, all of them, beholden to the Raven Queen. Her Chosen People, to execute Her will when She has great need. And the wasting is gone. It's never stated anywhere, but the implication is very clear. She saved them. And that's the kind of background and story exploring this topic lets you put into your games, or even characters. Well, *well* worth exploring, I think.

Great take!

I am imagining the exploration of a reluctant, or miss identified, chosen one. Perhaps he is followed about by a group of the chosen people who are tasked with facilitating his rise, while being pursued by an opposed Cabal, who seek to stop him at all costs. Very reminiscent to Monty pythons life of Brian.

I love the book series "Wings of Fire"'s take on a Chosen One Prophecy. In the story there are 5 Dragon kingdoms at war over the succession of the Sand Kingdom's Queen. Then an Oracle from one of the (seemingly) uninvolved kingdoms shows up some years into the war with a Prophecy that 5 specific Dragons will be born on a specific night, and they shall be the ones to end the war and decide the new Sandwing Queen.... (Spoilers ahead) He was Lying. The Nightwing Kingdom have long been known to have mysterious divination powers but none of them have actually had a real prophecy in a long time so they isolated themselves to maintain the image of being powerful and mysterious while in reality they have fallen quite fallen into disarray and their people are running out of resources. They came up with the prophecy as a distraction so to cover their real goal of invading another Kingdom However a lot of Dragons took the Prophecy seriously and even though the Chosen dragon find out that the Prophecy is fake they still end up completing the Prophecy because they chose to but they do it their own way.

Thank you for this wonderful and (as per usual,) intriguing perspective! I’m currently playing a homebrewed DND campaign (as the DM) and these videos have been amazing at helping to get my thoughts going and help me to develop my world! As always, I look forward to your next video!😊

Great vid!

I’d enjoy a series on representing each stat as a personality trait or habitual behaviour

Charisma video pls. I desire to hear you speak of how a bard can convince every Kingdom (in fantasy) concurrently.

No one view of history (linear, cyclical, great man, thesis antithesis synthesis, etc) covers it exactly. But can we deny that some people definitely have an oversized impact on history, especially if it doesn't matter how they got that impact? Also, chosen ones only challenge free will when from an infallible source, and even then you can have arguments against it. Long story short, I agree with Darwin that determinism and free will are not only compatible, but the former is necessary for the latter (or at least the latter to mean anything). And savior narratives? By that logic, the only way to really avoid that is to have a narrative either only focused on the main characters personal stakes (and them all dealing with that roughly evenly), or the characters to play little or no part in the over all efforts to solve a problem.

This is my most hated trope, but I would say you have refined what's good and interesting about it while leaving behind what can be lazy and formulaic about it.

There is no problem with Chosen one trope itself. The problemy is when such person do not deserve status and basically become Mary Sue. With clever writing we may actually play on this trope, with people actually having expectations toward someone, especially if that someone do not actually have ambition to be better then others.

God I love your videos so much!!

Player Character as the chosen one of an evil god, rebelling against their destiny. The party's mission is to keep their heart off that damned(literally) altar.

Use the "chosen one". The one may be chosen for greatness, but does the one chosen want the greatness?

Personally I want to see Chosen One Villains tbh

Is the background music you’re using hinei ma tov?

the Buffy game does this well, as long as the GM keeps it in mind..

The best "Chosen One" story ever made is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No question. Buffy fixes all the standard Chosen One story telling problems by saying right from the start that being the Chosen One means she's going to die a horrible death at far too young an age while fighting alone in the darkness. If you want your Chosen One story to mean something, make it clear from the start that they are "Chosen" to die.

I really like The Chosen One system in Dragon's Dogma. anymore I'll say about it's system will be full of spoilers so I'll stop.

please make a video about neurodiversity/the autism spectrum in fantasy

Tom, sir.. I have a few topics I'd like to throw your way.. Will email them to you. 😊

Have you not watched the original Transformers series? Rodimus Prime had, at times, complained of why he was the chosen one and doubts whether he could lead the Autobots. Let face it, the Autobots were leaded by Optimus Prime, basically a version of Superman, for millions of years. Also, in the fifth movie, and possibly in the fifth book, Harry confesses to Sirius whether or not he will become a dark lord himself. Finally, arguably, the most famous chosen one is Anakin Skywalker, and we know how his story goes. (Hint: go watch the first 6 movies, and you see what I see.)

Have an engagement cookie.

I still think that Star Wars did the chosen one thing right.

On a whole I still disagree, other than Omens are a lot better than prophesy, since Omens are more about how people reach to the Omen than elevating one person.

I mean, to be fair, "simply evil monsters" is probably an apt description of any group committed to exemplifying this trope. It's hard to be "God's chosen race" without ending up with the biblical atrocities against Jericho or the Amalekites as basically an average Wednesday if you have any power at all and the will to use it.

You have a complete misunderstanding of the Jewish concept of being the chosen people. This is common, as it is a projection of Christian and pagan concepts. For the Jewish people, it is merely that they were chosen to be the ones who follow the law of God, the Torah. (Actually they chose it, so it should be the "choosing people", but whatever.)

Listen here bud, this is one of my most despised tropes. You better have a good justification...

Please don't group Jewish tradition in with Christianity. It may seem like they are similar, based on a very cursory understanding of either one (or both), but they are VASTLY different traditions. I'm not surprised people group them together, they do have a lot of surface similarities -- thats what happens when Christians misappropriate your culture's deeply held spiritual beleiefs and texts, dont understand them, mistranslate them for almost 3 millenia, and force it down the throats of people who don't want it -- but they are VASTLY different things. "Judeo-Christian" isn't a thing, and changing the terminology but not the inherent point of view is no different. Judaism is also a closed (or at very least, heavily restricted) practice, as just one example. Also the very way we concieve of very fundamental concepts, like faith, "good works", the nature of the divine, what happens to the soul after death....pretty muhc everything of any real importance. Also, your characterisation of "chosen people" in "monotheistic" tradition is a prime example of this. Your explanation is good, but....culturally Christian. It is inherently based on a Christian misunderstanding of what the hebrew "am segula" ("people who have been chosen") means. In every single normative strain of Judaism that has ever existed, this term is understood that the Jewish people, specifically, were "chosen" *specifically to recieve the Torah*, but this doesn't make the Jews "higher" (if anything, it gave the Jewish people more responsibilites, greater theological rules, etc etc etc), and that many other people can, were, and will be chosen *for other things*. So like your whole entire explanation of why "Chosen People" narrative is not inherently bad and can be done sensitively is indeed a valid point, it is still a Christian one, and one which, I hope, demonstrates why lumping Jewish and Christian traditions together is inherently problematic.

why do we feel the need to straight wash petrochlese and achiles? they were lovers they were obviously lovers if that makes you uncomfortable id worry about why that is from a personal perspective

god creATED HUManity solelly tortotortue us forever why am A aatheit beleive in scoence