Throughout the video you can hear me agreeing with Phil as he's talking, I wanted to make sure he felt relaxed and it felt conversational, but it's pretty distracting to the listener. We could have pulled my audio down when Phil was talking but I wanted to get the video up today. I'll do better next time.

Phil is my friend, former boss, former DM, current player in the Chain of Acheron, illustrator, character designer, executive art director, co-owner at turtlerock studio, the Unburnt, Protector of the seven Kingdoms, Prince of Dragonstone and the King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.

we ask matt for a campaign diary with phil and get an interview. he is truly a river to his people!

Wohooo! So excited by these interviews which help share decades of experience with all of us new to the community!

"I have to believe in it if I'm going to sell it to the players." -Phil Robb, newest entry in my personal Appendix N. Something I've struggled to articulate for years to fellow DMs who accuse me of doing a lot of work that nobody else is going to care about.

MCDM needs to get Phil as an author for one of their physical products. A large multi level adventure from this guy would be awesome.

There is a real easy way to point players to the presence of traps.... have one triggered and fail. For example... take the Trap Phil described with the twisting tunnel and have that trap triggered. The Group comes to a section where rock is blocking part of the way, the hallways is crooked and the body of a crushed monster is hanging out in bits and pieces. The players now have to reset the trap to advance. Something of the monster got caught in the mechanism and prevents the trap from resetting. They have to either scramble over the crushing rock or reset the trap and then move on. Since the disabled trap is an obstacle you can have them work and interact with traps and the concept of traps... and they now are well aware that the area has some pretty dangerous traps.

I want to work for Phil. He seems intense, demanding, and very thoughtful.

I think an appropriate title for Phil’s style as a DM is “engineer”. His world comes to form through the mechanisms and functions. I think that is why his world feels believable and lo-fantasy. It seems to me that Phil doesn’t particularly want magic in his world, because it cannot be explained logically. However, instead of not using it all, it’s painted as a new discovery and one that’s almost explicable, but not common knowledge. Clever way to limit an aspect without removing it entirely.

I think a third camera where you could cut to a wide shot would be a good addition, but I don't know if your studio is conducive to that. I'm not done yet, but I really love this format and I'm excited for you to get more folks in to do this!

Around the 40 minute mark was awesome, it started flow in to two friends just talking about running D&D. Not an interview, not a campaign diary, just two friends talking. You can genuinely feel the love :)

Honestly, Phil is the type of DM I aspire to be. I'm pretty new to the hobby and am still only a teen, so seeing DMs out there that do *now* what I want to get good at in the future is really inspiring. So thanks Mr. Matt, and Mr. Phil!!!!

Great conversation/interview! Now get Anna! Get Dael! It would be cool to have people newer to the DM role interviewed.

Whoa, the Misenchanted Sword, that’s a real blast from the past.

Yes! Phil did such a fantastic job. It is always a great thing to get other DMs mindsets and perspectives.

I think I would prefer a wide screen shot of both of y'all at once the whole way through, or a split screen of each of your personal cameras at the same time. Love the interview!

Phil's experience with starting D&D is almost exactly the same as mine! Same time frame, same red box....amazing!

this is possibly the most useful video you have ever done, and I have found a veritable wealth of knowledge in your videos to date. This interview, though, is incredibly insightful. Walking through the process of having no plans to run a game, to running one a week later, and then running another two sessions after that is an incredible and informative example stop how to take inspiration and run with it, which we both know is half the DND game. Then after that, just the back and forth as you basically both break down the game at the same time like a campaign diary, it was just a wealthy, wealthy episode.

LOVE Phil, his characters of Basra and General Bone Spures had me rolling on my floor laughing.

phil rules

Phill Robb sounds like a wonderful DM. As a guy who has been playing and DMing since 1981, I can’t express enough gratitude for how much insight and inspiration I get from watching these videos.

Phil's eyes are gorgeous. I'm mesmerized everytime I look at him.

I ran an all dwarf party. Anything that does poison damage is useless against their resistance. Wyverns, Green Dragons, Devils, you name it, are all chewed up by dwarves.

The dungeon ecology issue has actually lead to the creation of whole sub genres and campaign settings in the past. The entire reason Castle Ravenloft and Strahd exist is because the original authors of that setting were playing a run of the mill dungeon crawl and stopped in the middle of a session to ask "Why is Dracula hanging out in this dungeon two doors down from a room full of orcs and three doors before a small red dragon?"

Phil's attention to detail and hardworking really shows. His world is very easy to get immersed in. He's the kind of DM whose game you feel lucky to be in.

Hell yeah, really looking forward to watching Phil's thoughts on DMing

Love the conversation! It feels very natural and organic. I love the responses, threads the conversation. :)

Heck yeah! Phil is great and so are you! Keep up the excellent content

Knowing Matt is a fan of Venture Bros. makes me like him even more.

I am very much like Phil and I very much like Phil. So it makes sense.

I think I can say, without fear of hyperbole, that this video has been one of the single greatest resources for me as a DM.

As a fledgling DM, and after watching the the episodes Phil ran, this interview had been incredibly helpful. Listening to Phil self critique his work and describe his thought process had been very insightful. Thank you.

First of all, Phil did an amazing job DMing and I can't wait to see the continued adventures of this dwarven party and see more of the Phil's world. Second, this is a great interview with the two of you. I love hearing the insight that you both bring to the game. The only critique I have (as if I'm qualified to critique anyone) is it would have been nice to see you both sitting together in frame, instead of the back and forth camera shots. Thank you for sharing this interview with the masses.

I appreciated this interview. Recollecting the memories of the origin of the hobbies we love is great to hear from other fans.

Great conversation. Nice to see the juxtaposition of the view of a player versus the view of a DM to the same content. I hope someone who sees this can pass on my appreciation to Phil for both being willing to run the game, and have a candid chat about it :)

Cool! Haven't seen one of these in a while, love to hear more from Phil!

Ooh! Sexy professional KZfaq end screen! Love it! I love seeing how much this channel-both content and professionalism-has developed. Here’s to more growth, success, and ultimately more freedom to do cool stuff with your friends!

This minicampaign would make an EPIC Jim Henson movie!

I'd love to see Matt interview the other players in the chain! It's cool to hear the stories of how people got into D&D

Thank you guys so much for doing this!!

Phil was an excellent DM and I look forward to anything he or anyone else that you guys have come in to run games and whatnot.

I LOVED Nox! I had no idea Phil worked on that. So many hours of my childhood was spent along with my brother and sister playing that game. I already loved Phil, I had no idea I could love him even more! Is Phil the guy who did that cool drawing of Hecuba?

I am running a low magic campaign and love that Phil has a similar philosophy. I put together a list of special weapons from history with simple stat buffs. Phil having +1 swords be well made weapons and rare tobacco having some small benefits connects the players with the world. If every item an skill is explained through magic, you lose out on natural skill, talent or success because all the good stuff only comes about through magic.

Ugh! At work! Can’t watch yet! Very excited for this one, Phil was awesome and I look forward to hearing some of his insights.

I am so excited to watch this! I loved the interview with Jim Murphey, now we have Phil Robb! Please do more, we love these!!

Jeez Phil....that's me to a tee! Started with 'The Hobbit' and then discovered the Dragonlance books! All the while trying to figure out the basic 'red box'. I just love it that a world away (I'm in Sydney) there were other kids discovering this stuff the same way! Nice!

Finally finished this and had the thought that I’d really enjoy seeing Matt interview more people about D&D and other RPG systems.

This was so insightful. I fully appreciate the level of detail Phil puts into his descriptions. I am the same type of "does it work " dm. I think that's why I enjoyed the world and the adventure. Thanks Phil for the game and Matt for this interview.

Woo, so been looking forward to this!

I just want to say that Phil is an inspiration. That I love Matt's work, but I feel way out of my league aiming to do a campaign like the Chain. But Phil has in his own way reminded me of a campaign I was considering years ago. I hope to see more of his world as time passes. Keep up the good work, MCDM!

Thanks Phil, Matt, that was great, the three parter was great, just received strongholds & followers in the mail, which looks great, the art pieces are magnificent, I might be a bit critical in how the layout has some elements that to me clashes with each other, other then that I'm looking forward to returning to what's in store for the chain in a few hours, and I hope we get more Phil or some one else as a interlude again, been great fun watching.

When this video came out I don't think I was ready for it. I watched the first few minutes and moved on because I really didn't what Phil said. He wasn't you. Now I'm back 3 years later and his perspective is not only interesting, but also useful. Thanks to you and Phil for sharing this with us.

More interviews with the players please! They are so great to listen to!

Regarding the wyvern talk and how GMs are way more critical of their encounters results, always remembers that we (GMs) only see the RESULT of the encounter, not the taxing mental process of 5-ish people racking their brains to solve the problems. Because they ended the challenge quickly and brillantly doesn't mean they didn't sweat but that they successfully simulated dozens of possible TPK scenarios collectively and made sure they didn't go there. "Making it look easy is hard work"

Loved the little end slate. As well as the actual video.

Thank you Phil for doing this! and you too Matt : great video

Great video, keep doing what your doing. Thanks to Phil for putting it cam!

Inspiring. Matt did a great job with RTG preparing me for DMing, but there's stuff here that really resonates with me too. Thanks for doing this.

This was awesome. Phil’s setting and DMing is well thought out and totally engaging.

TY ! @Matthew Colville These vids are exceptionally helpful in terms of "how to structure" your dnd world/character! essentially this video is like a d20 crit on insight.

Shoutout for Twilight 2000!!

This makes me glad to see

Listening to this while working on my setting and Nox was a GREAT game! Back in the day I pulled many an all-nighter playing Nox. Phil = amazing!

This video is great! I'm a new GM and I feel like this video helps me focus on how I want to run games. You are asking Phil questions I need to ask myself and I find his answers really relatable being an artist myself. Also, always loving it when someone references Elric.

amazing interview. the insight into a thought-out, more simulatory style of DMing is really interesting and inspiring!

Great chat! Really enjoyed it!

I loved the stream and this interview! I would love to have more of this short adventures (or heck even a long one!) with Phil. Would be nice for MCDM to have multiple campaigns going on, but of course time! In any case, I can't wait to see what you guys do next.

Fantastic video! I need to go back and finish watching the sessions. I think Phil is my favorite. Don’t tell the others.

Thanks Phil! Love ya!

Great discussion that, as someone who has been playing a while, I think can be invaluable to new and old GM/DM alike. The different thought processes of people who run rpgs shows off the idea that there is no one true way to do it. Plus the specific input of someone who is a visual artist and how they create their adventures was neat. I look forward to seeing more and different games as well.

Hey Matthew, I'm a new follower of yours that is currently watching all of the "Running the Game" playlist that you have. I recently finished watching #8 and I just wanted to thank you for saying some of the things you said in that episode. You earned a lot of respect from me, even if you may not have from others (I assume that's why comments are disabled for it) and I hope you keep putting out content so that when I catch up to your 2019 videos there's more to watch from you! Keep up the fun times.

Great interview Matt! You should do more of those, invite other DMs (they don’t have to be “famous” DMs) it’s really interesting listening to your and Phils opinions and experiences. And you’re a great interviewer,really interesting questions. I would definitely watch a channel where you play a one(2-3)-shot and then have an iterview with the DM...or maybe every time you need a break from the Chain :)

Awesome video guys! Thanks to Phil for sharing!

I really enjoyed the perspective of the artist part of the interview. Thank you.

Can't believe this is happening, super totally awesome!

Extremely high quality content, well done

This is so great you guys, such a pleasure to get play-by-play insight from another DM. Thank you so much for doing this, can't wait to see what happens next in this campaign. Has anyone else considered running a mini-campaign? I'd love to see Ana or Lars run a couple sessions and get different insights.

Hey there, Pretty cool shirt ya got there! Looking forward to catching up on Phil's sessions. See y'all tonight.

I've been catching up on Vallenguard in podcast format. It's been a really fun listen, reminds me of the vibe in my own games.

Thank you Matt for a fantastic look in to Phil's DM mind. The story sounds very cool. I'm really liking the idea that a coven of hags would each have their own swarms. It's very thematic.

I am so happy you guys pronounce 'niche' the right way.

It's very helpful to see his reasoning. Great video!

More of these please

Phil is down on himself despite doing a fantastic job! He was awesome especially as he was DMing on stream for the 1st time. This was a great miniseries. Love that the introduction fights with each hag were more about flavour then epic battles as kept the pacing going, allowed for more RP then just combat which suited most of the players. I found this really helpful to see for my DMing (im quite new to it) as I'm often feeling the same way, that I want each battle to be epic. However, often players are just happy to get the feels of a battle before continuing the story, leaving the epic battle to the BBEG. Was great to see even Lars be more expressive with his RP and I think that was in part from the others enthusiasm.

Should give Deadlands a gander Mr, Robb! Great setting and very spaghetti western and monsters. Thank you all for sharing your content. As an old school gamer I get your references and I know what it was like to start in the 80's I got in in '79 myself. Very cool stuff.

That was good. Phil, you did a great job! :D

That was great! Love the conversational style. I, like Phil, like my world to make sense. A lot of the work in my setting is finding a way to EXPLAIN, for example, how helpless peasant-towns exist in a world where a monster can and will regularly walk into town and eat half of you or kidnap your daughter (in my world they don't- all settlements are walled and protected by a fighting force). I love hearing about how Phil plans monster ecosystems. I plan on copying that idea of "ecological niches" for my future dungeons!

Hey Matt, don't know if you'll read this, but I have been watching a lot of your videos lately. Thank you for them. I really enjoy your perspective. Yesterday I ordered a copy of Strongholds and Followers and I have been reading through the PDF. The level of detail is amazing and you sir do great work. Thank you.

This was great!

I really like your game room. I need more bookshelves in mine!

Really enjoyed that.

“That wyvern went down quick.” This is why I don’t use my beloved wyverns anymore. They never seem to be a challenge.

I would consider myself one of the fresh bloods, 5e being my first tabletop system. I just wanted to say that these "DM Interviews" are almost like historical videos for me. I grew up a huge fantasy nut, played tons of video games and such that wouldn't exist if it weren't for D&D. It's awesome to listen to these interviews, hearing about some of the ways D&D was played differently and it's cool to see the history and how it's affected me through the 20 years I've been alive.

loved this

This is truly great stuff!...Weirdly, Phil and I have almost identical background/ gaming arcs, same age, interests, etc.... It's kind of like watching another version of myself in a parallel universe / alternate reality.Keep doing what you guys do!

This was great. Phill was a lot of fun to watch run. Looking forward to Töm's first jaunt behind the screen.

Hope you do an interview with Dael Kingsmill.

Hmm...I want to play in Phil's campaigns with him being a DM. I don't care if he would have animosity towards my elf I'd still love it! I love what he's done with the visual representation, I love what he's done for the world, ecology, connected economy, believability. It all just resonates with how I'd want to play on a 5th dimension level it's making my goosebumps have goosebumps.

the handout is sick, makes me want to do something similar!!

Matt... I love that shirt... Really gets the chooch factor goin