The State of D&D / Should Drow be Evil? - Feat. AJ Pickett & Jorphdan

Рет қаралды 106,693

2 жыл бұрын

Check out Quest-O-Nomicon! bit.ly/3xolHxp
AJ Pickett - / ajpickett
Jorphdan - / jorphdan
Support me on Patreon! ► / mrrhexx
Follow me on Twitter! ► / mrrhexx
Business Only Email ► MrRhexxGames@gmail.com
For art submissions, send it here! ► rhexxart@gmail.com
Please make sure you only send art that you have yourself created, and make sure to give me the name you want the piece to be attributed to.
For epic boxed text descriptions of your favorite D&D monsters, locations, or even spells check out dscryb.com/rhexx Sign up with code "rhexx" to get 10% off!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MUSIC
Crypto by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
Revival by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: filmmusic.io/standard-license

Пікірлер: 1 500

@MrRhexx 2 жыл бұрын

I had some recording issues, so the video is stuck at 720p. Sorry about that fellas! On the plus side WE HAVE NEW MERCH! mrrhexx.com/

@huntermay8322 2 жыл бұрын

if they complain just have them use a SD monitor than they can say "im playing at max res!"

@FreedomAndPeaceOnly 2 жыл бұрын

Drow are influenced by a Deity to think in vain & superiority complex manners that also comes with malevolence if met with defiance. To me this are evil traits. It does not matter if they had no _"free choice"_ in that manner. Fact is - they are the "sh°thole culture" of D&D and should not be let into the West, eh on the surface I mean, if not properly reformed. Everything else is madness. ;) *AND THIS IS HOW I LOVE THE DROW* - noooooo backsies!

@Orbaxus1 2 жыл бұрын

I love roundtables, you should make them a regular part of your lineup! We also need to get you a nerdy background somehow. Wallpaper your room in Dragon Magazine covers or something! and get a bed cover thats gold coins so it looks like a dragon hoard.

@marcus4046 2 жыл бұрын

infinity war is the most ambitious crossover ever. MrRhexx:Hold my superior healing potion.

@sgtartorias7122 2 жыл бұрын

Would it be Possible to get Shape options? Like Tank Top for example?

@XPtoLevel3 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rhexx!

@cheezus0074 2 жыл бұрын

Door dungeon when? Please?

@anttitikkanen5985 2 жыл бұрын

@@cheezus0074 THIS

@Moleje1337 2 жыл бұрын

The appreciation intensifies!

@Gokkee 2 жыл бұрын

Would love to support xp to lvl 3 but I'm not welcome as your fan since I don't share your political view as you so nicely said. Ps. You must feel great having biden as president when you said Trump was bad lol 👌

@Moleje1337 2 жыл бұрын

@@Gokkee Good for you expressing your political opinion on the internet.

@Jorphdan 2 жыл бұрын

This was good fun! thanks MrRhexx for putting it together :)

@KyleMcPherson 2 жыл бұрын

It's so weird to hear all of your voices in the same "room." You all should do this annually.

@Grinnar 2 жыл бұрын

Hey, I know that PH is silent. My phone does also.

@steeebs6609 2 жыл бұрын

@@Grinnar i dont get it

@ossiliere 2 жыл бұрын

The Crossover of the year

@Doughy_in_the_Middle 2 жыл бұрын

Is that discord channel something private or are they open to others? I'd love the link to bounce ideas against others. I've been running a "stealth" spelljammer campaign on and off for years now (typical campaign scheduling, and I have 8 players plus myself). We started off my campaign with the pirate slavers from N4 Treasure Hunt being spelljamming space pirates...back in 2016. The players are just about to hit level 13, and by 14 should have their ship. I'm so stoked to get them up up and away. Having other (elder?) brains would be great to have work on this stuff.

@docc7545 2 жыл бұрын

A little confused on the drow subject as a whole. From the beginning, and when I say this I mean the first real look at them in “lore”, there was a feeling they are what they are due to the way their society works. Drizzt’s thoughts about his own life where how many of his brethren are like him but didn’t have the strength of will or luck to escape their evil goddess. They are a product of their culture is the way I have always seen them.

@almitrahopkins1873 2 жыл бұрын

Good Drow are rare because the culture is evil. The good don't survive it long unless they flee their society. Your lack of experience doesn't make your opinion irrelevant, by the way.

@clayxros576 2 жыл бұрын

The tricky part is how people try to define "Inherent Evil". Is it a nature thing, or does nurture count? Even IRL people nurtured in a certain environment simply adopt it, without ever thinking about it even if prompted, regardless of what their nature would lead them to be. In discussions I've participated in, discussing the subject becomes muddy purely because alot of folks are working under different definitions. What is evil to one race is normal to another after all, and even in D&D we find races that are evil only from the human perspective but neutral it good from theirs, then races that know what their doing hurts others and enjoy it. Personally ive come to reject "good neutral evil" as an alignment basis entirely due to how subjective good and evil even is. For me, I define the chart as; External Balanced Internal With the same Lawful-neutral-chaotic dynamic since those work pretty well. My logic is that those who think with an External mindset tend to act with others in mind more, those with an Internal viewpoint totally ignoring those outside themselves or their immediate communities, and Balanced considering both. For example, in this system, Kobolds would be Balanced Neutral since they actually bear the outside world in mind thru trade while being fiercely loyal to their own kind without a specific code beyond "Protect nest". Goblins would be Lawful Internal, since they are mostly selfish while following a code in their society to keep things in line. I do count instinctual social structures as a code. An example of a fully External race, that which considers exclusively what others want and feel, would probably be domestic dogs to an extent. Finding individuals with a Lawful External alignment would be easier than finding a race.

@Kuwagumo 2 жыл бұрын

I actually thought it was this way, and imo its better than being evil because of innate badness. Ots okay for, say, undead or fiends, but this determinism in humanoids just feels weird to me. Again, just my opinion

@Ekair42 2 жыл бұрын

@@clayxros576 I use the altruistic/selfish axis instead of good/evil since its more flexible

@crankysmurf 2 жыл бұрын

Think of it like people in states with cult of personality like Stalinist Soviet Union or North Korea. The average citizen may not be evil but they will tow the line of the state ideology to survive, however, there are true believers (especially those at the top of the religious/political caste who truly believe and are willing to commit evil acts like murder to keep their power and to gain more power as they climb up the ladder). tl;dr Drow society under Lolth forces drows to compete against each other -- Lolth wants this type of competition to weed out the weak -- hence the typical drow "monster" is consider neutral evil. However, as the Monster Manual says the alignment of each monster is up to the DM.There can be exceptions to the rule like Drizzt.

@VoiceOfReason7 2 жыл бұрын

Gotta say; I would not be upset if you 3 made a dnd podcast together. The sheer knowledge of them game and all of your unique perspectives make for an interesting listen. 🙂

@phantom31017 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed

@CatholicDragoon 2 жыл бұрын

I've been thinking that the ones most confused about the Drow are WOTC themselves. It's as if some corporate executive who never played D&D looked at the lore and decided he was going to 'fix' the lore by changing it to what it was already.

@aaronwilliams8887 2 жыл бұрын

We already have enclaves of the followers of Ellestrie, adding the other two groups, like you sat doesn't directly change the nature of the Drow, just expands on the good Drow options. It's great to have more world building, but yeah it doesn't change much

@8Smoker8 2 жыл бұрын

@@aaronwilliams8887 As long as you make sure that it's clear that evil lolth-loving drow are the overwhelming majority.

@aaronwilliams8887 2 жыл бұрын

@@8Smoker8 True, and thats my understanding and personal head cannon for my campaigns. unfortunately they have only teased the full reveals, and as far as i know we still don't have the full picture yet. I hope they do that

@orangexlightning 2 жыл бұрын

This makes the most sense.

@InquisitorThomas 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly the question “Are Drow inherently evil?” is way more interesting than the potential answer. Part of what makes Drizzt interesting is him not knowing why he is the way he is, did having gentler upbringing with good role models prevent all the good from being snuffed out of him like other Drow, or is he a rare aberration/defect of birth that made him how he is. Just definitively saying “Drow are evil unless they worship wholesome Goth GF Eilistraee instead of evil spider mom” is just really boring.

@johndavidson2365 2 жыл бұрын

I always thought that Lolth deliberately created Drizzt to screw with the dark elves and create fresh chaos

@DkKombo 2 жыл бұрын

His purple eyes tell a story indeed of the story of his birth

@RaderizDorret 2 жыл бұрын

@@johndavidson2365 I wouldn't put it past her. He *IS* her chosen, after all.

@Watchin4story 2 жыл бұрын

Everyone knows it’s the main culture of the Drow. Though not all Drow are evil. I think this is overblown. I think the issue is catering to those who don’t play the game and are looking at the culture at the surface level.

@Dragonkindred 2 жыл бұрын

Well said sir.

@Luan-st2gb 2 жыл бұрын

I mean- Speaking as a person that's been into D&D for years, "This specific race where everyone has dark skin (purple, but "dark elf"... Come on) is built on slavery and murder and are inherently evil because their evil goddess who wants chaos and to destroy other religions made it so and can only be good by abandoning their religion." Sounds... An awful lot like something a colonizer would say, even if it's not intended (which is hard to assume considering other descriptions and bits of lore that are just as bad)

@Dragonkindred 2 жыл бұрын

@@Luan-st2gb I think you are applying current politics to a fictional game. Dark Elves became dark, as a reflection of their betrayal of their God, by them and Lolth (his wife at the time). The choice of "dark" as being bad comes from the old "daytime good, night time bad" belief. It has nothing to do with real life humans of any type.

@zewwy 2 жыл бұрын

I don’t think applying current day politics to old fantasy settings is doing anyone any favours. Stop politicising our escapism!

@Luan-st2gb 2 жыл бұрын

@@Dragonkindred I'm not applying anything, I'm merely looking back with critical lenses. I assure you that people being more critical of writing that in retrospect had bad connotations will not burn all D&D texts and cause the game to be prohibited by law. Some things age well, some don't, I'm not saying the problematic aspects aren't to some extent a product of their time, but i am saying that they shouldn't be swept under the rug under the guise of "it's just fantasy"

@dieu2282 2 жыл бұрын

I would actually love to see a podcast with you three! I feel like it would be very interesting and great to just turn on when I need something to nerd out to

@FlyingPeanutKnight 2 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same thing, would love to hear them talk about other lore

@probablythedm1669 2 жыл бұрын

I would listen to a lore discussion podcast for days! So inspiring! I mean, I already listen to each of them each week. Would be nice if it was maybe a monthly thing, so they could all keep doing their things, then discuss some larger topics in depth like this every once in a while.

@johndavidson2365 2 жыл бұрын

Or live roleplaying campaign with them, sort of like Crit Role, but hopefully without the political undertones.

@Sylentmana 2 жыл бұрын

I’m all the time changing cultures and lore about the races in my games. The good thing about the default lore of D&D is that it’s more of a suggestion than anything mandatory.

@johndavidson2365 2 жыл бұрын

As you should.

@KuonilerariLoufanwald 2 жыл бұрын

That's how I think everyone should do it. Cherry pick the lore you like or make twists on it. At the end of the day, it's your world and game.

@juliengosselin4277 2 жыл бұрын

My point of view on this is that Drow should be evil natured, but that doesn't mean that they cannot be good, just that it's extremely rare and a sort of conscious behavior, they have to fight their evil instincts. I like to make a comparison with Paarthurnax: Dragons are meant to dominate and be cruel, but he decided to help humans and fight his instincts, and that to me makes him more interesting than just "Dragons can be good or evil, Paarthurnax is just the leader of the good ones".

@gideonleffler2580 Жыл бұрын

yes, also I'd like a fight able evil nature. maybe like a cat, they are cruel and sadistic and can only normally care for a handful of people 5-8 maybe. but they can learn to tame that side like humans fight greed or other inner demons. I agree, they need a realistic balance. which if you look at the lore of drow, they are naturally cat like evil (maybe little worse). but culture and a sick disgusting religion abuses them to be worse. but the moon goddess Eilistraee guides them to better place. so I think drow are fine where they are. they are a bit misunderstood. people need to dig deeper in lore sometimes, it is nature but nurture is the real damning aspect. over all I agree with everything you say. well done and quite well said.

@realdragon Жыл бұрын

I view this like people, vast majority of people are good or neutral but there are outliers who are evil. Same can be with drow, vast majority are evil due to nature or society but there are few that are good. Look no further than Eilistraee. And what about players? What if someone want to play good drow?

@brandonclark435 Жыл бұрын

The Cult of Lolth tends to make Drow evil, kind of like early Marxists who stacked bodies. The good people amount to underground, no pun intended, resistance or dissidents who publicly spout the Cult propaganda while quietly rebelling.

@crankysmurf 2 жыл бұрын

5E Forgotten Realms is about a hundred years after 3.5E however WotC has kept characters that should have died long ago like Mirt, one of the human lords of Waterdeep. It seems like WotC was lazy creating new NPCs and just reused old ones (see Drizzt's human companions!).

@Imhotep-sm7oi 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, but i don‘t think its bad, cause the realms are about there inhabitants and without them and the inspiration due to them i would play eberron i think. I love to roleplay mirt, Minc etc. for my players.

@crankysmurf 2 жыл бұрын

@@Imhotep-sm7oi Create new NPCs! That's the entire point of RPGs is narrative. It's like WB/DC constantly retelling how Bruce Wayne's parents died.

@trappyboi8678 2 жыл бұрын

Do note a lot of fucked up magic went down so its entirely possible several people got nuked, some got revived and they're just hella confused about everything.

@jiujitsuguy74 2 жыл бұрын

The FR were supposed to be a living world. But corporate sterility requires them to be shit, so shit they will be.

@lordInquisitor 2 жыл бұрын

I stand by the idea that it is a far more interesting when drow are evil because of their society and upbringing. It opens up a lot more roleplay and story telling potential

@lordgiblets7585 2 жыл бұрын

1:06:44 I've been considering drafting a campaign in a homebrew setting where the party will encounter kobolds in service to a copper dragon, and the kobolds in this situation are a bunch of incorrigible pranksters... which the dragon finds hilarious, even having the kobolds and the people of the nearby town working together on an elaborate scheme to prank as many adventuring parties as they can.

@popularopinion1 2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a copper dragon lol

@marioruiz1530 2 жыл бұрын

I believe that inherently evil races should indeed exist on their own, while i find the idea of species such as the drow being instead nurtured into acting evil as part of their culture to be rather interesting. I also like exploring the perspective of beings whose natural lack of empathy, regret or morale has lead to them naturally living their lives as evil monsters devoid of any redemption; from our perspective that is, since being evil, selfish and inmoral would be whats “normal” to them, “the way to live” to them, which could lead to a lot of interesting philosophical exploration of the human/mortal man, specially if we get to see the world from their perspective at some point.

@Reddotzebra 2 жыл бұрын

There's a very big difference between a race displaying a natural lack of empathy like the Illithid and the Drow. The Mind Flayers literally require the brains and thought energy of living things to continue to live, so they have evolved to view anything that isn't like them as either food or a potential threat, therefore you can for example trade or conduct diplomatic talks with them if you proved strong enough to be more of a hassle to kill than you'd be worth, or if you have something they want and prove able to resist them. The Drow on the other hand seem to merely suppress their empathy because it is seen as a weakness in their society (That is built on backstabbing your way up until you can't backstab any more). Then again, the Illithid are basically being lied to by their own Elder Brains and some of the ones that have fled their society seem to live on much better terms with the rest of the world so who knows? I mean, you could technically have a lawful Mind Flayer outcast who only feeds on the brains of condemned criminals, would that be any worse than what the usual murderhobo PC gets up to on a nightly basis?

@reapersritehand 2 жыл бұрын

Guess the way I compartmentalized it is you look at these people who wore born and raised in these very heavy religious households, or cults, relgious wars or hell even the Amish, so yea we look at the world one way but they see it completely different and 80% of the time we can never get the other to see it differently so you have this fundamental difference of opinion, jus look at the God the orcs or drows worship, so yea we see it as evil but it's jus there life the way they wore raised and the way their holy text read

@mjcsandboxgames4021 2 жыл бұрын

That would be demons or devil's

@lloydgush 2 жыл бұрын

I like the tolkien idea, not inherently evil, but prone to it. Also, not every member, only those under enough influence of the evil deity, or maybe evil magical leader. But for some, a good character is almost impossible, like mind flayers.

@marioruiz1530 2 жыл бұрын

@@mjcsandboxgames4021 aren’t those essentially bad people from the primeval world who died and were sent there explicitly to either be tortured or serve the arch devils/ demon lords?

@jacobmacock 2 жыл бұрын

So glad to see jordphan finally getting the recognition he deserves! He's probably got the most lore content I've seen

@vernonhampton5863 2 жыл бұрын

He's excellent.

@midnightgreen8319 2 жыл бұрын

His Dungeon Crawl Classics videos on his other channel is absolutely spectacular

@Atreticus 2 жыл бұрын

I'm just happy that all 3 of them have made a video tgt

@NoNo-lt9bi 2 жыл бұрын

He has got some content yes, but he is like the reverse AJ, you can go trough most of his content jn like a week especially if you go trough only lore stuff, and AJ has got a lot of videos but they are usually pretty low quality in either editing or planning take for example his video on the arboreal dragon, 5 minutes of info about the dragon but the video is 25 minutes or smth like that

@danielderamus9573 2 жыл бұрын

If you like Jorphdan check out Lutes and Dice! Volkard rocks story lines

@darkscot1338 2 жыл бұрын

“What is better ? to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort ?” -Paarthurnax

@juanpauloarcillas7600 2 жыл бұрын

Why not Both?

@Enixon869 2 жыл бұрын

"I dunno, why don't we ask some of the innocent people you spent centuries devouring before having a change of heart?" don't get me wrong, I like Paarthurnax and all, but that particular quote just bugs me "what's better, to hurt innocent people for a while then decide to stop, or to never have started hurting innocent people to to begin with"

@juanpauloarcillas7600 Жыл бұрын

@@Enixon869 I personally understand what you're saying here. Especially if that particular character gets forgiven and accepted way too easily, as if their atrocities only require a slap in the wrist and a kiss on the cheek to "fix" it.

@ARC--5973 Жыл бұрын

@@Enixon869 I feel like that kinda misses the point of the quote. Yes, Paarthunax did evil things, and I don't think he's trying to write off his past actions with this line. The quote itself is meant to show that doing good despite an inherent drive or compulsion to do evil is much more significant than simply being good by nature.

@tiamat_023 11 ай бұрын

You DnD dorks are some thought provoking fellahs.

@Erebdai 2 жыл бұрын

Look at Jarlaxle he has gone through hoops to try and escape the Drow Male norm and in the later novels he has become quite good and caring. I truely believe if a drow can distance him or herself from the Spider Queen's city they can become more then just dogmatic slaves to the spider queen. There are other gods in the Dark Elf Pantheon including Eilistraee.

@TheBayzent 2 жыл бұрын

Jaraxle until 5e was still Neutral Evil, Eliastree is actually the problem that people have a problem with the change have. By changing Drow culture from the begunning they are sidelining her, and they are doing so because RA Salvatore deeply dislikes Drow lore that didn't have anything to do with him.

@RaderizDorret 2 жыл бұрын

Oh, Mr.Rhexx knows about Eilistraee. He's got an entire video where he simps *HARD* for her.

@MultiversoExtendido 2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad to see all of you in the same vídeo. All of you are my inspiration for my new KZfaq D&D Lore channel in Spanish (this one). I would like to have an Spanish community as big and connected as yours and KZfaq content creators like you in my own lenguage to do colaborations like this. I'm Happy to listen this conversation!

@lillychamberlain1496 2 жыл бұрын

Fuck, I love this. I want this as a weekly podcast.

@almitrahopkins1873 2 жыл бұрын

I'm disappointed by it being too easy. I started in 2nd, so I like the derth of rules. The Challenge Rating system made it more complicated than it needed to be. Goblins are 7xp. Orcs are 15xp. It was simple. The biggest problem I have found with the low-level to high-level shift is that DMs don't do the homework. A simple 10' ditch with a 10' tower behind it makes a goblin encounter lethal for up to 7th level. 2nd edition was good at explaining the middle and upper level leaders in goblin encounters as you scaled up the encounters.

@jasoncuriale8613 2 жыл бұрын

I feel like the only reason any race should be quote on quote “evil” is because of their society. Any creature with free will has the ability to choose between good and evil, Drow included. The only reason so many drow are evil is because Lolth has her clutches on them and has anyone who defies her killed. It’s not that drow are evil, it’s that they’re being told to be evil by a literal demon goddess. Be evil, or die essentially.

@thirdwordbird3011 2 жыл бұрын

I think that works for drow, but with orcs iirc they're direct descendents of Gruumsh. I feel like they just inherently don't know what "good" is, but orcs who maybe lose their connection to Gruumsh have the chance to be "good" in some light capacity. I think it's a very case-by-case basis. Making every monstrous player-race based on "society evil" I think limits storytelling potential.

@marcsimo 2 жыл бұрын

I mean, that is essentially how it works in our world. People become assholes because they are told that certain behaviors are approved or not by a God that, as far as they know, could do horrible things to them. To be fair there is the "god" greed that commanded the priests of established religions to twist teachings to their advantages, but still...

@muhammadedwards8425 2 жыл бұрын

You can say that nurture is important, but no creator should feel compelled not to make a race entirely evil I agree that the drow are like that because of their society, but if a sentient race was created to serve an evil deity's agenda they'd probably change the race's capacity for righteousness

@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149 2 жыл бұрын

I disagree. "Evil" is subjective, and a species born from entirely different conditions with entirely different ways of experiencing the world could very well be "evil" in _our_ eyes. Especially if that species is under the influence of, or came from a God of some kind.

@Meanlucario 2 жыл бұрын

I feel like that would lead to them being evil by nature to a degree, since the "good" ones are killed and only the "evil" ones can reproduce. It's like if everyone with red hair was killed or prevented from reproducing, than red hair would be much less common.

@AJPickett 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome to finally get together and chat, thanks for hosting MrRheXx! And Jorphdan, always a pleasure 🙂

@HowtoRPG 2 жыл бұрын

It's a shame Dungeon Dad could not make it.

@AJPickett 2 жыл бұрын

@@HowtoRPG Fred, that is also happening as planned, shhh.

@shammrock2000 2 жыл бұрын

This is exactly the crossover I wanted to see. Hope to see more of you 3 together again.

@Wintermute909 2 жыл бұрын

Time to spam each channel, just friendly like, until they do it!

@HellEarthHeaven 2 жыл бұрын

Personally I see this issue more about how dnd handles alignment, for my group we keep the combat rules basically the same but just edit the things that get in the way of roleplaying. Something I did for my group that they surprisingly liked was that instead of alignment I made a culture subsection instead, for example if you pick to play a drow we made 3 sub-cultures underdark drow, surface drow, and moon drow. Each with different ethics for example underdark drow are pro slavery, but moon drow are fiercely against it, and regular surface drow is mostly dependent on the region of birth. This ensures that the characters backstory isn't just a blank slate, plus if they give me the characters on time I can edit the beginning of a campaign fit something that would be more interesting and make sense for them to work together that doesn't always work out though. If you do want to try this type of homebrew I recommend for a fist time ask your players to give their characters a day in advance so you can do something to fit their cultures into your campaign, do a short campaign maybe 3-6 sessions to see if they prefer this type of homebrew.

@probablythedm1669 2 жыл бұрын

I tend to treat alignment as a "this is how others percieve you" more than "this is how you are". It's just guidelines for players. When grandma needs a magic apple for her pie from the hoard of a red dragon then the dragon's days are numbered, and there will be pie at the end of this. But if the players return and find some bandits beat up grandma and stole her magic baking supplies they might go full murder hobo, torture and all, until only memories of tortured screams and piles broken bones remains of the bandits and their masters. Only do adopt the bandits dogs, start a kennel, and build an orphanage for the kids who lost their parents to the bandits attacks. Chaotic Evil to the bandits, lawful good to granny, neutral good to the orphans. Players tend to move freely between alignments, in my experience. So I just use alignment as shorthand for "how can we expect this creature to act towards X", so for most statblocks X = the players. So my kobolds, for example, are not lawful evil to each other, they're neutral good. They will die to protect their family and friends without hesitation and always act with the greater good of their community in mind. But they'll keep a deal with adventurers only as long as it is beneficial to do so, because too them adventurers are strong killers you should get rid off through overwhelming force by leading them into traps or away at least as far from your loved ones as you can.

@WayneBraack 2 жыл бұрын

@@probablythedm1669 by that definition gang bangers aren't bad people. They only rob, murder, sell meth to and assault your daughter but to each other they're fiercely loyal and helpful so definitely not evil right? Jeffry Dahmer was considered nice by his neighbors so also not a bad guy? Totally not evil, he just had a different choice in nourishment.

@UGNAvalon 2 жыл бұрын

@Wayne Braack You seem to have grossly misunderstood Marten’s comment. The bad guys are still fundamentally bad/evil guys, they just don’t act that way _Too Each Other._ It doesn’t affect their internal character, or how you’d describe them from an objective POV, it just changes their interactions with different ppl/groups.

@Elessar0wind 2 жыл бұрын

Oh Yes! I would love Menzoberranzan adventure! how cool would it be to have players as prominent Drow at a get together, like old college buddies, preparing for some grand goal, and then the shit hits the fan.

@cordelking6110 2 жыл бұрын

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS, YES PLEASE DO MORE VIDEOS TOGETHER🔥🔥🔥

@Mister_Cy 2 жыл бұрын

Oh my good AJ and Rhexx are finally doing a collab and a new person I have never heard of is this Christmas or am I in heaven?

@xicarus8141 2 жыл бұрын

I actually started DMing with the Saltmarsh module and it turned me into a full homebrewer because of the reasons you guys mentioned. I just switched to full homebrew after the final enemy because there was so much extra stuff mentioned in the module that sparked my imagination lol.

@mackenziemoore5088 2 жыл бұрын

A joint effort by three of my favorite DnD KZfaqrs? Hekk yeah!!

@deco122392 2 жыл бұрын

YES! I think I can speak for many of us when I say this is the collab we have been waiting for! Come Monday onward I am waiting for my notifications to let me know when you guys have put out your latest lore or discussion videos. Good stuff!

@Offbeaten 2 жыл бұрын

The simplicity of 5e is a double-edged sword. I still prefer Pathfinder 1E over it just because the sheer depth of character creation there. Sure there's a lot to keep track of, but you can make much more varied character concepts and classes with it. Also.. you think the D&D crew *really* wants to make bad Magic crossovers? I'm smelling more of an executive decision on that one chief.

@wayneshenry 2 жыл бұрын

This was awesome! Thanks for doing this. Love to see more of this.

@traviscochran9253 2 жыл бұрын

Woah this is the lore trio I turn to the most often, Im excited!!

@AndICanTalk2 2 жыл бұрын

Really fantastic. I think all 3 of you are great and, as with many other collaborative efforts, you all help each other shine. Really hope for more.

@cabie58 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome collaborative! Stumbled on/enjoy all three of you Wish title highlighted collaborative a bit more as almost missed ⚔️🧙‍♂️

@JERKIMBALL1 2 жыл бұрын

Woot 3 of my favourite d&d lore guys on the same video, whaaaaat! You guys have to collaborate more!

@lifeyoushouldtryit 2 жыл бұрын

just because drow are evil doesnt mean EVERY drow has to be 2 dimentional evil blue elves, the race description isnt a hard law for any specific character. but yes drow as a race should fall on the evil side.

@orenmontgomery8250 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, this too. We have plenty of muddy races if you want a story that requires feeling out where someone's morality sits. You shouldn't have to do that in the 9 Hells or the Underdark. I rarely hear "should 'good' races exist?". We live in a world of Grey morality, our games can SOMETIMES be black and white.

@03e-210a 2 жыл бұрын

*most drow* should fall on the evil side

@louieadams540 2 жыл бұрын

Blue?

@williamwontiam3166 2 жыл бұрын

Well, that and isn’t there more than one way to play the whole “being evil” thing? I mean, you don’t need to have a good character to have a Good Character and vice versa.

@ericjimenez4360 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed

@yesmilord2350 2 жыл бұрын

This was an awesome round table discussion to watch. I would love to see more collaborations like this.

@Logan-zx3zq 2 жыл бұрын

It's great to see the three of you together. As I'm sure you can tell, I love watching all three of you. I'd love to see more discussions like this from you.

@SuperJohn1011 2 жыл бұрын

The three sages have gathered on this day. Truly legendary

@GigatX 2 жыл бұрын

Dude I just started getting into AJ and now you're collabing with him! Holy crap my night is going to be good!

@sanguiniusthegreatangel6834 2 жыл бұрын

AJ Pickett is a fucking legend.

@NunYurbis 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a big fan off all three of you, so this was a real treat, please try to make this a somewhat regular collab. Having three people as well-versed in the lore as you guys could lead to amazing theorycrafting sessions, and perhaps deep dives and theorizing about some of DnD's many mysteries.

@helixxharpell Жыл бұрын

Great job guys. You 3 ARE actually who I've I listened to on my way to work. Would love to interview you guys someday.

@coreyeaston6823 2 жыл бұрын

That was WONDERFUL! Thanks to everyone!

@epiccthulu 2 жыл бұрын

Anyone whose read a drow novel already knows its their culture that twisted their nature, along with demonic taint. Drizzt isnt the only good drow. Also, the new Starlight Enclave novel by Salvatore deserves to be read lol. Anyway, plz make more videos like these!!!

@LordMortanius Жыл бұрын

Counterpoint: Kiaransalee, who was a drow lich necromancer-queen who ascended to godhood before the fall of Lolth by turning her home world into a necropolis.

@epiccthulu Жыл бұрын

@@LordMortanius that is simply not true. Drow, the way we know them, didn’t exist until the fall of Lolth and more than that she didn’t own a world. She usurped Orcus, as a demigod, but she didn’t own a world. More than that, she’s dead. She died in the novel Storm if the Dead, where she was competing with lolth and Eilistraee in their sava game and lost. Ao was overseeing that boardgame so her loss was final

@LordMortanius Жыл бұрын

@@epiccthulu Kiaransalee was queen of the world of Threnody nearly 30000 years ago. She was already a demipower when she slew Orcus; when he returned she fled to Lolth's service and altered her name to show that she had submitted to Lolth's authority. Eilistraee doesn't have authority outside of Realmspace anyway; of the Dark Seldarine, only a handful, including Kiaransalee, are multispheric.

@brandonbennett485 2 жыл бұрын

You guys are working on a full on Council of Elrond for D&D lore here. Super cool! I hope there’s more in the future!

@cerevrus 2 жыл бұрын

Can we please get more of this, a weekly or even monthly podcast of you 3 would be class

@captaincobalt2111 2 жыл бұрын

I've started with 5E D&D and have recently started a Pathfinder 1E campaign. Mechanically, I like the crunch of Pathfinder more than 5E.

@bigles025 2 жыл бұрын

Yeep, same here

@jimmybojangles5095 2 жыл бұрын

"The ultimate irony is good would be totally impotent without the contrast of evil"

@jimmybojangles5095 2 жыл бұрын

TBH you want good Drow do it, rewrite the deity guidelines make the world you wanna play in.

@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 2 жыл бұрын

Should the undead horde have a redeeming origin story? Hell no! They’re bad. That’s why we fight them. When we find one that isn’t, there’s your allied npc or monstrous pc race. Everybody can’t be good guys or we’d be bad for going on adventures!

@biblebot3947 2 жыл бұрын

@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 but the undead aren’t living, thinking, people. You can have an evil civilization of drow but saying that they’re all inherently evil plays into certain peoples mindsets about real humans

@KaZlos 2 жыл бұрын

Tbh among all these evil drow gods there is one canon one that is good -> eilistraee. and she existed pretty much since 2e

@jimmybojangles5095 2 жыл бұрын

@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 you just gave me an idea >:) A kingdom that enlists its dead for an army to protect the empire as a whole.

@mattwilliams9480 2 жыл бұрын

This was a terrific, mellow, and thought provoking discussion. I hope the three of you consider some kind of regular discussions!!

@radkins8222 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for hosting a great conversation! Three great lore masters who I have been watching for some time at once. Whew! Good times!

@nathanadams5933 2 жыл бұрын

I absolutely loved this video. As a DM, it helps alot to get the perspective of other DMs.

@Rebomor 2 жыл бұрын

… thank you MrRhexx, you made a dream of mine a reality. Seeing, Jorphdan, AJ, and yourself; was like seeing a planetary alignment or the birth of a new star! You guys are the reason for the Forgotten Realms, to make memories and new magic to uncover! Will be forwarding the video to my players, and I hope someday to be able to watch you guys form the greatest D&D lore council their ever was!

@dndshorts2750 2 жыл бұрын

The Lords of Lore together in one place. Excellent! Really enjoyed this.

@Sephlock 2 жыл бұрын

Not the same 'Dark Elves' but a quote from MandaloreGaming's channel fits: "I'd probably turn end up that way too growing up next to something called 'The Altar of Ultimate Darkness'."

@alexeisenhauer5874 2 жыл бұрын

My two favorite KZfaqrs, I wish we could see these three together more ❤️

@brettgrimstad699 2 жыл бұрын

So amazing to see my three favorite D&D KZfaqrs doing a colab! You three are amazing and I love watching your lore videos! I've been a player since 2nd Ed in 1993 and I adore 5th Edition. It's been the easiest edition for me to run and play and I adore it. So glad to hear your thoughts on it!

@KatsuhiroHebi 2 жыл бұрын

As always, AJ Pickett speaks, and my notepads fill with ideas (that i may never have the opportunity to run in a game)

@FaustCrowley 2 жыл бұрын

Man...I wish I had been in that conversation...so many nerdy things to say on almost all of this! Great to see a few of my favorite KZfaq D&D peeps talking about it.

@chefchronos4288 2 жыл бұрын

The DnD Dream Team assembles!!!

@Wizo062991 2 жыл бұрын

I love you 3 D&D content creators. Glad to see you all together!

@rsparks1104 2 жыл бұрын

I've got a great example on d&d headcontinuity- In a 4th edition game, years and years ago, I made a sorcerer named philip, whose abilities I themed around mud. One of his spells was called thunderleap, which I was having a hard time deciding how it manifested, until I came up with the inspiration to make it a giant frog- a frog I called Jerry. Years of shenanigans went by. First, my sorcerer lost his power to an ifreet (I don't know how to spell that) who absorbed it for himself. We later found out that it was unstable, since my sorcerer was a wild mage, which resulted in a building exploding, several people dying, and the true soul of Jerry being released- that of a slaad, who we sacrificed a joke character named Toby to. Jerry, now Terry, was loose upon the world, and eventually became the big bad of our 5e arc as he teamed up with an aboleth before finally being defeated by a totally separate group of adventurers. The point is, I just wanted a bit of flavor for a spell, and it ended up shaping an entire arc. Years later, we are STILL feeling the effects of this fucking frog, as our wizard has named his frog familiar Tagwort, the name of a grung who helped us defeat Terry so very long ago. That kind of thing is the heart of D&D; the power of players shaping the canon as it goes.

@zacklarez 2 жыл бұрын

I have watched many hours of videos from all 3 of you guys. Your interest and enthusiasm reminds me of my favorite history, art and humanities professors. It's like a modern version of listening to Joseph Campbell tapes. I really enjoyed this. Thank you to all three of you for bringing so many hours of enjoyable video watching/listening, and, as importantly, improving my own understanding of the lore and the worlds of FR so that I can DM better for my players. The three of you and Dungeon Dudes are directly responsible for me being so involved with D&D and loving it so much. THANK YOU!!!

@Snooki977 2 жыл бұрын

Oh dear, i love everyone in this video, great job making this happen !

@almitrahopkins1873 2 жыл бұрын

Professor DM from Dungeoncraft would round out the dream team, yeah?

@drekbleh7081 2 жыл бұрын

I've always thought evil races were evil because their gods override their free will, like fighting the will of your creator god is akin to fighting a crippling addiction, possible but difficult Gruumsh: "You are the chosen race, kill and enslave everyone that isn't a orc" Orc kind: "Ok " Lolth: "Drow are the true elves and spiders are cool. Slavery is the best" Most Drow: "ok" Rare drow: "Not ok! NOT OK! THIS IS WHY EVERYONE HATES US"

@ericjimenez4360 2 жыл бұрын

I think this is the best way you could say it. What is good? To overcome your evil nature or to be born good? Nicely and easily friend.

@Shiftshapercat 2 жыл бұрын

Yep, this right here. This is what made Drizz't's Story actually interesting. Because of his entire journey of self discovery and also trying to find out what made him different from the rest of his Kin. After Drizz't started getting really popular, "Good ""exceptions""" of evil races became in vogue and thus Drizz't became the icon of the new rebellious edgelord. The Progressive left got wind of it and thus WotC tried to retcon their own lore by introducing the Spell Plague. At the time this didn't do well at all so they basically retconned the retcon when the spell plague period ended (RIP King oboulds I through I think VII?) But still. Once pandora's box was opened well... I think the concept of the evil races not actually being inherently evil at all could be interesting and very good if done right. But WotC did anything but do it right. But I suppose that is why many progressive players flocked to Pathfinder. Pathfinder from the outset is located in a world that is much more progressive and "modern" than the worlds of Faerun or Grayhawk were introduced as. The bottom line here that I am trying to draw isn't that progressive politics tends to poison good storytelling if it is done in such a way to supersede the story or lore, it is that the writers or lore holders for Faerun chose not to be consistent with their own lore AND botched the transition badly while the creators of Golarion created Golarion to be a much more progressive from the outset. This in turn turn the Dark Elves of Faerun into a complete caricature and why the older Drizz't Books remain the best in R.A. Salvatore's works up to right before the spell plague.

@derrickmiles5240 2 жыл бұрын

Not all races are evil because of their deity. The Dao for example are just evil.

@NoNo-lt9bi 2 жыл бұрын

I just have it so that their creator god made their brain in such a way that it tends to naturally tend toward evil, like starting off with less simpathy and shit and all that stuff, or maybe to just have a kind of inherent hate of rules, or just have your heart completely brake or smth when you see a beggar who died by hunger on the side of a curch who wouldnt heal him bc he didnt have the necesary money, so just kind of start with like small things that just send you down a specifjc path, be it chaotic, lawful , evil, neutral or good. But those small things can change be it either at the hands of an external influence or their own volition

@NoNo-lt9bi 2 жыл бұрын

My other comment here aplies to all races of all gods be they Lawfull neutral, Chaotic good, Neutral evil. Or whatever it may be

@likeits1985 2 жыл бұрын

The unholy trinity of D&D lore KZfaq content creators! I love it! I would love to see you three together again!

@theclocktower3258 2 жыл бұрын

My 3 favorite dnd yourubers all working on a video together T^T ima die fulfilled

@Kurogane335 2 жыл бұрын

I'd sayt it depends on the Universe D&D has a lot of problematic tropes but, having finally read Dritzz's first novel (translated in French so perhaps something was lost) I feel like it works here - probably the same for orcs, to a lesser degree since they seem to interest authors less than drows. But in newer settings (like fateforge's Eana, or Eberron, etc.) I hope drows and the like won't be/aren't all evil because they are evil. Not that it can't work, some creatures may be evil just because... but only because we as humanoids can't comprehend their minds, like the aboleths for instance.

@Snyperwolf91 2 жыл бұрын

It aint problematic tropes . You associate it with reality which is totally the real problematic part. The Dungeon-masters guide even had a quote written that an evil creature can in other realms be good or vice versa. At the end its just a fantasy RPG which you can make your own worlds with their own rules and monster-versions.

@scottmcley5111 2 жыл бұрын

What is the obsession with making the game balanced? To be clear, NO version of the game is balanced, not that it needs to be to have a great game. Some of my best experiences gaming were in 2e.

@Jinkypigs 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. 5th edition is one that I will never touch with a 20 feet pole

@30noir 2 жыл бұрын

Biggest problem with Pathfinder 2e is that its TOO balanced - at least compared to PF1e.

@spectralimages8961 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome, so good to see all 3 creators I like in one spot!!

@zenith110 2 жыл бұрын

I very /much/ enjoyed this little reunion and would like to see another!

@FreelancerStudios100 2 жыл бұрын

So glad to see the 3 lore gods speaking together

@MrBlack0950 2 жыл бұрын

I personally think any creature with intelligence of 3 or higher has a chance to defy instinctual alignments, with fiends and celestials being rare exceptions due to their very strong magical ties binding them to evil and good respectively. Not all red dragons are evil, just as not all orcs are blood thirsty, and elves aren't all pompous. They are smart enough to have freewill, and thus smart enough to diverge from and resist instincts.

@Reddotzebra 2 жыл бұрын

Outsiders in general have less "magical ties binding them" to specific alignments and more "these guys are literally made out of stuff that embody those alignments". Not to mention that they don't have any disconnect between soul and body, their bodies are more or less their souls, so what you see is what you get.

@MrBlack0950 2 жыл бұрын

@@Reddotzebra exactly. They are defined by their alignment, instead of their alignment being defined by what they are. Fiends are inherently evil souls, celestials are inherently good souls. If a fiend becomes good, it would no longer be a fiend, but something else, at least based on my understanding of the outer planar beings.

@wolfoflight 2 жыл бұрын

@@Reddotzebra true, but there are redeemed demons/devil's and fallen angels. So that means there must be some range of free will to allow them to choose

@dakotastein9499 2 жыл бұрын

@@wolfoflight yes but then they are no longer a demon or angel...thier thier appearance reflects thier nature. A fallen angel is no longer an angel,but a fiend.

@matthiasarran270 2 жыл бұрын

I think you are confusing intelligence with free will. You can have a very intelligent creature who doesn't have free will, who is tightly constrained in strict parameters. Think of the Overmind from the Starcraft series.

@hannukahcelt2027 2 жыл бұрын

I love AJ's shoutout to Rifts from Palladium. I was given several books from the Rifts series by a family friend. I remember reading up on the different gods, demons, and elder beings and wanted so badly to find a group to play it.

@incanusfortweety2710 2 жыл бұрын

It's ages since I have played D&D. Just listening the trio talk about they explain how they all work with all types situations and integrate box set, modules and cards with D&D 5. I enjoyed ( new terminology for me. ) homebrewing my own world. 😁💯

@trajanfidelis1532 2 жыл бұрын

Team up of the Year!

@Salad_Pickle 2 жыл бұрын

I think people are too quick to forget that elves aren't a race, they're a species. An entirely different creature. If aliens from another planet can have a different mental process from humans, that we perceive as evil, so could an elf. On top of the fact that other creatures have a natural *good* alignment, whereas humans are actually perceived to have chaotic neutral in reality at best..

@HSuper_Lee 2 жыл бұрын

Even that's optimistic. I'd personally say that humans have a neutral evil alignment by default, and that it's civilization that makes us generally have to act good, as there are enough consequences to evil that most people act good to avoid those consequences.

@Salad_Pickle 2 жыл бұрын

@@HSuper_Lee oh I whole heartedly agree but I need to hold onto at least a shred of faith. Lol

@billyballsack3199 2 жыл бұрын

More videos like this it's great to see different people from the community come together to discuss topics

@Moleje1337 2 жыл бұрын

Three of my favourite D&D content creators, thank you all for the Lore drops.

@stefanilic475 2 жыл бұрын

Last time I was this early Drow were evil because the writers said so.

@Ontasia2 2 жыл бұрын

I love 5e. Conversion is so easy that I can actually drop items from my Encyclopedia Magica set into a game with little to no modification

@justapublichealthguy7954 2 жыл бұрын

My three favorite presenters. I'm really glad you all did this and would love to see it again!

@isaac20024 2 жыл бұрын

Loved having Jorphdan in this video! My two favorite channels in a collab!

@Mando0Melkor 2 жыл бұрын

These 3 are really great!

@Dark-Lord-Of-The-Sith 2 жыл бұрын

My three favorites! Subscribed to all of you!. As I have stayed on all three channels, I love my Drow Evil. I love having a subculture of Elf that only cares about themselves. That have a collective memory of Moon and Sun Elves trying to preform Genocide on them. I am in my 2nd Drow Campaign and that is never going away.

@Moleje1337 2 жыл бұрын

Because the contention of Drow makes for wonderful tension conflict and for very personal hard fought stories!

@Dark-Lord-Of-The-Sith 2 жыл бұрын

@@Moleje1337 totally agree! To be able to survive in their society is a testament to their will. To be unbeknownst urged into selective breeding to make the offspring stronger. To be able to know that Surface Elves did something so horrible to your people that they are the most hated of enemies. Then there are the few that chose not to subjugate themselves to the Matriarchy, yet their views are still forever, Drow.

@ReparationsNation 2 жыл бұрын

@@Dark-Lord-Of-The-Sith It’s VERY similar to American society. 🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️

@drokangel Жыл бұрын

I ended up running an Arcane themed game, with Ravnica as a Zaun parallel and Strixhaven as a floating cityscape above for the Piltover representation. The combination of towns was called Crucible, and it was the site where the living battled the undead until the powerful Lich was sealed away at the end of the last great war.

@rawgage9159 2 жыл бұрын

This was the beginning of a prosperous future to collaborate once every 3 months and deconflict tri-partisan views on D&D content. We can call it "The Trigonomicon" (feel free to take that and own it where I'm in full support of all 3 of your channels). We need more like this and look forward to seeing it 😎👍

@zaelitude 2 жыл бұрын

I did not intend to write a novel, but once I started, I couldn't stop. I have to say that your point about everyone being happy is not true at all. 5e has some very large problems and all four of my groups are all fed up with it. The most glaring issues are the fact that bounded accuracy leads to a complete lack of balance at the high end which has in turn led to the absence of high level adventures, the lack of basic ideas like a reasonable crafting or enchanting system, the party being bereft of magical items, and the utter lack of character customization. When compared to older editions of D&D or Pathfinder 1e or 2e, 5e seems like a game made for little kids that don't have the attention span to learn mechanics. The point about Feats and character progression in past editions being boring but great in 5e seems completely wrong and backwards; Feats are a Variant Rule in 5e and using RAW rules, you don't have them or multiclassing available to you. So what does that leave you in 5e? Four or five meaningful choices (Race, Background, Class, Subclass, and Skill Proficiencies) and some Ability Score Increases that will be mandatorily spent in your best stats to keep you competitive. By level 3 you've made every meaningful character customization choice you will make. In older editions of D&D (2e, 3e, 4e) as well as Pathfinder 1e and 2e, you make choices to customize your character at almost every single level of play; sure the bonuses are smaller, but they all stack (more on that in a moment). Next, let's look at bounded accuracy, the worst thing to happen to the game since it was created. Bounded accuracy homogenizes all characters into the same basic numbers and renders several things either impossible or not recommended. The most apparent of these is PvP. You aren't supposed to PvP in 5e. Period. You might hurt someone's feelings. Gone are the days of Mordenkainen, Tenser, and Otiluke where players actively planned against one another or fought each other over the fate of the world. 5e only works well if you run a hero squad and never have an enemy with character levels because they PCs will one shot them or they will one shot the PCs. It is a mathematical fact that groups of larger numbers are easier to balance than groups of smaller numbers, but bounded accuracy intentionally keeps all the numbers small, so the balance completely falls apart. Now, let's talk about advantage, disadvantage, and stacking bonuses. Advantage doesn't stack. Disadvantage doesn't stack. Unarmored Defense doesn't stack. Resistances don't stack. See the trend? Nothing stacks in 5e. No reason to try to make a Monk/Wizard tank with unarmored defense and mage armor (playing RAW, you can't do multiclassing anyway). Or, you have advantage, but you can't have more than advantage, so a lot of combat becomes incredibly boring. The front-liners rush in, people seldom move around because they lose their attack if they take the disengage action. If you use the variant rule for flanking advantage, then everyone just flanks and that is the only tactical decision that matters. In a recent session, one enemy got Faerie Fire'd and I spent the next several rounds of combat telling the party that they already have advantage and flanking didn't matter because it is the only tactical decision most characters make. While Advantage and Disadvantage streamline large portions of the game and are very easy to understand, simpler and easier is not always better. It is a lot easier to dial on an old cordless phone with just a number pad, but we all have complicated smart phones with contact lists and texting, and no one is complaining. You all say that 5e is diverse and has a lot of content, but when you compare the quality and quantity of content that we had in previous editions, 5e feels very weak. In 3.5e we had epic level rules, class handbooks, crafting, enchanting, and a ton of other supplements. In seven years of 5e we only get minor fixes and adjustments, or meme-filled low-level adventures. Case in point, the new book The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is yet another lvl 1-8 adventure, but this one has outdated cartoon references and custard damage. The alternative is stuff like Tasha's where they basically admit that they don't have enough choice available and provide a bunch of options for custom races and backgrounds to partially restore your player agency that basically amount to "its totally not just a variant human". When I heard a couple of you say that you only want to run pre-made adventures, I wonder if you have ever had characters play in one of your campaigns above level 12-15 in 5e. I doubt it, but maybe you've run something from Tales from the Yawning Portal or run the Mad Mage? Well...both were adapted from older edition's adventures. In 3.5e I ran a game to level 30 where the players became Saints, Gods, and Monsters; good luck with that in 5e without an absurd amount of Homebrew. D&D 5e is very rules light. That does make it accessible, but just because we can Homebrew fixes to the game, we shouldn't have to rampantly use Variant Rules and Homebrew to fix the game, especially when Wizards of the Coast actively prevents you from using most of their terminology or referencing said rules in your own products. Wizards doesn't want people buying your books, they want people buying their books, but they don't provide us with high-level adventures or the wealth of options we had in previous editions. You talk about Saltmarsh and the holes in the leveling progression, Wizards of the Coast can't even provide you a full 1-12 adventure without requiring you to fill in the gaps as a DM. This is made even more apparent with Ravnica, where they attempt to onboard us into their product Magic the Gathering to sell more cards, and they don't even give you maps. As you have said, people are making money making content for Dungeons and Dragons, but if they say anywhere in that content that it is for Dungeons and Dragons and opt not to skirt the legality by saying its "Compatible with 5th Edition" or "Utilizes the 5e Ruleset", they will be the proud recipient of a lawsuit from Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast's development of late has been creatively bankrupt and completely uninspired. Rather than utilize past settings with avid followings or update old concepts into the new editions, Wizards is only interested in destroying their old content so they can keep selling you books and modules, onboarding you into other products, and fervently guarding their license. TLDR: People that are happy with 5e are happy with it because they either don't know any better or can't wrap their head around older editions, and stacking modifiers isn't challenging or hard to do; if you're complaining about having to add up groups of small modifiers, then you might be a scathing indictment of the education system in your area. Older Editions of Dungeons and Dragons will always have a place in my heart, but the only thing that 5e is really good for is getting new players associated with Tabletop RPGs before you get them into a better system like D&D 3.5e or Pathfinder 2e and watch their eyes light up as they realize all the customization options they now have.

@tallinnatorm 2 жыл бұрын

You guys are my favourite D&D youtubers becuase of the lore videos (instead of the "how to better play RPG-s") but let me just counter your claim that everybody likes 5th edition. With the resurgence of OSR I dont think everybody does. And quite frankly I dont understand how you can look past the really glaring problems that 5ed has. I just got back to playing D&D a year ago, after being away for 15 years and it took me less than a year to become totally fed up with 5th ed. Actually selling the books I managed to buy during that time and would rather not play it at all... if it wasn't so damn popular:) Just to rant a bit, here are the glaring issues: 1. It's tone is family friendly, saturday morning cartoony. If you like your fantasy being LotR, Conan, GoT, Malazan or even Witcher then 5th ed is in the exact opposite spectrum. Your remember the D&D movie from 20 something years ago? 5th ed looks just like that. Ridiculous, cheap, corny etc. I tolerated it for a while but the Ravenloft book went over the top. It's just embarrasing to what point the tone of D&D has come. It is clearly meant for the lowest common denominator - that being kids and casual gamers. D&D under Hasbro is like Star Wars under Disney. No wonder... This is where the drow topics comes as well. 2. It's powergaming. The PC are just unstoppable, undying. There is no sense of danger in the game. The DM has to actively work around the powers of the PC-s in order to make the players feel a bit challanged. 18+ stats, huge amounts of damage dealt in a round, revivify, heal on rest. Again, feels like it caters to children and casuals gamers, but I do admit that a lot of old schoolers seem to like it as well. 3. Character classes are so samey. Now that's an interesting one, because at first glance it should be exactly the opposite. All the subclasses and skills and feats ought to make characters different, right? But these things are just an unnecessary burden that make the game more complicated than it needs to be, slow down combat and give an Illusion of difference. The core mechanics are what acutally make character classes very similar, no matter how many "get an advantage on this and that" feats you lay atop of them. Everybody can do everything. At first level pretty much everybody comes out of the gate with +6 to hit and +4 to damage. Even ranged character! No need for fighters. Everybody can sneak, disarm traps, pick locks. No need for thieves. Bards can cast whatever they want, almost as well as clerics and wizards. Now, of course I'm exaggerating abit, but there is a core mechanic of leveling the playing field. I'm pretty sure it's a concious design decision and unfortunately it seems to work for a lot of people. D&D is at the hight of it's popularity, no denying it. But I really dislike that the classes are not fundamentally different. Out of all the youtubers I'v only seen Prof. Dungeonmaster drawing attention to the shortcomings of 5th ed. I'd really like you to give it a thought. Not that I would expect any of these things being adressed in 6th edition. My salvation lies in going back to AD&D. But it would be interesting to hear your thoughts still.

@eXyliad 2 жыл бұрын

This was awesome, thanks for doing this!

@theakspud 2 жыл бұрын

Love your guys videos. We don't have the biggest fan base here in alaska and my buddies and I really appreciate all the content. Helps make our games better!

@michaelsinclair1343 2 жыл бұрын

I remember discovering this channel from the Warcraft and Elder Scrolls lore videos. I love seeing us basically convert Rhexx into a D&D channel and even though he says he's a new child to D&D he's so knowledgeable and well versed on all of the lore from the beginning. Legendary content creator!

@SylverQrow 2 жыл бұрын

I want Fay’ri back in “canon” lol My OC is Half Elf and Half Demon, the closest i could find in Dnd i could find was the Fey’ri and i see people did and updated version of but i do want an official version lol i can still live without it lol.

@Sylentmana 2 жыл бұрын

Aren’t they just the elf version of tieflings?

@solojo13 2 жыл бұрын

Great vid with 3 greater minds!! Thanks, Rhexx!

@cernunnos_lives 2 жыл бұрын

This was an amazing conversation to have. Thanks for recording this. Just look at the diversity of humans and human cultures alone. I think it's a good idea to reflect what we know into what we play. The differences you find inside any group is usually greater than differences between any group.

@br41nc3ll 2 жыл бұрын

I've always thought -- after reading many, many of Drizzt novels -- that the Drow depicted were the Drow of one city, and obviously a product of the corruption. I'm fact, this is one of the central plot points is that the Drow are just as "human" as us and they make good or bad decisions. The novels themselves explore this concept. I also have DMed a few Out of the Abyss games and it's meant to be easy to read, but the intrigue of Drow culture is a bit too complicated for that module.

@bayoubilly5176 2 жыл бұрын

It does seem to be more where you're from. Yes most drow are evil but nature vs nurture. Yes they have abyssal blood but Drizzt beat it. Zaknafein Jarlaxle etc straddle the line. In a lot of plot lines if the drow are say born in waterdeep or the promenade with eilastree and yep good usually.(on edit lolth seems to be the main cause if she doesn't know about you, you have full choice of freedom)

@spacevoid8139 2 жыл бұрын

I was thinking of playing a drow and have really enjoyed see much of the drow lore you’ve been dropping! Thanks for all of the inspiration and videos.

@Snyperwolf91 2 жыл бұрын

The drow are like the black sheep of races that can be on the entire morale scale and there are good backgrounds and explanation to use it. This can turn into character developement that even changes the allignment how your character experience their adventures.

@spacevoid8139 2 жыл бұрын

@@Snyperwolf91 I wanted to start off evil and see where it goes. However I don’t want to be a murder hobo, just able to do morally gray actions. Thanks for the input though, maybe I’ll ask my dm if it’s acceptable to change alignment over time.🤔