I hope we get to see even more fishes that give us DnD advice

@endymon5240

7 күн бұрын

We all know fathomless patrons give the best fish advice

@MulberryDays

7 күн бұрын

judging by my anxiety, all of the advice i take has come from flounder

@Moah333

6 күн бұрын

then... go fish!

Nice Magnus Archives reference

@corkboardsandcuriosities

7 күн бұрын

haha, i was waiting to see how many people would catch on

@RoyalTempest

7 күн бұрын

Was gonna say we got a Magnus Archives jump scare lmao

@samfowler2073

7 күн бұрын

@@corkboardsandcuriosities thinks we would notice the Magnus Archive reference and we did,,,

@iansorono5376

6 күн бұрын

Me, seeing the thumbnail: wow TMA really made an impact on me huh. Can't think of Angler Fish without thinking of that one episode Video at 3:05: "Angler Fish" Me: *surprised pikachu face

@coleg5300

6 күн бұрын

Was headed down here to say it if no one else had 😂

Players are pretty good at making up their own red herrings, anyway. That random beggar you introduced to give them directions? Must be an integral player in the plot! The way you described the smell of that pie shop? They'll be hiding something foul! The friendly city guard member? Clearly a devil in disguise!

@sirhamalot8651

8 күн бұрын

Quite so!

@minimoose7890

7 күн бұрын

Exactly. They constantly will create their own distractions, side-scenes, and red herrings. And they will miss, ignore, misinterpret, or refuse at least half the clues that are given to them.

@Scarletraven87

7 күн бұрын

If you have players like that I suggest improvising everything by letting them write the plot with their own hypothesis. They'll be usually right and therefore quite happy.

@Newnodrogbob

7 күн бұрын

@@Scarletraven87or at the very least, change the setup occasionally so that they are right sometimes, lol.

@MilkFaceWaste

6 күн бұрын

In session zero I established a faction with the goal of keeping monsters from breaking into the world through a barrier which surrounds it, and one of my players immediately went "you can't trick me, they're the ones making the monsters so they can also be the heroes defeating them and use this to eatablish control over the whole world." .... well now they are, yea.

Ginny di wasn't kidding that we'll find cool new creators through kraken week. Subbed!

@GinnyDi

7 күн бұрын

I would never lead you guys astray! 🥰

@minimoose7890

7 күн бұрын

But "do not trust the mermaids!" :-D

@AnotherDuck

7 күн бұрын

@@GinnyDi Just towards the goal with added complications.

@Outland9000

7 күн бұрын

@@GinnyDi Unless it's for glory and treasure? Right?

I had my party go seek out a nobleman's lost locket. They retrieved it from the thief and promptly returned it to the nobleman. They didn't realize that the locket had been enchanted by the thief to counteract the nobleman's dark magic that was unnaturally extending his life. The party became unwitting assassins as the nobleman rapidly aged and died in front of them. Thanks for reminding me of this, I'll have to use something like this again.

I am honestly so happy to see you included in this event! 💖 I hope your channel will keep growing with more people being brought in through the Kraken Week!

@rubinelli7404

7 күн бұрын

There's a pun to be made here about swimming with the big fish 👀

@dianehoekstra6880

6 күн бұрын

I was brought here by Kraken week!

As someone who scuba dives, I'll never forget the time I followed a yellow light in dark murky waters only to realize it was a jellyfish bloom and my regulator got entangled in some very painful and poisonous barbs of its long tail. Love your advice. Nothing quite like the look on the players' faces when they've gotten more than they bargained for

I see that Magnus Archives audiobite and I approve.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

7 күн бұрын

I'm happy you caught it!

@beapinel4277

6 күн бұрын

An eargasm, thank you

I'm a beginner biology teacher and your video "How being a teacher [...]" poping on my feed really made my day 4 months ago. Knowing about your channel made my games more intriguing and my work on school easier and funnier. I'm really thankful for all your tips! Besides that, Your videos are just perfect in every way! Don't stop blessing us with this amazing content!

Beware, the anglerfish could be the great old Cthulhu, lurking in the depths of R’lyeh, driving you mad with nightmares and finally dragging you into the abyss never to return…

@corkboardsandcuriosities

7 күн бұрын

the ultimate Great Old Anglerfish

Love that you tied "make a video about ocean themed stuff week" to mystery writing. Benoit Blanc would be proud.

The GM is the players' only window into the game world. So I'm uneasy about anything where the players can eventually see that the GM misled them. But it feels 100% okay for a foe in the game world to deliberately try to fool them. That's part of the foe's job. And a clever foe is a better foe (as long as they still lose in the end. 🙂)

So many sea puns... I find players make their own red herrings, so it is best to avoid them. They turned a list of one suspect into a mystery once. Agatha Christe's mystery method is very useful to pbta style mysteries like Brendlewood Bay. Basically, she would not decide who the killer was till the end, so she wrote the mystery so that any of the suspects could have done it. The clues discovered by the detective lead you to the culprit, but that is dependent on what he looks at and what he chooses to investigate. Basically an improvinizational mystery where you can work through the suspects with the players.

The intro cracked me up xD, nicely done. I have been doing something similar to an angler fish for a bit thinking it was just a red herring. Sent the party to catch the cause of am apathy epidemic in town. The town doctor sent them in different directions to tire them out and make them loose time as he drained their charisma slowly. The party found clues along the misdirections and eventually noticed the doctor was actually long dead and replaced by an enhanced joystealer. The drama was if they will figure it out in time or would they leave town to prevent becoming too apathetic to even care...would this count as an angler fish? When the cause is purposely missdirecting them?

Oooh! Honey, come quick, a new C&C video just dropped!

Hooray, a new CnC video Excited to see you collaborating with other creators now!

I had a good laugh when you revealed your theme. That's a wonderful way to tie your usual content into the weeks theme.

Oh my gosh your channel is awesome. Kraken week is literally just us viewers getting spoiled with content from a bunch of creators

Your advice is so good! Also, I watch a lot of DnD youtube channels, and you have the nicest voice to listen to out of all of them.

This is solid advice and truly expands on the idea that, in a TTRPG, "red herrings" need to turn back towards the mystery or risk exactly what you caution against.

I'm so glad I found your channel through Kraken week! I love dark and mysterious vibes in my games and this channel fits that aesthetic so well!

A new video from you!! Wahooo!!! I love the name for this. I’ve always felt the same about doing better than a red herring - everything should be aiding the story, not hindering it. Red herring works in books, as the characters know the plot, but players just get stuck and discouraged! They trick themselves enough. My favorite Anglerfish was a “changeling” whose shape shifting require literally shedding skin. The players were directed towards some contacts and places to look from a government official trying to root out a conspiracy, and kept finding flaps of skin nearby. One player cornered them in a busy bathroom, having discerned they were disguising themselves. “Slipskin” as it were immediately changed shape in a stall and walked right past him. He thought the guy teleported, while I thought I was being too obvious 😂 Eventually they found the bodies of all the contacts in a basement, one they were talking to not moments before, and it finally dawned on them. They were kicking themselves for not realizing sooner, and loved it!

All your videos are good, but this one felt like a cut above the rest. Genius advice! I wasn’t immediately ready to accept the angler fish upon introduction, but I have been lured in by it’s light and I am currently being eaten by it now. Cheers

I love this metaphor for better mysteries! I plan to implement it (sparingly, not too often) in future games for sure.

Taking a second to thank you for having actual captions instead of the error filled automatic ones 💕 It means a lot!

Love your video! The Magnus Archives drop really hit me, too. Loved that.

I love it! I'm using that locket idea. Also going to figure out how to adapt this to my next session when the villain is an Awakened Ring of Spell Storing. Hmmm...

Dang, I look for deep sea stuff and I’m throne into the abyss of mystery writing. I think I’ve got some cool ideas for a story now. Thanks! What a deep dive! …Oh god…. I think this whole Kraken week thing is starting to get into my head, I’m punning all over the place now too…

The "Angler Fish" metaphor encapsulates this so well! Love it. Also, I'm glad Kraken Week introduced us. 😁 Looking forward to binging the great content.

Thanks for bringing me on Val!!!

@kasane1337

7 күн бұрын

I hope you've recovered from that banana.

I LIKE that you went metaphorically! I am reminded that Carl Jung said something about dream symbolism regarding dreaming of water and floating around in it... the surface is the division between conscious and subconscious reality. The metaphorical Angler Fish is a very DEEP swimmer... that might inspire some delightfully dark depths of mystery for ANY genre of RP.

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES SOUND CLIP!!!! 😍😍😍I absolutely adore your videos on examining the skeletons and make up of games and story telling. Thank you so much!!! It totally puts into perspective how I can better use twists for my mysteries using Angler Fish >: 3!

3:30 light under the water! That goes on my list unforgettable sights.

Quickly becoming one of my favorite TTRPG youtubers!

I absolutely love the idea of anglerfish vs red herrings. Thanks for changing the way I think about storytelling.

I'm so glad that you take part in Kraken week ! You're in my top 3 dnd video maker with Pointy Hat and Ginny Di

Really love your videos, i think it's my favourite ttrpg related channel now. Love the pacing, the infos, the clarity, the wit... and the voice !

This is a great way to present the player with a driver that can not only move the story forward, but also set up some great enemies and cheap tricks! Fantastic video.

Another engaging video. I'm a BIG fan of twists in my TTRPG escapades - always expect the unexpected. I've used my fair share of Red Herrings - but now I have the Anglerfish to toss into my tacklebox.

I came because of Kraken Week and I shall stay for the amazing content 🐟I've watched already two other videos on this channel; it's really good stuff, folks!

In my campaigns there are always dramatic pitfalls for using easy solutions. Cursed items and Mutations may seem cool...but they will always cause issues in the long run. In the rules detailing my magical cursed ring one of the transmutations is anglerfish teeth. You get the teeth but sadly no accompanying musculature or tendons. So they just garble your speech and provide no combat advantage. That makes TWO mentions of anglerfish during Krakenweek. (your usage is the superior clearly.)

I'd like to thank Kraken week for introducing me to this channel!

Great metaphor! It's so easy to overcomplicate mystery plotting. I'll think of this when setting up the party's next investigation.

Great Video! i love to see my content providers working together.

Kraken weeks led me to discover your channel. Can't wait to speedrun your whole channel

I've only just discovered you, thanks to Kraken Week, and I don't know how I've missed your content before! Your tone is both so soothing and inspiring, and your video production is such good quality. I love the ambience of your style! As a player, mystery is one of my favorite parts of the game, and now as a DM I'm trying to mindfully weave it into my own stories. Thank you for the tips!

Great stuff! I love it when players create their own red herrings, but the anglerfish is a much better metaphor for DMing.

Thanks so much for sharing this amazing tool!! And for the flavorful fish examples to go with it 🙌

@minimoose7890

7 күн бұрын

It was really well cooked --er, I mean, reel-y

Hooray for Kraken Week! Discovered this creator that covers aspects of D&D that I wish more people would do! Instant subscribe.

I'm so happy we're doing Kraken week!

I do this a lot as a DM as I've often found a Red Herring to be unsatisfying, and now it's nice to have a name to put to the idea. Thanks for the video!

Love to see this not-so-literal approach to the challenge. Very good advice, also!

I was already a fan of the channel but I have to commend you for the fantastic editing and production value of this video! Not to say that there was anything wrong with those things in the past, but every video from you has been a significant improvement and it's really cool to see.

You are genuinely one of the most engaging video creators I watch. You must work hard on your videos and I really appreciate all of that. Thank you.

“Don’t sabotage your players’ progress by letting them waste time chasing false leads. Instead, literally sabotage them.”

@corkboardsandcuriosities

6 күн бұрын

yup, perfect sum up. More concise than I ever could be hahhaha

I am terrified of sea creatures but I love your channel ! The anglerfish idea is thrilling

this is a genuinely funny writing exercise even out of dnd. thanks for the vid. the best part of this kraken week event is i get to see creators i wasn't aware of. looking forward to seeing more of ur content!

I love that metaphor of using an Anglerfish instead of Red Herrings. Almost too clever... (Red herrings really are terrible for RPGs, players need more clues than story-characters and less distractions because they're constantly creating their own already.) Your production values are so high on your videos.

Third Kraken Week video I've seen so far. They're great.

This was very helpful. I was not confident if I was running a campaign that relied on mystery well enough. These tips help reinforce what I was already doing. I thought I was using too many red herrings, but I realize now I was using angler fish.

Psyched to see you got so many new subs through Kraken week. Well deserved! Have something lined up along these (fishing) lines… 🪭

Got so excited when I saw you had a new video out!! Really good advice and explanation as always, and not gonna lie, hearing John out of nowhere gave me chills.

I am very glad Kraken Week led me to this video. This is very insightful, I'll need to ruminate on it.

The anglerfish is one of my all-time favorite tricks but I'd never articulated it before. This is so helpful even if I use this technique, and I agree with your points wholeheartedly!

I always love your videos and your narrative approach to roleplaying. This is a fun concept.

I love your metaphor, and this advise sounds really good! Feeling like you wasted your time is feelsbad, but finding out the mystery is another layer or 2 deeper and upping thr stakes is exciting!

This is so timely for the homebrew game I just started running recently!

I can't wait to use an anglerfish in my False Hydra campaigns. My players are gonna hate me. :) Also, I swear your videos are so inspirational that I end up just thinking "Oh, I bet I could use this in my campaign like this[...]" and then I realize a minute has passed and I have to rewind cause I haven't processed a word lmao

So excited to see you! Happy Kraken Week!

Whoa loved that dorm idea. Thank you for everything! Please keep it up !

@corkboardsandcuriosities

6 күн бұрын

Happy you like it! I think I totally forgot to add a pop up lil card thing on the KZread vid (I should do that haha), but if you want to find that adventure it should be linked in the description

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!! THis was mesmerizing, beautiful! Im gonna remember the Anglerfish for my future Sessions!

This is an actually great piece of advice. I've seen many people try to make what works in mystery novels work in d&d and it just does not. The medium's are too different and the thing is that mystery novels only succeed because they have test readers to help writers end up with a better story and that is not something most DMs would have without running the same mystery multiple times. This angler fish idea is actually conscious of the medium its meant for, its clear it has gameplay in mind and it is good design.

What a great video. i was secretly hoping wed hear a "Zut Alors!" at the reveal of a twist, once i heard your accent. But i guess hoping to hear that one day is a good reason to subscribe!

Thank you for the energy you bring to these. It's very uplifting and infectious! Big fan of your vids

@corkboardsandcuriosities

7 күн бұрын

ahhhhhhh thank you so much, i'm so happy you like it !!!!!

This is an underrated channel

great stuff, Val, thank you!

This was quite interesting and your voice lovely to listen to. Great advice!

Fantastic video xD Loved the Red Herring Camio :D

In my current campaign, early on the players were hunting down a Mage slaying serial killer, who was also kidnapping mage children. When the players finally cornered and captured the Mage slayer they realized that although they caught their killer...he was a sort of red herring, because he wasnt kidnapping children. There was a separate villain capturing mage children for a dark ritual. So rather than feel like the players were fooled, they instead felt like they discovered something no one else knew.

Grandios video!! 🐳🦀🐙🐠🦈🦭🐋🦐🪼🦞🦭🦑

An excellent tip, thank you!

Having the big bad discover the players are trying to find them can result in agents of the bad leading the players to traps, where the reward can be further clues and reveals.

Glad you had the warning at the end. Was just going to comment that constantly tricking players [overuse of angler fish] will create a lot of unhealthy overthinking and paranoia. My players already permute things to all possible conclusions ... so if the obvious thing is the unobvious thing too often, it actually creates a "reduction" in agency/choice.

Love this. Will implement it ASAP on my table.

Super neat metaphor! Love the idea.

I once did a Mage The Awakening game where the threat was a literal angler fish. Except it was huge and, when it ate you, it ate you at all instances of time. Effectively removing your from history. Only killing it would return the party back into the timeline. The party, being mages, were pseudo immune enough to not be outright erased, but they did anonymously not exist. It made sense it practice! Trust me! Mage is weird.

Thanks for sharing this approach on mysteries. I'll probably use this technique in my upcoming campaign

Ayy the teacher lady is back

Love TMA, only just found you but if these are the references you make we're going to get on great.

this is awesome, thanks!

Love your video, Also the explanation of what I've done so I can send them your way to understand more clearly. My players got once got caught by an angler fish so bad that to this day there are no npcs that don't have a knocked arrow at them at all times lol. They all knew something was up, but just couldn't quite place it and liked the npc so much they ignored their red flags. Now every npc they like is subject to the Charlie meme of how they could be involved in something terrible.

Great video! And your outfit and makeup are so amazing! 🥰

that was awesome ! nice video !

The Magnus Archives references in this go so hard

Awesome collabs!!! Love y'all

Great video, as always!

Great video! Can't wait to see more

I think it's pretty good advice, but love for you to go more in depth on the subject. I really think you have a way of explaining things that make sense to me, but love to have more examples and concrete way to apply these good practices. Keep up the great work !

Absolutely love your content!

Interesting and fractal, as always.