After we came up with the Shadow, I realized Garth and Aimsley from my novels must both be Shadows, and I was so inspired I immediately had to write a new chapter for my third novel. docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRz-fsXPJ-WZlTUHN5cHSEhW4vFX01UFtmFxWk_TvE3CIQkYKqpbRDXlfO7KJe5P7QdRQ48Wcwhc06e/pub

@epee11c

8 ай бұрын

Ooh! I'm really excited for this!

@stormscale

8 ай бұрын

Man, it's been a while since I read the Ratcatchers. Almost made me forget how badly I'm looking forward to part 3. ❤

@roadmarch0364

8 ай бұрын

Take your time, I'm still saving my schmeckles for "Flee Mortals"...

@bagamer13

8 ай бұрын

Can’t wait for part 3 of Ratcatchers. Thanks Matt!

@MCXL1140

8 ай бұрын

Fighter when?????? :)

LARS THUMBNAIL! HE'S DONE IT! THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KIN- oh hey matt

@MorinehtarTheBlue

8 ай бұрын

Absolutely feel you on that one. Though it did give me other ideas too.

@cookechris28

7 ай бұрын

KINGSLAYER, GET IN HER- oh hey man.

@freezman13

7 ай бұрын

Absolutely jebaited. This is clickbait!

@aaronwhodrums5438

7 ай бұрын

I just belly laughed

I originally sat down to write one script talking about ALL our classes but 20 mins later I was like "Damn 20 minutes only 2 classes....um. Part One!" But focusing on two classes for this video was better I thought.

@aaronrussell9769

8 ай бұрын

Loved it! Can't seriously can't wait for next month now!

@kylinsky

8 ай бұрын

It's subtle but adding the article 'The' in front of the class name automatically makes it more appealing for a hero fantasy than the article 'a'. My character is going to be The Talent sounds better than my character is going to be a sorcerer.

@Mirekluk

8 ай бұрын

Certainly good choice. Loved the tactician story. I believed in tactical potentail of free reposition mid combat, and you delivered.

@fredslipknot9

8 ай бұрын

@@kylinskyI completely agree. Good point.

When I say "Hercules!" I mean like from Jason and the Argonauts. Like, a low-level demigod who still hangs out with normal people.

@NeverUseAnApostrophe

8 ай бұрын

The best type.

@-Markus-

8 ай бұрын

The only true Hercules!

@hweidigiv

8 ай бұрын

Significantly, that Hercules isn't even the leader/primary character; Jason is. Hercules is just one of the Argonauts.

@kevingriffith6011

8 ай бұрын

@@hweidigiv I still love that. Like, imagine you have actual demigod Hercules on your team and have the guts to file him in with "And the rest".

@simorote

8 ай бұрын

When I say Hercules I usually go: "👏Hercu👏les 👏Hercu👏les 👏 Hercu👏les!"

"No man can escape...his SHADOW."

@KalonOrdona2

8 ай бұрын

DOOMMm!

@thomaslucey9906

8 ай бұрын

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The SHADOW knows.

@jokerthor

8 ай бұрын

Except Peter Pan.

@landonwyndham979

7 ай бұрын

@@jokerthor that's because he is not a man but an eternal child.

I’m only five minutes in and Colville has already announced that 10 was a “nice round number” and “your mom likes it both ways” 😂

@TronHammer

8 ай бұрын

The way he cheekily looks around first xD

@MannonMartin

8 ай бұрын

@@TronHammer I was just listening with this in the background and had to back up so I could see his expression for that part. Was not disappointed.

@normanhutchinson3504

8 ай бұрын

Fricken hilarious!

Lars' excitement is infectious! 🎉🎉🎉

The best part of waking up, is Colville in your cup

@ReconKeeper212

8 ай бұрын

Blimey

@passthemeeple

8 ай бұрын

Dam that's a good line! You win the day!

@TubingKri

8 ай бұрын

How the hell did I not see this line before?! Lol nice one!

@tslfrontman

8 ай бұрын

**shudders**

@sugarking12

8 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the image of a mug with just Matt's face in it.

Lars saying "I'm very happy with the result" has such meme potential.

I laughed out loud when Matt said one of the shadow's abilities is "hesitation is weakness." A character in Sekiro says the catchphrase "hesitation is defeat," and it's something of a meme in the Sekiro community.

@AwesomeWookiee

5 ай бұрын

Petition to change it to "Hesitation is Defeat". To the Fools

I think a funny thing to be able to do (maybe at a higher level) would be to use your taunt to get an enemy to target one of your allies. It gives me visions of Peter Quill saying “Hey you, are you gonna take that from him?! He just called you a [insert fantasy insult here]!” while pointing at Drax or Rocket as if they’d just insulted the bad guy. Cut to the bad guy looking confused for a second and then getting mad and running toward Drax or Rocket.

"I am very happy with the result" what a glowing recommendation, Hopefully the full game also makes you say "I am very happy with the result"

Obsessed with Lars' legitimately glowing endorsement of the Shadow.

Okay, Matt Colville made me laugh out loud at a "Your mom!" joke in 2023. I'm backing this game.

@cferejohn

8 ай бұрын

Just to set expectations, the game may or may not contain any "your mom" jokes. :P

I like how the Tactician immediately evoked Cyclops from the X-Men and I could imagine a different genre of character having the same abilities

Tactician sounds like something ive been really trying to see in ttrpgs. That type of character who people revere not because they've got a good sword-arm, not because they're a wise sage, or an excellent spellcaster- but because They REALLY understand the flow of combat, they understand people, they understand how to get a group to do something. Their mind is special, but in a different way that isnt symbolized by magical acuity.

Thank you Lars for the detailed commentary

I absolutely love the idea of evasive characters actually having abilities that let them reliably get out-of-range, take cover, kite around, or break line of sight to make it actually impossible to attack them, instead of just having a high AC or equivalent. I'm interested in how your system handles attack range. In 5e, reliably avoiding enemy attacks by staying out-of-range is completely unreliable because projectile attack ranges completely dwarf movement speeds.

@johndevlin9225

8 ай бұрын

I agree, so far, ranged combat is the thing that concerns me the most about the system. Lots of abilities based around enemies getting into melee and characters getting into melee and I’m wondering what happens when someone decides they’re going to stand at the other end of the map and pelt the enemy with arrows.

@LibertyMonk

8 ай бұрын

It's a tough balance, because the entire point of ranged damage is being out of range, so you can hit people before they can close in. They seem to typically turn into tax collectors in most systems, you just have to pay the HP tax every time you close in.

@sefatsilverlake3816

8 ай бұрын

@@johndevlin9225 I wonder how they are going to tackle it. Icon rpg does an interesting one with their shadow class, their limit break makes ranged attackers to have a range of 2, forcing them to move closer.

The Lars clip is certainly something I can relate to lol. I always enjoy these videos, the concept discussions always leave me more motivated to take a step back and work on things I'd like to change for the games I run, rather than feeling confied by the base systems.

Doom sounds like something an Oracle would use when guiding your fate into misfortune.

Mark, the Necromancer, had a bit of a rough day when the Tactician attacked!

I love that Matt Colville and MCDM are bringing back D&D4e. It had so many fantastic ideas, so much drama and straight-up heroics in it's rules that it was bar none the best version of D&D we ever played. Also the only one where we played from Level 1 to 30 and then six months more using custom demi-god rules we made ourselves. The characters were incredible (including the Warlord that Matt mentions here in the shape of the tactician, a leader character with buffs/debuffs, a bit of healing and a lot of leadership abilities), the monsters were fun to run, the Minions (that Matt has talked about several times), the Skill Challenges. D&D4e on a grid was heroic fantasy themepark masterclass. I'm so looking forward to trying out this seemingly slightly more streamlined version MCDM is putting together. 10 Levels doesn't sound like much but if there are lots of advancement in other areas (meaningful magic items - one thing D&D4e did wrong, blessings gained from powerful patrons, or whatever) then I think this could be intensely fun.

My favorite part about this video is the way Lars delivers his line. 😂

So nice to see Lars that happy

Man, I can't wait to be able to play all the classes. Good to know that Lars is having a good time!

😂 "i am very happy with the result." 😂😂😂

I'm extremely excited to hear that design is leaning toward more asymmetry between classes. Slayers, a more rules-lite monster fighting game set in an infinitely growing city(!!) is built around classes having wildly different mechanics, and I've found that idea of not fully knowing how your fellow players' characters function leads to some awesome moments where players get to "reveal" some awesome trick they can do or organically find a cool, unexpected interaction with other characters' abilities.

Lars talked. Got what I came for.

The shadow's resource could be called "gloom" instead. Slightly less edgy, still evocative, matches the term shadow quite well

@MumboJ

8 ай бұрын

Doom Doom Doo-Doom, Doomy Doomy Doom!! For some reason, I hated the Gloomstalker Ranger because I thought it sounded silly, but ever since Tears of the Kingdom suddenly I quite like the word Gloom. Funny that. :P

@cooperton4949

7 ай бұрын

The question is: is something being less edgy necessarily better? I posit that some classes can, and maybe should, be inherantly edgy

@-undecided-1663

7 ай бұрын

I think doom has a stronger fantasy. Where the shadow part emphasises use of stealth and surprise and gloom just doubles up on that doom is its own thing. And it also really speaks to that assassin-y fantasy of being inevitable, sounds almost like you're an agent of something-your enemies doom draws close, and you're just a tool of it. It's much more evocative to me, and says more about what the nature of the power you're using is and where it comes from. I'm thinking in d&d terms of all those LN gods of death and fate who say it's not personal, every life must end, undead are an abomination because they subvert that fundamental law. Also isn't gloom equally edgy lol

@palatonian9618

7 ай бұрын

I feel like gloom is to close to gloomy, like a depressing and inactive type of edge

@MumboJ

7 ай бұрын

@@palatonian9618 Yeah I think that's why I didn't like it for Gloomstalker, just feels a bit depressing rather than cool. But then TotK came along and rebranded "Gloom" as an oppressive darkness that swallows you up, which is more interesting I think. Edit: "Doom and Gloom and Things Go Boom, in Dexter's Lab!"

Whenever I'm feeling uninspired or beginning to burn out on my D&D game that I run, I watch Matt Colville, either an old campaign diary or some DM advice. And I always leave brimming with ideas and motivation. I am also super excited for this game and can't wait to try it out with my table.

I'm quite excited for this RPG and the crowdfunding

I'm really happy that that is the shirt he was wearing for that line. Flawless costume design.

I had the same thoughts about level 10. My group never gets past level 6.... Level 20 is just a fantasy

@MorinehtarTheBlue

8 ай бұрын

D&D's levels also suffer from not getting rigorously play tested. Though if I have any objection to the design philosophy it's the fear that it may reduce a campaigns longevity. Time will tell if that's actually true or a problem but I do want to spend time with my character especially if I have a good/fun concept to work with.

@tiagopedrosa6746

8 ай бұрын

I think is more an DM fear of high play issue. I play much more in the 3rd tier then the first 2. The enconters are good and all. But I confess it takes time to the DM to lear how to make a game for high level play

@MorinehtarTheBlue

8 ай бұрын

@@tiagopedrosa6746 You're welcome to that opinion. It's still objectively true that playtests don't often engage with those higher levels.

So, I was blessed enough to play in a play test at Gamehole Con; it was a blast. (shout out to the amazing players and of course our Director!) While tactical games aren’t my usual style, I have been riding the high of inspiration that session game me. It was really really dope! So dope, I started forming my own home game system using many little bits, starting with the MCDM RPG then looking at other games to make a more “dungeon crawl-y” style RPG that first and foremost removes the “two hit” roll and is more of a “cinematic survival horror” type game. I am really excited for the final release of the game! Thank you for all the dope shit!

Delightful. Love the short stories about how class abilities reinforce the fantasy. Those moments feel great when they happen in-game, and are often retold as "Remember that time when..."

I love hearing about all the ways the game is encouraging players to be, and want to be, engaged in what is going on in combat when it isn't their turn.

I'm pretty sure I commented this on a video a while ago, but damn the video quality on your vids is so good. Props to Jerry and the team for always giving 110% to production quality

I've watched almost all of Matt's content for years. The "your mum's..." delivery is the time I've laughed the hardest. Great joke, great edit!

"Hesitation is defeat" is a banger of a line from Sekiro.

The Tactician class kinda reminds me of Captain America and his role within the Avengers. Not the greatest DPS by any means, but knows battle, knows people, and knows how to strategise, direct, and coordinate in order to achieve victory.

If a tactician player goes with one of the more squishy kits (like archer), a cool 6 focus ability would be Ballroom Blitz. I don't think I need to explain it

@mcolville

8 ай бұрын

AND THE MAN IN THE BACK

@hive_indicator318

8 ай бұрын

@@mcolville but you're only allowed to pick this if your character looks like Tia Carrere

@DJbeeker421

8 ай бұрын

Is that like a soothing hp boost if you start to groove?

@hive_indicator318

8 ай бұрын

@@DJbeeker421 no, but the Conduit gets a bonus to healing if they do that instead

LARS! HE IS STILL HAVING FUN!!!!!!!!

Shadow description immediately made me think of wetboys from the "Night Angel Trilogy" by Brent Weeks. Great concept!

Matt Colville, your charisma, passion, and persona are so infectious and amazing! I LOVE everything about the TTRPG game you are creating! Become a new Patreon supporter and can't wait to play the official game

One thing the mention of avoiding effects reminded me of is the resistance roll from Blades in the Dark, which is one of my all-time favorite pieces of game design anywhere. You have a dice pool based on how good you are at resisting certain kinds of consequences, but instead of rolling every time and resisting if the dice are in your favor, you choose whether or not to resist a consequence but suffer stress depending on how well you roll. Not only does it turn a simple roll into a nuanced choice which feels impactful but doesn't have a clear right answer, it also means that every result can ratchet up the tension. I would love to see something similar in the final draft of Cinematic and Tactical, if there's a way to make it work and make it fit with the rest of the design.

Lars' cameo was too good! 🤣

“More Doom means More Damage” is a shirt that I would buy.

You got me with the thumbnail. Good job.

These videos are not only entertaining, but also teach valuable lessons to anyone interested in design. Incredible work, as per usual!

Sooo excited! I will be playing The Talent in a campaign that starts in a few weeks!!!!!! I can't wait for the game, Thank you MCDM for this!!!!

I’ve been playing and DMing D&D (and other RPGs) for about a half century now, and through all those editions, I never really wanted to play a thief. Sure they were important for opening locked doors and chests, and removing traps (which were a bigger part of the game back in the day), but I was always happy to let someone else do that. The actual combat abilities never appealed to me. This description of the shadow (specifically doing something nasty and then slipping away in the chaos and din of battle) actually sounds fun and tactically interesting. I’m excited to try it, and so now I’m excited to try this game. I figured Matt and his team would have good ideas, and thought this might be a good opportunity to take what we’ve learned from years playing and come up with a better way (like eliminating the “do I lose my turn” die roll), but this video really piqued my interest in the new game. Too bad I missed out on getting in on the playtesting.

Your descriptions of these classes and the stories that have unfolded at your playtest table are making me very excited, almost giddy. I'm reminded of the way I felt reading Lancer for the first time - similar tactical heroic vibes. I look forward to the crowdfunding campaign!

I couldn’t possibly be more excited for this system. It’s amazing.

I already know which of my friends will play each of these classes. Outstanding work, especially with the Shadow ability names. Dropping the phrase in a somewhat casual way is excellent presentation for a stealth character.

The way you get excited about the playability and FUN of these creations really makes me want to work for you.

13:40 you've described the politeness pass turn order system that I've been using in my homebrew system for years now. It's a great system and does not need to change.

I'm getting 4th edition Warlord and Assassin vibes "Stealing cool shit from it is the highest form of praise"

Proud to be a patron and seeing such wonderful and creative ideas

The description of the tactician around 7:45 is such a perfect description of how my 5e eldritch knight operates as part of his group its almost scary. (we also broke the "not making it to level 20 curse", big thanks to my group and DM for keeping it going) so excited to see more from this game you folks are making, I have made PF2E my main system, but I really want to play all kinds of stuff and I love the cinematic combat ideas you have. :)

Colville: *Describing what the Tactician does* Me, who loves the 4th Edition Warlord: "Warlord! Warlord! Warlord! Warlord!"

I was a big fan of the 4e Warlord and the Tactician sounds fantastic.

Man I’ve loved watching your channel grow and your journey. I commuted for years and would listen to you as I drove. I’d chat with you, it was a blast. I think we’d have been great friends if we’d known each other in the 80s. Thank you so much for your channel.

In the grand scheme, say a post game retrospect, what really is the difference between a percentile activation of 'cool thing' and a limited use of 'cool thing'. Fate vs Agency I would say! And of course agency feels better, that's so cool From just the sound of things here, I think y'all have nailed it. That recontextualization of action economy has me so pumped. It's something I haven't seen before, and I think could be the secret sauce the hobby has needed for some time. I am ludicrously excited to see the result, and to witness the process

Wow, that's a great shirt! It looks like it's super comfortable, tagless, very soft, and that design is amazing!

Putting this as a main comment from a reply I made talking about how I prefer my rogues as cheeky, not edgy. Honestly, given how it sounds like The Shadow plays, having its resource be called Chaos might be better. Cuz as the chaos of a battlefield increases it makes it easier for the sneaky characters to slip away unseen. Chaos is a great cover. And as enemies die their formation breaks apart creating more Chaos which is why that gives you more resources.

What I would absolutely love to see is how you guys decide to deal with classes which are very suited to out of combat abilities, and how you manage to allow them that utility as well as continuing to make them feel like they are still significant in combat (*cough* not talking about 5e ranger at all *cough*)

My heart sank when I realized what’s going on with Matt’s channel I really hope everything can be recovered, it’s 5 AM here, probably 3 AM where Matt is. It’ll be a few hours until he realizes what’s happening, most likely. My favorite KZread channel has been wiped clean, as of now

Great video, Lars! Nice to see you again!

Listening to the decision making and design process like this is so much fun and definitely has me excited to try out this game!

was itching for one of these recently 👍

Incredibly excited for the Shadow! Probably the first character I'll want to make when we get our hands on the RPG!

10:04 you had me at 'Death Captain'.

So excited for this game!!! I cannot wait to start GMing it for my friends!!!🎉

@greendragon2772

8 ай бұрын

Me too!!!!!🎉

Hey nice shirt! I'm wearing one too! Edit: OMG....i was NOT ready for that "your mom" joke. I died. xD The little humor injections in this video were wonderful

I love the fact that you actually have to do something and think about positioning to dodge attacks. Same could work for mitigating damage. As long as there is a cost involved, and an optimisable choice, it's already gonna be more fun than just stating your AC level. :) Great job MCDM!

MCDM and DC20 are the two game I'm looking forward to playing the most.

@Dsisiv

8 ай бұрын

Same. Seeing them both be made gives me a ton of appreciation for all the work that goes into them.

Doom, no chaos! It's the chaos of the battle field that a shadow takes advantage of. ☺️

That was a very "Lars moment" we got to share in. Great stuff here MCDM, so looking forward to playing this.

Every time you say "Mark that Guy", I imagine the tactician throwing an Invincible onto the Guy

Every new one of these gets me extremely hyped

You had me at Elementalist. One of my favorite words and classes from Heroes of might and magic

That was fun. Shadow is super cool and probably my favourite class at the moment that I've seen. Ready for the crowd funding. Let's go!

Man, I think I need to get in on this patreon. Mostly cuz when you said taunt, I had two potentially conflicting thoughts that are both very exciting, and aren't necessarily conflicting... Is it a sticky taunt, or a punishing taunt? Cuz I love the idea of an archer being able to shout at someone get their attention, and let them know they're about to get arrowed, and then if their target tries to fight somebody else, they get that arrow

@thechikage1091

8 ай бұрын

Pocketing this one, thank you random youtube commenter with no profile picture and a username that would make me think you were otherwise a bot

@w4iph

8 ай бұрын

@@thechikage1091 lol. It's kinda my initials. Glad you like the concept

I truly, as someone whose homebrewed so many dungeons and dragons fifth edition abilities for my players, because I want them to have more tactical choices for combat - I am so very excited for this game because it really seems like you guys are nailing the idea that table top fantasy games. Need to have mechanics that reinforce the fantasy. 10 out of 10 Colville.

I am loving the design goals of this system; to sum it up, it seems to be "tactical and interactive." Compared to 5E, I think this is a great launch point because 5E combat is really simple and only a few features and spells feel interactive. I'm kind of reminded of EDH format in Magic the Gathering. In that game, multiplayer matches feel very bland and one-sided when each player has a deck that focuses on engine building (simply building up pieces on what the deck is designed for) and leaves out interaction (spells that destroy and counter other players' engine pieces to keep them in check). In these games, whoever has the strongest deck or best hand wins. When interaction is prevalent among all players, the games get very swingy; there is an ebb and flow of power balance based on how other players interact and react. I think this is a good lesson for tabletop as well. With simple and engine-based kits, a PC is inclined to check-out when it's not their turn and do the core mechanic of their class when it is their turn (line up a sneak attack, attack twice, or hurl a fireball, etc.) making for repetitive and un-engaged gameplay. But with interactive kits (reaction-based abilities and tactical prerequisites) you have players focusing on the battlefield more because they may "have a response." Also sounds like their could be cool synergies to look out for, at least within a single PC's own arsenal, but would be really cool to see potential synergies between classes too, to encourage players to engage with each other as well, not just the baddies. Anyway, loving the design focus, can't wait to see more!

When the CEO makes a "your mom" joke in a marketing video

Reactions! I think Horus Heresy feels good as a tabletop wargame because players can interact on each other's turns, and I'm looking forward to running these RPG rules because they allow for interaction and reward attentive players.

Sweet Overmind shirt! I love mine. All hail Xoronox!

I really appreciate these Designing the Game videos even if I don't always quite agree with some of the assumptions that you make in your design. These classes do seem pretty neat.

I love each class having a unique heroic resource. So flavorful. It would be easy to think, “That’s too much. How is a player supposed to learn all the different resource mechanics?” Well, they don’t have to. You’re only playing one character at a time. You only need to know how YOUR class works. Nobody plays a barbarian in 5e and is expected to know how a warlock’s eldritch invocations work.

Honestly, I think I’m going to LOVE the tactician class. Can’t wait to run and play

I can’t miss a Matt colville video cause every once in a while he drops a gem like “your mom likes it…” lmaoo

I love Lars, I'm here for all stoics dudes

This all sounds really good. The Shadow class sounds very fun. Gotta change "Doom" though. That's a resource for a doomsaying preacher or someone invoking the hells or natural disasters. Just call the resource Ash, since it uses Black Ash or whatever you said.

I don't usually comment on this kind of stuff but props to Jerry (or whoever is behind the cameras), the quality and lightning of this video is just immaculate!

I think we can all call it a day now that we finally have the mcdm mom joke

I love how Matt tried to hold it but couldnt resist the 'Your Mom..' bit!

Just a thought about the idea of only having 10 levels. Part of the “cinematic” pillar for me is seeing how far my character has progressed. Luke becoming a Jedi master is COOL because he was a farm boy. I think there is a lot of fun in seeing the contrast between fighting a hoard of rats in session 1 and then slaying a dragon in session 30. I think to have “heroic” and “cinematic” the fantasy requires a lot of growth and change from the first session to the last. Having my character’s farm boy era played “off screen” is less fun.

Finally we can play Dishonored's Corvo Attano without having to cram in Rogue, Hexblade, Fighter, and a bunch of other strange shit!

Man these classes sound like they're gonna kick ass. I remember some friends expressing skepticism about the pairing of "tactical" and "cinematic" but I bet this will easily diminish their apprehension.