Matthew Mercer: Lessons in being a Good Dungeon Master

Matthew Mercer one of the greatest voice actors of all time and the greatest gift to our nerdy community he's full of heart charisma and kindness except when he's burning a pond to the ground there's another title that we can give Matt a lot of us know him by Dungeon Master and one hell of one at that this guy has done over a hundred episodes of critical role where he plays D&D with his voice actor buddies that play out for some super interesting role-playing and indeed miss critical roles got hundreds and thousands of fans and it even blows their minds on the scale that it is today they play Dungeons & Dragons like a TV show what a time to be alive now there's a lot I can point out in critical role maybe more in the future today I wanted to focus on one aspect of the game Matt who's so precious why are you smart Matthew Mercer in my opinion is a shining example of what it means to be a good dungeon master and the dm's guide where it talks about being a DM there should just be a picture of Matt a big arrow that says hey watch this guy he does it perfectly what there's no way one guy can be that good of a DM right he has to slip up every once in a while and isn't it a little presumptuous to think that the DM for a D&D show is a good example it's not a real game I used to think this actually when I first heard of critical role and was watching it all along with other live D&D games I'd liked them but I always assumed that they were over produced D&D shows meaning that it was more about entertaining an audience rather than actually playing the game which goes pretty true for some D&D shows but I threw a critical role in that bio because voice actor is good cameras mics and a damn good game there has to be a script in there right or producers there's no way this is legit D&D then I did my research these are legit nerdy ass voice actors would like to play D&D and when they do it's hella entertaining I would legitimately think their home game is just as interesting as the show maybe with a little less cheering and announcements and format so how the hell is this guy so good at being a dungeon master why do his players listen in on every word why do they get so invested how does he do those voices and descriptions yes I'm happy to help you well let's find out let's dive into Matt's brain and find out how he makes his game so good for us and his players oh hey also light spoilers for both campaigns ever since three years ago when they switch from Pathfinder to 5th edition matt has no near down to every rule in the game 14 points of damage from piercing damage 14 points of piercing damage and he gets shoves off the back of the roofs gonna make an acrobatics check which he succeeds that heads down there he only takes one point of damage from the fall there's some times when he slips up or needs to check the book every once in a while but he is the master of rules and he takes it very seriously he knows all the player abilities maybe not every spell how their abilities work how they affect him not only does this make the game run smoothly it also gives the players an amount of respect towards him because he is the master of the rules even sometimes when his players get a little rule law URI or question when something doesn't happen even though the rules say so he's very quick to shut it down and continue with the game simply stating hey this is how it is this way this with you do you put your boots hazed for this No so two attacks you get two attacks we used your bonus action to disengage which would have been your second attack so that about yeah I also really have to commend Travis Mercia Liam Sam Laura Thompson and Ashley because they are pretty respectable when it comes to his decisions which I have to assume is something he's talked about with them out of game and blah blah blah blah blah regardless Matt knows the rules he wants to know what better than his players so that they can trust him and that's a really good trait to have as a dungeon master [Music] I think this is something pretty uncommon in the D&D world that a lot more Dungeon Master's need to pick up on Matt narrates every bit of the game he can but almost like reddish white-hot was cascading through the air plunges into the side of the over shoulders with a smattering of blood splattering it's the key behind it it's actually moved back yes he's doing it for entertainment value but there's something special about it even if he's fumbling over words almost like a toothy mouse to theme ah - theme on - theme all trust me I do it - he still does his best to make everything feel like it's actually happening watch when he describes how enemies die the brutality of it and how Laura and Marissa scream almost every time as you grind down the surface you see it it's it's armored back just pop open like a freshly cooked sausage just the inside she's built out onto the ground by the time grog reaches the ground you are coated and in thick thick crimson it feels real to them those responses aren't dissing genuine he's just really good at this the important detail here is not that Matt is a good describer it's that he makes the characters look awesome or stupid even if it's as simple as bow throwing ball bearings on the cave floor he still makes it look and sound awesome like it's a part of the game you hear what sounds like hundreds of tiny metal clangs and succession as ball bearings begin just spray down those stairs and scattering across the floor of the central makeshift ritual room describing every inch of her action making her feel cool first doing something seemingly not that important later on Sam's character not decides to stab the bad guys baby and that describes it as you plunge the short sword down into the the mewling I covered Kaabah it goes still as the mother Manticore flying up in the air turns around to watch this I just keep safe [Music] hitting an enemy mat describes it you watch as the blast hits into the side of this arm the arm actually over it hyperextends and part of the bone Oh shoots out this side he goes oh casting a spell Matt describes it okay so a large great hand sword almost a light reflection mirror image of the Craven edge that nearly tore the solfege light blade of sarin rays wrath just emerges out of the stonework in the sum of the squares floats in the air for a second looking a window mat this right you look about the sky it is clear the dark clouds that had loomed towards the top of Ghat shadow have since blown away the starry night sky now spreads infinitely above you and for the first time in a long time knowing that the immediate danger is no longer chasing you you take a minute to appreciate the sheer beauty of the view that Western always have and you know what this does to your players it does this sun damage [Applause] when you aren't amping up your players and describing their actions in front of them it makes them feel awesome it makes them feel like they are changing the world that you are actively making nobody wants to come play D&D write up your character and how cool they are with their great backstory and all the ideas you put into them only for the dungeon master to describe how awesome his NPCs are and never touch your character in the sight of the narrative even if you're one of those hard-ass DMS who wants the players to describe their actions instead of you doing it it still feels pretty lame if you're the person who's telling me what in the world is and what's happening and you just leave my character out of all those descriptions makes me feel like I'm not really there Mac throws that on its backside and makes players feel awesome when they succeed he narrates their menial tasks to make it something interesting he also makes their failures hilarious everything that the characters do is important to him and it's important to the world he makes them the stars of the story this in turn keeps his players attentive his players care about the things he describes even when it's not them they hang on to all of his NPCs all of his words everything he describes because it's very important because if you miss something then you've missed something and that's bad everything that comes out of Matt's mouth is important to the game on top of that he also makes every description and everything really epic and unique because he's a really good writer but we'll get to that next Matt spends his time putting charm and character into his world every corner of the world has some sort of personality whether it's bandits trying to rob the party we never car I thought you had the cart we're gonna load their stuff on the air cart oh we were taking your car oh well where'd you come from that's so stupid this is a really terrible plan I'll sue your con we get you stuff sure sorry random NPCs oh yes yes no so subtle pika it's not too far from Vassell high it's about a two days travel on horseback Southwest there's Henry mountains themselves be careful there they were pretty steep I haven't actually gone within the mount range myself and I've been within a few miles of it just to make sure that I could market was on my map but uh but yeah it should be fine Matt takes extra time to make them a little bit more quirky than the average D&D game why does he do this one his players are super interested in each character every time Matt plays something we all know there's gonna be something special with this guy too like we discussed before because his players feel super immersed when playing these NPCs actively respond and comment on the players know they don't bow down to their every whim but Matt takes time to make sure that introductions are in order the creepy character is creepy the noble character is Noble at powers to see bears can you do me a question faith however it's still up to interpretation on the players and how they see each character Matt also does this amazing thing that I really need all of you DMS to hear me out on a simple little trick that will make buying things way more fun in your game stop making mean merchants it might just be a personal pet peeve thing for me I really hate merchants that are just mean because I just don't get along with them take it from Matt himself from Gilmore swishes open he goes I'm sorry I was iving summon you've returned to puh Matt soul with what I have I mean go ahead and have a look at it if you wouldn't mind just there we go eyes are few other pieces right there you just want to hand those over they're not really attached I'm sorry all right that kills fall out so just be careful his players of love his merchants and they kind of me too wouldn't it be far more fun to make an interesting quirky fun merchants character that the players can return to in order to bring business to them so they can get things and there's an equal amount of trade going on rather than be grumpy old dwarf number 16 who has taken or leave it attitude and steep sup price because he's the only blacksmith in town even Matt's blacksmiths are interesting to turn back put it down on the table in front of him all right well it's hard to do that making interesting NPCs requires hard work and natural tell it that I don't have you can do it I promise open this page the Dungeon Master's guide and make a cool interesting dude for your players to interact with it get a piece of paper and write down a bunch of pre-made and PCs for your game if you can't come up with them on the spot it's not a difficult thing to do and I feel like it really will enhance your game it does format at least but I swear they will eat it up and enjoy your game way more Matan Falls the characters not only in the game but a part of the story as well he ensures to know backstories character motivations and their traits in order to get them to do things he brings in old people from their backstory he ensures to let personal character stuff happen hey I want the next arc of my game to be really motivating and I want the characters to hate my villain how should I do it hmm oh what's the most precious thing to them their home burn mat does an exceptional job at keeping his players motivated they all have reason to do what they are doing and complete the task at hand all because of something really really simple he actually cares about the people who play his game and their characters this is not a hard thing to understand and I feel like it's often overlooked I do it too I tend to just see the characters as just the people playing my videogame and I put more attentiveness into my world than at my characters there's an inter weave between the two of them and I think to give your players motivation you need to sit down with the people who are playing those characters and understand this character that they're about to play it will make them feel far more immersed in the game and they'll be much more attentive to whatever you do when you kind of make the world revolve around them for a little bit just for a little bit you don't have to do it for that long but make them feel special I think that's really important matt has a lot of heart you can truly tell he loves what he is doing he puts his heart and soul into every character of his game you feel the emotion behind a man who's lost everything of the in a single halfling man kind of sifts through the wreckage a crowns guard helping him lift heavier beings and you see as he plucks what he cannabis former life from the rubble I mean he points over to the rebel and you can see it looks to be a skeletal body that's kind of been partially collapsed I suppose I suppose Lehman's probably not gonna be a regular anymore you learned to hate those who take advantage of others okay yeah as you walk away he goes yeah that's what I thought Katka quick meeting right you pity certain villains I left my pursuit of base interests and began to obsess over a cure for this before it took me I burned through servants after servant to find anything on such a disease everything failed everything do you cry when characters die matt has likely got the most one-of-a-kind notes behind his screen he plays Dungeons & Dragons for the narrative to bet the story he creates with his friends which is why I think critical role is such a huge success these guys are trying to bank D&D for some cash or boost Wizards of the coast they are literally doing this because they enjoy it and I think that's such a great motivation for people and a reason why so many of us have our heart in this show and the characters and the people and why we cry when things Afrin we enjoy it with them critical role is a gem filled with heart which I think a lot of us need sometimes to turn off the outside world sit down and have fun with our friends just what I think Dungeons & Dragons is all about [Music] you thank you Matt Mercer thank you for that

Channel: XP to Level 3

Views: 2,136,580

Keywords: dnd, d&d, dungeons and dragons, dungeons, and, dragon, how to, tutorial, ideas, matt mercer, matthew mercer, matt, mercer, critical role, critical, role, video essay, essay

Id: NCOHqWttXzs

Length: 15min 43sec (943 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 07 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/PeePeeChucklepants]

You so...

fuckin...

precious...

when you...

SMILE

[u/Hobodaklown]

I have not seen this before. Thanks for making my man crush on Matt intensify.

[u/BJJ2015]

Matt Mercer is one of the most genuine “celebrities” I have ever seen. He allows himself to be that level of vulnerable to a world that is often cruel and mean, and it pays off. I don’t know how anyone could dislike him.

[u/sillyrocketman]

XP to Level 3 makes some pretty great content. I really recommend their HOW TO PLAY series, which is a bit more humorous. Glad to see them doing content on Critical Role.

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/BrainBlowX]

Actually, that video DOES have spoilers(the video itself says so), and this post isn't tagged as such!