Matt Colville Videos

Sometimes I fall into bad routines using the same tricks to spice up combat. Stairs and ledges. Can you help think of ways to keep combat settings fresh?

How do you roleplay a manipulative or scheming NPC when you are neither? How do get in your BBEG’s head and make their choices when your brain doesn’t think like that? What resources do you use to learn what motivates characters who are very...

Similar to the video about "Types of Players" video. This time about what kind of villains a GM can play and for what kind of purpose. Consider 'Kalarel The Vile' with his blood red gold as an archetype or Vecna the Ascended from Critical Role....

Some character backstories, although interesting, are really hard to bring into a campaign and have elements of it show up, or for NPCs to engage with. Help players write ones I can use!

Like videos looking at body language and hand gestures of presidential candidates, I believe there is an opportunity to compile examples of Matthew Mercer's habits on Critical Role to provide examples and context for next level DM behavior....

Often in RPG campaigns, the non human races are just sort of well... extra human-y. Elves are androgynous haughty humans. Dwarves are drunken, greedy Scottish humans. You know the cliches. How does a DM make these other races feel authentic and...

Suggested in the 'On Being a Good Player' video, a sequel to D&D Sociology. An examination of player expectations at the table.

Warlocks are unique in that they come with a relationship with a high level NPC who guides them (often to their own goals), what are some pointers on ways DMs can make this relationship interesting?

I would love a video talking about how to run a campaign where your players are Evil, or if you have a single evil character and several good players.

I would like to see an example of building an adventure/module using the framework Matt laid out in Running the Game 63 / the Gen Con video.

Dungeon Building basics have been explained before but I am curious how you would think about building a dungeon that integrates the personality of the person or group who created it and what kinds of things would be in their dungeon based on the...

How to make the game world realistic to the medieval era.

the players must make a choice! But what is the right thing to do? Is there a right thing to do? How will their decisions come back to haunt them?

Adventuring in a city can be a very different animal than the wilderness. With the upcoming Chain campaign, I'd love to get your thoughts on how you tailor your design and prep to account for these unique challenges. Thanks!

Talk about stuff that is not D&D. Like you did with Legend of the Five Rings. Maybe talk about your experiences playing other stuff and about cool settings like Shadowrun or Deadlands, or anything else really.

Early in Matt Colville's video "On Being A Good Player", Matt mentions wanting to tell his players that one of their ideas that was being shot down was a good one, but abstains due to the "GM Neutrality Principle". He also mentions that he could...

Would love to learn how you come up with weapon and magic item ideas for your players, espeically for the "weapon master" who is very specialized in particular weapons. What makes a good magic item? does the Badguy use said item? what of Balance?

You need to party to go to a place, you want to put them in the clutches of a bad guy, or you need to put them in the ire of some faction... or the party just did something dumb and now the guards are coming. What are some clever tricks to hide...

Cheat sheets, notes, and whatever else a dungeon master should prep before a session to help running a smooth game

How to make more players feel comfortable approaching your table and expose and educate other players on common misconceptions. This can mean things like adding "inclusive" to your description, considering accommodations for people with...

The DM is the players' eyes and ears and must make sure everyone has the same (mostly) mental image, but how do you describe the world and the scene well? What should you focus on to evoke the feeling you want? And how can you prevent a situation...

A lot of the tips and advice Matt gives out presume a face-to-face game, but not everyone has that luxury. Does Matt have any advice specific to online formats, does any of his previous advice change, and are there any particular styles or...

Matt runs a very human-centric game, elves and dwarves have places in it with well thought out lore. However, one player has their heart set on playing a Genasi, a Tiefling, or perhaps even a Warforged. How would he incorporate this character...

Sometimes I find that I have just finished up with an incredible set of sessions, but then I'm lost on how to pick things up again for the party's next adventure. How do you keep the ball rolling between adventures and have things drift into each...

AKA, why you shouldn't bother using polearms if you want the chance to use weapons that have flavor / are named. AKA why you shouldn't bother to use a certain subset of spells and skills and feats if you are playing Adventurers League format....

Also known as, good ways to take on the Officiating/Referee role as a DM.

I would love to see you take a old adventure and walk us through your steps of remaking this. What you think works, what doesn't, what is cool, what can be improved and how.

How to prevent the abuse of insight or charisma checks, against npcs, without taking away player's agency. How to balance those 20 and 1 in social interactions.

You've done one on the idea of losing, but if always feels like the death of a character is so much more personal than general loss. How does a party deal with the loss, and moreover, how do they feel whole again? How can the DM help facilitate...

A video on the planescape setting and how it differs from the "traditional" setting. Things like how the themes change how the players play in and look at the world. For example, one of the major themes in planescape is the power of belief. If one...