D&D (2024) Deborah Ann Woll and Matt Mercer consulted on the 2024 DMG.

WotC consulted with celebrities including True Blood's Deborah Ann Woll and Critical Role's Matt Mercer when revising the upcoming 2024 edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Apparently another (unnamed) consultant provided advice on running game for kids.

That's it; that's the news.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm not convinced true sandbox are a good fit for many groups.

Sure, but it at least works for some people actually playing. Watching--I have serious questions how many, if any, that works for.

 

[Cergorach]

I'm not at all convinced they don't discuss what is going to happen before the production.

They might, they might not, but people who know the show say they don't. And that wouldn't surprise me at all, certain people/jobs are very good at improv and when combined with creativity it can be mind boggling. I've played with high caliber DM and player in the past, the DM was someone that handled very difficult talks with victims of WW2 and the other was a politician... Talking with people most of the day as part of your job can have very positive effects on your DM/player skills. But them trying to teach that to others intentionally might not be as useful as one might think. People first need to walk, before they can run.

99% of the DM/player base will never reach that kind of level, and realistically don't want to reach that level (compared to the effort it would take). But them consulting on the DMG is like Johan Cruyff (one of the great soccer players) teaching children how to do The Cruyff Turn... Now, if Johan Cruyff turned up to a children's football team to show off and sign soccer balls... (Note: I'm not a soccer fan, just using it as an example.)

 

[Reynard]

(like remembering whether or not you left the campfire burning,

???

 

[CleverNickName]

???

It's a (poorly done) reference to that "did I leave the gas on?" meme. There aren't any gas burners in D&D, but there are campfires, so...

Basically it's a check to see if your character remembered something important but mundane (unrelated to History, Arcana, Nature, etc.)

 

[Clint_L]

I'm not convinced true sandbox are a good fit for many groups.

I find they're not great for beginner groups. I go with a sort of "sandbox-lite" style in those campaigns. There is still room for meaningful choices, but the options are somewhat limited and obvious. Otherwise you tend to get a kind of paralysis by analysis, because they don't yet know the style of cooperative storytelling that drives a true sandbox game.

My home campaigns, on the other hand, always start with a fairly structured mini-arc, to get things rolling, and then just evolve according to player interests and choices. I find them more fun to run, because I get to discover the story along with the players. But I have to really be on my toes, and willing to put in the work on short notice when the players suddenly decide, as they did last session, that they need to head straight to a city that I don't have prepared, to follow up on a family complication that I only just learned about.

 

[Oofta]

I find they're not great for beginner groups. I go with a sort of "sandbox-lite" style in those campaigns. There is still room for meaningful choices, but the options are somewhat limited and obvious. Otherwise you tend to get a kind of paralysis by analysis, because they don't yet know the style of cooperative storytelling that drives a true sandbox game.

My home campaigns, on the other hand, always start with a fairly structured mini-arc, to get things rolling, and then just evolve according to player interests and choices. I find them more fun to run, because I get to discover the story along with the players. But I have to really be on my toes, and willing to put in the work on short notice when the players suddenly decide, as they did last session, that they need to head straight to a city that I don't have prepared, to follow up on a family complication that I only just learned about.

I do series of mini-arcs with the players deciding what arc to pursue next out of a few I propose or something they want to follow up on. So as one arc is wrapping up I can do some planning on the next one. But I also try to be quite flexible on how they approach solutions.

I've asked people about their preferences and most people don't really want a true sandbox, likely in part because we can only seem to get together once a month or so.

 

[Clint_L]

My home campaign is about to go in exactly the other direction, though, because as soon as they figure out their current dilemma, I am going to try to run an entire campaign book for the first time in my 40+ years of D&D. I'll be adapting it as we go, but I really love the concept of the Vecna campaign and revisiting the history of D&D. I've been dropping teasers into the home game for almost a year, ever since we got the first glimmers of it. So they've already had to deal with one trans-dimensional obelisk.

 

[Nefermandias]

Alternatively: 2 of the best streaming GMs ever advise on gaming product directed at the streaming generation.

Amazing. It's almost like they are trying really hard to shoo us old grogs away for good.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Amazing. It's almost like they are trying really hard to shoo us old grogs away for good.

Only if us 'old grogs' are unable or unwilling to actually modernize our gaming a little bit and instead remain perpetually stuck in 1983.

Should we be bothered that no video game companies are catering to our Colecovision consoles anymore too?

 

[AnotherGuy]

Only if us 'old grogs' are unable or unwilling to actually modernize our gaming a little bit and instead remain perpetually stuck in 1983.

Don't be a pencil-hater