Dan "Professor Dungeon Master" DeFazio

[benvoliothefirst]

Hey Folks,

This guy has got some hardcore credentials, and uses a custom version of Dungeons and Dragons informed by many different systems.

Of special note to this site is how he has simplified D&D to the point where it starts resembling HeroQuest in many ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WLQdmbK17s&list=PLYlOu5g6H7ZxR3gdiIdXNMS3JH3YGCppR

[cornixt]

I started watching this guy a few months ago for his terrain making tips. His system seems a bit too hand-holding where the DM decides almost everything. Might work for some groups, especially beginners, but I think the rules should do a lot of the work for the DM to lighten the load.

[Weltenlaeufer]

Cool, exactly what I am looking for right now! thanks gonna check it out

[benvoliothefirst]

I started watching this guy a few months ago for his terrain making tips. His system seems a bit too hand-holding where the DM decides almost everything. Might work for some groups, especially beginners, but I think the rules should do a lot of the work for the DM to lighten the load.

Interesting, I had the opposite thought watching a lot of his videos... at the beginning you need the rules, but once you're an experienced DM you should be able to guesstimate the target number and refer to the books less.

D&D is notoriously complex compared to HeroQuest: Prof DM says halving spell damage and hit points makes combat more fun and less time consuming. I'm thinking that even the cantrips are much more powerful than existing HeroQuest spells, so maybe halving the damage and allowing enemies to use their defend dice to "save" vs spells is the way to go. Still mulling it over.

[benvoliothefirst]

The Professor is back, this time with an easy way to convert D&D monsters for use in HeroQuest!

I suspect this may even be the way the original HQ creators came up with body points for the starting monsters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MABlOHYommI&list=WL&index=32

[cornixt]

I saw that video last night and didn't even think about how you could apply it to HeroQuest (although surely a 15hp Orc should be rounded to having 2 hits and not 1 since you round up from 5s). I like any guidelines so simple that you can grab something from any of the dozens of books and instantly have an equivalent without having to think about it.

You'd still need attack/defense numbers though, which involves a little thought - I'd suggest using the Strength or Dex bonus value for attacks depending on whether it is a dumb creature or smart/fast creature. For defense you could use the Constitution bonus or Dex bonus, reasoning in the same way. Mind is less important, maybe just using the highest of the Int or Wisdom bonuses. Minimum of 1 for all of these, unless they are undead or something. I spot-checked a few random monsters and it seemed to produce reasonable results, but I'm sure it falls down in places.

It's been a few years and a lot more videos, so I can say that I don't hold the same opinion of professor Dungeon Master as I did back then. A lot of his suggestions seem to be more about customising the game for the people playing, making it a better game for that group and that group only. He's become a lot better at explaining why he thinks what he does and the counter arguments, albeit I still don't agree with him on a lot of things.

[benvoliothefirst]

It didn't even OCCUR to me that you could translate bonuses into HQ dice, but that's so elegant, I love it! HellooooOOOOOO spreadsheet!