2d4chan - User contributions [en]

H.P. Lovecraft

2020-09-15T21:15:18Z

2600:1700:19C0:2760:6C9B:96:10A3:2FB3:

{{Awesome}}
[[Image:Lovecraft.jpg|thumb|right|This is the closest he was able to pull to a smile.]]
{{Topquote|For I have always been a seeker, a dreamer, and a ponderer on seeking and dreaming...|H.P. Lovecraft, defining what is to be, at core, an elegan/tg/entleman}}

'''Howard Phillips Lovecraft''' was an American writer of horror fiction for 1920s pulp magazines, mostly the now defunct but famous at the time ''Weird Tales''. He is lauded one century later as the pioneer of the idea of "cosmic horror". In his stories (and the genre that evolved from it) the horror doesn't arise from prosaic fears of death and dismemberment, but from the idea that the universe itself is utterly alien and either indifferent or actively malevolent towards mankind, full of incomprehensible horrors that our minds are ill-equipped to cope with because some asshat didn't make it OSHA-compatible. This idea replaced the traditional spooks, werewolves, vampires and psychos with tentacled monstrosities from beyond space and time, dark gods sleeping beneath the ocean, and secretive cults carrying out terrible rites to bring their masters back to the world of the living. His influence can be felt throughout our culture as cosmic horror became a core concept of both fantasy and science-fiction - Mind Flayers in D&D, the insidious cults and corrupting influence of the gods of Chaos in ''Warhammer'', and of course ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]''.

The message of most of his writings is: life sucks, history and culture are precious but religion is harmful, and foreigners are weird and having children with them is an abomination. (Lovecraft was outspokenly racist even for his day,<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> though he would later come to regret ''some'' of it [[Skub|And that's all we'll say, lest we invite flame wars otherwise.]]) Most importantly of all: man is hugely smaller and weaker than he thinks he actually is on the cosmic stage. Essentially, cosmic horror's [[grimdark]] value comes from the fact that really bad, really powerful things exist, and we can neither fully stop nor understand them. Sure, lesser things of his Mythos aren't all that bad, relatively speaking. You can exorcise a ghost, kill a werewolf, or bring down a Deep One with the right knowledge and equipment - but Lovecraft's ''big'' monsters can't be stopped. They're essentially immortal gods, you are at their mercy, and the best that you can do is, maybe, briefly, slow them down or temporarily boot them out of the world. Worst of all is that you either know this or are made painfully aware of it as the story unfolds: you might know these eldritch beings exist and their plans down to the very letter, but you also realize you can't do anything about it, like knowing the exact yield and placement of every nuke in World War III. Therein is most disturbing thing in Lovecraft's stories: the simple fact that the entirety of human existence is microscopic to the universe, its true nature beyond the physical scope of our comprehension.

Much of the horror of his works plays on the fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar. Considering just ''how'' weird and incomprehensible a majority of the antagonists are, though, it's no surprise that protagonists of his stories tend to end up batshit insane under the burden of the knowledge that, even though they might have temporarily disrupted those things' plans, it is but a hollow and temporary victory at the very best, and in some ways they were better off not becoming aware to begin with. Lucky(?) for us, most of these beings don't know or don't care enough about us to ruin our day, and some are even benevolent - by comparison, at least. With his concepts being all but public domain, it's not uncommon to find later media in what would come to be considered "Lovecraft Lite" that take liberties with the themes of cosmic indifference and hopelessness, [[skub|for better and for worse]]; sometimes the existential and extra-terrestial horrors are more actively malevolent towards humanity and its domain, and sometimes they can be dispatched in a more permanent manner. [[Sanity]] loss will definitely still occur, though.

Contrary to popular myth, Lovecraft was not an eccentric recluse who died alone, but had an extensive circle of friends he met as member of the amateur journalist movement (of which he was a head of), then later as a writer of weird tales. He visited friends, and vice versa, whenever they were in the area. In New York, Lovecraft would often wander the city with his friends until the early hours of the morning, seeking historical buildings and neighborhoods. Usually it would be him who would be leading his friends on to exhaustion. Lovecraft was also a prolific writer of letters, leaving behind thousands. Lovecraft corresponded with many of the other authors of the time, including [[Robert E. Howard]], [[Clark Ashton Smith]], Frank Belknap Long, Fritz Leiber Jr. (Fahfrd and Grey Mouser, one of Gygax's many influences on D&D) and even a young Robert Bloch (Psycho). While his writing was associated with nihilism and hopelessness, he was described as a decently happy and pleasant, albeit occasionally neurotic, guy to be around, and even though he much preferred being alone he was part of a sizable social circle of writers with whom he developed strong friendships, even becoming the glue that kept them together, as was the case his his New York City friends, the "Kalem Club". Howard also traveled extensively when his budget allowed, so he could visit historical sites, admire architecture (especially from the Colonial era), and visit friends. He traveled as far north as Quebec, as far south as Florida's Key West, and even crossed the Mississippi to visit New Orleans. Howard's suicide in particular was known to have affected him greatly, and in turn Lovecraft's passing was met with deep mourning by his fellow authors, who aimed to make his otherwise obscure legacy known to the world by leading efforts to collect and publish (or republish) his writings.

Many of his correspondents wrote pastiches of his distinctive style of horror; in fact, Bloch and Lovecraft each wrote stories in which the other made an appearance (and died in a suitably gruesome way). This in turn helped some authors, borrowing many ideas and notions from Lovecraft and added them to their works as well: the most famous example would be the Conan universe, which is also set in the Mythos that Lovecraft created (although in this case a much, much earlier time). Lovecraft himself encouraged his friends and other authors to draw from his work and made no attempts to keep it as purely his own, spurring on his posthumous popularity and influence in media. Though he didn't have much financial success in his lifetime, he resolved to write when and what he wanted to, and to not [[Awesome|"set down the dream for a boarish Publick."]]

==Some of Lovecraft's stories==
*Call of Cthulhu - Artists round the world go mad as an eldritch god stirs in its slumber.
*The Shadow over Innsmouth - Man goes on trip to backwater ancestral hometown to learn more about his family. What he finds is not what he was looking for. Also clearly demonstrates Lovecraft's fear of sea creatures (which is the reason so many aliens and ancient eldritch beings in his stories have these features - especially the recurring tentacle motif) and his [[/pol/|disapproval of interracial/inter-ethnic mixing]]. Important background for [[Delta Green]].
*The Colour Out of Space - A meteorite whose color cannot be described lands on a farm, contaminates the soil and water, drains the crops and livestock of their vitality, and drives the family into insanity before consuming them. Then it flies away to do the same thing to some other world. Was made into a relatively faithful film adaptation in 2019, starring Nicholas Cage. It’s as awesome as it sounds.
*Dagon - Short story on one of the Deep One gods.
*The Dunwich Horror - A physical manifestation of the cosmic order had a baby with a normal human. As investigation on this strange boy deepens, people realize things are horribly wrong, as the blood and noises around the house suggest.
*The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: An intrepid investigator showing a certain [[Matt Ward|descendant]] how to be [[awesome]].
*At the Mountains of Madness - An Antarctic university expedition went missing, so a second mission is sent to find them. Little do they know about the billion-year-old horrors in wait. John Carpenter's ''The Thing'' was not an adaptation of this work, but it shares a lot of common elements.
*The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath - AKA Adventures of Mary Sue. It is nice though. Also clearly demonstrates Lovecraft's immense love of cats.
*The Cats of Ulthar - Don't ever kill a cat, especially not if the cat belongs to a gypsy. You will pay!
*Herbert West: Reanimator - Mad scientist insists on reanimating the dead, despite the fact that they make it very clear that they would rather not come back and the reanimation makes them violent and cannibalistic.
*Nyarlathotep: Introduced the title character, who is basically [[Just as planned]] personified. The only one of Lovecraft’s deities to have a human personality, Nyarlathotep is the go to villain in any adaption of the franchise.
*Cool Air: A wealthy young man who is probably a Lovecraft self-insert moves into an apartment building filled with immigrants, where he meets one he actually doesn’t hate, an old doctor with a literally quite cool room. Time goes on and the air conditioner for the room breaks, sending the Doc into a panic. When they come back to fix it, he’s become goop on the floor, because surprise surprise he was using this (for the time) radically new technology to postpone his inevitable death, and had been for 18 years. Cue dreadful realization.

==Influences on Tabletop Gaming==
Not counting the games directly based upon his work:

* Any number of ''D&D'' monsters -- Mindflayers, though inspired by an image of tree roots growing from beneath a skull, gradually became stand-ins for Cthulhu and his spawn, gibbering mouthers are low-grade shoggoths, kuo-toa are much like the Deep Ones minus their strange breeding habits, etc...

* The [[Far Realm]] of D&D, a place outside creation home to unspeakable madness.

* The Jabberslythe in Warhammer Fantasy (shoggoths, in conjunction with the titular creature from the Lewis Carroll poem "Jabberwocky")

* The concept of [[Chaos]] in both the Warhammer Fantasy and 40,000 settings owes much to his work, in conjunction with [[Michael Moorcock]].

* Magic the Gathering's entire [[Eldrazi]] set, as cheesy as it was, was about the Old Ones awakening.

* The [[Pathfinder]] RPG gets a lot of mileage out of Lovecraftian themes, like the stuff about [[Wat|aboleths creating the human race]], the Vault Keepers, Aucturn the Stranger, and the Dark Tapestry. Eventually, many Mythos figures, including the C'ster himself, made appearances as pants-shittingly dangerous endgame bosses, and their creatures got (mostly pretty good) write-ups as encounter-able monsters. You can even play a Deep One Hybrid or Yaddithian.

* Xoriat, the Realm of Madness, home of the Daelkyr, from the [[Eberron]] setting is pure Lovecraftian horror.

* While [[Genestealers]] originally took their inspiration from the horror movie Alien, their cults are most definitely reminiscent of ''Shadow of Innsmouth'' mixed with the more apocalyptic cults devoted to alien gods.

* The lord of nerds and [[just as planned]], the Chaos God [[Tzeentch]] is very reminiscent of some of Lovecraft's strangest creations, most notably Nyarlathotep.

* The C'tan derive some features from Lovecraft's Old Ones, such as being ancient aliens that can warp the fabric of reality (but without the dimension the Warp). The Deciver, like Tzeentch, also owes a lot to Nyarlathotep, even being a weaker member of its group with a more human-like sadistic personality just like Nyarlathotep.

==See Also==
* The [[Cthulhu Mythos]] and works based on it, including:
** ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]''
** ''[[Trail of Cthulhu]]''
** [[Arkham Horror]]
** [[Delta Green]]
** [[CthulhuTech]]

Other /tg/-relevant sci-fi authors:

* [[H.G. Wells]]
* [[Robert Heinlein]]
* [[Isaac Asimov]]
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]
* [[Philip K. Dick]]

==References==
# Take this poem of his, for example:

[[/pol/|When, long ago, the gods created Earth
<br>In Jove's fair image Man was shaped at birth.
<br>The beasts for lesser parts were next designed;
<br>Yet were they too remote from humankind.
<br>To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man,
<br>Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan.
<br>A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure,
<br>Filled it with vice, and called the thing a Nigger.]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.hplovecraft.com/ The H.P. Lovecraft Archive]
*[http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/ Complete Works at Dagonbytes]

[[Category:Writers]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Recommended Web Video Channels

2020-09-15T21:07:30Z

2600:1700:19C0:2760:6C9B:96:10A3:2FB3:

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This page is dedicated to the well-known content creators who create Warhammer, D&D, and/or other tabletop related content, or history-related channels that are good starting places for research. Creators who are interested in but do not regularly create content around these topics are not included.

Note to would-be recommenders: Entries with no description will be removed. Tell us what it is you're recommending.

==Warhammer Creators==
===[https://www.youtube.com/user/GamesWorkshopWNT WarhammerTV]===
The official [[Games Workshop]] YouTube channel for Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar. There you can find trailers for new armies, boxes and codexes. But more importantly, you can find tutorials by [[Duncan Rhodes]] and [[Chris Peach]] on how to paint, kitbash and use tools, which let's face it is the real reason to keep up with the channel.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuRNH2cb6VwsZbzILptDVIA Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy]===
Our Lord and Savior [[Duncan Rhodes]]' personal Youtube channel after parting ways with Geedubs. All of his videos are guides to show his painting prowess, though now he's not bound to only GW materials.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/Luetin09/featured Luetin09]===
The true workhorse of the 40k Youtube content creators. The sheer volume and variety of content he presents caters to a wide range of interests. From tactics and tutorials, to lore and hobby tips. Also does gaming overviews for various military themed video games. Be warned that some disagree with his interpretation of 40k lore, that being that he thinks of everything as both canon, and non-canon, which is a skubby topic in and of itself for some fans. Has had an amusing time trying to figure out whether Abbadon is pronounced A-bad-un or Abba-don.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/alfabusa Bruva Alfabusa]===
You know who he is, I know who is, we all know who he is. Chapter Master of the now defunct Alfa Legion and creator of the YouTube phenomenon [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]. Has also created a few other shows like The Upper Hive and has a bunch of Dawn of War 2 voice lines on his channel from years ago... for reasons most would rather forget.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/kokarorloli Karl the Deranged]===
Also needs very little introduction. Voices characters on [[TTS]] like [[Marneus Calgar]] and sometimes shows up at the end of episodes just to shout. On his channel you'll find content in a similar vein to TTS, like Ravandil's Quest and the meme-worthy [[Vindicare|Vindicare Assassin]] video.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/ThunderPsyker ThunderPsyker]===
Voices Little Kitten in [[TTS]] (this is a theme for 40K content creators) and has made some ace reviews of the [[Dawn of War]] series. Definitely worth a watch.

===[https://twitter.com/Eliphusz Eliphas]===
Named after the titular [[Eliphas the Inheritor|Inheritor]]. Creates art for [[TTS]] and sometimes voices characters. Is more active on Twitter, but uploads some pretty good videos every now and then.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/galiant609 StringStorm]===
Makes music for [[TTS]] and a bunch of Warhammer-themed music as well. Also created a 40K [[Anime|Singing Idol]] contest series thing. Because of course he did.

===[https://www.twitch.tv/zoranthebear ZoranTheBear]===
Voices - you guessed it - [[TTS]] characters, in particular [[Leman Russ]], but also has a YouTube channel he would upload games to, usually with a 40K twist to it. However, he's abandoned the channel in favor of Twitch. Besides gaming he also does some 40k army building and roleplaying on the side.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/remleiz 40K Theories]===
Starring Remleiz and Naerina, 40K Theories makes general lore videos, videos [[Heretek|theorizing]] reasons for the unexplained in 40K, and videos spotlighting fan-made factions. Unsurprisingly, both Remleiz and Naerina occasionally lend their voices to [[TTS]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSa11XXA7HlmoLTSCy8NuwA Tactica Imperialis]===
Creates lore videos on 40K and gives his thoughts on the tabletop game. He also does a podcast with 40K Theories.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTRMzE8VJ4WH1F8kKdbYlzw NornQueenAlexis]===
Makes videos that are great to listen to while making models. She uploads a lot of battle reports, rambling videos, vlogs, and her own podcast "The Emperor's Tarot". She used to be on the podcast with 40K Theories and Tactica Imperialis but left for her own reasons. Also voiced [[Miriael Sabathiel]] in [[TTS]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/VigiliaMortis Chapter Master Valrak]===
A 40K news channel and [[Imperial Fists]] fanboy. Also produces videos on 40K games and gets fairly involved in other projects such as Helsreach. Can come across as incredibly annoying if you're not the type of person to treat GW like they're beneficent overlords who need to be praised for everything they do, or if you play anything other than Space Marines. Seriously, for a while this guy complained about not having "proper Primaris transports" whenever anything new came out until the [[Impulsor]] came along. Self-identifies with the Imperium, often using the term "we" whenever he refers to the Imperium winning in a global campaign or story. If you're into that kind of stuff, give him a watch. Otherwise, you might want to stay away. Hilariously, he scored as Perturabo on a “Which Primarch are you?” personality quiz.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/KiriothTV KiriothTV]===
A 40K vlogger and once a member of the Unit Lost Gaming channel before becoming a 40K channel. Always keeps up to date with 40K news and gives his 50 cents on the hobby. Also uploads videos on assorted topics that have taken his fancy.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTX2KaSsRsy_HAQgEDs59lg Kitetsu]===
Like Kirioth, but for [[Age of Sigmar]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/SnipeAndWibPlay Snipe and Wib]===
A gaming couple with a love for 40K. They create a wide array of content, from vlogs to gameplay videos. Created two videos about [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|Rogue Trader]] that more or less brought their channel into the light, and done look backs on other famous old 40k rule books. Both are in a band called "Fighting Evil is Cool", and Wib's real name is [[Matt Ward]] ([[What|no really]]). Oh, and both have been in [[TTS]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTaGjGmcHYD2fqukCIVfjvQ Richard Boylan]===
Creates videos in SFM and the like. Is responsible for turning [[Grimaldus|Helsreach]] into a YouTube series, and made a live action 40K video that didn't suck (see, it can be done). Is currently in talks with GeeDubs themselves for an official animated special involving the [[Blood Angels]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4uzNr43jVZOTc0vLmKnniw Mark Louis Spark]===
Creates 3D model renders and is currently in the process of making a [[Horus Heresy]] movie called [[Grimdark|"Death of Hope"]]. Judging from what we've seen so far it looks great, and hopefully won't go the same way as [[Lord Inquisitor]].

Unfortunately, as of 08/2020 the worst has indeed happened, and he has decided to only release the second of his three planned major videos, saying that a grueling RL work schedule, combined with the negative responses he got about his animation draining him of his passion for the project, has begun to negatively affect his personal life. He's made a video on his channel that has the full explanation, and while he is now in a better mind set after a few days from the initial announcement he has committed to taking a break after part 2, and part 3's status will be up in the air for the foreseeable future.

===[[MiniWarGaming]]===
A large network of [[Neckbeards]] playing a variety of wargames, chief among them the Warhammers. Most of their content is more for entertainment than hardcore gameplay, so expect flubbed rules. Also moulds that make you go to sleep

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/StrikingScorpion82 StrikingScorpion82]===
Purely 40K gameplay, specializing mostly in longform and technical batreps. Great for learning how to play a faction in a fun but competitive way.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_N4w4z6CQEBgRfvlwlID_A 2+ Tough]===
Primarily an Age of Sigmar lore channel, with some 40K, Necromunda and other games occasionally being covered. Doug is the host, and he focuses on short and easily digested lore videos, all with a laid back and down to earth presentation. Also hosts painting livestreams, where he answers lore questions and interacts with other Warhammer Youtubers.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdpGd0jls7VQh6LvcZT_p1A Baldermort's Guide to Warhammer]===
He is a rising Warhammer 40k content creator who specialises in beginner level lore and stories for his videos. Notable for his raw vocal talent, self-written audio dramas, high upload rate, and use of audience participation by forging narratives based on in-comment voting.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFMtdiQILuTZr22sKUeAOOA Astartes]===
"The (unofficial) Warhammer 40k animation." This guy made possibly the best Warhammer 40k animation ever. It shows [[Space Marines]] acting like Space Marines, moving ridiculously fast for something their size, utterly overpowering any mortal that tries to stop them and shrugging off damage that would turn a human into a smear on the floor. Go watch it, you won't regret it.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBMVgTMALnoD8u3TDnzos0Q Primaris]===
After being inspired by the Astartes series, this guy has decided to create his own based on some [[Black Templars]]. So far the animation looks a little rougher but still very good production wise.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5RzeTAGL88yeDn9kqs6H_g Lost Legion]===
Similar to the Primaris channel, but are making a film/short series about Eldar Exodites instead. The First teaser looks very promising with the Eldar moving so fast and gracefully that they are blurs. Once again GWs official animations are being shown up by fan animations.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Gco9PWxmJmJ5CqfbChuiQ Auspex Tactics]===
Youtuber focused on the tabletop games rules and tactics. Is very active, uploading consistently, and is up to date with new rules and releases. Does the occasional product review, though has been heavily criticised by anyone who doesn't play Imperium for his lack of uploads on xenos armies. This is either a result of unfamiliarity with the factions requested, or more likely he just hasn't gotten around to it yet. (It's the latter. He has a few xenos armies, and actually does the mathhammer).

===[https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCH4nPsl2ctS365aEfFBwxbg Loremaster of Sotek]===
A laid back Warhammer Fantasy YouTuber and acolyte of Tehenhauin known for his Legendary Lord and QnA series where he goes in-depth on the various intricacies of the many factions and races in the setting. Also has several videos for people wishing to get into Age of Sigmar and regularly streams TWW and Vermintide II where he takes questions as well.

==D&D Creators==
Channels that just do readings of stories taken from [[Reddit]] and [[4chan]]'s [[/tg/]] don't count.
===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXR2kCo7Lcw_BKwWxo09kw Zee Bashew]===
An animator who makes D&D-related animations on how to use spells, run games, and just general D&D things. It's fun and worth a look if you're new to D&D.
===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUpkp-6fXuG9dqfoJ99XTmw Puffin Forest]===
Probably the number 1 most popular D&D animator on youtube. While his animation is far from being the best (his art style is worse than [[Order of the Stick]]), he more than makes up for it with his great sense of humor and amount of content. He mostly talks about D&D, but he occasionally does videos about [[Call of Cthulhu]] and other games. Most of his videos tell funny stories about stuff that happened to him during tabletop games (both as a player and a game master). In others he reviews tabletop games and gives advice to players and game masters. He also has started doing longer video series where he retells entire campaigns in more detail but with without animation, starting with a (relatively) serious [[Curse of Strahd]] campaign. Because of how popular he is, he frequently has crossovers with other D&D youtubers including Zee Bashew and Dingo Doodles.

He is a source of much [[RAGE]] on /tg/, because many people find his funny stories hard to believe or think that if they are true, would make him a terrible GM, player, and [[That Guy|person]]. Though he is capable of playing seriously, he usually is the [[Loonie]] (and when he isn't, he is playing with somebody else who is half the time), so if be warned if you can't stand that type of player.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfPUcG3oCmXEYgdFuwlFh8w Dingo Doodles]===
Another animator who rivals Puffin Forest in popularity. Mostly makes videos telling funny stories about her life and D&D. Her main campaign story is Fool's Gold, an epic and extremely wacky adventure staring her character Sips, a badass chaotic good uplifted monkey wild magic sorcerer full of [[RAGE]], who constantly is breaking the campaign, much to the frustration of her boyfriend Felix the DM.
===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCDWmgX1kc_tEXOd0OJmF_Q/ Adan]===
A less popular but still worth checking out animator who does D&D videos, both based on his campaigns and short skits that make fun of the [[That Guy|typical players]] and events you will likely encounter while playing D&D. Also makes a few songs about D&D.
===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDVE5L1LTWhmPAKKbUBGtg JoCat]===
An animator who makes crap guides to D&D in the style of [[Zero Punctuation]]

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDrModnar XP to Level 3]===
A good non-animated channel that does videos on D&D, telling interesting stories and giving useful tips on playing the game.

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/DontStopThinking Don't Stop Thinking]===
Another great animated channel that does videos discussing D&D and other RPGs, as well as telling D&D stories.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/TtheWriter T the Writer]===
Unlike most channels that tell D&D stories, this guy does longer videos telling about his campaigns in detail.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Je57UJURMIx6lrXr3zO4g Blaine Simple]===
Another less popular but worth checking out animator who does D&D stories and videos on how to make character builds based on popular anime characters.

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/Nerdarchy Nerdarchy]===
Has a massive number of videos on playing D&D with everything from suggestions on what monsters to use in a campaign, to what the best character builds are for different races, and more.

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/RebaDerps Reba Derps]===
Another D&D animator with a style similar to Dingo Doodles.

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/SethSkorkowskyAuthor Seth Skorkowsky]===
Does reviews of RPGs and RPG modules and gives advice on running games. Has several great videos giving reviews of older AD&D modules.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5EfKWar21WkaYUSOwPWakg Tulok the Barbrarian]===
Makes videos on how to make Dungeons & Dragons characters based on popular movie, anime, video game, and comic book characters.

==BattleTech Creators==

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackPantsLegion Black Pants Legion/Tex]===
A miscellaneous, mostly SS13 content, in which a guy named Tex makes a series called Tex Talks Battletech, which goes into detailed, sometimes embellished (due to being an Inner Sphere supporter) accounts of mechs and history of Battletech universe.

He used to frequent /tg/ back in the day, [[Old School Roleplaying|when it used to be cool]], and takes credit for writing the original [[Fur Heresy]].

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMpEn1nKT6E_gt75GDK9IJA Critical Rocket]===
A Battletech fan channel, Critical Rocket makes a series of lore videos called Lorewarrior.

==General War-gaming Creators==

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/GuerrillaMiniatureGames Guerrilla Miniature Games]===
If you are interested in any particular miniature game (Both new and old), it is likely that he has at least 2 or 3 videos covering it. Also covers the larger games like 40K, AOS, Infinity etc... Is a war-game designer himself [Made Last Days: Zombies Apocalypse] and a fairly skilled painter. Overall his channel takes a holistic approach to the hobby and is also fairly chill in his videos, also is not afraid to admit when he dislikes a game or mechanic and doesn't put on act for the videos.

==[[Lancer (RPG)|Lancer]] Creators==

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/11dragonkid/featured DragonKid11]===
One part memer, one part guidebook, DragonKid discusses quite a lot about each of the various officially available frames, rules, lore and even a couple fan-made homebrews as well. He also does some Battletech stuff as well.

==Yu-Gi-Oh Creators==
===[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDuelLogs The Duel Logs]===
A Johnny who makes gimmick deck replays. He has relatively recently made a lot of top 10s, which would be clickbaity if he wasn’t using it as an excuse to talk about weird card interaction and the game’s history. In particular, his “10 worst” videos are great because rather than say the card is shit while spewing profanity, he suggests ways the card ''can'' be used, even if they're suboptimal, that make it better than the cards ranked worse than it while being perfectly willing to admit that some categories are so strong even their worst instances are still decent. Makes an effort to explain cards and ''why'' they're good/bad very well (in response to disdain for a lot of MTG channels ''not'' doing so), so he’s accessible with minimal experience and/or audio only.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC13UOHk5D9S1cqWkYf8LTmQ Rank 10 YGO (Rata)]===
A Montenegrin Serb who does in depth overviews of various archetypes (and some other stuff). As befitting of someone whose childhood involved living through the Yugoslav wars, he’s very cynical on Konami’s competence and doesn’t hold back when card design is lackluster, yet actually quite enthusiastic when something does meet his standards.

==History Channels (The Kind That Don't Show Ancient Aliens 24/7)==

Because "realism" is something of a debate, actual [[Wargaming]] is a thing, and the general assuming a setting should be "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LikeRealityUnlessNoted Like Reality Unless Noted]", we'll list some good "realism argument" and "actual military history" channels.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/lindybeige Lindybeige]===
Very much a nerd's nerd, and easily mistaken for a crazy homeless man living under a bridge, but he's covered a lot of stuff that's of interest to /tg/. Some topics include discussions on medieval arms and armor, tanks, castles, historical battles, etc. If you want the /tg/ stuff, the "Weapons and Armor" "History" and "Warfare" playlists are of interest. He even covers some tabletop-specific gaming material in his various discussions, ranging from scenery creation to fantasy weapon design, to complaints about 4th edition, and even a contest for the creation of a "[[Wat|Surprise Elemental]]."

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLfMmOriSyPbd5JhHpnj4Ng TimeGhost]===
The guys best known for running a "World War II: Week by week", a channel that covers World War II, week by week, in real time, and, with a different presenter, The Great War, which is more or less the same thing for WWI.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv_vLHiWVBh_FR9vbeuiY-A History Civilis]===
Mainly Roman history, told from a top down perspective with colored squares.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/THFEProductions Invicta]===
Like the above, but with better art and more of a Roman focus.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson Townsends]===
A series focused on the day to day life of 18th and early 19th Century America. This means it covers a wide variety of topics including construction, clothing, music, laundry, writing, brewing, and (especially) cooking instead of the military campaigns typical of history lessons. Despite the late focus, most of what it covers is applicable to pre-industrial society in general and it often talks of how things were done before this.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/todsstuff1 Tod's Workshop]===
Propmaker and engineer Tod Todeschini covering various replicas of antique arms he has made. While many channels talk about the history of the weapons, Tod's Workshop uniquely focuses on their construction and the physics reasons they are the way they are. Of particular note is his [[crossbow]] series, where he covers the history, power and mechanical design of many, many types of crossbows.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCggHoXaj8BQHIiPmOxezeWA History Buffs]===
This channel focuses on blockbuster films based on history; not only are you given a detailed summary for the historical context of the film, but also notes where the film may deviate from historical accounts; very useful if you were ever shown such a film in history class and developed an inaccurate understanding of the events shown. Film selection includes such classics such as ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Waterloo'', ''Tombstone'', etc... as well as some genuine stinkers like ''Kingdom of Heaven'' and ''Timeline''. He’s not afraid to say when a movie is garbage as a film even though it’s historically accurate (''Alexander''), good despite being totally inaccurate (''The Untouchables''), or has a good reason to be less than accurate (''300''’s framing device of propagandized oral history). Most will be war films or other genres of action-based historical dramas, like Westerns and Gangster films.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/shadmbrooks Shadiversity]===
A historian and fantasy writer who discuses things about the middle ages you probably didn't know, common misconceptions about the middle ages seen in fiction, how to make fantasy more realistic (for example designing a back scabbard that actually works), reviews of fantasy movies and tv shows, and more.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/scholagladiatoria Scholagladiatoria]===
A HEMA instructor and antique sword seller who discusses the details how weapons were actually used and the distinctions between types of swords. Prone to rambling about context.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheChieftainWoT The Chieftain's Hatch]===
A tank commander and tank historian does examinations and explanations of old tanks (The guy happens to be [[Vidya gaems|World of Tanks]]' in-house historian, and has done multiple talks at the Tank Museum at Bovington). Also some model tanks. He's also a contributor to the channel World War Two week by week.

===[https://www.youtube.com/user/ForgottenWeapons Forgotten Weapons]===
'''The''' historical gun guy. He's fairly good at covering the plusses and minuses of the weapons he covers, and he covers a ''lot'' of different kinds of gun, from the world's smallest pistol<ref>It fires 2.7 mm rounds, for the record</ref> to actual, full on machine guns<ref>As in, require an emplacement and set up and a spare man just to hold the ammo.</ref>, to very famous weapons<ref>One of his most popular videos covers the single worst assault rifle ever made, the SA80--and before you ask "how does that tie into the 'Forgotten' part of the name?", he was covering the developmental history of the SA80, which features plenty of not-very-well-known prototypes.</ref> to historical oddities<ref>Such as the Nazi Belt-buckle gun or the "Krummlauf" curved barrel, which is almost as crazy as it sounds.</ref>. The man is largely an academic and historian, which sets him apart from most gun channels, but he's still got his fair share of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofp812mY6R4 goofy moments and memes]. When his fans started calling him "Gun Jesus," he [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI3x30iamHc fully adopted the meme]. If you want to have painfully obscure weapons in your campaign, he's a good place to start looking for such.

===[https://www.youtube.com/c/VoicesofthePast Voices of the Past]===
Dramatic readings of primary sources from history, with some annotations on things like conversions for historical units and present day locations. The words of sources like Marco Polo on anything, Aztecs on Conquistadors, Europeans on Japan, Japan on America/Europe, Rome on China and China on Rome provide excellent fuel for describing alien cultures and strange lands. The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAp30mf1pYY accounts of conquistadors slaughtering and looting Aztecs in response to learning of their widespread practice of human sacrifice] reads much like the chronicles of a group of [[Adventurer]]s.

==Writing-Related Stuff==

For people writing their own campaigns, settings, or other stuff.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ogrx6d9oohf6D42G44j1A Terrible Writing Advice]===
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: Awful, awful writing advice, delivered sarcastically. Hilarious as all hell, though. Includes references from everything and anything form Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, 40k, DnD, and even Doctor Who. Is also an author himself, but that much should be obvious.

==Not Fully Recommended==

Because of off-channel issues and not that great content, but being focused on Tabletop, the following are probably on topic for /tg/, but not recommended by the majority of this wiki. We're mainly listing them here because we wish to head off "butwhadabout"ers, as, again, their videos are on topic for /tg/ if they suddenly become relevant again.

===[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChS9wazLlTUHSTeKVG39hZw Arch Warhammer]===
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Mister [[Skub|Skubtastic]] himself.<ref>How skubtastic is he? His section accounts for at lest 60% of the edits to this page what with people defending and attacking him revert warring.</ref> He has made a name for himself by producing Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy lore videos and depending on who you ask is either a funny guy with a purposely offensive sense of humor (we're talking about a guy who's proud his channel became famous for the phrase "house-ni**ers"), a [[/pol/|literal Nazi]], or a [[Skaven]]. The best way to describe him is a somewhat well-read but [[That Guy|politically outspoken prick with an insufferable fake accent]]. Also makes videos on 40k related games and the occasional video or series of videos on miscellaneous games that grab his attention, and recently GW filed a trademark complaint against him reducing his name simply to "Arch".
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The controversy around the guy stems from a few main issues. Firstly he's accused of making shit up in his videos and claims to be a "loremaster" despite not knowing a lot of things (like how Angron became a daemon prince). Secondly he ran a Vampire: The Masquerade game where he tried to make Nazi's sympathetic, and finally he's [https://i.redd.it/glx1xdkeh5351.png a very outspoken racist on his discord] (although some people would argue that's dark humour taken out of context) and [https://i.imgur.com/g0lp0CW.png he chooses racists, and even pedophiles to be his moderators.] Regardless of his own intent, his discord was/is filled to the brim with so called "race realists" (aka people who try and prove that blacks are violent monkey people through pseudoscience like phrenology and gross misuse of statistics) and literal fucking neo-nazis who he allowed to shit up his server and even courted, making it closer to /pol/ than a community based around Warhammer lore. Given that you are the company you keep, that should say enough about him. He's also somebody who seems convinced that if the Imperium of Man were real, everyone would be better off.
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===[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFI3kfmevIHBNZlXYi0Y-zm7b2lrDWlfN Counter Monkey]===
We have an [[Counter Monkey|article on him already]]. Go read that for the details.

==Footnotes==

[[Category:Approved Media]]