Thinking Critically: A D&D Discussion

CW: 36:40-37:10 Single reference to rape and sexual coercion in the context of the Vampire trope. Philippa Mort joins me to talk about the varied and wonderful topic of aesthetic. The discussion starts around the different approaches to TTRPG and campaign design; a different perspective to the typical top down/bottom up paradigm. How does one approach "visual design", and how does it differ from "mechanical design"? Philippa shares her experience in designing from visual prompts, and we talk through the various pros and cons when compared to my own meticulous, detail-centric process. A solid campaign aesthetic not only aids world building and provides a strong identify, but it can also help guide players through character creation. 01:10 - Aesthetic Design Process 08:16 - Mechanical Design Process 13:15 - How to Design for a Specific Aesthetic 21:13 - How Clear Theming Supports Character Creation 25:36 - Two Sessions Zeroes 33:12 - Safely Leveraging Tropes 40:16 - Catharsis, not Therapy 49:19 - Flavouring your Table Find Philippa (@MortPhilippa) on: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/PhilippaMort Twitter: https://twitter.com/MortPhilippa DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Philippa%20Mort&page=1&sort=4a?affiliate_id=2197041 DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/18041/Philippa-Mort?affiliate_id=2197041 itch.io: https://philippa-mort.itch.io Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkCritDnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: 'Romance' episode of Thinking Critically The Crystal Maze Uncaged Anthology Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

CW: A fictional anecdote containing references to NPC children dying and descriptions of gore & bodily harm to children, all within a Dungeons & Dragons context. This episode Robert Hartley, the DM for Viva La Dirt League, joins me to discuss his streaming experience and why he finds it so addictive. We go through the considerations of running a streamed actual play, compared to just a game at home with friends. Typically, this comes in the form of concessions; inevitably the streamer is distracted from the game. But, as with most things in life, an appreciation of the format is required when planning. The theme or vibe are you trying to achieve with your stream impacts how you approach the content creation process, and with a medium as inherently flexible as D&D, this has a large impact! One of Robert's big draws to streaming though, is interacting with the audience. It's a unique element of the medium, and as such should be leveraged as much of possible. Of course you can see how competes with giving any given D&D game your full attention! Rounding out the episode, when debate the importance of consistency and the parallels between starting D&D, podcasting, and streaming. 04:52 - Transitioning from Home to Streamed Games 16:49 - Streaming an Actual-Play 27:34 - Alternative D&D Content 34:05 - Scratching that twItch 37:34 - Consistency is Key 56:12 - Giving Back Find Robert on: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/roberthartleygm Viva La Dirt League D&D: https://www.youtube.com/vivaladirtleaguednd 'D&D Logic' Web Series - Episode 1: https://youtu.be/QoO2eI9IioE Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertHartleyGM Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkCritDnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: Viva La Dirt League Dead Aussie Gamer DreadedGM Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

This week I'm joined by Quinn the GM to talk about content creation! Quinn is a serial producer, having released 15 products on Dungeon Masters Guild and showing no signs of slowing down, and he takes us through a BTS of his content creation process. We talk about the difficulties of balancing homebrew, and how the concerns shift based on whether it's for your personal game or for public consumption. As a sign of fellowship, Quinn and I share stories of our own self doubt and battles with imposter syndrome, and more importantly, how to overcome them, the answer to which is delightfully simple. Closing the episode, we discuss how the homebrew 5e market has become saturated, and the ways and means to stand out from the crowd. 02:09 - Content Considerations 05:53 - Such a Thing as a "Fair Advantage" when Designing Homebrew? 14:17 - Overcoming Self-Doubt Through Constructive Criticism 18:05 - Getting Noticed and Finding Internal Value 33:22 - Balancing Spells 39:14 - Inverting Tropes & Subverting Expectations 49:00 - Surfacing in a Saturated Market Find Quinn on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/quinnthegm DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Quinn%20The%20GM Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkCritDnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: Inkcarnate map creator Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

This episode, Fabio Vollono of Morgue Miniatures takes us on a trip through time and all the varied & fantastical incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons. Edition by edition, we discuss how the game has changed over the last 30+ years, such as the concept of "boxes" versus our current reality of books. We briefly touch upon some hot topics such as gender stereotypes and the class-agnostic subclasses from Strixhaven through a lens of learning from past mistakes. The history of D&D can be storied and romantic, and in some ways has changed very little; there are still starter sets which fulfil the same purpose as they always have, and the pursuit of profit will always subtlety but substantially affect the design. We round out the episode looking to the future and debate what a potential "6e" might look like. What do you think WOTC will do next? 01:45 - Boxes & Books - The Journey from First to Fifth 21:05 - Reactionary Editions 30:10 - The Genesis of D&D - When Fifth Edition isn't Fifth Edition 39:42 - How the Starter Sets have changed 48:40 - Looking Forward - Will we see a 6e? Find Fabio on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/fabiovollono1 Morgue Miniatures Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorgueMiniature Morgue Miniatures Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MorgueMiniatures Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkCritDnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: Swords & Wizardry Necrotic Gnome - Old School Essentials 'Experience' episode of Thinking Critically Leisure Games London Goodman Games Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

I'm joined by one of the hosts of the Double DM podcast, Emil Auerbach, to talk all about failure: how it comes about, how to mitigate it, and most importantly, how to learn from it. Failure is an intrinsic part of Dungeons & Dragons because as soon as you roll a dice, you run the chance of failing. Emil and I discuss several methods to mitigate this as players controlling characters who everyone at the table wants to succeed. From pandering to NPC desires to taking realistic notes, there are always ways to tip the balance in your favour! We then go on to talk about how, as a DM, you can work with your players to overcome challenges and reframe failure as a positive occurrence. Another tricky thing as Dungeon Master is deciding where the line is between introducing realistic consequences for failure versus trying to keep the story progressing and seeing character arcs to fruition. And finally, to make you all feel better, Emil and I take you through a couple of personal examples of where we've failed, so if you ever feel you've made a mistake, know full well you're not alone. 01:20 - Avoiding a single point of failure 10:24 - Ways to reducing failing PCs 16:46 - Working together to mitigate knowledge gaps 22:42 - Failing to prepare != preparing to fail 43:12 - You're not alone - our personal anecdotes 52:55 - Balancing cost of failure versus story progression Find Emil (@DoubleDMpod) on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoubleDMpod Double DM Podcast: https://linktr.ee/DoubleDM Hope for TTRPGs Discord: https://discord.com/invite/sYpH7vKvJh?ltclid=4427d97d-72d2-49c4-9b9c-4f2b002ec462 Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkCritDnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

Puzzles, the marmite of Dungeons & Dragons! I'm joined by Michael Wu, a.k.a. DM Micycle, to discuss the nuances of designing puzzles for TTRPGs. Certain considerations have to made during the design process, as puzzles are a unique gameplay element in that they are challenges for the players, rather than their characters. Not only do we have to deal with regular awkward rolls (Wizard rolls low on INT, Barbarian rolls natural 20 to solve the puzzle, etc.), but also how to bridge the various gaps between players and their characters. This is a two-way problem, in that not only do characters have vast and innate understanding of the world that players do not (history, magic, science, creatures), but players are also often stronger than their characters (arithmetic, logic, reasoning). Accounting for both these is a critical component in designing challenging but fun puzzles. Michael explains the differences between what he calls "escape room" and "interactive" puzzles. The former you're likely to find in official material as they are easier to produce and slot into campaigns, however they have several substantial drawbacks. Interactive puzzles on the other hand, although having a larger upfront overhead, are much more flexible, expandable, and engaging for both players and their characters. Ultimately it comes down to understanding; the rules are arbitrary and contrived. Bespoke interactive puzzles, however, have transparent constraints upfront meaning the players and their characters have everything they need to be able to solve it. 03:20 - "Required metagaming" - bridging the player/PC knowledge chasm 12:54 - The escape rooms of Tasha's Cauldron 21:10 - Designing robust puzzles 34:26 - Examples of in-universe applications 46:29 - Puzzles without an answer 52:16 - Handholding - bridging the player/PC strength ravine 55:14 - Incorporating real-world physical props Find Michael on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMmicycle Game Master's Toolkit 5e iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1528248704 Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/dmmicycle Website: https://dmmicycle.company.site/ Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

"Perpetuating the success of fireball." Cat McDonald of Peach Garden Games brings her perspective of being an indie TTRPG designer and knowledge of the occult to this talk about magic in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. She takes us through the design processes used when working on Heroic Chord and her other TTRPGs. Unsurprisingly, we discuss at length her freeform magic system where players must homebrew spells on the fly through bargaining with the GM. When you compare this method with the one found in D&D, it's clear to see that 5e encourages power gaming through bread & butter magic items such as a +1 weapons. We world build settings and hooks to how to mitigate this potential lacklustre pitfall, such as a high-magic world which suddenly loses all magic! This brings us to how magic saturation affects a setting, with Cat asking the critical question of "are there bread baking robots in Eberron?" This episode, for the first time, you can hear my cheeky dog barking in the background at a few points. Apologies! 03:07 - Designing magic systems for TTRPGs 12:03 - Escaping the logistics of spell slots: free form magic 16:37 - Inventive homebrew solutions to 'spell fatigue' 23:15 - How magic rarity impacts a setting 40:03 - Eberron or Eberroff? (Have I made that pun before?) 44:51 - Managing magical minutiae 53:48 - The "magic" of TTRPGs Find Cat (@CatlingGun) on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/peachgardenrpgs Website: https://www.peachgardengames.com/ itch.io: https://peachgardengames.itch.io/ Heroic Chord: https://www.peachgardengames.com/heroic-chord Sword of Symphonies: https://www.peachgardengames.com/about Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: Inspirisles Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

For this discussion I'm joined by Matt Perkins, DM/podcaster/YouTuber extraordinaire, to talk all about pressure in your TTRPGs! We split the term down the middle by differentiating narrative (in-game) from "meta" (OoG) pressure, however there are often more parallels than initially thought. Join us as we jaunt through topics such as effectively communicating the stakes, how to realise meaningful choices, and why to avoid punitive measures. All with a casual sprinkling of the Jason Statham classic Crank, worldbuilding, and all round tomfoolery. We round out the discussion with our personal struggles with pressure and negativity, from both internal and external sources. 02:43 - How to safely apply narrative pressure 31:30 - Galvanising PCs 39:32 - Self-imposed meta-pressure 49:17 - The pressures of DM'ing Find Matt on: Website: https://www.matthewperkins.net Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matthewperkins Twitter: https://twitter.com/mperkinsDM Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mperkinsdm/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewPerkinsDM/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/matthewperkinsDM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matthewperkinsdm Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/matthewperkinsdm Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: 'Conflict' episode of Thinking Critically Mass Effect Firewatch Bo Burnham Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

This episode I am joined by professional marketer Zack Applewhite, of Applewhite Games, who takes us on a whistle-stop masterclass of content marketing tips, advice, and real-world examples to help us better promote the amazing work we do! Starting with his suggestion of a "content chop shop" where you disassemble the content you create to vastly increase quality output. Aside from the academic and business tactics, one thing we discuss at length is comfort. Perhaps unintuitively, it's more beneficial to stick with just the mediums you're comfortable with, to avoid saturation and a loss of quality; persisting with the socials you know and understand holds much more value than spreading yourself thinly over anything and everything. Furthermore, it pays to do your research, as most social media platforms employ various sneaky tricks meaning that you rarely reach your interested audience, let alone new people. Being aware of this can have a huge impact on your mental health; it's a marathon, not a race. As long as you stay consistent and comfortable, your audience will grow. Please ignore the amateurish splicing of some extra advice Zack thoughtfully provided post-recording, at around the 59:00 mark! And this week I give you all some homework, to think about the following question: "One definition of 'Marketing' is 'finding out what people want'. How do you do this when the TTRPG hobby is inherently flexible and transient?" 02:20 - Content marketing tips for small creators 27:55 - How to stand out in a saturated market 37:39 - Email lists & demographic considerations 46:56 - 'Lifetime Customer Value' 51:42 - To split or not to split Find Zack (@ApplewhiteGames) on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/ApplewhiteGames Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dndunlimited YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7r-XEWm-W-8AFML-LAaT_A/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zackapplewhite Guilds of Eraegarth: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/applewhitegames/guilds-of-eraegarth-a-dandd5e-expansion-and-campaign?ref=discovery_newest Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod

This episode I'm joined by Pete, a.k.a. @BadDMPete, to discuss all about voices! If I can start off by apologising for the embarrassing mistake of confusing the Akira Kurosawa epic Seven Samurai with the Tom Cruise bombast of The Last Samurai, please forgive me! Now that's out of the way, I can tell you about the rest of the episode! Pete and I discuss how mistakes should be learned from to improve oneself, and that no one should ever feel pressured at the game table. In fact, understanding your own "voice" as a player is far more important than trying to find any unique or special character voice. Performance is an acquired talent, one that comes naturally, albeit slowly. A far more useful talent is being able to look after yourself, and support and guide others. Remember, this is ostensibly a podcast on Dungeons and Dragons! We also go into detail about how all NPCs are, whether it's liked or not, a mouthpiece for the DM. This means they can be used to subtlety or obnoxiously flavour and colour the universe. Another tool in the Dungeon Master toolkit! 04:21 - How to leverage the verbal component 12:42 - Finding your character's "voice" 32:03 - NPCs as a vehicle for the DM 42:35 - Guiding others to find their own voice Find Peter (@BadDMPete) on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/BadDMPete Folk n' Fantasy: https://folknfantasy.simplecast.com/ Find me on: Website: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danilo_DnD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinking_critically_dnd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingCriticallyDnD References: 'Everyone is John' TTRPG Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod