Mastering Dungeons

Episode 158 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: DMG Conclusion: Creating Monsters, Spells, Magic Items. Appendices! The 2014 DMG ends with teaching DMs how to create rules and tries to inspire DMs. We then look back on the whole of the DMG and what 2024 might bring. News: What the D&D Community Update Forgot, New Eldraine Monsters, Maps VTT, and more! Contents 00:00 Lakeside 01:14 Playtesting Complexity? 10:47 Disarm is Simple? 17:10 D&D Community Update Forgets 26:40 New Eldraine Monsters 31:19 Maps VTT 37:02 Acq Inc Season 2 37:56 The Eye of Everywhere 38:31 DMG Chapter 9 – the end 38:57 Creating a Monster 46:37 Creating a Spell 49:59 Creating a Magic Item 51:35 New Character Options 59:13 Appendix A Random Dungeons 1:01:55 Appendix B Monster Lists 1:03:16 Appendix C Maps 1:03:57 Appendix D Inspiration 1:06:46 Comparison to 4E’s DMG 1:12:17 2024 Potential Changes 1:14:20 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 157 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: DMG Chapter 9 part 2: Firearms, Plot Points, Initiative and Action Variants! The 2014 DMG provides many optional rules. Which ones would we use, and what should the 2024 DMG bring forward or change? News: Latest Playtest Backtracks, Prison Wish Lists, D&D Upcoming Release News, and more! Contents 00:00 Chainsaw Runner 02:59 What’s Up with Mounts? 11:11 WotC Non-D&D? 15:55 Slog Tactics? 23:14 Daisy Goes Missing 28:57 Perkins Secrets of DMing 30:36 Roll20 Adding Dungeon Scrawl 33:09 DM David Ranks Controversies  37:28 Acq Inc Murders Babies 38:54 Thunder Road at Gamehole 40:43 Festival of Tombs 41:50 Bone Stone and Obsidian 42:57 DMG Chapter 9 part 2 44:08 Firearms, Explosives and Alien Tech 49:58 Plot Points 56:00 Initiative Variants 1:03:56 Action Options 1:14:44 Injuries 1:15:59 Morale 1:18:50 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 156 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: DMG Chapter 9: Dungeon Master’s Workshop! The 2014 DMG provides many optional rules. Which ones would we use, and what should the 2024 DMG bring forward or change? News: Latest Playtest Backtracks, Prison Wish Lists, D&D Upcoming Release News, and more! Contents 00:00 Dark 03:51 Poisoner? 12:52 2024 Adventure? 19:45 UA 7 Released 31:46 Upcoming Releases 35:58 Prison RPG Wishlist 37:43 Aberration Board Game 39:41 Crowdfunding  40:17 Getting Started Writing 40:46 DMG Chapter 9 46:11 Skill and Check Options 59:06 Hero Points 1:03:23 New Ability Scores 1:07:35 Fear and Horror 1:09:33 Healing Options 1:18:30 Rest Variants 1:21:24 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 155 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: DMG Running the Game part 3! How well does the DMG help us track initiative, improvise damage, run chases, fire siege weapons, and give out XP? Shawn and Teos have some good laughs as they investigate the 2018 DMG. News: Demiplane 5E Surprise, Phandelver Previews, Hiring and Pay, and more! Contents 00:00 PAX 03:36 Too Many Products? 09:19 Everything Else? 17:01 Phandelver Previews 18:23 Demiplane 5E Nexus Surprises  21:06 EN World Freelance Pay Survey 25:28 Pelgrane Hiring Project Editor 32:23 Choices, Information, and Meaning  34:38 Weapons of Legend 35:19 The Folk from Harrowthorpe 36:26 DMG Chapter 8 Part 3 37:16 Tracking Initiative 40:29 HP and Conditions 45:56 Crits and Improvising Damage 48:44 AoE and Mobs 54:11 Chases 57:11 Siege Equipment 1:01:20 Disease, Poison, Madness 1:04:24 XP 1:07:40 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 154 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 8 – Running the Game, part 2! Shawn and Teos continue examining Chapter 8 of the 2014 DMG. From optional ways to handle close die rolls, to social interactions, to exploration, we look at fascinating topics. News: D&D Movie Really Losing Money? Free Gazetteer, BG3 Reviews, Phandelver Sneak Peeks, and more! Contents 00:00 Working for the Weekend 02:36 Setting Products? 24:23 Phandelver and Below 26:59 Baldur’s Gate 3 Reviews 28:58 Free Gazetteer  29:52 Movie Losing Money?  33:14 Greenwood’s Vampires 35:52 DMG Ch8 Running the Game  36:21 Advantage and Disad  40:02 Resolutions and Consequences  47:34 Do the Rob 54:52 Exploration 59:04 Social Interaction 1:08:06 Objects 1:13:38 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 153 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Shadow of the Weird Wizard with Rob Schwalb! Rob Schwalb talks about his fantastic Kickstarter for Weird Wizard, his days at Wizards and insights into 5E’s creation, and what makes for a fantastic RPG. News: Tal’Dorei Reborn is the first 3rd party product on D&D Beyond, WotC Playtest Experiments, New D&D Beyond Survey, and more! Contents 00:00 Mr. Funny 01:39 Weird Design? 07:15 Design for Streams? 10:23 Short Design? 13:12 Prescription vs Teaching? 23:14 Tal’Dorei on Beyond 28:06 Crawford on Playtest Experiments 38:24 Beyond Survey 40:45 Eldritch 100 41:23 Seize the Means 43:39 Weird Wizard! 45:06 Glorious Rob 48:50 Exorcising Demons 50:06 5E’s Compromises 54:27 Preparation 1:00:01 Session Length 1:03:24 Why Weird Wizard  1:08:25 Project Rewards  1:14:51 Weird Setting 1:19:34 Find Rob and Weird Wizard  1:21:10 Kim Mohan’s Impact 1:24:26 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 152 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 8 – Running the Game! Seven chapters later, the DM finally is told how to run the game! Was the wait worth it? Shawn and Teos review which parts hit the mark and which fall short. News: Hasbro’s Rough Q2, Gen Con Breaks Records, Crawford on Settings, 2024 More Like 2014, and more! Contents 00:00 Gooooooool 02:02 Lite DnD? 07:25 Level vs Custom? 12:08 Redo Lost Mines? 16:16 Free Art? 19:23 Downtime Minigame? 23:47 Hasbro Q2 Report 35:23 WotC Updates AI Policy 37:10 Gen Con Attendance Record 38:41 Baldman at PAX 39:55 BG3 Play Data 41:33 2024 Playtest Survey Results 46:11 Crawford on Settings 53:02 Shadow of the Weird Wizard 53:43 Aberration board game 55:49 DMG Running the Game 57:23 Table Rules 1:02:23 Prescriptions vs Teaching 1:04:11 Table Talk 1:06:41 Die Rolling  1:11:28 Metagaming 1:14:33 Missing Players 1:15:50 Role of the Dice 1:19:03 Ability Scores 1:31:09 DC and Proficiency 1:37:01 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 151 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 6 – Treasure! Shawn and Teos ponder treasure. How much to give out, and how often? What is the role of treasure and its implications? From attunement to sentient items, we dig into the 2014 5E DMG and what we might want to see in 2024. News: A giant problem for D&D, Free League rocks ENnies, Cthulhu Saved, and more! Contents 00:00 Gen Con Glow 04:19 Subclass Variance? 10:45 Higher Level Complexity? 17:06 Valiant Playtesting? 20:56 Know Rules to Break Them? 28:54 Psychological Horror? 30:42 Giant Freebies 32:04 Giant AI Debacle 45:07 Free League Rocks ENnies 48:27 Storytelling Collective 49:45 Where Evil Lives 50:29 Cthulhu Saved  52:18 DMG Ch7 Treasure 55:17 Role and Impact of Treasure 59:09 Across Editions 1:02:21 How Much Treasure? 1:08:11 Swingy Results  1:10:05 Xanthar’s 1:11:06 No Magic? 1:14:52 Attunement 1:22:33 Resilience 1:24:25 Special Features 1:30:40 Artifacts and Sentient Magic 1:35:26 Other Rewards 1:37:05 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 150 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 6 – Downtime! Shawn and Teos are huge fans of Downtime, introduced in the 2014 5E DMG. However, the material in Chapter 6 has been changed greatly by Xanathar’s and Acquisitions Incorporated. What would Shawn and Teos want from the 2024 DMG? News: Translated SRD, Sales Figures for D&D, D&D Movie Sequel, Top Crowdfunders, and more! Contents 00:00 Head Check  02:33 DMG Strategy? 09:55 DM Focus? 17:57 Tech Writing? 20:56 Agents of X? 22:15 Horror Appeal? 32:12 Translated SRD! 35:06 Movie Sequel 38:46 Gen Con D&D Update 41:05 Guild AI Policy 43:22 Top Crowdfunders 47:41 D&D Big Box Store Sales 55:51 DMG Ch6 Downtime 58:21 Downtime’s Introduction 1:01:32 Downtime’s Potential 1:11:39 Story Aspects 1:16:40 DMG Activities 1:30:59 Running Downtime 1:36:04 On the Clock 1:39:24 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 149 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 5 – Urban and Unusual Environments! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG by following Chapter 5. The rest of the chapter covers Urban and Unusual Environments, plus Traps. What would Shawn and Teos add to the 2024 DMG? News: WotC closes eOne in the UK, Paizo closes office, D&D Gen Con events sort of, and more! Contents 00:00 Swiftness 02:10 Wrong Hook? 07:55 Replay Characters? 12:40 Low High Level Play? 16:41 Editions Inevitable? 24:55 Dungeon Generator! 26:46 Gen Con Events 33:55 Hasbro Closes UK eOne 37:16 Paizo Closes Redmond Office 39:29 KP Hiring Media Manager 40:28 Shadow of the Weird Wizard  41:30 Jungles of Kuauhtla 42:10 Where Evil Lives 42:41 DMG Ch6 Between Adventures 45:56 5E vs Older Approaches 50:03 Overarching Story 57:36 Adventure Seeds and Foreshadowing 1:03:34 Campaign Tracking 1:13:07 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.