Mastering Dungeons

Episode 147 of Mastering Dungeons This week's main topic: James Introcaso of MCDM joins Shawn to discuss the difference between writing a custom RPG vs creating for 5E! News: Owlbear Love, ENnies, Gen Con Online, and more! Contents 00:00 James Introcaso! 01:57 Creating for WotC 06:22 Success Failure Spectrum? 13:29 Character Arcs? 22:26 True Owlbears? 24:41 New Systems? 29:41 Ennies 35:16 Gen Con 37:40 Bear Love in BG3 42:18 Dragonlance Shadow 44:06 Aetherial last call! 44:34 Flee Mortals Comes 48:48 5E Content vs Custom RPGs 51:47 Business Considerations 56:13 Does 5E Fit Bear Romance? 58:04 Audience 1:01:59 Setting and Genre 1:06:28 Conflict Resolution 1:12:11 Character Creation 1:17:07 Story Flow 1:23:41 Game Loop 1:34:10 Pillars 1:38:48 Jim’s Question 1:41:15 Shout-Outs 1:42:49 Find James Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 146 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Mike Shea joins Shawn to compare the benefits of Organized Play vs Home Games! News: D&D Playtest 6,  Baldur’s Gate Date, Final ORC License, and more! Contents 00:00 Swimming 01:07 5E Splinter? 10:24 Adventure Design? 27:45 Playtest Packet 6 30:26 Final Orcs 39:06 Beadle & Grimm’s 44:16 Baldur’s Gate Date 45:39 Savage Worlds 46:39 Aetherial Expanse 47:30 Forge of Foes! 48:30 Home vs Org Play 49:18 Mike’s Experience 51:01 Comparing the Two 59:21 Skill Differences 1:02:55 Variance 1:05:32 Teachers 1:07:21 Fan of Players 1:09:10 Learn from Home 1:14:50 Writing 1:22:39 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 145 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 5 – Wilderness and Settlements! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG by following Chapter 5. Do they get lost in creating and traversing a wilderness? Do they find the worst settlement table ever? News: America is Neutral Good, Blood in Baldur’s Gate, Origins Awards, Diana Jones Finalists, and more! Contents 00:00 Origins 05:13 Slowing the Game? 22:00 Blood in Baldur’s Gate 25:27 Origins Awards 26:35 Diana Jones Finalists 31:48 NG Americans 34:24 Art Costs 39:29 Congrats Kobolds 40:28 Aetherial Expanse 41:29 DMG Wilderness  43:12 Montage vs Hourly 44:58 Hemingway vs. Faulkner 49:22 Key Questions 56:55 Mapping Wilderness 1:00:55 Wilderness Features 1:04:55 Wilderness Survival 1:07:21 Settlements 1:11:33 Buildings 1:13:52 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 144 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 5 – Adventure Environments! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG by following Chapter 5 and rolling up a random dungeon. Is the result satisfying or does it fall apart? News: Reddit Woes, Renegade Oversteps, Freelancer Pay Survey, Gamehole Events, and more! Contents 00:00 Whole Enchilada 02:11 Memorable Campaign? 08:42 Swingy d20?  15:43 Dice Design? 20:40 Shine as a Player? 24:35 Favorite RPGs? 25:54 Raiding Mechanics? 27:27 Gamehole Events 29:08 Reddit Woes 24:38 Renegade Oversteps 38:56 Freelancer Pay Surveys 41:38 Aetherial Expanse 42:48 DMG Adventure Environments 44:52 Dungeons 49:07 Let’s Roll 55:55 Inhabitants 58:33 Ecology 1:02:15 Mapping a Dungeon 1:06:55 Left Out 1:12:35 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 143 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Celeste Conowitch on Designing Tales of the Valiant! What does it take to design a new variant of D&D? Hear the valiant tales of Celeste Conowitch, Senior Game Designer at Kobold Press!  News: Upper Deck Sues Ravensburger, 2024 Update, Final Rivals Stream, Creator Spotlight, and more! Contents 00:00 Shawn Issues 00:55 DM Fiat? 04:59 2024 Concern?  11:10 Go-To Adventure? 14:15 Community Update and Video 18:54 AL Stream 20:34 Upper Deck Lawsuit 22:27 Final Rivals Stream 24:02 Creator Spotlight 24:38 Core20 RPG 25:52 Last Caravan 27:07 Curse of Vecna 28:25 Celeste Conowitch! 35:12 Valiant Kickstarter 37:00 Project Inception 43:38 Playtest Lessons 49:00 Teamwork 51:25 Goals and Targets 55:54 Kickstarter Success 59:01 What Comes Next? 1:05:42 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 142 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 3 – Creating Nonplayer Characters! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. From ideals and bonds tables, to hirelings, to villain motives, does this tell a would-be-author how to craft a great NPC?  News: Candela Obscura, Valiant Kickstarter, Sharkadia, D&D Pride Gear, and more! Contents 00:00 Across the Masterverse 03:42 Other Genres? 10:00 Martial vs Spell?  19:02 DriveThru to Roll20 23:50 D&D Pride Gear 24:19 Sharkadia 25:54 Astral Ethereal  27:35 Valiant Surges 32:20 Girl by Moonlight  33:55 Illrigger  34:25 Candela Obscura 39:44 DMG Chapter 4 NPCs 41:09 NPCs as DM Tools 42:17 History of NPCs 46:52 Characterization 49:28 Designing NPCs 01:08:18 Hirelings and Patrons 01:18:54 Villains  01:27:02 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 141 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 3 – Creating Adventures, part 2! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. From event-based adventures to the encounter building rules, does this tell a would-be-author how to craft a great adventure?  News: D&D Marketing Summit, 2023 Product Reveals, Price Increases, Planescape Hopes, and more! Contents 00:00 Geeky Guardians 01:42 Limit or Oversight? 11:23 Homebrew vs Published?  17:42 D&D Marketing Summit 23:50 Demographics 27:32 5E is 2E 30:23 Staggering for Printers 32:04 Price Increases 37:35 Bigygnome Presents 39:07 Guide to Dragons 40:36 Phandelver 41:49 Planescape 49:52 Deck of Many Things 50:46 DMG Chapter 3 51:22 Event-Based Adventures 59:09 Mysteries  01:05:00 Intrigue 01:08:05 Complications 01:09:51 Creating Encounters 01:21:23 Random Encounters  01:30:20 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 140 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 3 – Creating Adventures! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. We look at Creating Adventures. Does this tell a would-be-author how to craft a great adventure? News: UA Survey, D&D Producer Job, Russ Nicholson Remembered, Flummox, Dungeon Secrets, and more! Contents 00:00 Speaking of Geeks 02:19 Automating Complexity? 07:33 Weapon Persona?  14:26 Weapon Templates? 26:04 UA Survey and Videos 37:47 D&D Producer Job 39:34 Russ Nicholson RIP 40:47 Secrets to Dungeon Fun 41:35 Jeff Stevens Flummox Heist 43:26 Crowdfunding Round-Up 45:18 DMG Chapter 3 46:10 Creating Adventures Intro 51:03 Great Elements 54:53 Published Adventures 56:48 Adventure Structure 58:47 What is a Story? 01:03:54 Location-Based  01:14:58 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 139 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: The 2014 DMG Chapter 2 – The Multiverse! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. We look at Creating a Multiverse and whether it even belongs in Chapter 2. If it does, what should it look like in the 2024 DMG?  News: Unearthed Barbarians, New Hasbro eOne Streaming Channel, Critical Role Launches New Stream and RPG, and more! Contents 00:00 Hydration 00:57 Rejoin at Level 1? 06:22 Golf Bag?  17:03 2024 Barbarian 29:56 Community Update 39:04 D&D Streaming Channel 45:17 CR New RPG and Stream 47:57 Crowdfunding Round-Up 48:57 DMG Chapter 2 across Editions 51:09 Creating a Useful Multiverse 01:02:23 Planar Travel 01:04:25 Astral and Ethereal 01:06:56 Feywild and Shadowfell 01:09:30 Inner Planes 01:10:47 Outer Planes 01:12:26 Other Planes 01:13:58 Closing Thoughts 01:16:20 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 138 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Looking Back at the 2014 DMG – Chapter 1! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. How well does it help DMs and what would we change for 2024? News: Weapon Mastery analysis, Keith Baker closes KB Presents, Diana Jones awards, Crowdfunding Spotlight, and more! Contents 00:00 Kids Am I Right? 01:52 Valiant Resistance? 06:07 Polymorph Woes?  13:20 Weapon Mastery 46:01 D&D Movie in Digital 46:34 Diana Jones Emerging Designers 47:20 Keith Baker Closes KBP 49:17 Crowdfunding Round-Up 52:29 2014 DMG Chapter 1 55:07 Worldbuilding 57:04 Core Assumptions  58:04 Utility?  01:03:53 World vs Encounter 01:10:36 Session Focus 01:15:15 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.