Mastering Dungeons

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.

Episode 137 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Roll20 on VTT Updates Morgan Buck and Andrew Searles visit Shawn and Teos to discuss the history of Roll20, upcoming improvements, the company’s role in the industry, international growth, and much more! News: New UA, Class as Content, Acquisitions Inc in Libraries, Strong Hasbro Q1, and more! Contents 00:00 Smile Like You Mean It 01:09 Advanced Rules? 10:39 New UA 18:01 Class as Content 27:16 Library Acquisitions 28:28 Hasbro Q1 30:45 Roll20 Morgan and Andrew! 34:58 Roll20 Origins 38:02 Strategic Changes 41:33 OBS Acquisition 46:43 Upgrading vs New 52:19 Industry Role 59:04 Upcoming Changes 01:06:03 Creators 01:12:06 international Growth 01:16:09 Partnerships and D&D 01:24:13 Find Roll20 01:26:58 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 136 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Looking Back at the 2014 DMG - Intro! Shawn and Teos revisit the 2014 5E DMG. How well does it help DMs and what would we change for 2024? News: Critical Role RPGs, World Record D&D, Into the Motherland Green Ronin, Gloomhaven RPG, Ghostfire on Beyond, and more! Contents 00:00 High School Redux 03:24 Half-Mechanics? 10:57 Home vs Published?  20:47 CR RPGs 24:59 Ronin Motherland 26:42 Gloomhaven RPG 29:05 World Record 34:45 Ghostfire Beyond 36:03 Back to the DMG! 38:26 Revised Chapters 41:48 Additions 49:23 Show Don’t Tell  56:06 Design Time 01:01:43 Monster Manual 01:02:50 DMG’s Intro 01:09:41 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 135 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Dungeon World and Powered by the Apocalypse! Shawn and Teos move to examine Dungeon World and the Powered by the Apocalypse games. We compare the design to D&D and share what we love most about these innovative story-focused RPGs. News: Big Bad Con Online, Diana Jones, Ampersand Boxers, Design Dash, and more! Contents 00:00 Boys Are Back 00:59 Reinforcing Tone? 08:27 New Class?  14:29 WotC CC? 17:26 Mystery Guidance? 27:23 Design Dash 29:05 Big Bad Online 29:52 Diana Jones 30:48 Trials of Tempus 32:38 D&D Boxers 34:17 Weird Wizard 36:12 Lorecast Crossover 37:44 Dungeon World Overview 43:14 GM Advice 45:10 Powered by Apocalypse 47:00 Character Playbooks 52:42 Moves 59:19 Monsters 01:04:27 Fronts 01:08:22 Find PbtA and DW 01:09:05 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 134 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Kevin Kulp and the many GUMSHOE RPGs! Designer Kevin Kulp joins us as we discuss how TimeWatch, Night’s Black Agents, Swords of the Serpentine, and many other amazing games all build on the excellent GUMSHOE system. We compare the design to D&D and share what we love most about these innovative RPGs. News: D&D Summit, PH in the Top 100, Stranger Things animated show, Tales of the Valiant, and more! Contents 00:00 D&D Summit! 04:19 VTT Hands-On 10:10 D&D Beyond 13:33 QA and 2024 Rules 23:02 PH Top 100 24:07 Stranger Things Animated 24:50 Tales of the Valiant 26:06 ORC License 29:05 Kevin Kulp! 31:49 GUMSHOE Overview 40:51 TimeWatch 42:20 Campaign Gameplay 57:19 Investigative Characters 1:11:26 Find GUMSHOE 1:14:54 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 133 of Mastering Dungeons!  This week's main topic: Themes and Genres in RPGs! What is meant by an RPG’s theme? What impact does it have, and why are some games better for a particular theme than others? Shawn Merwin and Ben Byrne discuss themes and genres and present examples in RPGs. News: D&D Direct, Movie Success, VTT Preview, Hobby Grows, and more! Contents 00:00 Ben Byrne! 02:11 Playtest Strategy? 05:58 WotC Taking CC? 10:20 Casters the Same? 14:04 Rogue Speed? 17:51 D&D Direct 28:09 VTT Preview 33:18 New Products 38:52 Movie Success 45:28 RPGs Grow 47:42 Alamo 49:55 Genre/Themes in RPGs 51:56 Why it Matters 54:42 Theme Types 1:29:06 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 132 of Mastering Dungeons!  Support the Forge of Foes: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slyflourish/the-lazy-dms-forge-of-foes-for-5e?ref=e2zf6e  This week's main topic: Rich Lescouflair and the Esper Genesis RPG! Rich Lescouflair joins Shawn to discuss the latest D&D news and Esper Genesis - his amazing sci-fi version of 5E D&D. News: D&D Community Update, Choose-a-path Before the Storm, Donjon & Dragons, and more!   Contents 00:00 Rich Lescouflair 01:04 Fate Examples? 02:48 Narrative D&D? 09:28 Treasure in DMG? 13:23 Mundane Treasure? 18:28 D&D Community Update 25:55 Before the Storm 29:58 Donjon and Dragons 32:14 Kickstarters 34:02 Esper Genesis 35:39 Differences from 5E 37:33 Origin 42:08 Barrier Peaks 43:03 Design Decisions 48:24 Building Worlds 49:41 Game Loop 54:26 Dragon vs Spaceship 57:40 Advice on SciFi in DnD 59:30 Sourcebooks and Adventures 1:02:57 Find EG 1:06:56 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 131 of Mastering Dungeons!  Support the Forge of Foes: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slyflourish/the-lazy-dms-forge-of-foes-for-5e?ref=e2zf6e  This week's main topic: The 13th Age RPG! We take a look at 13th Age, an RPG inspired by the 3rd and 4th editions of D&D. Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet encourage greater storytelling and even a bit of chaos. Learn about these innovations and bring them into your game. News: D&D Surveys and Playtests, Old Spice commercials, Action Figures, Movie Previews, and more!   Contents 00:00 Entertained 02:03 Playtest Quality? 06:59 How to DM? 10:52 Influencer Standards? 14:52 Key Anachronisms? 20:14 Surveys and Playtests 31:52 Old Spice 33:33 Sneak Previews 34:57 Weird Wizard 35:58 Action Figures 37:07 Kickstarters 38:09 13th Age 39:59 About the Game 42:02 Designers 43:52 Icons 51:13 One Unique Thing 58:37 Escalation Die 1:04:40 Monsters 1:07:57 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 130 of Mastering Dungeons!  We both have Kickstarters: Grim Hollow - Vallikan Clans: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/977277590/grim-hollow-valikan-clans  Forge of Foes: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slyflourish/the-lazy-dms-forge-of-foes-for-5e?ref=e2zf6e  This week's main topic: Fate campaigns with Mike Olson! Mike has worked on many Fate projects, so he helps us look into Fate’s collaborative character and campaign creation rules, as well as comparisons to D&D and why Fate is such a great game. News: D&D Community Update, Creator Summit, Movie Reviews, Nebula Awards, and more!   Contents 00:00 Ebullient 01:26 Edition Names? 08:32 Swapping Lineage? 12:41 D&D Community Update 18:32 D&D Movie Reviews 21:50 Movie NPCs 23:55 Nebula Awards 24:36 Creator Summit 39:06 Kickstarters 41:12 Mike Olson and Fate 48:26 Words Instead of Numbers 55:48 Dice and Success 59:59 Conceding 1:02:01 Character Creation 1:04:39 Collaborative Campaign Creation 1:11:11 Storytelling Aspects 1:27:54 Fate into D&D 1:29:37 Find Mike and Fate 1:31:41 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Episode 129 of Mastering Dungeons!  We both have Kickstarters: Grim Hollow - Vallikan Clans: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/977277590/grim-hollow-valikan-clans  Forge of Foes: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slyflourish/the-lazy-dms-forge-of-foes-for-5e?ref=e2zf6e  This week's main topic: The Fate RPG! We take a look at Fate's RPG and how different it is from D&D. News: D&D movie directors speak, Acq Inc launching Series 2, A national research institute RPG, Books on Class, Kobold Press revises Tome, and more!   News: One D&D Approach Update, Paladin and Druid, Avatar RPG in Stores, Branded Meats, and more!   Contents 00:00 Basketball Big Boss 01:08 Class Caster Balance? 10:27 Movie Directors 15:50 Acq Inc Approaches 18:05 Research Agency RPG 19:18 Books on Class 20:39 KP Dungeon 23 21:16 Tome of Beasts Update 25:12 Kickstarters 27:29 Fate 28:34 Creators and Creation 32:04 Do Anything 35:57 Mechanics 38:50 Aspects 44:50 Skills and Rolls  51:11 Actions and Game Loop 59:40 Stress and Consequences 1:05:14 Shout-Outs Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.