
The Eldritch Lorecast
Ben Byrne, Dael Kingsmill, Shawn Merwin, and James Haeck bring you the latest tabletop hobby news, discussions on roleplaying game design, ideas for players and GMs, and share their passion for tabletop roleplaying games and the community!
For More info be sure to check out ghostfiregaming.com.
Latest episodes

Aug 17, 2022 • 58min
#46. Support For Theatre of the Mind In D&D 5.5e
We pontificate further about what we'd like to see in D&D 5.5e, "Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim" gets funded in 3 minutes, and our expert panelists break down the art of running one shots!
Check out Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim: https://ghostfiregaming.com/GGYT_SCGD_2022_8_046
Email your questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Ben: @TheBenByrne
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Your "Go To" one-shot adventure
07:41 - Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim is LIVE!
15:49 - Sly Flourish predictions for the next edition of D&D
40:17 - Spells and movement on the grid vs theatre of the mind
47:43 - The art of running one-shot adventures

Aug 10, 2022 • 1h 3min
#45. 'Wizards Presents' Predictions with Matt Colville
We're joined by Matt Colville to reflect on the past and present of D&D to predict the future of the world's most popular roleplaying game! The Lorecast graduates to it's own YouTube channel and we congratulate James Haeck alongside his fellow ENNIE award winners.
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Ben: @TheBenByrne
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Matt: @mattcolville
00:00 - "Fixing" rules from D&D 5e
15:42 - The Eldritch Lorecast graduates to its own YouTube channel
17:43 - 'Wizard Presents' predictions
22:26 - The legacy of 4e and discussing the OGL
34:54 - Is 5e starting to bloat?
53:58 - ENNIE award winners! (Congratulations James!!)

Aug 3, 2022 • 1h 1min
#44. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Owlbears
James and Shawn return in time to pick apart the D&D movie trailer and give their opinion on Owlbear-gate. Speaking of monsters, we answer a YouTube listener question about running 'monster of the week' style campaigns.
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/7CJU7b5GYB
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:58 - Older D&D movies
08:01 - Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse episode 2
11:45 - New 5e starter kit: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
19:04 - R Talsorian Games supporting The Witcher TTRPG
20:55 - 'Honor Among Thieves' hype and expectations
41:33 - How to run 'monster of the week' style campaigns

Jul 27, 2022 • 1h 4min
#43. Sebastian Crowe Guides Us Back To Drakkenheim
The Dungeon Dudes return to the Eldritch Lorecast with "Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim", their second Kickstarter! We weigh in on the Owlbear vs wild shape debate while geeking out over the 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' trailer!
Follow "Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim" Kickstarter: https://ghostfiregaming.com/GGYT_SCGD_2022_7_043
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/7CJU7b5GYB
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
Monty: @montycmartin
Kelly: @KaiInRealLife
Topics:
00:00 - Wild shaping into an Owlbear?
05:51 - Remember Animorphs?
09:12 - Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim
22:04 - The Apothecary miniature
30:28 - New tool based feats
40:48 - The Dungeon Dudes second Kickstarter
54:08 - Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Jul 20, 2022 • 54min
#42. Unearthed Wonders of the Multiverse
A new Unearthed Arcana arrives halfway through recording and we marvel at the Wonders of the Multiverse! There's speculation over the Roll20 and OneBookShelf merger, anticipation for the "next versions" of the D&D core books, and time for a snack!
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/7CJU7b5GYB
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Intro
04:19 - Roll20 and OneBookShelf (DMs Guild) merging togehter!
16:58 - Unearthed Arcana: Wonders of the Multiverse
21:37 - Are feats balanced well in 5e?
32:29 - Dael derails the podcast
33:51 - D&D's next edition is on the way!
35:39 - Games Workshop's fashionable accessories
38:04 - How a GM should reflect on mistakes and lessons learned

Jul 13, 2022 • 1h 3min
#41. Spelljammer Academy Has Free Tuition!
We break news with Spelljammer Academy releasing free on D&D Beyond, celebrate the announcement of the ENNIE award nominations with nominee James Haeck, and think up questions to ask players during character creation!
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/7CJU7b5GYB
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Intro
00:56 - How to use exposition without boring your players!
19:18 - Spelljammer Academy is a free on D&D Beyond
26:41 - ENNIE awards nominations announce
35:56 - God of War 5 includes TTRPG dice in its collectors edition
42:02 - D&D breakfast bowl discussion pt. 2
42:58 - Favourite questions for character creation

Jul 6, 2022 • 57min
#40. The D&D Civil War Heats Up!
We celebrate the launch of Fables 2: Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse, dissect the news about DM's Guild partnering with Roll20, and congratulate celebrated RPG 'Alice is Missing' receiving a movie deal!
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Find out more about 'Fables 2: Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse' here: https://ghostfiregaming.com/GGYT_FB02_2022_7_040
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/7CJU7b5GYB
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Fables 2: Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse
04:10 - New player races from the Aetherial Expanse
21:00 - DM's Guild and Roll20 partnership
31:48 - 'Vampire: The Masquerade Nexus' early access
36:10 - Roleplaying on virtual tabletops
45:19 - 'Alice is Missing' RPG gets a Paramount movie deal
54:26 - 'D&D Onslaught' delayed

Jun 29, 2022 • 1h 5min
#39. Radiant Citadel's First Chapter Is Free!
We consider TTRPG's digital future with D&D Beyond releasing of the first chapter from Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel free. Ben geek's out over a D&D themed breakfast, James listens to the official Critical Role album, Shawn talks marketing strategies, and Dael judges the transitions.
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Follow us on Twitch for live episode recordings (Monday, 7pm EDT):
https://www.twitch.tv/ghostfire_official
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Intro
05:18 - Transformations and monstrous player-characters
14:15 - Radiant Citadel's first chapter free on D&D Beyond
22:09 - The future of digital only TTRPG material
37:33 - Eat breakfast right with the official D&D crockery set!
42:37 - Scanlan Shorthalt music
47:45 - How to manage time travel in your adventures

Jun 23, 2022 • 1h 2min
#38. This One Spell That All D&D GM's Hate!
How high have you levelled up playing D&D 5e? Is it better to be a creative story writer or game mechanic engineer when writing for TTRPG's? Why is goodberry just the worst!? The answers to all these questions and more awaits!
Email YOUR questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Follow us on Twitch for live episode recordings (Monday, 7pm EDT):
https://www.twitch.tv/ghostfire_official
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Ben's "sick" intros
00:28 - What Level 20 character would you bring against Vecna?
15:00 - High level characters and campaigns
19:00 - The Eldritch Lorecast is now on Twitch
20:00 - The Arora Kickstarter is over!
22:00 - Game developer advice and resources
32:00 - Fixing goodberry and other game breaking spells
42:00 - Exploring morality in TTRPG's

Jun 15, 2022 • 57min
#37. The Vecna Dossier and Even Stranger Things
UPDATE: We forgot to mention the day we're streaming the Lorecast! Monday 7pm EDT / Monday 4pm PDT / Tuesday 9am AEDT
We deep dive into the Vecna dossier and recap the history of D&D's most infamous lich! We also explore the contribution Stranger Things has had on D&D's popularity and it's representation of the satanic panic. And of course a listener email!
Email questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.com
Last chance to back Arora: Age of Desolation on Kickstarted here:
https://ghostfiregaming.com/GGYT_AR01_2022_6_037
Follow us on Twitch for live episode recordings (Monday, 7pm EDT):
https://www.twitch.tv/ghostfire_official
Ben: @Melb_DM
Dael: @DailyDael
James: @jamesjhaeck
Shawn: @shawnmerwin
Topics:
00:00 - Intro
00:18 - Early GMing mistakes we learned from
05:55 - The Eldritch Lorecast coming to Twitch
08:05 - The Arora Kickstarter is almost over!
10:35 - Vecna dossier
27:22 - Stranger Things impact on D&D
33:08 - Stranger Things and the Satanic Panic
35:18 - The Matt Mercer Effect and theatrical GMing
39:53 - The GM's fun matters
45:28 - Better session starts and session recaps