Dungeon Master of None

Put on your masks and get out your account books! Matt and Rob are joined by a very special guest, Dave the Prof! They discuss Seth Dickinson's groundbreaking fantasy novel, The Traitor Baru Cormorant. The book's approach to race, queerness, and empire will get your fantasy world-building gears turning like no other novel! Happy Halloween and happy the Monster Baru Cormorant day! Links: On Top of the World, Dave's podcast (Matt is also a co-host) The Traitor Baru Cormorant The Monster Baru Cormorant Music: Roll the Dice, Pac Div Rebel, Rebel, David Bowie Empire State of Mind, Jay Z. feat. Alicia Key Mask Off, Future

Matt and Rob review the newest adventure from Wizards of the Coast, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist! WARNING! Spoilers begin at 45:10. But first, we gird ourselves for a Tales from the Loop TV series and a Wheel of Time TV series. Matt shares his bafflement with TORG: Eternity. Now, on to Waterdeep...Dragon Heist is a welcome departure from the all the other 5e adventures...modular antagonists...it's so short (and that's a good thing)......non-adventuring things for your adventurers to do...walking the fine line between pure sandbox and straight linear adventures...is this too complex...where are our criminals...Waterdeep is a city of LAWS...planning for when your players do nothing...inaction should never be the best choice for your PCs...modularity is still in beta but better to go down swinging...we recommend Daughter Peep: Flagon Iced! Music: Roll the Dice, Pac Div A Theme for the Wheel of Time, Robert Berry Love Song, Sara Bareilles Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads

DMs Matt and Rob talk about RPGs in the classroom using the Reacting to the Past curriculum and Matt's panel on Paradox Interactive's video games and history. Now, on to your letters: Nate writes, "Discord has a dice roller and a macro add-on!" [16:30] Ryan asks, "Is the Dynamic Lighting option in Roll20 worth it?" [21:00] Abstract Figure writes, "I love old school throwing weapons and boomerangs from movies of the 80s and 90s. What's the best way to put these iconic items into a game for my kids?" (He also sent us a link to some great drawings!) [25:30] Adam asks, "How do I get players more engaged with NPCs and make them curious about my world?" [35:00] Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "The Games People Play" by The Alan Parsons Project "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band "When I Come Around" by Green Day "BKNY" by Fat Tony (featuring Old Money)

"7 DM Tips to take your game to the next level...#6 will blow you away!" "Players hate him! Master the Game with this one Weird Trick!" Matt and Rob are back with some slightly more advanced tips to help you as a game master! But first, a listener asks, "Can I run a game with two swapping Dungeon Masters?" On to the tips: creating a recap blog...playing to your strengths...you are using your DM screen wrong...the freedom of rolling in the open...binders full of NPC names...player name tents...getting to know what makes your players tick...mastering the "character spotlight" and the quick "around the table check-in." Thanks for listening! Don't forget to rate and review! Email / Twitter Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Going through the Motions" by Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child "No Beginner" by Serengeti Recommendations: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Matt and Rob discuss some recent drama related to Roll20, a virtual tabletop platform [05:40]. Your hosts then try present both the challenges and opportunities of running RPGs online [20:30]. Last, Matt and Rob try to give you some practical tips for using Roll20 and other online tabletops [41:30]. Have you struggled or had success running games online? Let us know how it went! dmofnone@gmail.com Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi, MGMT, and Ratatat "Smoke and Mirrors" by Gotye "Long Distance" by Bruno Mars

Matt and Rob love history. They also love making custom magic items. In this episode, your hosts combine these two loves by using historic artifacts as inspiration to create stats for D&D magic items. Image Gallery D&D 5e Magic Item Descriptions Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Season of the Witch" by Donovan "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes "Nothin' But A Good Time" by Poison "The Magic Clap" by The Coup

Read the full blog post here. This is a call-to-action for all our listeners! Please, donate your RPG books or buy a manual or two for prisoners in the United States. RPG manuals are on the "most requested" list of almost every prison book donation website and are never stocked by the humorless authoritarian bureaucrats that run what's left of prison libraries. These books are so in demand that when charities are no longer accepting general donations, they will always make an exception for RPG books. You can mail RPG manuals to the Books to Prisoners nonprofit or you can drop off books at one of the dozens of organizations located around the country. Click the link at the top of the episode description for a full set of instructions on how and where to help. In solidarity, DMs Matt and Rob Music: "Midnight Special" by Lead Belly

The Celestial Job: A Planescape Adventure for 3rd-level Characters DMs Matt and Rob return to "The Celestial Job," a one-shot Planescape adventure we wrote during Episode 30. Today, we take a fresh look at the adventure after play-testing it with two groups of players. Your DMs discuss how to run an adventure with an eye towards revision. We look at what didn't work, what was fun, and what was hilarious! If you liked our journey from brainstorming ideas to writing and revising an adventure module, feel free to download and run the whole thing (using the link above or on the Homebrew page). Let us know how the adventure goes! Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addicition

DMs Matt and Rob talk building monsters, from inspiration and concept down to armor class and damage immunities. First, we take a look at Appalachia's version of Big Foot: the Mothman! Then, we fill out the ranks of any respectable wizard's staff with the Parchment Golem. Music: "Half Light" by Low with Tomandandy "Paper Planes" by M.I.A.

Matt and Rob answer your letters! Helping new players learn to role-play...hacking other systems into 5e DnD...balancing player goals...ditching random encounters...Chekhov's magic sword on the mantle...inclusivity in Pathfinder 2nd edition...Eurocentric humans in the Player's Handbook...the Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin...getting "a head" with the Speak with Dead spell...Hellboy 1 is the best dungeon crawl...using science and the Move Earth cantrip to break the game...when is it okay to ask your DM to stop arguing about the rules...using the humanities to own your friends and make them sad...John McCain didn't like D&D. Music: Roll the Dice by Pac Div Riddles in the Dark by Chris Thile I Feel the Earth Move by Carole King