Dungeon Master of None

We all love Critical Role! But can you become a better Dungeon Master or a better player by watching the show?  Absolutely!  Learn why Matt Mercer is such an amazing Dungeon Master!  (Hint: it’s NOT because of his voice acting.)  Can you play D&D as well as Ashley, Laura, Liam, Marisha, Sam, Taliesin, and Travis do?  Yes, you can!  Discover how to tap into your "RP-Generosity" and how to avoid the "grimdark" disease that plagues so many of our characters.  DMs Matt and Rob chat about what you can take away from the new season of Critical Role and what is best left to the professionals.  A must-listen for Critters who want to run their own game of Dungeons and Dragons!  Notes: Listen to or watch Critical Role The Alexandrian, "Three Clue Rule"

You’ve got D&D problems?  We’ve got D&D answers.  Dungeon Masters Rob and Matt are here to answer common tabletop questions and solve those sticky RPG situations that you have gotten yourself into.   (2:00) Problem Player in Poughkeepsie asks, “How do you deal with players who wander off on their own?  How do you recover when you make a rules mistake?” (9:44) Forever DM asks, “I’m always the DM.  Is it okay for me to insert a Dungeon Master run Player Character (DMPC) into my party?” (16:07) Weakling Woes asks, “Can a player keep trying a failed Strength roll until she succeeds?”  Oh boy, we get real deep on this one.   (26:08) Gauntlet Guy or Gal asks, “How do I hook my players into my first story?”   After some confusion about the multiple meanings of the world “gauntlet,” we say, “Por que no los dos?!”

Matt and Rob get excited about Will Smith’s orc cop movie and its influences, then talk about the second half of “Xanathar’s Guide to Everything”, which includes traps, monster tables, and all other kinds of DM goodies. Come for the nerd nonsense, stay for the deep dive into DM resources.

In part one of our review of Xanathar's Guide to Everything, we talk about balance, power creep, design space, and, true to our roots, give crushing letter grades to all of the classes. Listen to Rob rant about fighters, Matt reference Poochie, and both of us groan in dismay over a certain goofy-ass beholder.

Matt and Rob both bring nothing into the Drift (TM) to discuss the nerd news of the day before they help you master the fine art of character creation.   Breaking: Bad Boy Billionaire Bezos Buys Bilbo Baggins Biography!  Can Amazon actually make a good Lord of the Rings TV show?  Someone else always has to, like, carry on the story, we guess. Next, Matt and Rob talk about how to take your characters from zeroes to heroes.  As a Dungeon Master, you can encourage and trick your players into making characters that they will love playing and that you will love refereeing.  Learn Matt’s patented “Three Tiers of Character Depth.”  If you are tired of brooding loners and psychopathic thieves ruining your game, then follow our advice and your next adventuring party will be full of memorable characters that work together!

Matt and Rob talk Xanathar’s, downtime activities, and perhaps the MOST important session your RPG group will ever have -- session zero.  Learn how to head off some of the most common game problems before you campaign even begins!  Help your players make the best characters they've ever made.  This one is a must listen if you are new DM or player and need help getting started! 

Kind of a news round-up, grab bag kind of episode, covering everything from racism to tech at the table and everything in between. Matt and Rob also hash out a magic item for you to steal, if that’s your thing. I don’t know man, just listen, it’s a good one.   The DMs are aware that they said “swords” and then immediately talked about a dagger, don’t @ us.   Link: The Splitspace Blade

Thinking about starting to play an RPG? Not sure if it’s for you? Intimidated by all the rules and dice and other nonsense? Let Matt and Rob put you at ease with a nice, casual discussion about why RPGs are actually very cool and easy to get into and definitely not just for nerds.   (Yes, we know, Rob’s sound quality is bad, it will be fixed in future episodes) Join DMofNone on Discord. And support the show on Patreon! Links: The free 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, a hyper-linked version of those same rules