Dungeon Master of None

DMs Matt and Rob wade into The Discourse discussing if “system matters” and “rules elide.”  Check out the DMofNone Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join DMofNone on Discord! Links: Fireside Chat for Chapter 2 of World Beyond Number - Dimension 20   Detours and Lies (1, probably) - “What Is A D&D Anyway? - Combat Orientation and Stoves” - The Daily Blade  Rules Elide - Jared.blot (Archived) The Baker-Care Principle - Emily Care Boss The Fruitful Void - Lumpley Games  Stance Theory - Socratic Design  Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Bruce Springsteen - Pony Boy. 

Rob sits down with designer Andy Pressman to talk about, well, design, but also about games! The conversation ranges from Andy's active projects to onboarding players to mechanics to game jams and hacks and more. Andy's Itch Patchwork World Errant

Matt and Rob cover the REST of the Daggerheart playtest, including the GM section, adversaries, maps, worldbuilding, and the included starting adventure -- there's a lot going on here! Download the playtest materials here for free: https://darringtonpress.com/daggerheart/  Check out the DMofNone Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join DMofNone on Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Luca Turilli - Demonheart Slowdive - Dagger

Delve into the fantasy TTRPG Daggerheart playtest with DM Matt and DM Rob analyzing the mechanics, duality dice, action tracker system, ancestries, alternative class systems, death moves, and game design elements. Critiques include balancing innovation with tradition, incorporating D&D mechanics, and simplifying system design for improved gameplay.

Matt and Rob are joined by Daniel Kwan of Asians Represent to talk about his TTRPG of lethal melodrama, Wandering Blades! We talk wuxia, TTRPG design, playtesting, mechanics, inspirations, and more! Daniel's Patreon Daniel's Itch.io

Learn how to master a new RPG system with tips on adapting, exploring settings, grasping mechanics, and balancing game elements. Discover the importance of specialized subsystems and cheat sheets for character creation. Join the community for more RPG adventures!

Matt and Rob sit down with Lin Codega and Rowan Zeoli of rascal.news, the new independent TTRPG news site that is rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of, well, several other sites. We talk plans, the state of TTRPGs, the death of journalism, and more! In Search of a Hot Pink Bitch Named Breakfast Harlem Hellfighters Never Die

DMs Rob and Matt are joined by Keri Blakinger, investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times, to talk about her piece for New York Times Magazine, "The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row," which can be read for free at the Marshall Project, "When Wizards and Orcs Came to Death Row." Links: Keri Blakinger - The Marshall Project https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/08/31/dungeons-and-dragons-texas-death-row-tdcj  Keri Blakinger - Corrections in Ink: A Memoirhttps://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250272850/correctionsinink Smriti Mundhra - I Am Ready, Warden at Big Sky Film Festival https://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/festival/films-2024-view/i_am_ready_warden/  Books to Prisoners Programs https://prisonbookprogram.org/prisonbooknetwork/ Inside Books Project (Texas) https://insidebooksproject.org/  Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Lead Belly - The Gallis Pole.

Special West Marches Correspondent Andy joins Matt and Rob to explain a wonderous campaign where all are welcome: The Open Table! Learn what an open table-style game is, why you might want to ditch your old dedicated story-driven campaigns, and how to prepare and GM an open table game. Plus, learn the Five "S"s of Open Tables: Setting, System, Scheduling, Starting, Stopping! Links: Andy - Tales of the Iron league https://ironleague.org/  Tales of the Iron League Discord https://discord.gg/xY8K7qS9 Ben Robbins - West Marches https://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/  Kelsey Dionne - Shadowdark: The Cursed Scroll https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/products/cursed-scroll-zine-vol-1-diablerie-print  Trial of the Slime Lord https://jordanrudd.itch.io/trial-of-the-slime-lord  Inkwell Ideas - Hexographer  https://store.inkwellideas.com/products/hexographer-hexographer-2-pro-version  OwlCon in Houston, Texas https://owlcon.com/ Check out the DMofNone Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join DMofNone on Discord!    

Matt and Rob talk about how to make role-playing adventures, player guides, and games look nice. Join us for a journey through design and layout tools from simple to complex.  Listen to the full episode on the DMofNone Patreon!  Links: Homebrewery  GM Binder  GIMP  Cartographers' Guild  Explorers Design  Adobe InDesign  InDesign Template for 5e  DriveThruRPG - Stock Art  Open Access at The Met