Taking 20 Podcast

Doppelgangers are terrifying shapeshifters that are in the game solely to make an already paranoid group of players even more so.  After all, how can you trust anyone if anyone could be lying about who and what they are?  In this episode, I give you some common motivations for these monsters and tips for introducing them into your game.   #dmtips #doppelgangers #dnd #pathfinder #pathfinder2e   Resources: The Monsters Know What They’re Doing:  Doppelgangers:  https://www.themonstersknow.com/doppelganger-tactics/ Doppelganger Origin:  https://www.britannica.com/art/doppelganger Psychology of the Doppelganger:  https://annarchive.com/files/Drmg080.pdf

Baldur's Gate 3 is an amazing game and even though it doesn't have a Dungeon Master per se, it does have some good advice and lessons that all of us can use to improve our DM style.  In this episode I give 8 tips I learned about DMing from Baldur's Gate 3   #dmtips #baldursgate3 #dnd #pathfinder   Resources: https://www.hipstersanddragons.com/difficulty-classes-for-ability-checks-5e/ Larian Studios:  https://larian.com/

A very special thank you to Rick Sandidge of Find the Path Ventures who was kind enough to come on the episode to discuss integrating character backstories into your game.  Please give their amazing podcasts a listen at find-path.com.  Resources: Find the Path Ventures:  https://find-path.com/ Find the Path Podcasts:  https://find-path.com/podcasts/  Find the Path Twitch:  https://www.twitch.tv/findthepathpod  

Some decry AI as the worst thing to come to RPGs since THAC0.  However, I’d like DMs and players to acknowledge the problems associated with AI use but also consider using AI as a tool to augment our games to make us better DMs and better players.   #dmtips #dnd #Pathfinder #ArtificialIntelligence #rpgtips Resources: How to use AI as a Dungeon Master by Annabelle Collins:  https://www.modularrealms.com/en-us/blogs/news/dungeon-master-tools-how-can-ai-help-me-dm https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2023/05/we-played-dd-with-a-chat-gpt-dungeon-master-can-ai-really-run-your-campaign.html Positive Experiences with an AI DM https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/zpepxi/i_played_dnd_with_an_ai_robot_and_it_was_amazing/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3   Cros.land generators:  https://cros.land/ai-rpg-location-generator/ https://bard.google.com   Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters:  https://a.co/d/4BtkOYL Bloomberg Article on AI face generation:  https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-generative-ai-bias/

Many moons ago I gave tips on character death but as The Mummy said, death is only the beginning.  How do you let your player gracefully replace their character in your game?     #dmtips #dnd #Pathfinder #CharacterDeath   Resources: Pathfinder 2e:  Wealth by Level:  https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=587

In this short episode I talk about a common feeling among DMs:  imposter syndrome and give DMs some advice for dealing with it.    #dmtips #dnd #Pathfinder #ImposterSyndrome

A few weeks ago I mentioned how rare I think class levels are in your world and promised a longer discussion on the topic.  As threatened, here it is.  I make my case that class levels should be relatively rare in your world and give some benefits to designing your world that way.   #dmtips #dnd #pathfinder #starfinder #npcs Resources: Pathfinder 2e Core Preview:  https://paizo.com/pathfinder/corepreview https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-proportion-of-the-population-are-adventurers.659605/  https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/ada98w/how_special_are_you_a_guideline_for_determining/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2

In this episode I use a bit of lore about the Vast to expand on a concept important to your game world - unexplored areas with the potential to have anything you can think of.   #DMtips #dnd #Pathfinder #Starfinder #TheVast   Resources: Paizo forums - What is the Vast?  https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2v1by?What-is-the-Vast 

Robert Nores wrote in asking how I prepare one shot adventures so in this episode I give you some general tips and walk you through how I would prepare the free adventure A Fistful of Flowers published by Paizo. #DMtips #dnd #Pathfinder #OneShot Resources: A Fistful of Flowers at the Paizo Store:  https://paizo.com/products/btq02d8f?Pathfinder-Adventure-A-Fistful-of-Flowers Taking 20 Podcast Episode 128 - DMing at Conventions:  https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-128-dming-at-conventions/  Hold Music:  GLITTER BLAST Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

RPG players depend on we DMs to effectively describe the combat, the encounter areas, and the world at large during exploration activities.  The words we use and the quality of our narration has a direct effect on the quality of our game and the potential immersion into our game world.  Narration is a skill that all GMs, including and especially me, need to practice and improve.  In this episode I give you 4.5 tips for improving your narration.  You heard me.  4 and a half tips...   #dmtips #dnd #Pathfinder #narration   Resources: https://theangrygm.com/how-to-talk-to-players-the-art-of-narration/ Extra Credits:  History of Dungeons and Dragons:  https://youtu.be/paEGFYSBZTE Taking 20 Episode 170 - Combat Narration - https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-170-narrative-combat-armor-class-and-hit-points/  Taking 20 Episode 78 - Tips for Scene Descriptions:  https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-78-tips-for-scene-descriptions/