Taking 20 Podcast

Sometimes it's nice to remind players that not everything in the world revolves around them and they don't have the ability to control everything going on in the world.  If you want the players to realize that sometimes they are small fish in a big pond, run a campaign centered around a war, cataclysm, revolution, or other world-shaping event where the PCs play a small but important role in the outcome.   #dnd #Pathfinder #DMTips #ORCLicense  Resources: Reddit:  World population by class level - https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/ada98w/comment/edgldd3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3  The Flowchart:  https://imgbox.com/uHbbhKgD  Taking 20 Episode 58 - https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-58-the-evil-campaign/  

Your PCs tend to stroll through life like everything is great.  They're walking through the Underdark, not a care in the world, oblivious to everything down here that wants to eat you.  It's time to remind them that they may not be the apex predators in the dark places of the world.  In this episode I talk about using ambush predators in your game, including one strong caution about how they can make your players feel.    #dnd #pathfinder #dmtips #ambushpredators   Resources: The Monsters Know What They’re Doing by Keith Amman:  https://www.themonstersknow.com/roper-tactics/ 5e Piercer - https://www.aidedd.org/dnd/monstres.php?vo=piercer  Lurker - https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker  PF2e cloaker - https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=82  5e cloaker - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16826-cloaker  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 121 - Earthfall https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-121-lore-series-earthfall-on-golarion/  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 164 - Death of Aroden https://taking20.podbean.com/e/ep-164-lore-series-death-of-gods-and-aroden/  PF2e Invisible Stalker - https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=179  5e Invisible Stalker - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16934-invisible-stalker  Taking 20 Podcast Episode 96 - Mimics - https://taking20.podbean.com/e/epidose-96-monster-series-mimics/

There is something refreshing about not having to worry about nuance about the big bad's plans or fighting to find a reason for their actions.  Sometimes, when you're designing an adventure, it's fun to just let the big bad be bad.  In this episode, I encourage you to throw caution to the wind and give you reasons why a villain could be an irredeemable monster. #dmtips #dnd #pathfinder #gmtips #orc   Resources: Trope Talk:  Pure Evil  https://youtu.be/1-XprjlATEo Trope Talk:  Faustian Bargain  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEKVHXRXRiw The Literary Mercenary:  http://nealflitherland.blogspot.com/2021/04/not-every-villain-needs-or-deserves.html

In this episode I talk about good opportunities for DMs to introduce PC-NPC and PC-PC roleplaying opportunities.   #dnd #rpgtips #Pathfinder #orc #DMtips Resources: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/xe1j4l/campfire_stories_to_deepen_players_backstories/   https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-and-dragons-dnd-encourage-roleplay-tips-tricks/#social-interaction-is-more-than-talking

DMs, what should you do when the players derail your entire adventure plan, reveal a secret or short circuit the story that you had planned for the group?  How can you recover from this?  Tune in and find out   #DMTips #dnd #Pathfinder #ORClicense   Resources: Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiYCs0fPFnM&t=50s   Twitch stream of “Pathfinder Remastered” at Paizocon on Friday May 26th from 12-2 PDT.

I have been guilty of trying to craft stories from an overview, a 50,000 foot view, if you will, and neglecting the individual encounters, scenes and scenarios.  In this episode I encourage you to do the opposite of this, focus on crafting these individual scenes to give you the flexibility to allow the PCs to take the story whatever direction they would like.   #dmtips #dnd #pathfinder #learnfrommistakes #orclicense

There are a few common tips and tricks that DMs can use to make monsters scarier or merely seem that they are.  In this episode I discuss ways that you can get rid of that same-old-same-old feeling with your monsters and keep your players on their toes.   #dnd #Pathfinder #opendnd #dungeonsanddragons #dmtips

I've given the WOTC Pinkerton issue a couple of weeks to marinate and I wanted to give my thoughts on the matter.  Also, I wanted to give my wonderful GMs out there a useful tool:  one question you can ask your players to keep them from making a preventable mistake. #DMTips #Dnd #OpenDnd #Pathfinder #WOTC #Pinkerton

In this episode I point out how to find inspiration in a book that is 125 years old and use the building blocks to make quests and backstories that are just as compelling today as they were then.   #dnd #opendnd #Pathfinder #DMTips #StoryDesign  Resources: https://www.storyanddrama.com/the-36-dramatic-situations-of-georges-polti/   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations   http://ifxgroup.net/plots.htm

Oozes may seem like boring combatants at first, mindless blobs of acidic gels that don't exactly have complex motivations or rich histories but they can be so much more than that.  In this episode I talk about how DMs can use oozes and a couple of particularly nasty encounters that include them.   #dnd #pathfinder #opendnd #DMTips #oozes