Lair Of Secrets

We’ve talked about the game’s killer concepts. We’ve created our first character. But what’s it like to actually play the Dungeon Crawler Carl TTRPG? Find out on this episode, as David talks about his experiences running the game.

Join us as we create Jake Skillman, our first character for the Dungeon Crawler Carl tabletop RPG. He's an former college baseball player, working at a big box store, and trying to figure out what to do with his life. Until aliens show up, wreck the Earth, and tempt millions of people into a world-wide dungeon crawl. Now he's just trying to survive in an environment that's wants to kill him for th...

Should you go to Gen Con? We’re talking about our experience at GenCon 2026 so you can decide for yourself. And be “our experience”, we mean David’s experience, because he’s the one who went.

The aliens have arrived. Every building in the world has collapsed. And now we’re all trapped in a world-wide dungeon, trying to fight our way to the 18th floor to save the world. On this episode of Side Passages, we’re looting our eight favorite concepts from the Dungeon Crawler Carl Starter Set. The PDFs for the starter set were released to backers in late August 2026. The print version of the s...

It’s summertime, which means it's time for our annual summer reading list! Featured books include Veil by Jonathan Jans, Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, Dungeon Crawler Carl Matt Deniman, God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert, and the Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny.

We return to Shadowdark environmental threats by delving deeply into underground hazards. Among the dangers we discuss are collapsing tunnels, fungal forests, and the fun-but-dangerous Goonies-style water slides. Inspiration for these threats comes from Ken's Mörka Norden campaign, which features a Viking-inspired alternative universe ... and a trek underground to explore the "Deep Crawl" in searc...

On this episode, we’re talking about how making your monsters run away can improve your game. The concept is morale, an old school D&D game mechanic that reflects how your antagonists feel about the combat. At the start of the combat, monster morale is high. They have overwhelming numbers and a charismatic leader. But then combat starts. They lose half their number to a fireball. The barbarian dec...

How does a new creator build a massive TTRPG audience so fast? In this interview, we sit down with Daði from Mystic Arts to discuss his journey, his magazine The Broadsheet, and how he uses tools like Obsidian to manage 15-player West Marches campaigns as well as smaller campaigns.

The Tomb of the Forgotten is a short Shadowdark tutorial dungeon introducing dungeon masters and players to the basic mechanics of the role-playing game. On this episode, we walk through the adventure and its accompanying map.

We talk about four winter hazards for Shadowdark: ice crevasses, reindeer stampede, freezing fog, and hypothermia.

The rules say torches throw light to a "Near" distance, which is 30 ft. But is that 30 ft. from the torchbearer (30' radius, 60' diameter?) 30 ft. centered on them (15' radius, 60' diameter)? The majority says it's 60' diameter ... but a vocal minor argue for 30'. Which way is right? We use a combination of physical torchlight tools and a virtual tabletop to illuminate the issue ... and draw on Ke...

What do icy waterfalls, greasy floors, and light stealing smoke have in common? They’re all hazards! Welcome to Lair of Secrets. In this episode we're talking about Shadowdark hazards. The things that drown you, crush you, blind you, steal your memories, and more! Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Shadowdark Hazards02:33 Types of Hazards in Shadowdark04:50 (Spoiler Warning!) Examples of Hazards in Ga...

When it was released in December 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was glitchy as hell. Five years later, we’re still playing it … but why? Chapters 00:00 The Allure of Cyberpunk 207701:53 Cyberpunk's Reflection of Reality04:24 Exploration and Discovery in Night City06:55 Game Mechanics and Play Styles09:43 Updates, Mods, and Community Engagement12:36 Emotional Storytelling and Character Impact17:54 The Evolut...

In between shoveling out from snow storms, we took the time to talk about cozy video games. We delve into the expected (Animal Crossing, Tiny Bookshop, Planet Crafter) and the not-so-expected (Fallout, Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, Red Dead Redemption 2). Chapters 00:00 Defining Cozy Games02:35 Exploring Popular Cozy Games05:16 The Role of Objectives in Cozy Gaming07:44 Unique Cozy Game Experience...

Our cozy Saturday morning coffee and games show returns to answer the question … what is cozy? Reading a book while sleet pounds the windows on a winter night? Putting your phone in a Faraday cage so you can get a few minutes of non-digital peace? We give a couple of definitions cozy can be … and then talk about what we personally find to be cozy. Chapters 00:00 Defining Cozy02:21 Personal Cozy Ri...

Join us to explore the growing world of solo role-playing games, from zines (Thru-Hiker, Hope is Not a Plan) to journaling games (Thousand-Year-Old Vampire, Be Like A Crow) to full-fledged systems like Ironsworn and Star Trek: Captain's Log. We discuss the appeal, challenges, and deeply personal nature of solo gaming, emphasizing discovery, immersion, and the freedom to explore without an audience...

Our Fallout one-shot continues! The Eggheads -- a group of wasteland mercs -- travel to Hardscrap to re-supply and gather intelligence on the murderous, double-crossing Moose Men. Need more Fallout? Check out our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play Campaign! Watch our Gore and Lore of Fallout episode on YouTube. Learn about the game by watching d10 Reasons Fallout 2d20 is Great (S5E10). Confused about moveme...

Fallout Season 2 is out on Amazon, and the Lair is back to look at what makes the Fallout 2d20 RPG so much fun to play. Post: Fallout 2d20 Campaign & RPG Resources Podcast: Fallout 2d20 Campaign Podcast: Fallout 2d20 One Shot: Crawl Out Through the Fallout Podcast: Gore and Lore in Fallout – Campaigns & Coffee Podcast: Fallout Zones Chapters 00:00 Reason 1: Quick to learn03:28 Reason 2: Quick to p...

Our Shadowdark RPG one-shot concludes as the adventurers confront the vampiric horror lurking in the depths of the Lost Temple. Missed the first part? Catch up now: Raiders of the Lost Temple, Part 1/3 Get the dungeon: EnWorld – Kelsey Dionne publishes two new free Shadowdark adventures New to Shadowdark? Get the free Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set from the Arcane Library. Want to know more about S...

In this one-shot actual play scenario for Fallout 2d20, the Eggheads -- a new crew of wastelanders -- finds themselves double-crossed and left for dead in a radioactive crater. They barely survive thanks to a regenerating ghoul, a rebooting robot ... and a very confused Child of Atom named Jonathan. Need more Fallout? Check out our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play Campaign! Watch our Gore and Lore of Fall...

We talk with Derek White, one of the minds behind DarkSpace, a science fiction rules hack for Shadowdark. Together with his co-creator Than Gibson, they created and released the basic rules through DMing the World and DriveThru RPG Now they’ve got a Kickstarter for an expanded version that quickly blew past their $15,000 goal and just crossed the $70,000 threshold. Join us to learn more about the...

When is a monster not a monster? We’re talking about those classic threats known as oozes, cubes, and puddings. These creatures appear as puddles, cubes, and rolling masses of ick ... and they're sure to challenge your players. Want more Shadowdark? Check out our episode “d12 Reasons Shadowdark is Awesome!” Watch our Shadowdark actual play: Raiders of the Lost Temple New to Shadowdark? Get the fre...

The Lair crew continues their Shadowdark actual play by venturing deep into the Lost Temple, exploring its strange environs and encountering factions within the group defending it. Missed the first part? Catch up now: Raiders of the Lost Temple, Part 1/3 Get the dungeon: EnWorld – Kelsey Dionne publishes two new free Shadowdark adventures New to Shadowdark? Get the free Shadowdark RPG Quickstart S...

The Lair Crew takes on Shadowdark as they play Kelsey Dionne's free Raiders of the Hidden Temple adventure. In the first actual play episode, they venture into a snake-infested dungeon, discovering dangerous monsters and potential allies. Get the dungeon: EnWorld - Kelsey Dionne publishes two new free Shadowdark adventures New to Shadowdark? Get the free Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set from the Arca...

Ken returns to the Dungeon of Dread by Rose Estes, the first of TSR's Endless Quest books for Dungeons & Dragons. The book places you in the role of a young warrior who befriends a halfling thief. The halfling just escaped the lair of a magic-user, so naturally he's up for going back there with you… It's a classic book, and one that went on to inform a lot of Ken's early D&D campaigns (and his ong...