Running Off The Rails

Ray and Ariel discuss the Implicit Knowledge Disparity—the gap between what a player knows and what their character knows. When the player and their character are expected to know very little about the setting, dnd tends to run very smoothly. But when the character is expected to know a lot about the setting, you could end up with a large knowledge disparity. Ray and Ariel discuss how to design yo...

Ray and Ariel both have found running high level dungeons and dragons to have serious challenges. Players have so many tools it can be hard to challenge them while building a story for your players that feels satisfying. Ray and Ariel look to examples of high magic, high power level adventures in Critical Role's EXU: Calamity and Netflix's DOTA Dragon Blood to discern what makes a good D&D set...

Ray's player JJ feels that his Barbarian isn't as fun to play as Mark's Warlock or Ali's Cleric. This feeling that martial classes are under-tuned compared to spellcasting classes is a feeling that many players feel and take to the internet to discuss. Ray and Ariel lay out the meta reason why they believe this is the case and detail 3 separate approaches that DMs can take to solve this dilemma at...

Ray and Ariel discuss the loaded subject of "balance" in D&D. Ray asserts that balance is an illusion and that chasing it can be fruitless or a false target. After listening to this episode players and DMs will be able to more effectively evaluate balance at their table and make meaningful decisions that facilitate more fun for all of your players. Website: https://runningofftherails.com Emery...

Ray and Ariel follow up on the principles for great mysteries that they discussed in the previous episode to create their own mysteries. They each go through the mystery they wrote, discussing the specific tools and strategies they used to ensure that their players would get the full Mystery experience. Ray and Ariel share all the lessons learned from writing these mysteries, differentiating betwe...

Ray and Ariel lay out how to deliver on the promise of the mystery genre at your D&D table. They start by teasing apart the nuances of an adventure that is structured around a mystery and how to give players the opportunity to solve a mystery themselves rather than explaining it as the players bear witness. Ray and Ariel discuss the core elements of mystery board games and video games and how...

Cory joins Ariel to discuss the extensive process he went through when designing his first homebrew class. They discuss how to balance mechanics and thematics, and how to take a concept for a class and split it into subclasses. Then Ariel talks through some of the challenges he's having refining his homebrew class for the publishing process. If you enjoyed the show today, please follow us on Insta...

Ray and Ariel discuss how to have constructive conversations about the morals your party will live by and society's morals you introduce as a DM. D&D is only partially a medieval fantasy analog, and our morals as people outside the game are going to influence what we enjoy roleplaying at the table. But uncritically adhering to our modern day morals, aka Presentism, can hurt fantasy escapism in...

Ray and Ariel discuss how to emulate larger-than-life characters from fiction in TTRPGs with a tool called Gestalt Leveling. Gestalt Leveling means that when your characters level, they gain the features of two different classes simultaneously. This works particularly well for small parties that might have too many gaps in their abilities. Many of the best larger-than-life characters are NPCs in y...

Ray and Ariel discuss how to maintain Escapism in your game of Dungeons and Dragons. We discuss how tools like Lines and Veils can be used effectively to be deliberate about which hard problems you want to place front and center in your games, and which hard problems are better avoided.  Don't forget our kickstarter will in 2 days! For more information, along with instructions for our gemston...

Ray makes a status announcement on behalf of the Emery's Log team. Janek has joined the team as an editor and prompted us to create 4 new fiend eminences. We hit our first stretch goal, and we will begin work on Za'Ul and his Spire of Bones. Also 5 new raffle entry methods are detailed on the Running off the Rails Kickstarter page. website: https://runningofftherails.com/kickstarter

Ray and Ariel discuss how to betray the party without ruining a campaign. Betrayals are the climax of many great stories, and we want to include them in our tabletop fantasy fulfillment.  Ray and Ariel discuss different ways a betrayal can be a win-win for the party and the betraying character instead of a zero sum game. It's important to think about how everyone can have fun before thinking...

Ray announces our Stretch Goals on behalf of the Emery's Log team and celebrates hitting the $1000 milestone. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/runningofftherails/emerys-log-of-legendary-eminences   Running off the Rails website: https://runningofftherails.com/kickstarter   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningofftherails/

Ray thanks the community on behalf of the Emery's Log team and announces an exciting thank you gift that will be getting added to Emery's Log. Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/runningofftherails/emerys-log-of-legendary-eminences Running off the Rails website: https://runningofftherails.com/kickstarter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningofftherails/

Emery's Log of Legendary Eminences is live on Kickstarter Right Now . We added some early backer options explicitly for long time listeners of the show, so be sure to check out the kickstarter sooner rather than later. If you would like a sample of the kickstarter, fill out the form at https://runningofftherails.com/kickstarter. Filling out the form will also enter you once into the URWizards Purp...

Ray and Ariel discuss how to design encounters using round-by-round objectives. Players can often go through a combat on autopilot, just using their strongest attack every round, and not feeling engages. If the stakes of the combat change each round, players have to pay attention and think on their feet. Ray and Ariel provide a wide variety of ways to bring different objectives into combat, from u...

We are excited to announce that on Wednesday, April 13th at 11am EST, our first ever Kickstarter goes live. We are announcing this early so that our long-time listeners are prepared to take advantage of a limited number of discounted backer options. We created these explicitly as a way of saying thank you for taking this journey with us. If you would like a sample of the kickstarter, fill out the...

Ray and Ariel discuss 4th Edition Monster Roles and how they can be applied to make your 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons combat encounters more exciting. If you have played games like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and League of Legends, you are acutely aware of how unit specialization can make a game. Leverage this expertise in your game of D&D to make your next combat one to remember. Roles Qu...

After watching Riot's hit new show Arcane, Ray and Ariel both wanted to recreate the epic drama they saw in their home games of D&D. In this episode, they answer the questions: Why were the character arcs and the drama of Arcane so engaging? And how exactly can we bring these to our tables? Ray and Ariel discuss how the simplicity and interconnectedness of the factions in Arcane can be replica...

Ray and Ariel examine the explicit expectations of high-level characters in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (D&D 2nd Edition). In D&D 2e, it is clearly stated that high-level characters are expected to manage forts, temples, and sanctuaries. The Druid even goes so far as to remove levels from characters that lose their positions in Druidic society. D&D 5e may have removed these explicit...

Ray and Ariel discuss Convergent and Divergent design. When is each useful? Then Ray and Ariel apply these concepts to an analysis of MCDM's new Dungeons and Dragons class, the Beastheart.  MCDM's Beastheart: https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/collections/beastheart-class-companions/products/beastheart-companions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningofftherails/ Twitter: https://twitter....

Ray and Ariel respond to a question from a listener who asked what they can do to make combat more interesting for a player whose character is unconscious. They discuss all kinds of potential solutions, from incentivizing other players to heal downed characters, to wholesale changes to the rules of unconsciousness. Both mechanical changes and role play changes are on the table so that every gaming...

Ray and Ariel discuss how previous editions of dungeons and dragons made progression feel more earned, and how we can get use these lessons to improve our fifth edition games. There are three priorities Ray and Ariel outline when deciding how to level your party: 1) Player engagement, 2) Realism with narrative character development, and 3) Uniqueness of characters as they progress. They discuss st...

Ray and Ariel discuss how some skill checks can feel anti-climactic. How can we make important Persuasion, Insight, and Investigation checks feel more suspenseful? How can we mitigate the risk of an important narrative moment going "all wrong" because of a single bad dice roll. How can we make intense political encounters feel like a combat with hits and misses rather than a single roll. Also Ray...

Ray and Ariel do something a little different and look back on the past year of making this podcast together. They discuss some of the advice that has impacted their own games the most, the published materials they've been inspired by, and the future of the podcast going forward. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share us with a friend. You can support the show by following us on Twitter, Ins...