The Fourth Pillar of Play

A Year Gone By! Tallon and Josh discuss all they have learned in a year creating -- ups, downs, and all-arounds! They also lay-out the plans for the first "off season," and the (possible) new formatting for the show when they come back in a couple of months! Be on the look-out for the all new Fourth Pillar of Play!    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pil...

Dragons...Part Two! (Comparing Designs) Tallon and Josh "take wing" comparing even more designs of legendary green(ish) dragons! Episode Links Monster of the Week - Evil Hat Productions Kickstarter: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness DriveThruRPG - The Game Master's Book of Legendary Dragons Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpill...

Dragons...Part One! (Comparing Designs) Josh and Tallon duck for cover while examining the iconic foe (and namesake) of Dungeons and Dragons -- the Dragon! Episode Links WotC -- Ancient Green Dragon Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Home | Level Up SRD    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh M...

Rock vs. Boulder (Comparing Frost Giants) Josh and Tallon review multiple designs for the frosty foes of fantasy; is there more to a Frost Giant than an axe and a....rock?! Episode Links WoTC -- Frost Giant Bigby Presents Glory of the Giants Physical + Digital Bundle | D&D Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Home | Level Up SRD    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com -...

A Dragon, a lion, and a goat walk into tavern... (Comparing Chimeras) In part three of design comparisons, Tallon and Josh look at the various versions of the monstrous Chimera! Episode Links Chimera -- Dndbeyond Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E) - A backwards-compatible (or standalone) "level up" of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Level Up 5e claims to ad...

Comparing Designs -- Hounds...from Hell! Josh and Tallon take a gander at the not-so-good "puppers" from three different design sources; how are mechanics, lore, and philosophy connected? Episode Links 5e Hell Hounds -- WotC Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Home | Level Up SRD Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E) - A backwards-compatible (or standalone) "level up" of 5th Edition Dungeons and D...

Goblins in Esterach & The Monster Revergance Template Tallon (and Josh in spirit!) talks through some thoughts based on the discussion from last last week, and takes a dive into the revergance template -- a tool for DMs to alter existing monsters to fit the perilous wilds of the eldritch verge! Episode Links Snuff (Pratchett novel) - Wikipedia Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Home | Level Up S...

Goblins! Goblins! Goblins! (Comparing Designs) Josh and Tallon descend into the lair of one of Dungeon and Dragons' most iconic foes...the humble goblin! Looking at multiple versions of these low-level monsters, they discuss the differences, similarities, and the design ideology behind both! Episode Links Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Sly Flourish: Forge of Foes Level Up: Advanced 5th Editi...

The Nullamancer Part Two: Abilities What should an anti-magic class be able to do? Josh and Tallon go over some flavor-text for the new class and start brainstorming the best way to organize the abilities! Episode Links Home | Level Up SRD D&D 5e Custom Class Template — SkullSplitter Dice A Touch More Class: How to Make a D&D 5E Class – RPG Characters & Campaign Settings | The Hypercorps 2099 WOIN...

Building Our First 5e Character Class -- The Nullamancer! Tallon and Josh dive into creating a character class for 5e Dungeons and Dragons -- discussing articles and thoughts from professionals, and analyzing some existing 5e publications! Episode Links D&D 5e Custom Class Template — SkullSplitter Dice A Touch More Class: How to Make a D&D 5E Class – RPG Characters & Campaign Settings | The Hyperc...

TTRPG "Missteps" with Todd! Todd (Superpod Herocast) and Tallon discuss the design elements of TTRPGs over the years that have NOT blown us away.    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tallon Larham ( @tallon_larham ) Music: Damiano Baldoni ( Creative Commons ) Cover Art: Rowan...

Forging Orogol -- The Greatest Evil (Part Two) Josh and Tallon finalize their ideas for Orogol, do some game design comparisons, and talk Baldur's Gate 3!    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tallon Larham ( @tallon_larham ) Music: Damiano Baldoni ( Creative Commons ) Cover Ar...

Forging Orogol -- The Greatest Evil (Part One) Tallon and Josh use their tools and imaginations to start the story and the stats for the greatest evil on the face of Esterach! Episode Links Welcome to The Dungeons of Drakkenheim | Ghostfire Gaming Monsters of the Multiverse | Dungeons & Dragons Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E) - A backwards-compatible (or standalone) "level up" of 5th Edition...

Kickstarter Review -- Elements of Inspiration by Nord Games Josh and Tallon review a recently released Kickstarter by Nord Games, and discuss the game design elements, execution, and application at the table! Episode Links Printable Scenery Homepage - Nord Games Elements of Inspiration (System Neutral) - Nord Games | DriveThruRPG.com    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.c...

The History of the Devori (Part Four) Josh regales Tallon with his creative backdrop for the devils, demons, and elder horrors of Esterach. How much lore is too much lore? Designing a "choose-your-own-abilities" monster for 5e. Episode Links The Three-Body Problem (novel) - Wikipedia Live Letters! The Hobbit (1977 film) - Wikipedia The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series) - Wikipedia   ...

Neutral Evil Fiends? (Part Three) Josh and Tallon dissect the traits of Devils and Fiends in 5e, and then do a deep-dive into the nature of the neutral evil alignment. Episode Links Devil :: d20srd.org (3.5) Demon :: d20srd.org (3.5) The Alignment System - Neutral Evil Sly Flourish: Forge of Foes    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram...

Fleshing Out a Fiendish City! (Part Two) Tallon and Josh trade idea hooks for building the finer details that make-up the fiendish, still to-be-named city of dread! Episode Links The Garden of Earthly Delights - Wikipedia Level Up: Dungeon Delver's Guide (A5E) The Perilous Wilds - Revised Edition - Lampblack & Brimstone | DriveThruRPG.com Campaign Builder: Cities & Towns - Kobold Press Store &nbsp...

A City of Fiends (Part One) Josh and Tallon are back together this week as they dive into the creation of one of the most terrifying places on Esterach -- the city of Demons and Devils. Episode Links Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster - Wikipedia Dan McClellan - Data Over Dogma Devil | Forgotten Realms Wiki | Fandom Demon | Forgotten Realms Wiki | Fandom    Find Us Online! - Website...

Update: State of Esterach!    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tallon Larham ( @tallon_larham ) Music: Damiano Baldoni ( Creative Commons ) Cover Art: Rowan Montgomery ( Instagram ) About Us The Fourth Pillar of Play Podcast is focused on learning game design by designing gam...

LORE! Building a 5e Species -- The Yliastrian (Part Two) Tallon and Josh dive deep into the lore of the Yliastrians...and discuss how their unique place in the world will have an effect at the table! Episode Links Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game - Monte Cook Games Blades in the Dark - Evil Hat Productions Candela Obscura – Darrington Press Free League Publishing The Monsters Know What They...

Building a 5e Species -- The Yliastrian (Part One) Josh and Tallon dip their toes into the gene pool of fantasy species. Episode Links Swamp Thing (New Earth) | DC Database | Fandom paizo.com - Pathfinder Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tall...

Revergence Draft 2 -- Inspiration in Popular Culture Josh and Tallon go over the edits to Revergence, connect them to the Vergewarden, and discuss their similarities to popular culture and video games. Spoilers for "Tears of the Kingdom" and Netflix's "Fubar." Content Warning: Discussions about addiction ( SAMHSA National Hotline ) Episode Links Burn Notice (TV Series) Kickstarter -- Tales of the...

Revisiting Revergence -- The Second Edition Tallon and Josh revisit the original draft of the revenant rules and take a stab at simplifying and editing for playtesting! Episode Links Mechanics – The Fourth Pillar of Play    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tallon Larham ( @ta...

Planning a 5E One-shot Party! Tallon and Josh are joined by Todd (of Superpod Herocast fame!) as they put some of their design knowledge to the test planning a one-shot 5e party based on medieval superheroes (inspired by @thesketchgoblin)! This slice of life episode is a slight departure from our usual format -- please note that unlike most of our episodes, this one does contain adult language! Ep...

The Vergewarden (Building a 5e Subclass Part 3) Tallon and Josh discuss the different attributes that will make the Vergewarden unique from other 5E ranger archetypes!    Find Us Online! - Website: www.fourthpillarofplay.com - Twitter: @4pillarplay - Instagram: @fourthpillarofplay Credits Host: Josh Montgomery Host: Tallon Larham ( @tallon_larham ) Music: Damiano Baldoni ( Creative Commo...