Crit Academy: A Dungeons and Dragons Podcast

Let's be honest, we overlook the importance of doors in dungeons. Often times they are pretty mundane. Maybe your rogue gets to pick a lock, or a barbarian gets to kick the door in, and on a rare occasion you have it magically sealed with an arcane lock spell. But for the most part, these common features in a dungeon get overlooked. Well, not anymore! Deadly Dungeon Doors is the ONLY Dungeons and...

Crit Academy covers "The Ettinling Package", a Dmsguild new D&D 5e player race, the ettinling, balanced around being played by two players at the same time! Each player picks their own class and levels individually. Any players worth their salt in roleplay can bring Will and Way, the two halves of the same ettinling to life in an absolutely hilarious way. Get your copy here: The Ettinling Package:...

Adventurers will find themselves tested in many ways during their careers seeking fame, fortune, justice, and truth. Some of these tests will challenge their strength, agility, spellcasting knowledge, and combat skills. Other encounters will require diplomacy, conversation, observation skills, and social interaction. A rare challenge provides elements of both and requires deeper thinking and analy...

More ink has been spilled on describing dragons than on nearly any other creature. These ancient, noble, yet savage beasts are a favorite subject of guidebooks, bards' tales, and ancient tomes and scrolls. Today we share some of our discoveries after months of investigation into the history surrounding these magnificent beasts in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. PIck up our Product Bundle on Dms...

This week we cover the DMsGuild Mithral Best Selling supplement Adaptable NPCs by @GrimPress. This fantastic supplement contains 70 unique NPC full of beautiful artwork, lore and balanced stat blocks for Dungeons and Dragons 5e! Each NPC brings a life of its own, from a powerful holy knight, down to a banner wielding squire. Everything a DM needs to make the world come to life and aid the characte...

Crit Academy is joined by Alan McCoy to discuss his ongoing "Fight like a Monster" series. A regular series focused on helping Dungeon Masters get the most out of their Dungeons and Dragons monsters from both a narrative and combat perspective. Follow Alan McCoy's Facebook Group: Dungeons and Dragons: Fundamentals Show Notes:  Follow us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram Visit us at: www.critacademy.co...

This week we are joined by our good friends Gabe and Jeff from the Inter-Party Conflict Podcast! We discuss hit points in RPG games like Dungeons and Dragons. Hit points or HP, represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck. DM's describe hit point loss in different ways. This is what makes it kind of an art form. Show Notes: https://www.critacademy.com/post/...

Want to run D&D combat better? Your D&D combat isn't dragging because it's slow, it's dragging because it lacks FLOW! We are joined today by Zipperon Disney a Youtuber and big D&D nerd with a channel that focuses on advanced DM Tips. Visit Zipperon's Channel Join us Live Sundays at 7pm Est. Visit us: www.critacademy.com Subscribe to our show and be entered to win phat lootz and get access to a res...

We are joined by Christian Hoffer, writer for Comicbook.com. We discuss his blog series "Anatomy of a D&D Campaign" a week-by-week look at the planning of Dungeons & Dragons sessions. While D&D 101 looks at broader topics, Anatomy of a D&D Campaign will dig a little deeper into technical elements, with discussions about encounter design, crafting unique monsters, and handling unique challenges tha...

Crit Academy Episode 152: World Anvil This week we discuss World Anvil, the ultimate worldbuilding toolset and RPG campaign manager. This amazing tool set helps you build and showcase your living world. Create by yourself or with a team. It's toolset changes depending on your need, whether you're a gamemaster, writer or roleplayer. It has all the tools you need to bring your imagination to life fo...

Episode 151: Player Storytelling "Storytelling is the DM's job!" Although this is a commonly held belief, it could not be more wrong. Everyone at the Dungeons and Dragons table has a hand in storytelling, whether he or she is aware of it or not. As a player, you don't have the most obvious role in telling the story, but at the end of the day, the story is about you. Join us, as we delve into the p...

We interview Jeff Stevens and Cat Evans, best selling Dungeons and Dragons authors on the DMsguild. They share their unique approaches and challenges that they run into and how they overcome them. Join us Live on Twitch/Facebook/Youtube (@critacademy) Sundays at 7pm est. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @critacademy Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/y3r4cup4 Support Us: Check...

This week Crit Academy finishes their Class Analysis of the new Dungeons and Dragons Artificer class. We breakdown each of the core sub-classes and their features and discuss how to get the most out of them. Pick up your copy of Eberron Rising from the last War! Our newest product! "Fantastic Terrain: A collection of environmental effects to help and hinder your heroes!" releases on DMsguild on 12...

This week we breakdown the new Artificer class and its features. We give our thoughts on the features and how we see ourselves using them from both a flavor and mechanics point of view. You can pick up your copy here! https://amzn.to/2KMNdPx Follow us on https://www.twitch.tv/critacademy and join us live on Sundays at 7pm est. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @critacademy S...

Follow us on www.twitch.tv/critacademy and join us live on Sundays at 7pm est. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @critacademy This week we break down the D&D Essentials Kit! Take your first step into the world of Dungeons and Dragons, or get a more expansive D&D experience to your already ongoing campaign. Play with groups as small as two players (one Dungeon Master &...

Follow us on https://www.twitch.tv/critacademy and join us live on Sundays at 7pm est. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @critacademy This week we cover a one-stop gastronomic and relaxation resource for DMs and Players alike. Explore 9 unique location-agnostic businesses, each one offering a different suite of services, amenities, NPCs, food, lodging, and drink for your 5th...

This week we are live from Acadecon a convention put on by the awesome team over at Acadecon. We cover the best selling DMsguild product "Ghesh's Guide to Making Things" by the wonderful Anne Gregersen. Craft legendary weapons and armor!  Ghesh's Guide to Making Things is a crafting and modification system designed to complement the 5th Edition rulesystem. The kobold inventor, Ghesh Fizzlebang, is...

This week we cover Jarlaxle's Guide to Traps a DMsguild.com best seller. Fresh from the archives of Bregan d'Aerthe, Jarlaxle's Guide to Traps is a collection of vicious traps, maddening hazards, terrifying hauntings, and general lethal nastiness intended to turn greedy dungeon delvers into puree. Created by R P Davis, Jeromy Schulz-Arnold, Ken Carcas, D W Dagon, Justin Handlin, Bryan Holmes, Hal...

This week we discuss Three Tier Design for a busy GM by Raging Swan Press. Three-Tier Design enables a GM to prioritize what is important for an upcoming session or adventure and to use his preparation time as effectively as possible. As its name suggests, Three-Tier Design comprises three distinct facets. VISIT FULL ARTICLE HERE!  https://bit.ly/32GHQbQ Sponsor: Kobold Press  www.critacademy.com/...

This week we interview "The Kind GM" on his recent DMsguild product "Enchanted Tools" Enchanted Tools  is a supplement whose purpose is to remedy the irrelevance of tools in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Part of this irrelevance is caused by the lack of an intriguing crafting system, while another part is caused by the lack of content surrounding the tools themselves. In this supplement we attem...

This week we interview Tulok the Barbrarian, a popular youtuber who brings you a step by step guide for building your favorite fantasy characters from movies, books and TV to your Dungeons and Dragons adventures! Tulok reflavors and reskins abilities and features that work best functionally with each unique fantasy characters. VISIT HIS CHANNEL HERE! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5EfKWar21WkaY...

Monster Manual Expanded,  a 321-page source of content that supplements the Monster Manual.  It aims to provide Dungeon Masters more options and flexibility in designing adventures and dressing up their dungeons with a wider variety of creatures and characters that are based on the Monster Manual.  Finally, it also adds variants that provide a nostalgic and classic feel that DMs experienced with t...

This week special guest Alicia Handlin (Godqueen) joins as we go over old emails, comments and submissions that we could never quite find a good spot for on the show. Gonna be honest, some pretty hilarious DnD moments arise in this episode. Make sure to check it out! Visit our Sponsor Kobold Press for Phatlootz! www.critacademy.com/koboldpress Follow us on https://www.twitch.tv/critacademy and joi...

When brave adventurers face the dangers of the world, they want something to show for it. This supplement provides individual loot for each monster in the  Monster Manual , as well as a basic crafting and harvesting system that works well with 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.  With this supplement, these brave adventurers will be able to craft the hide, teeth, and claws of their enemies into danger...

This week's show is a discussion on player motivations. We review a segment out of and old school Dungeons and Dragons book that can be a powerful tool to help you determine what it is you want out of the game. Some players already know what they want, some don't, and some might just be surprised by the results of this ten question test. Join us as we learn a little bit about ourselves today on th...