Dungeon Master of None

New year, same Dungeon Master of None.  DMs Matt and Rob reflect on the best of 2020. Good vibes only! Then, they dive into the generic narrative Roleplaying System from Fantasy Flight Games: Genesys ! Here's some pictures below, because it's hard to understand the system without looking at the dice, the outcome symbols, and the probability chart. Stick around for DM Matt's Goodfellas parody at th...

DMs Matt and Rob explore N.K. Jemisin 's Hugo award-winning novel, The Fifth Season .  Plus, your DMs take a brief aside into "DragonLaw: The Contract Chronicles" with an update on the Weis & Hickman lawsuit and into the idea of Minor Advantage/Disadvantage in 5th edition.  Links: The Fifth Season  by N.K. Jemisin Numenera RPG "I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin" on The Erza Klein Sh...

Matt and Rob answer your letters! A lot of which were about how wrong we were about Tasha's Cauldron of Everything!

Get out of that Cyber funk and start playing Cyberpunk RED, the brand new edition of the classic Cyberpunk RPG by R. Talsorian Games!  Link:  Cyberpunk RED Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; 3RA1N1AC - Flash RAM. 

DM Matt dives deep into Eyes Unclouded , a heartwarming and thought-provoking adventure anthology for Dungeons and Dragons inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli.  Link:  Eyes Unclouded Anthology

We finally get to the really good stuff, the Dungeon Master sections of  Tasha's Cauldron of Everything : how to use Group Patrons, Tasha's magic items and artifacts, and a delightful section of supernatural manifest zones. Then, DM Matt and Rob force themselves to discuss the puzzle section at the end of the book and how to create better puzzles that won't make your players hate you.

DM Rob and Matt  continue  deep diving into the new player options for Dungeons and Dragons presented in  Tasha's Cauldron of Everything . Monks, Sorcerers, Rangers, Rogues, Paladins, Wizards, Warlocks, feats, and spells!  Links: ThinkDM - "Blade Cantrip Changes" Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Mott the Hoople & David Bowie - All the Young Dudes.

DM Matt and Rob are back and diving deep into each tasty bit of the newest Dungeons and Dragons supplement:  Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.  Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Thurston Harris and the Sharps - Little Bitty Pretty One; David Bowie - Oh! You Pretty Things.

DM Rob is England and DM Matt's school is fighting a COVID outbreak, so here is our first ever replay of one of our favorite episodes, "82 - Anyone Can DM." There is a lot we can all learn from the basics and some good Dungeon Master thinking here. We hope to bring you more of these types of episodes in the near future. See you next week!  Episode 82 - Anyone Can DM DMs Matt and Rob discuss the ba...

Special OSR Correspondent Andy explains the joy of hexcrawls in Dungeons & Dragons! Learn how to build a sandbox exploration game, one hex at a time.  Links: Hex TML Hexographer US GIS Maps Swordfish Islands, a system neutral hexcrawl Arcana of the Ancients X1 The Isle of Dread Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps. 

It's the return of the classic Dungeons Master of None reading series as we go back, back to the future, to 1984 and read one of the most bizarre articles ever published in Dragon Magazine.  Then, your hosts head to into the 9th Layer of #DnD TikTok Hell.  Here are the accompanying equations and tables you will need to master to play D&D: Links: https://thealexandrian.net/   https://slyflourish.co...

DM Matt and Special Legal Correspondent Brent discuss  Dragonlance authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's lawsuit against Wizards of the Coast.  Links:  Margaret Weis, LLC and Tracy Hickman v. Wizards of The Coast LLC Brent's Twitter Story first reported by Cecilia D'Anastasio of Wired Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man. 

Dungeon Master advice served hot and fresh, plus our rule of three wish list. Questions : Do I need to make my party roll some healers? Can I design my own monster for the Shadowfell? Why do the geeks love fascism so much? Is offline one-to-one communication with players a good thing? Is my worldbuilding idea too much for my players to handle? Will you review Against the Giants? What is your advic...

Rob reviews the newest edition of Shadowrun, Sixth World , a book that was definitely not rushed out unfinished by a bunch of amoral grifters!

It's  2 Frost, 2 Maidens as DMs Rob and Matt return to Icewind Dale for the second part of the newest Dungeons and Dragons adventure module.  

Matt and Rob talk about the new WotC release, Rime of the Frostmaiden , and get a little carried away. This one's a doozie folks!

It's Dungeons and Dragons....IN SPAAAACE! Finally, DMs Matt and Rob take a look at their favorite but flawed campaign setting: Spelljammer !  Links: Spelljammer Books Wildspace Commercial   Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Bob Marley & The Wailers - Jamming; David Bowie - Space Oddity. 

Oh, you like Dungeons and Dragons? Then, name five dragons. We'll wait.  DMs Rob and Matt are here to prove the uselessness of lore knowledge by beating the nerds at their own game...the most dangerous game...the game of trivia.  But first, a discussion of what to except from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and the coming of Magic: The Gathering to Toril. And last, should I adapt my favorite novel...

Writer and designer Mikayla Ebel joins Matt and Rob to talk about the upcoming WotC release, Icewind Dale: Rime of Frostmaiden , and how they ended up writing for the big leagues. Goats, labor relations, anxiety -- folks, this interview has it all. Follow Mikayla on Twitter or visit their website !

Another week of piping hot Dungeon Master advice, served with a smile! Plus, join us for a discussion of Kate Welch's departure from WotC and some amazing analysis of fascism and 40k from Special Warhammer Correspondent CthulhuBen !  What is the best old UA subclass? How should I build a campaign around a city in the Feywild? What is the deal fascism in Warhammer 40k? How to create some great home...

Rob is back with a functioning microphone, and the DMs are talking about WotC surveys, APPS, and of course, encounter design. If you're mad that Matt said "WILLIAM Dafoe", don't worry, so am I. https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dd-survey-2020 Inclusive TTRPG List Music: Pac Div -- Roll the Dice Nightwish - Wishmaster Imagine Dragons - Warriors

Is T1 - The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax the best adventure for novice players and new Dungeon Masters? Should you run it or adapt it for your group? Is it even any good? DM Matt and Special OSR Correspondent Andy do a deep dive into this classic of grognardia. Your hosts go into the history of Hommlet, the reasons why you might want to play T1, and how to learn DM skills by converting and put...

In a special bonus episode, DM Matt reviews two new big, stompy robot RPG systems:  Mechwarrior: Destiny and  Lancer . Matt explains why the Battletech Universe kicks ass (01:50), how Mechwarrior: Destiny   fails to harmonize its narrative and simulationist mechanics (22:20), and why you should play the Lancer RPG (36:00). Spoilers: there is a free version of the Lancer rules and it does what Mech...

How many hobgoblins are too many? How can you mix up antagonists so your players aren't bored? What is the best system for a  Last Airbender game? How can you get your foot in the door if your group is all experienced Dungeon Masters? DMs Matt and Rob do their best to answer these and other questions! Plus, they discuss a refutation of the erasure of people of color in medieval Europe from a fan,...

It's our favorite Dungeons and Dragons world-builder himself, Keith Baker! Keith is here to talk about his awesome new book, Exploring Eberron , out now! We discuss Keith's "Rule of Three" for world-building details, how to include fairy tales in your lore, how to fight a war with magic, what 5th edition gets right, why you should start small and build out, how to plan history with random tables,...