Level Up Your Gaming: Tabletop RPG Podcast

In today's episode we discuss storytelling on the fly.  How do you storytell a game out of no where?  What tricks can you use to make it a good experience?  How do you make the experience a fun one?  How can you buy yourself time to improve the game experience?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions,...

In today's episode we discuss house rules.  What are house rules?  Why should I use house rules?  What are different types of house rules?  Can house rules be used across multiple games?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follow us on Faceboo...

In today's episode we celebrate our 150th episode by taking a look at the history of Tabletop RPGs through the decades.  Where did Tabletop RPGs come from?  How did they evolve over the years?  What are the trends we will see in the future?   We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at leve...

In today's episode we discuss how to make the most of short game sessions.  What length constitues a short game session?  What game types fit best in a short game session?  How do I get my players to feel involved in a short game session?  How do I keep the players focused in a short game session?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave...

In today's episode we discuss the popular live play Critical Role.  What is Critical Role?  What are the benefits of live play?  How does the show help the hobby?  In what ways does the show hurt the hobby?  What can you learn from live plays?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at le...

In today's episode we discuss if AI will steal your job as a GM.  Am I obsolete?  How can I effectively use AI as a GM?  What are it's limitations?  What are the different applications of AI in gaming?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or ...

Josh had a bit of fun this week and gave Chat GPT some prompts about our podcast.  This is the result.  Enjoy this episode this week as next week we'll discuss how you can use a tool like Chat GPT to help build and inspire ideas in your games. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://ww...

In today's episode we discuss getting your players to take better notes.  Why don't your players take notes?  How do I get my players to take notes?  Why should they take notes?  What information should we just give them?  Are there any rewards I can give for taking good notes?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email fo...

In today's episode we discuss creating maps for your games.  What are the different types of maps?  What makes a good map?  What should you focus on when creating maps?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follow us on Facebook and engage with...

In today's episode we discuss monetization of D&D.  What is the history of the D&D license?  What is happening with D&D in the future?  Is my current edition of D&D staying unchanged?  What does this mean for the future of playing D&D?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or th...

In today's episode we discuss improving mysteries.  What are some different types of mysteries we can tell?  How do I improve on a mystery?  What elements make a great mystery?  What are some good guidelines in telling a mystery?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamin...

In today's episode we discuss food, music, and art in games.  How do I use these elements in game?  What does this do for my game?  How can I tell better stories with these elements?  How can I offer insight to my players with these tools?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelu...

In today's episode we discuss suspending your disbelief in games.  Why should I suspend my disbelief?  What do the players gain?  What does the GM gain?  How can I improve impossible situations to increase enjoyment in the game?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgaming...

In today's episode we discuss avoiding accounting and math in your games.  What is the purpose of the numbers?  What stuff can you ignore?  Why would you want to avoid the numbers?  When do you need the numbers?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com...

In today's episode we discuss Taking ideas from existing media.  What should I borrow from?  What should I avoid?  What if my players recognize the source?  Does it make sense to adapt ideas?  Are there any concepts that don't work without leaning in?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or t...

In today's episode we discuss building encounters.  What types of encounters are there?  How do I make the encounters meaningful?  What things should I consider in making encounters?  What about the environment?  How do I progress my players through encounters?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions,...

In today's episode we discuss various virtual table tops.  What are the differences between them?  What are the pros and cons?  How do I choose one?  Can I really go wrong with one or the other?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follow us on...

In today's episode we welcome Josh as the new cohost and discuss learning new systems.  What are the challenges with learning new systems?  How should I approach learning a new system?  Why would I want to try a new system?  What makes a game successful in any system?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, que...

In today's episode I discuss combat length action problems.  What are the problems with combat lengths?  How do you address these problems?  Can you fix some other actions in combat to fix the action length problem.  I answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follow us on Faceb...

In today's episode we discuss what to do when you wipe the party.  Did I have to wipe the party?  Can I save my players in bad situations?  What if my players are acting foolish?  Should I fudge rolls?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or  Follo...

Next Episode will be dropping 11/23 In today's episode we discuss the rule of cool.  What is the rule of cool?  How should I use the rule?  What are the benefits?  What are the downsides?  How to I rain in players trying to abuse it?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourg...

As you may have guessed my daughter was born since the last podcast dropped.  As a new parent and a first time parent I am getting used to the crazy schedule that is a baby.  I have another episode recorded which I will work on this weekend and have it ready to drop 11-9.  Stay tuned and send us best wishes.   Also all parts of The Devil Went Down To Jersey are now out on all podcasts.  Please che...

In today's episode we discuss scary and terror in games.  What is the difference?  How to I make a game scary?  How to I build terror?  How do I do this in a one shot?  What if I miss the mark?  Is there only one type of scary or terror?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Part 1 can be found on A Fools Quest Link: https://open.spotify.co...

Part 2 continues to follow the members of FPI as they continue their investigation into the lead on the Jersey Devil.  The group heads into the Pine Barrens to begin their search.   Part 1 can be found on A Fools Quest Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3slvx7DrDpS6ieICAi07qm?si=ck_pnVoeRBuw4_drDCaeIQ&fbclid=IwAR27KGqsT3nr0LrPEiUiEYn_XBaY4kIo7cputizTurr0Vk8WdtNid26F2e4&nd=1 Part 3 will...

Podcast Update for October.  No Episode this week as I am preparing for the Live Play episode releasing on 10/10. Podcast will have a missed week sometime here in October as my wife and I welcome our first child into the world.   We will go to a Bi Weekly Cadence through November and updates will be posted on our Facebook or smaller recordings in November. Live Play Details Part 1 released on Mond...