Taking 20 Podcast

Left or right at the intersection?  Fight or flee?  Sell the potion or keep it for later?  Players sometimes find it hard to make a decision and that can drive DMs up a wall.  In this episode, we look at possible causes for indecision and repeatedly urge players to make a choice...ANY choice.  Please, we DMs are begging you...for the love of Iomedae.   Resources: Resigned:  How to Know When It’s T...

Good dungeon maps give players choices, have a good theme, and contents that support the theme and purpose of your dungeon.  But...how do you create dungeons like this?  Give this episode a listen and find out.   Also, hopefully we've heard the last of Wizards of the Coast trying to get rid of the OGL 1.0a. #dnd #opendnd #ogl #pathfinder #paizo #orc   Resources: Wizards of the Coast announcement: ...

The One Ring in Lord of the Rings, The Singing Sword in Bugs Bunny, The Luggage in the Rimworld novels by Terry Pratchett.  We've seen intelligent magic items in media and you'd like to bring one into your game world.  What's the best way to do that?  Are there any tips?  Does an animated bear rug poop in the woods? Seriously...do they?  I have no idea. #OpenDnd #OpenRPG #Pathfinder #OGL #DnD #Dun...

In this episode I weigh in on the Wizards of the Coast OGL 1.1 fiasco and talk about a period in Faerun's history called the Time of Troubles, when gods were mortal and walked the planet with mortals.   The common theme is a powerful entity doing something insanely stupid and causing upheval and calamity.  Give it a listen and comment below!   #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Paizo #Pathfinder #Wotc #OGL...

In this episode suggested by a donor over at ko-fi.com/taking20podcast we give some tips to DMs about those rare materials like mithril, cold iron, silver, and...peachwood?  What if you want to make your own special materials?  Are there any downsides to using them?  Tune in and find out. #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dmtips #pathfinder

This is not an episode.  Jeremy's passed out right now.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! If your game world has any history at all and any culture, whether it's a single-minded autonomous collective or a rich melting pot of cultures blended together and living in close proximity, there will likely be holidays of some sort.  Why do holidays exist?  What do you need to create holidays in your world?  Tune in this week to find out!   #DnD #DungeonsandD...

In this heaver-than-usual rules episode, we take a look at some of the rules in Pathfinder 2e and D&D 5e for making monsters more or less powerful.  We also talk about some game-system-agnostic ways to scale your monsters up or down.   #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #Pathfinder #DMTips Resources: Resigned:  How to Know When It’s Time to Go: https://www.amazon.com/Resigned-Know-Truths-Stigma-Quitting-ebo...

Giants.  They're all tall and they have reach.  Prep work done for an adventure, right?  Hold your throwing stone, my DM friend.  The different species of giants have very different tactics, capabilities, and motivations.  This week Jeremy talks all about the differences and what makes them tick. #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips Resources: Resigned:  How to Know When It’s Time to Go: h...

The 4 elements of creation in Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder lore are so powerful that each has its own plane of existence.  What's on these planes and what dangers will characters face when they go there?  Tune in to this episode when I discuss this and give you some adventure ideas for each plane!   #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #Pathfinder #Elemental #Planes    Resources: Resigned:  How to Know...

If you've reached the point where you need to leave the gaming group, the next steps in the process are going to be difficult emotionally and fraught with peril.  Handled incorrectly, you can make lifelong enemies of your DM, your fellow players, and anyone they may know.  In this episode I talk about the mature and professional way to separate from the group minimizing animosity or hurt feelings....

Much is written about DM burnout.  But you're a player and while you know you should be excited for the Dungeons and Dragons or RPG session tonight, you find yourself dreading it and it doesn't even sound like a good time.   If this is you, you might be experiencing RPG burnout.  In this episode, we talk about the causes of burnout and what you can do to find that joy again.   #DungeonsandDragons...

Don't forget to send me your contest entries before Friday, November 19th!  Minor milestone as we hit episode #150.  This week we will talk about Rovagug, the monster in Pathfinder lore that will bring about the end of the multiverse.  In this episode we ask:  Where is it now?  What is it doing?  Why do campaigns need creatures of unfathomable evil and chaos and destruction?     #Pathfinder #Dunge...

Good ideas can come from anywhere:  movies, music, streaming series, and even video games.   You may think that I only mean RPG video games like Dragon Age or The Witcher.  Good ideas for characters, game mechanics, and even plots can be taken from video games of all kinds from Super Mario Brothers to Portal.  In this episode, you'll hear about tips for taking these ideas and using them at your ga...

We conclude horror month with the mysterious and aloof creatures of the Feywild or First World.  What makes these creatures scary?  What the heck are the Seelie and Unseelie courts?  This nymph is offering me a deal that's too good to be true.  Should I take it?  Tune in and find out. #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips #Fey Resources: https://roleplayersrespite.com/fey-creatures-in-dnd-5...

Today is a mini-listener mailbag episode addressing two major aspects of horror games, tension at the table and corruption in your game world.  Please listen in as Jeremy discusses two questions from listeners like you.   #DMTips #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder   Resources: 3D Crafts and Curios on Facebook:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/3DCraftsAndCurios   3D Crafts and Curios on Instagram:  htt...

In this episode, we discuss the published lore in 5e and Pathfinder about what happens after characters pass away.   A fellow podcaster and DM, Thorin McGee from the 3 Wise DMs podcast passed away this week, please consider donating to the GoFundMe set up to benefit his widow.     #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #Pathfinder #3WiseDMs #ThorinMcGee   Resources: https://www.gofundme.com/f/thorin-mcgees-lega...

While there are similarities between the ethereal and astral planes in the way 5e and Pathfinder present them, there are distinct differences and they are located different places in the different cosmologies.  In this episode, we talk about the 4 planes and some unique characteristics and encounters you can find in them. #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #GMTips #Ethereal #Astral Resources: 5e...

Welcome to Horror Month at the Taking 20 Podcast!  All month we will be talking about scary/spooky topics to hopefully make your RPGs even better.  This week, I talk about some of the major types of horror and confess what makes my hackles sit up and turn red. #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #Pathfinder #DMTips Resources None.  Just the ramblings of an old, insane DM.

There are a huge number of people and companies producing a plethora of RPG content for various systems out there.  Some of this content makes for greart adventures, location ideas, quest hubs, monsters, NPCs, and anything else you need for your game system.  So what if some of it is written for a game you don't play. In this episode I encourage you to look at other game system content to find wha...

I'm not done with nerfing!  There's a major aspect of not nerfing PCs that I forgot to cover last week:  letting your PCs excel at what they're good at. Tune in this week as we continue the discussion on this important topic! #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips

Sometimes games can get out of balance and it can feel like the PCs have all of the advantages and that's probably because they do.  GMs may be tempted to take away or reduce the effectiveness of abilities or equipment used by the PCs but I'm here to tell you there's only one good reason to do so.   #DMTips #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #RPG   Resources: The stupid sacred geometry feat:  ht...

Spelljammer is Dungeons and Dragons' attempt to bring a touch of sci fi to their traditional fantasy RPG.  It's like 50s Pulp Sci Fi novels were inserted into the world of swords and sorcery, gnomes and nagas.  Frankly it's very very strange but in this episode I encourage you to embrace the strange and don't dismiss it simply because it's different than your usual game. #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #...

Betrayal is a common story trope you see in movies, books, and even let's play podcasts.  It can be an amazing moment to include in your game but should you?  How can you use this dangerous tool to the betterment of your Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons game without it backfiring on you?  Tune in and find out.   #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #Pathfinder #Betrayal   Resources https://jennethdyck.wordp...

It's hard to make NPCs that the PCs will trust, open up to, be vulnerable with.  Unfortunately it's not something that anyone can do with 100% success rate.  So, how DO you make NPCs the players will gravitate toward?  How can you portray these NPCs in such a way that the party wants to interact with them?  Tune in and find out. #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips