Taking 20 Podcast

Combat encounters are easy.  Stab, slash, or shoot the other team until they aren't trying to kill you.  Non-combat encounters can be just as challenging and fun, though.  In this episode Jeremy talks about types of this important tool in your arsenal and how to challenge PCs with them.

The Blood War isn't good vs evil.  It's evil vs evil.  In Dungeons and Dragons Demons and Devils have been battling it out for millennia in what's known as The Blood War.  What do we know about this conflict and more importantly, how can you use it in a campaign?

Do you struggle describing what the characters see?  Do you need a magic method to instantly make you better?  I can't help with that but I can provide a couple of formulas I've used to describe scenes for my players.  Thank you Trevor for the topic idea.

Is combat getting a little bit...stale?  Are your D&D or Pathfinder combats taking too long and they have become a long battle of hit point attrition, rules research, and having to explain 3 times per round what's going on?  Are you willing to try a few things that are...unconventional?  Well, my good open-minded listener, we talk about 20 ideas in 20 minutes for making combat faster, easier, craz...

Prewritten modules and adventures are a DM's friend.  They are simple, canned documents that you can insert into your world as needed but they're better if you customize them; make them more integrated with your game world, your players' characters, and important NPCs.  Don't know where to get started?  I'm here to help.

You're starting a new campaign!  Yay!  Everything is so shiny and new.  Your DM has asked you to come up with a backstory for your dragonborn druid from the high deserts and you have no idea where to begin.  How do I incorporate my backstory into the DM's world?  How can I help my DM create adventures with my backstory?   Or you may be a DM who wants to incorporate backstories into the new campaig...

Owlbears - one of my favorite monstrosities to throw at my players.  Sneaky ambushers?  Nah.  Subtlety is for chumps.  In this episode we talk about the history of the owlbear, its properties, and how DMs can use them in their campaigns.

You were looking forward to an antagonist for the PCs that would last a few months.  You had a plan to integrate him into two of the PCs' backstories and for a climactic battle on a volcanic rock.  But the PCs were smart and found a way to kill your big bad earlier than you wanted.  In this episode Jeremy discusses what you should do next and some strategies to keep it from happening in the future...

This topic was suggested by Adrian Young on the Taking 20 Facebook page.  Lots of DMs burn out because they spend hours and hours preparing for gaming sessions while their players get to just show up and play.  In this episode, we talk about tools that DMs can use to reduce their overall prep time before each gaming session.

Certain conditions that affect characters can have a negative effect at your table.  While I don't advocate completely getting rid of some of these conditions, in this episode I talk about how DMs should use them with caution and advice for players whose characters are taken out of the fight or gaming session by one or more of these conditions.

Artifacts can be simple engines to generate adventures or powerful items wielded by the PCs to accomplish a mission or slay a powerful creature.  Used without care, however, and artifacts will break your game.  In a slightly long episode, we discuss the positive and negatives of artifacts and how DMs can use them in their games.

Succubi and their lesser known male cousins, the incubi:  devious, corrupting masters of temptation with pleasures of the flesh and mind.  How can a DM use these in a campaign?  How do they fight?  What would my succubus look like?  Tune in and find out!

A good villain can make or break your campaign.  How do you make villains that feel real, are well-rounded, and memorable for your players?  Come on in and take a listen. Edit:  Yes, it's a touch over 20 minutes.  I edited down and edited down and feel like I already cut too much.  I'm asking for your forgiveness for the 24 extra seconds.

Magic items are supposed to be these powerful relics that can make your PCs harder, better, faster, and stronger (we'll miss you Daft Punk).  So why does it feel like most players react with, "Oh, another +1 scimitar."  How do you make magic items feel special in your high-magic or low-magic campaign?

Hack and slash games are fun where you don't have to worry about the emotional state of the players or NPCs and you can just throw dice.  Suppose you are going to be part of a roleplay heavy campaign or want to learn to be a better role player?  Here are a lucky set of 13 tips and tricks you can use to help give your character some depth.

What is it about ruins that make them so good for DMs and players?  How do ruins come to be?  How can a GM use ruins in a campaign and what are some tips to do so?  Grab your favorite drink and let's talk about it!

Continuing the monster series, this time Jeremy tackles the iconic Beholder, a potential floating Total Party Kill with eyestalks.  What are these creatures and how should DMs use them in an adventure?  Come on in and find out! Like what you hear?  Buy me a ko-fi!  www.ko-fi.com/taking20podcast.

You may have heard the terms "High Magic" and "Low Magic" when describing adventure settings but what does that even mean?  Is LSD involved?  Where would I even score any at 8:33 a.m. on a Sunday?  Good news is that it's just a way of thinking about the prevalence of magic in your campaign.  Just come on in and have a listen.

Once you find a potential DM or players, how do you know they will be the right ones for your game?  How do you know the game will be the right one for you?  In this episode Jeremy discusses questionnaires, interviews, and meetings to find a good match.

Should you use cliffhangers to entice your players?  If so, how and how often?  Fear not.  This short episode has got all of that covered.  Give it a listen and don't forget to subscribe and provide comments and feedback!

Happy Valentine's Day!  The Monster Series resumes this time focusing on those alpha dogs of the necromantic RPG world:  liches.  How do DMs use them in their campaign?  What tactics should they take on the battlefield?  Tune in and find out.

Wizards of the Coast and Paizo have wisely removed some of the problematic depictions of ancestries and ethnicities, adding nuance to those previously portrayed as universally evil.  How does that change our games and what does it mean for DMs?    

Sometimes it's good to be bad.  Evil campaigns can be amazing adventures unto themselves and can allow good role players to really stretch their wings and embrace being horrible people.  There are traps and potential gotchas to both running and being in a campaign.  Here's how to avoid them.

This episode idea is courtesy of Daniel in Melbourne, Australia who wanted to know where I get my ideas for quests.  In this episode, I talk about the different types of quests that you can run, sources for quest ideas, the importance of flexibility when it comes to quest solutions, and finally best practices for the two categories that all quests should fall under.

There's been a lot of character optimization discussion online the past couple of months.  What is it?  Should players always optimize their characters?  On the flip side, DMs need to say yes to player choices, right?  Not always.  Jeremy discusses the situations when optimization may be necessary, encouragement for DMs to say yes to their choices when possible, and the powerful ability to say No...