Tavern Watch Podcast

Daggerheart  has just launched, so in this episode we talk about our first impressions of this new game, which seems poised to take on  D&D . It's a game that encourages worldbuilding and storytelling, and it's flexible enough to tell different sorts of stories (and comes with several diverse campaign settings) — but not all of us love this new game from the creators of  Critica...

n our third and final game of  Legend in the Mist , our little group of friends may be on their way to becoming proper heroes as they track the undead that attacked their village back to its source. (To protect the village, but also to make sure one of their own doesn't turn into a zombie after being poisoned in the attack. One undead zombie was bad enough.) But the sunken, abandoned watchtow...

Our group of hometown adventurers has set off and found that adventure isn't quite as exciting as the fairy tales make it seem. Even for a short trip to investigate the undead that ventured into their village, road is full of risks — for example, did you know a person could have the moldy status, because that's apparently a thing (and not a good one). But we're definitely not going to spiral out o...

This week we're diving into a rustic fantasy of small town heroes (or heroes to be) in  Legend in the Mist , where our humble villagers come together to deal with a single shambling undead that found its way to town. Where did it come from? Are there more of them? And is the right solution for the entire town to panic? That last one really depends on who you ask, but join GM Phil Ulrich along...

It's a once-in-a-lifetime heist: to sneak into the biggest game convention around (celebrating much loved baking sim and MOBA  Heroes of the Dough ) and steal the esports trophy (which happens to be made of pretzels) from under everyone's noses (both literally and metaphorically). But that's not enough for our fine flock of feathered felons, who want to make off with the recipe for the limite...

This week we're bringing you another game  Pigeon's 11 , in which our feathered cast of criminals dives into the world of esports and culinary delights at MetzlCon. The plan: to steal the coveted pretzel trophy in the middle of a packed house of gamers and amateur chefs. It may be the biggest gaming convention of the year, but our pigeons only have eyes for the pretzels. (Well, most of them a...

This week we're playing  Pigeon's 11 , an adventure where our fine flock of felonious fowl are getting ready for the heist of a lifetime. (Spoiler: it involves a lot of baked goods and bread puns.) Join GM Liz Harper and a cast made up of Blizzard Watch's bird alter egos: Phil Ulrich as Frankie Two-Talons, a boat-tailed grackle. Joan Albright as Professor Beakley, an African gray parrot. Eric...

While there are still plenty of crunchy tabletop games out there, lately we're playing a lot of shorter TTRPGs that lean into narrative elements — and are easier to schedule than long form campaigns. We talk about our recent Pigeon's 11 game, the cozy fantasy of Legend in the Mist, and the Nebula-nominated Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast. Also, we're apparently going back to Eberron this year in a surp...

It's a tough day for the employees of Triangle Agency, but our skilled Agents are always ready to beat back any challenge — even when that challenge is a mass of anomalous electrical wires intent on their deaths! But don't worry about them, because Triangle Agency is always here to help Agents who help themselves. They've really earned their paychecks today! (At least those of them who get paid.)...

Triangle Agency's agents are on the case — with a little help from corporate HQ, of course! Our highly skilled team of experts is in the process of tracking down a dangerous anomaly, but don't you worry (or you might become a loose end we have to deal with). In this episode, GM Phil Ulrich helps the Agency's best make some art, earn the high score in their favorite video game, and untangle some ex...

Welcome to beautiful Ternion City, home of the Triangle Agency. In our corporate headquarters, agents are hard at work — right now! — to preserve reality. You like reality, don't you? Of course you do. And your friends at Triangle Agency are here to keep the reality you love safe... preferably without you noticing any of those pesky breaks in reality in the first place! What breaks in reality? We...

This month on Tavern Watch, we discuss the messy release of  D&D's  2024 edition, which was staggered out into 2025... and seems to have lost some hype in the process. But Wizards of the Coast could turn things around, with an upcoming live action  D&D  show on Netflix and two new Forgotten Realms books coming out late this year. Plus all the games we're looking forward...

The Eberron Express is about to pull into the station, and when it does Egan Bakker's killer could vanish forever. Can the passengers solve the mystery before time runs out... and do they even want to? Join DM Elizabeth Harper on this trip across Eberron, with colorful group of characters: Nick Marino as Talis, a scholar that Bakker publicly humiliated, and neither of them have forgotten it. Phil...

Someone on this train killed Egan Bakker, and the passengers of the Eberron Express are determined to track them down... but is the killer right in front of them? We'll see how the party fares one  roll for initiative  later. Join DM Elizabeth Harper on this trip across Eberron, with colorful group of characters: Nick Marino as Talis, a scholar that Bakker publicly humiliated, and neithe...

Famed artificer Egan Bakker has invented a new weapon, and it's going to get him killed one day. As Bakker boards the luxurious Eberron Express, an unusual group or passengers joins him on the three-day route to Fairhaven... and because each of them have their own grudge against Bakker, the trip isn't likely to end well. Join DM Elizabeth Harper on this trip across Eberron, with colorful group of...

Our crew of seasoned spacefarers made it safely to the planet surface, so the hard part is over... right? All they have to do now is survive (which means not blowing themselves up), find a way home (with the nearest spaceport several solar systems away), and maybe thwart this strange new alien threat along the way. It's all the day in the life of an adventurer. Join us as we wrap up our Starfinder...

A dead pilot (maybe), a crashing starship (definitely), and a tiny problem that's causing the dead to rise. (Does that mean the pilot is now... okay?) As they hurtle into the planet, our crew of adventurers has to figure out how to contain this unexpected threat before it can spread across the galaxy. Fortunately we have a team who knows what it takes to survive (a lucky set of dice, of course). J...

A threatening swarm of robots isn't enough to delay the Queen's Winter Gala, and it's up to our heroes to safeguard the Queen's perfectly packaged holiday gifts — and the festive fate of the winter season. Can they keep everyone safe and still make time for a spin around the dance floor? This year's Winter Gala is truly a can't miss event! Liz is hosting this game as Master of Ceremonies, joined b...

Our sentai is on the chase! As present-pilfering robotic spiders flee across the city, Her Majesty's Prehistorian Praetorians race to find the culprit and salvage the holiday season. But the Queen's Winter Gala is just around the corner, with a palace full of presents to be handed out... and it's sure to make a tempting target. Liz is hosting this game as Master of Ceremonies, joined by the follow...

There's a tabletop game for everyone, even those of us who want to combine regency romance with sentai superhero teams. Join Her Majesty's Prehistorian Praetorians as our prehistoric-themed sentai — you can thank Matt for that — takes its first steps into society by attending the grand opening of a new gallery in the museum. It goes about as well as you would expect from our creative crowd of play...

In this episode, we are joined by Phil “The goblin with the dumb name that you all love” Ulrich as we go in-depth on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the new Player’s Handbook. Also the trend of more open development by TTRPG game designers, what upcoming games we are looking forward to playing, and what we want from Wizards of the Coast’s upcoming virtual tabletop, Project Sigil. If you enjoy t...

In this episode, we discuss the updated D&D rulebooks rolling out soon, the impact of the recent massive layoffs at Wizards of the Coast on both their own products and the larger industry, the role of AI in game development, and the importance of community trust for TTRPG companies to be successful. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon , where you can get these episodes early an...

In this episode, we discuss the renaissance in TTRPGs since Wizards of the Coast alienated the community with last year’s pricing and royalty shenanigans. Creators are now going in new directions like Critical Role’s d12-based game Daggerheart, romance-driven TTRPGs, and Chaosium’s game design challenge that encourages creators to build new games they retain the rights to. Also, AI DMs. Because wh...

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In this episode recorded back in January 2023, we dive into the details of Wizard of the Coast’s controversial proposed update to its Open Gaming License that would allow it to control, prohibit, and seize the rights to third-party published content compatible with Dungeons & Dragons. Yep, the same content that has been fueling the game’s popularity over the last decade. If you...