THACO's Hammer

Join DMs Glen, Brian, and Fulongamer as they take a walk outside in this wilderness-themed episode. After discussing various and sundry things they have been up to, they discuss the Explorer kit in the Complete Ranger's Handbook (with apologies to Steve Irwin, may he rest in peace), debate about the PCs navigating in the wilderness and how to deal with that as a DM, then in the same vein how l...

Join DMs Glen, Brian and Fulongamer as they ring in the new year the best way they know how; with a new opening theme, and a new show! Join them as they delve into one of the controversial Player's Option books, Spells and Magic. After taking a few minutes to catch up on what each of them has done in the world of gaming (and a declaration of the apocalypse), they read an email regarding paladi...

Join DMs Glen, Fulongamer and Brian as they look into the old school D&D campaign world, Mystara! After a pair of emails, they discuss the history of the campaign world from its humble beginnings in the Expert D&D rule book to the beloved Gazeteers and its 2e reincarnation, then from there they take it a step further in talking about adapting the material from the Gazeteers to 2e rules. Fr...

Join DMs Glen, Fulongamer and Brian as they get down to brass tacks with the wee folk, gnomes and halflings! After reading and discussing emails regarding ability checks and humor in games, they address the Complete Gnomes and Halflings splatbook and also two kits from those books, the Gnome Goblinsticker and the Halfling Cartographer. From there they talk about small weapons, and then address abi...

Join DMs Glen, Fulongamer, and Brian as they work the 2e mines for more gems of discussion. After a bout of emails, they discuss campaign house rules, then the wonderful (yet dangerous) world of critical hits in combat, followed by the alternative ability scores, Comeliness and Perception. From there they talk about homebrewed campaigns settings, and then round it all off with talking about the Ag...

A topic so nice, we had to do it twice…   Join DMs Glen, Brian and Fulongamer as they delve into more 2e goodness from the DM's perspective. We discuss the Creative Campaigning sourcebook, debate about the 0 hp or -10 hp rule regarding unconscious and dying PCs, converse on the differences between cheating (players) and fudging (DMs), talk about the *other* classic D&D spell, Lightning Bol...

Join us for another episode of 2e goodness with DMs Glen, FOG, Brian and Julie. In this episode we talk about the venerable yet wonderful Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide and our methods of handing out experience points. From there we converse about controlling the cashflow in our campaigns, discuss the Fireball spell and how to use it, and wrap up the show with a pair of staple monster adve...

Okay, we got another mixed bag: after some rousing emails from DM Cojo, DMs Glen, Brian and FulOnGamer give the Samurai kit from The Complete Fighter’s Handbook the once-over, debate about Ability Score Generation Methods, examine Specialty Gear for Thieves, look over all kinds of goodness in The Encyclopedia Magica, get totally confused over the Wild Mage Spell There/Not There (or did we?) and wr...

Join DMs Glen, Brian and Fulongamer along with our guest Zak Smith, creator of the Vornheim campaign setting as we delve into deities! We start off with Monster Mythology, then we segue into the venerable Legends and Lore supplement. From there we talk about clerical spell freecasting as an alternate way to play clerics, then we discuss the spell Draw Upon Holy Might, and wrap up with a spirited d...

We’re taking malaria pills for this episode! Join DMs Brian, Glen and Fulongamer as they explore the dinosaur-infested jungles of Chult! After getting over being sad that there are no emails, they press on. First, they give an overview of the Forgotten Realms supplement for which the episode is based, then they talk about the myriad species of dinosaur, then they play some favorites about monsters...

We’re oiling up and playing to the crowd for this episode! Join DMs Glen, Fulongamer and Brian as they delve into the word of the gladiator! After finding the email box empty, the fellas get down to business. First they give an overview of the Gladiator kit from Complete Fighter’s Handbook, then they take a deep dive into running gladiatorial combat before talking about armor and weapons for gladi...

Join DMs Glen and Brian along with our newest addition to the podcast, DM Fulongamer. This week we discuss likely the most controversial character class, the Paladin. We delve into the Complete Paladin's Handbook, then we compare the True Paladin vs. the Chevalier Kit. From there we talk about the paladin's holy weapon, discuss the Hell Hound, and we wrap up talking about (or at least atte...

Join DMs Glen, Brian and Julie, along with our special guest, James Raggi IV, creator of the campaign setting, Lamentations of the Flame Princess as we offer up our takes on the on the most loved and feared species in the D&D multiverse, the Dragon itself!   First we discuss the Draconomicon, then we move onto the power boost dragons received in 2e. From there we also discuss the challenge of...

Join DMs Glen, Brian and Chrispy as we delve into some random 2e goodness. We discuss Weapon Speed and Initiative, We delve into Part II of Whole Cloth, where we roll up individual characters based off the concepts we discussed in Part I, then we tackle one of the fighter's best friends, the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, talk about the Helmed Horror, and wrap up with a discussion about the talk abo...

Join DMs Glen, Brian and Chrispy as we tackle the Berserker kit from the Complete Fighter's Handbook, then we introduce a new topic in Rule Zero called Whole Cloth, a multi-part series where we create a PC from scratch and we start with the concept of a character, and we will go through each stage of character development over the next five episodes. Next, we discuss languages and the learning...

This is a full house episode with DMs Glen, Brian, Cory and Chrispy. This week we discuss dark fantasy settings and creating mortal enemies for PCs. Then, we tackle the Complete Necromancer's Handbook, The Anatomist kit from the same book, the Animate Dead spell, the Crypt Thing and the Crypt Servant, and the Lords of Darkness supplement.

In another thrilling episode, DMs Glen, Brian and Cory give their takes on The Complete Book of Villains, figure out the use of the Herbalism proficiency, adjudicate Player/DM Disputes, throw down with the Leucrotta and discuss the Melee Combat and Tactics article from Dragon #169. More fun than you can shake a quarterstaff at!

As of this show we have rechristened our episodes “splatbooks” for that gooey 2E taste. This week the Boys With The Hammer (DMs Glen, Brian, and Cory) discuss the Optional 50-Point Damage Rule, Argue over Screen or No Screen, examine (from a distance) Cursed Weapons, review the World Builder’s Guide and ponder over taking PCs into Strange Environments.

Join DMs Glen, Cory and Brian as they review The Complete Fighter’s Handbook, compare the fighter and thief version of the Swashbuckler kit, talk a bit about the Parrying maneuver, contemplate the concept of Building Logical Dungeons, look over specialist weapons for the fighter and wrap up with an examination of the various and sundry spiders in 2E.

In this episode we discuss house rules and The Complete Priest’s Handbook, then we get into the debates of clerics vs. specialty priests and edged weapons for clerics. Then, we talk about turning undead, the various Cure spells, and we wrap up with a discussion about the undead staples, the ghoul and the ghast.

In this episode DMs Glen, Cory and Brian discuss running a game with a small number of PCs, the ideas of monsters as PCs, which immediately segues into a review of The Complete Book of Humanoids, then we go into the Minotaur from that book to be specific, discuss the issue of drinking and recreational drugs at the gaming table, and we wrap it all up by discussing the spells Whirling Blade and Whip...

This week, DMs Glen, Brian and Cory gird their loins for a discussion of The Arms and Equipment Guide, shed some light on Vision and Light Underground, get lost in a discussion about MegaDungeons and ponder about how to use the Maedar, the distaff version of the Medusa. Time to hammer away again!

Okay, this episode finds DMs Glen, Cory and Brian asking Where’s My Assassin, debating the pros and cons of Sandbox vs. Adventure Path-type play, figuring out how to build Custom Magic Items, taking a good long (but not too close) look at the Ogre Magi and thumb through Aurora’s Whole Realms Catalog.

This week DMs Glen, Brian and Julie give a boot to the head to Martial Arts in 2E, wondering where the monk is, talking up The Complete Ninjas Handbook and discussing some re-working of the monk and a martial artist class that Brian came up with (and is willing to share with our audience). Good stuff!

This week we’re examining The Complete Barbarian’s Handbook, discussion of the Brushrunner kit from said handbook, talk about using music in games, check out the Derro and finish up with a review of Train of Events from Dungeon #44. Check it out!