The Tavernkeep’s Guide!

Sometimes you try your best, and you don't succeed. It's okay though, the DM knows how to handle it. In this episode, we discuss the idea of Failing Forward, which allows the story to continue even if the party rolls only nat 1's. It's not giving the party free successes, but rather making their failures cost something while not stalling out the game.   Remember to like, share, subscribe, rate us,...

The gods have died, and the world is fading. It's up to the adventurers to... barely make ends meet. In this episode, we brainstorm a campaign from a few themes. This was an exercise in improvisation and campaign-building, and a slight break from our usual format, but we had a lot of fun, and we hope you did to! Please share the podcast through whatever channels you have available to you, we reall...

It's dangerous to go alone, take these! In this episode, we discuss safety tools. These are useful barriers for discomfort, and can actually elevate the experience for everyone at your table. You might not think you need them, and maybe you don't, but there's a good chance you use at least one of them, without even really acknowledging it. As always, please spread the word of our podcast, we appre...

We have returned from a long and perilous journey into a strange, far-off land. We bring with us tales of heroism, treasure, vanquishing our enemies, magical girl princesses defeating aliens with power of friendship and fashion, and changing hearts with power of rock and roll.   This episode is all about Con of the North 2024 and how it turned out for us. Sit down and listen to the tales of the co...

This one is brought to you by one of our tiktok viewers. We were asked on how to run encounters.   This episode is a guide to both playing and running encounters. Tips, tricks, and tools reside within.   Please like, subscribe, share, follow, comment, and whatever other means of interacting you can. It really helps us out, and we appreciate it so very much!   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: H...

Buy-In, Immersion, Suspension of Disbelief. These are terms used to describe a certain phenomenon in gaming, or group activities in general. It's when a person is sucked into the game that the world around them melts away, and the players embody their characters.   We discuss Buy-In, what it means, what can affect it, what can effect it, and whether or not you need it.   Remember to follow, like,...

The Hero's journey is well known in literary circles, and has become pervasive across almost all story-telling media. If the story being told is one of a hero, then it is likely to be compared to, if not based off of, this idea.   In this episode, we discuss the Hero's Journey, it's steps, how to possibly use it in your campaign, and how we feel about it overall.   Remember to like us, rate us hig...

We all love magic items. They provide power, and opportunity. They are a great reward for players. All DM's have to ask themselves an important question though. "How do I get these items to my players?"   In this episode, we discuss a few different ways of distributing magic items, our favorites, and of course we have our quiz and monster minute.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr:...

Quests: we all know them, but why do we have them? Are they necessary? What service do they provide? What kind of quests are there? In this episode, we hope to answer these questions, as the DM said we need to in order to kill the BBEG.    Your quest for this episode is to like us, follow us, rate us, and share us wherever you find us, including all our social medias!   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here...

We hope this episode doesn't confuse you, it's just a discussion on puzzles! We discuss the anatomy of puzzles, types of puzzles, and how to hand them with ease. Remember to signal boost us wherever you can, we'd very much appreciate it! Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tiktok: Here Mastodon: Here Art by Hermit's Media: Here

Some spells can be combined to be greater than the sum of their parts, which is exciting, interesting, and sometimes overpowered. We discuss all sorts combos, some that work, some that don't, some that should never be written down, and some that are just funsies! Remember to signal boost us wherever you can, we'd very much appreciate it! Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tikto...

What do you like, in a DM?   We all have preferred style, for both DM'ing and playing. We discuss a few axes along which DM's and can vary, our personal styles, and what we prefer as players!   Drop a signal boost wherever you listen!   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tiktok: Here Mastodon: Here Art by Hermit's Media: Here

When the Bartender's away, the Tavernkeep will play!   On this episode of The Tavernkeep's Guide, we discuss rules, the easily forgotten, the often homebrewed, and the obscure. These are great tools for players and DM's, and have a lot of potential!   Drop a like and signal boost wherever you listen!   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tiktok: Here Mastodon: Here Art by Hermit...

Trials and troubles, falls from grace and failures, growth and redemption, all this and more, and guest adventurers!   On this episode of The Tavernkeep's Guide, we discuss character arcs, what players want from them, what characters want from them, and how to utilize them as a DM!    Make sure to give us a rating wherever you listen, and follow us on our socials, it really helps!   Captioned Seal...

All aboard the Kalimari Express!   We're here to discuss sandboxes, railroads, sandboxes to railroads, railroads to sandboxes, and railroads through sandboxes! It's everything you need to know, minus anything that isn't in this episode! Hop aboard and enjoy the ride!   Make sure to like, subscribe, rate highly, and bongle whatever dongles you have in your podcatcher of choice, it really helps us o...

You all meet in a tavern! ... What do you mean you've heard that before?   You know what, we're going to discuss opening scenes in today's episode!   Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, and give us a good rating!   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tiktok: Here Mastodon: Here Art by Hermit's Media: Here

Do you want to drive a car as a halfling? Do you want to cast magic on your work boss, not the BBEG kind? Well, you should probably go play a system built for that.   If you don't want to learn a new system though, or your group is hesitant to switch, we're here for you, discussing the different types of modern D&D settings and how to make them work for you! Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord...

Do you, as a DM struggle with setting DC's for your charismatic bard? Are you unsure how a PC should react to the players' requests? We're here to discuss the rules and our own ways of running NPC and PC interactions!   Rules of NPC interaction are rarely discussed, but here we are! We also discuss PC on PC checks, and NPC on PC checks as well, in our usual roundabout fashion! Patreon: Here Twitte...

Are you a DM looking for a way to traumatize your players and their characters? Here you go!   In this episode, we discuss "backstory knives" and other tools for weaving your characters into the world and keeping your players enthralled. We also discuss why players should offer up backstory to the DM, allowing the DM to make a more interesting story for them.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord:...

Is your party lacking something? Can't quite handle the monsters like you used to? You might be suffering from PD, party disfunction. If you suffer, from PD, ask your DM if a DMPC or sidekick is right for you!   We discuss our DMPC's, sidekicks, the difference between them, how to apply them in your TTRPG's, and their purpose.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Tumblr: Here Tiktok: Here A...

I heard you like D&D classes, so we put extra classes in your classes. It's multiclassing!   We discuss multiclassing, the rules, benefits, detriments, favorite combination, and best dips.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Art by Hermit's Media: Here

Swords are cool. Magic is sweet. But which is better? That's not what we're discussing.   Instead, we're discussing a common argument in the D&D space, the power level difference between martials and casters. We discuss why the gap exists, what problems exacerbate it, and how you, both as a player, and as a DM can be more cognizant of the issue and how to work on it.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here...

Oh no, there's two of us, and there's only one TTRPG! I guess we'll just have to share!   On today's episode, we discuss two-player TTRPG's. Even though you don't have a party, two is more than enough to have a great time! We discuss the pro's and con's, and how it varies from your typical group TTRPG's.   Patreon: Here Twitter: Here Discord: Here Art by Hermit's Media: Here

What are we doing here? Why do we exist? What's our purpose in life? Is this really what we should be doing? If you ask these questions of yourself, that's your issue to solve. If your TTRPG character is asking that of themselves, then this is the episode for you!   We're discussing party roles and how they apply in combat, social, and exploration situations. We also discuss why they're important,...

Do you feel burnt out by your TTRPG system? Are there too many rules? Too few rules? Too fiddly? Too loose? You may be suffering from a Fluff and Crunch imbalance.   On this episode, we discuss the challenges balance of these two aspects of games, and why it's so very important to understand your preference in regards to these. We also discuss how to avoid or treat system burnout, especially for D...