Thinking Critically: A D&D Discussion

I am once again joined by Manny a.k.a. Growed Up Geek to talk about adaptation. One great way to kill two birds with one stone is by integrating player character backstories into published adventure modules; not only do you get to customise the module and make it unique, but the players feel embedded in the world and get to make it their own. As for DMing, there are two kinds of adaptation: Micro...

For this extremely meta episode, I'm joined by producer and host of the Chafing Armor actual play podcast, Michael Corley. This one is light on actual D&D content, so please bare that in mind! Anyway, Michael and I discuss the finer points of the post-production process for Dungeons & Dragons podcasts, be they APs or chat shows. "Editing", for all it's connotations and bells & whistles...

This episode features the "Bard Killer" Seven from the 7th Roll podcast, and we talk all about the concept of death in our Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. We coin the phrase "murderhobo DM"; a DM who is more than comfortable with putting the PCs through some rough and tumble situations where death is a possibility. This can sometimes be at odds with a preciousness found in players who are attach...

For this inspirational episode I'm joined by Russel E Welch III, owner of Lingering Shadows Productions and Dungeon Master for their Spawn of Chaos actual-play series. Inspiration is about bringing something exemplary, be that from yourself or your character, and being able to promote harness that inspiration is of critical importance. But before we get to the philosophical, we first talk mechanic...

This episode I'm joined by Mike "The Birdman" Dodd from This Week in Geek to discuss all about how TTRPGs make us feel . Part of the Game Master's job is to elicit emotions from their players, so we discuss a few ways this can be achieved in your system of choice. Often this will take the form of some classic tropes such as "victory, but at a cost", however it really depends on what you want them...

This week I am joined by Lucas Zellers, host of the 'Making a Monster' podcast to talk, unsurprisingly, about monsters! This episode is broadly split into two halves, the first focusing on mechanical minutia of running stat blocks, including various tips and tricks, such as "do your homework"! We also discuss the elegance of Matt Coville's Action Oriented Monster design approach and how it highlig...

Jon from the 'Tale of the Manticore' ( @ManticoreTale ) actual-play podcast joins me to talk about creating stories in Dungeons and Dragons. We open by tackling the academic: the seven story archetypes and how to crack the "code" of a compelling narrative. However, this quickly breaks down as the collaborative nature of TTPRGs inherently sets them apart from traditional media; the eternal struggle...

This very special episode was recorded on location at Geek Retreat Southampton ! As such, it has a slightly different format to all my previous episodes. I was fortunate enough to have Simon, James, Anastazia, and Anri share with me their TTRPG experiences and what bought them to the store that night. We cover a broad range of topics including how playing "in public" affects the experience, the co...

This episode I'm joined by Aaron Preuss ( @Primus_Casts ) to discuss growth within Dungeons & Dragons, and there's a lot to unpack here. Most people find their own character designs evolve and mature over time, and Aaron takes us through a couple of his own examples which can serve as inspiration and springboards for your own creations. Having genuine and believable flaws for your character is...

This episode I'm joined by table top game creator and narrative designer Geoffrey Golden to dissect humour, which we all know is everyone's favourite thing to do! I start by absolutely butchering Kevin MacLeod's surname and for that, I can never apologise enough. Once that horrible faux pas is left behind, we move on to the juicy topic how the mechanics of a TTRPG impact and guide humour within a...

This episode I'm joined by Adam from Snyder's Return to debate the pros and cons of narrative focused TTRPG systems. Such an interesting topic overflowing with meaning, subjectivity, and design intent; this episode covers it all! Firstly, Adam and I set the scope of the show by defining the terms and systems, setting the foundation for next 55 minutes. We then go on to dissect how the relatively c...

CW: 36:40-37:10 Single reference to rape and sexual coercion in the context of the Vampire trope. Philippa Mort joins me to talk about the varied and wonderful topic of aesthetic. The discussion starts around the different approaches to TTRPG and campaign design; a different perspective to the typical top down/bottom up paradigm. How does one approach "visual design", and how does it differ from "...

CW: A fictional anecdote containing references to NPC children dying and descriptions of gore & bodily harm to children, all within a Dungeons & Dragons context. This episode Robert Hartley , the DM for Viva La Dirt League , joins me to discuss his streaming experience and why he finds it so addictive. We go through the considerations of running a streamed actual play, compared to just a g...

This week I'm joined by Quinn the GM to talk about content creation! Quinn is a serial producer, having released 15 products on Dungeon Masters Guild and showing no signs of slowing down, and he takes us through a BTS of his content creation process. We talk about the difficulties of balancing homebrew, and how the concerns shift based on whether it's for your personal game or for public consumpti...

This episode, Fabio Vollono of Morgue Miniatures takes us on a trip through time and all the varied & fantastical incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons. Edition by edition, we discuss how the game has changed over the last 30+ years, such as the concept of "boxes" versus our current reality of books. We briefly touch upon some hot topics such as gender stereotypes and the class-agnostic subcl...

I'm joined by one of the hosts of the Double DM podcast , Emil Auerbach, to talk all about failure: how it comes about, how to mitigate it, and most importantly, how to learn from it. Failure is an intrinsic part of Dungeons & Dragons because as soon as you roll a dice, you run the chance of failing. Emil and I discuss several methods to mitigate this as players controlling characters who ever...

Puzzles, the marmite of Dungeons & Dragons! I'm joined by Michael Wu, a.k.a. DM Micycle , to discuss the nuances of designing puzzles for TTRPGs. Certain considerations have to made during the design process, as puzzles are a unique gameplay element in that they are challenges for the players , rather than their characters. Not only do we have to deal with regular awkward rolls (Wizard rolls l...

" Perpetuating the success of fireball. " Cat McDonald of Peach Garden Games brings her perspective of being an indie TTRPG designer and knowledge of the occult to this talk about magic in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. She takes us through the design processes used when working on Heroic Chord and her other TTRPGs. Unsurprisingly, we discuss at length her freeform magic system where players...

For this discussion I'm joined by Matt Perkins, DM/podcaster/YouTuber extraordinaire, to talk all about pressure in your TTRPGs! We split the term down the middle by differentiating narrative (in-game) from "meta" (OoG) pressure, however there are often more parallels than initially thought. Join us as we jaunt through topics such as effectively communicating the stakes, how to realise meaningful...

This episode I am joined by professional marketer Zack Applewhite, of Applewhite Games , who takes us on a whistle-stop masterclass of content marketing tips, advice, and real-world examples to help us better promote the amazing work we do! Starting with his suggestion of a "content chop shop" where you disassemble the content you create to vastly increase quality output. Aside from the academic a...

This episode I'm joined by Pete, a.k.a. @BadDMPete , to discuss all about voices! If I can start off by apologising for the embarrassing mistake of confusing the Akira Kurosawa epic Seven Samurai with the Tom Cruise bombast of The Last Samurai , please forgive me! Now that's out of the way, I can tell you about the rest of the episode! Pete and I discuss how mistakes should be learned from to impr...

CW: Discussion around sexuality and relationships. References to sex. This weeks guest is Declan, the "forever DM" of the Romancing the Dungeon podcast where the characters are all searching for that special someone! We discuss the what romance can mean in Dungeons & Dragons, such as the many forms it can take and reasons why it does, and does not, show up in campaigns. One of the most fundame...

This episode I'm joined by Nikki from Beholder to No One , the award winning TTRPG podcast featuring discussions and one-shots. Broadly this episode can be summed up as "how random elements affect gameplay", however as we quickly find out that's a much deeper and multifaceted discussion. For example, even character generation (standard array versus rolling) can dramatically affect the theming of a...

This episode I'm joined by Joe Dunn ( @jcd0818 ) to talk about a very stylish topic. Joe has 17 years TTRPG experience across multiple systems including D&D, Pathfinder, and Powered by the Apocalypse, so is exceptionally qualified to discuss all things "style". The first bulk of the episode is around the broad topic of "styles of gameplay" and how that differs between editions, modules, and pl...

This episode was recorded 8th April 2021 and includes lots of swearing, puns, and memes . You have been warned! For this extended episode I gathered the cast of Cosmopunk, the actual-play homebrew Starfinder podcast, to discuss friction. Now, we do spend an awful lot of time talking about coffee, but nestled betwixt the brilliant puns and segues are nuggets of insight, raucous laughter, and life l...