Short, bite-sized RPG advice, tips, and tricks for DMs and players of tabletop role playing games (TTRPG)
243 episodes transcribedDMs, what should you do when the players derail your entire adventure plan, reveal a secret or short circuit the story that you had planned for the gr...
I have been guilty of trying to craft stories from an overview, a 50,000 foot view, if you will, and neglecting the individual encounters, scenes and...
There are a few common tips and tricks that DMs can use to make monsters scarier or merely seem that they are. In this episode I discuss ways that yo...
I've given the WOTC Pinkerton issue a couple of weeks to marinate and I wanted to give my thoughts on the matter. Also, I wanted to give my wonderful...
In this episode I point out how to find inspiration in a book that is 125 years old and use the building blocks to make quests and backstories that ar...
Oozes may seem like boring combatants at first, mindless blobs of acidic gels that don't exactly have complex motivations or rich histories but they c...
On a very special super-sized edition of the Taking 20 Podcast I interview David Carter of the competitive D&D 5e tournament on Youtube called Crucibl...
In this episode I talk about giving life to your campaigns by making your quest givers more dynamic and how you can use quest givers to steer the camp...
This week I'm picking a fight and a lot of DMs will disagree with me. I talk about what Armor Class and Hit Points really mean and how that can affec...
In this episode I give a brief review of the new D&D movie Honor Among Thieves and talk about how DMs should not use social skills like persuasion, di...
In an episode idea from generous donor Tim McKenzie, this week we talk about hags, especially their penchant for deals and their lethal abilities. Wh...
This week's topic comes courtesy of listener Daniel Mehefko who wanted me to discuss immersive roleplaying. What is immersive roleplaying? How can p...
Sometimes your adventuring parties just aren't ready for an encounter, a trap, or maybe an entire adventure. What should you do as a DM? Throw your...
After watching a session at my Friendly Local Game Store I watched a DM put players through a meat grinder of encounters, not even pausing when the PC...
In a lot of game worlds, deities can't die. They always existed, exist, and will always exist. But what if that wasn't true. What if one or more de...
Answering a question posed by Adrian from the Age of Adventure RPG, how do you find the balance between realism and fun. His table devolved into leng...
GMs, are the gods in your game worlds present or absent? Big and powerful or quiet and reserved? In this episode we talk about ways you can use deit...
Left or right at the intersection? Fight or flee? Sell the potion or keep it for later? Players sometimes find it hard to make a decision and that...
Good dungeon maps give players choices, have a good theme, and contents that support the theme and purpose of your dungeon. But...how do you create d...
The One Ring in Lord of the Rings, The Singing Sword in Bugs Bunny, The Luggage in the Rimworld novels by Terry Pratchett. We've seen intelligent mag...
