Taking 20 Podcast

Ep 97 - Curses and Cursed Items

Curses have played major roles in numerous movies and media:  the ring in Lord of the Rings, the Aztec gold in Pirates of the Caribbean, Ladyhawke, Shrek, Ella Enchanged, the list goes on.  How can you use these curses in your game and not have your player try to kill you with a d4?  Tune in to find out.

Ep 96 - Monster Series - Mimics

GMs, do your players like treasure?  Sure they do.  Everyone does; and that's why mimics are always medium-sized treasure chests in the corner, right?  Not so fast, my friend.  Mimics are more than mindless, opportunistic hunters.  Tune in for some tips and tricks for using these creatures in your game.

Ep 95 - Familiars, Animal Companions, and Summoned Creatures

PCs have a number of options when it comes to bringing more allies to the battlefield and to the campaign.  What are some best practices for PCs who want to have a super-intelligent celestial dinosaur best friend that they can bring into this plane anytime they want?  Tune in and find out.

Ep 94 - Class Series - Fighters and Monks

This week we return to the class series, focusing on those classes that focus a lot on baddie hit points:  fighters and monks.  Do you want some ideas on how to build a Pathfinder or D&D 5e Fighter or Monk?  Then this episode is for you.

Ep 93-Virtual Tabletop Tips

Is your game moving online or staying online longer than you expected?  Mine are staying online for a while so I compiled a list of tips that can help you and your game while using Virtual Tabletops (VTTs).

 

Music is:

Smooth Lovin by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4379-smooth-lovin

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Ep 92 - Travel and Exploration

Travel between adventures doesn't have to be a boring slog of survival checks or reinforcement of how empty your world is.  Travel and exploration activities can spark the imagination, jump start role play and help set the tone for your entire campaign.  Tune in for some ideas on how to execute your players...er...a good travel section of your adventure.

Ep 91 - Safely Introducing New Gameplay Features

Fair warning:  I'm doing weird episodes again.  This week, I advocate taking lessons from video games and movies and introducing new class abilities and gameplay mechanics in a safe, non-lethal environment...except for the one case where it doesn't make sense.

Ep 90 - The GRAPES Worldbuilding System

Building worlds, countries, and even towns can be tough.  There are a lot of moving parts to try to tame and it's easy to miss preparing some important information.  Luckily, the GRAPES worldbuilding system is here to help provide a framework on which you can build your world.  In this episode we talk about how we can use this great tool.

Ep 89 - Monster Series - Goblins

Goblins are classic low level one-note baddies that eat anything they can, kill everything else, except for the few things that they try to mate with.  There's no nuance there, right?  Not so fast my friends.  Goblins can be just as nuanced as the other ancestries and make for great player characters and big bads for your campaigns.

Ep 88 - Class Series-Holy Moley The Cleric and Druid

Clerics and Druids are more diverse than most people realize.  Playing them as Healy McHealface and Joe Ent-Lover may come second nature (ba-dum-tss) but they can be played a lot of different ways to satisfy a lot of different players.  In this week's episode we look at the fun and choices of playing these two classes.