Taking 20 Podcast

Ep 228 - Back to Basics - Player Ideas

We GMs have to generate a lot about the world from the grand multiverse and pantheons of gods to what Typhon the baker looks like and their foibles.  Sometimes players will have great ideas about their character, the world they live in and maybe even larger topics like names of towns and nations.  In this episode I encourage my DMs to listen to player ideas about the game and how it’s played and incorporate them whenever possible.

 

#dnd #5e #pf2e #dmtips #gmtips #RPGplayers

Ep 227 - Manipulate Your Players

DMs, whether we realize it or not manipulate our players sometimes multiple times a session.  What does that mean, though to manipulate the players?  Is it a good thing?  Tune in to find out.

#dnd #5e #pf2e #dmtips #gmtips #manipulation

Resources:

Bonus Action - Hacks DMs Use to Manipulate Players - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bokYGJPyKlI

Ep 226 - Monstrous PCs and Howl of the Wild

There’s nothing wrong with an adventuring party full of humans, gnomes, dwarves, and the like.  But sometimes the campaign calls for or the player wants to play something a little different like a hobgoblin, merfolk, or even a troll.  How do you handle these situations?  In this episode I give you some tips as well as briefly review the new Paizo book Howl of the Wild.

 

Resources:

Rules Lawyer Howl of the Wild Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olNDUmF_41o

5e Trolls - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/17040-troll 

Ron Lundeen - Pathfinder 2e ancestry build tips - https://www.runamokgames.com/design-diary/the-pathfinder-ancestry-checklist

Ep 225 - Lore Part 2

Lore can be doled out in small measures any number of ways at your table from dreams to treasure, holidays to PC backstories.  I hope the last two weeks have made you think about how you use lore in your worlds.

 

#dmtips #gmtips #dnd #pf2e #5e #lore

 

Resources:

Matt Colville - Lore Delivery Systems - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBXnD9g0XY 

Sly Flourish - Bathe Your World in Lore - https://slyflourish.com/bathe_your_world_in_lore.html

Alphastream - Make Lore Actionable - https://alphastream.org/index.php/2022/06/02/your-games-lore-make-it-actionable/

Ep 224 - Lore Part 1

Lore, like so many other aspects to our game can be as present or absent as you would like it to be.  Lore makes your world richer and deeper but how do you reveal it to your players?  Tune in and find out.

 

#dnd #pf2e #dmtips #gmtips #lore

Resources:

Matt Colville - Lore Delivery Systems - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBXnD9g0XY 

Sly Flourish - Bathe Your World in Lore - https://slyflourish.com/bathe_your_world_in_lore.html

Alphastream - Make Lore Actionable - https://alphastream.org/index.php/2022/06/02/your-games-lore-make-it-actionable/

Ep 223 - Monster Series - Aboleths and Algholthu

Aboleths and Algholthu are amphibious creatures who feel they are gods whose domains have been wrongfully stolen from them by those who they feel should be their slaves.  They are extremely savvy fighters who remember eons of combats and use those lessons when the PCs show up to try to kill them.  In this episode we talk about these huge aberrations and how to use them in your game.

 

#dnd #5e #pf2e #aboleths #algholthu #aberrations

Resources:

D&D 2025 - Creative Commons - https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/edition-2024-sourcebooks-srd-creative-commons

Riches and Liches - D&D Lore: Monster Lab - Aboleth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwHRDlgi5QI&t=298s

The Monsters Know What They’re Doing - Aboleths by Keith Amman - https://www.themonstersknow.com/aboleth-tactics/

The Lords of Madness - The Book of Aberrations

Ep 222 - Epilogues

One sure way to put a period (or even a question mark) on the end of your campaign or adventure is by using one or more epilogue scenes.  In this episode we talk about tips and tricks for creating those wrap-up scenes at the very end.

 

#dnd #5e #pf2e #dmtips #gmtips #Epilogues

Resources:

Ginny Di - Give your D&D Campaign the epilogue it deserves - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jamWxX3kC4

 

Ep 221 - Rules Light RPGs

Sometimes we want a break from the rules heavy games and want to play something light and easy.  Sometimes people we know are interested in playing RPGs but we don’t want to throw them into the deep end of a complicated RPG with 1,000 pages of rules.  Rules Light RPGs can be a nice break from the usual routine and can introduce some people we know to the hobby that we love.

#dnd #5e #pf2e #RulesLight #dmtips

Resources:

Clay-O-Rama:  https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/dragon/D15_Clay-O-Rama.pdf

Mork Borg - https://www.morkborg.com/ 

Fiasco - https://bullypulpitgames.com/products/fiasco 

Lasers and Feelings - http://www.onesevendesign.com/laserfeelings/ 

The Witch Is Dead - https://gshowitt.itch.io/the-witch-is-dead 

Bark Against Evil - https://thebigtabletop.itch.io/bark-against-evil 

Routers - https://clutterarranger.itch.io/routers

Ep 220 - Preparing to Take a Break

Sometimes a break is inevitable.  Your campaign needs to go on hiatus for one reason or another.  If you know it’s coming, what can you do to prepare your game for a leave of absence?  Tune in this week and find out. 

 

#dnd5e #pf2e #dnd #dmtips #gmtips #TakeABreak

Ep 219 - Let Players Use New Abilities

Some DMs treat new character abilities as puzzles to solve or speedbumps on the path to kill the PCs.  As characters level up, they will get all kinds of abilities, some of which are carefully selected and crafted by the players.  In this episode, I give DMs some practical advice for embracing these new character abilities.

 

Resources:

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