Taking 20 Podcast

Ep 175 - Wizards of the Coast, Pinkertons, and That One DM Question

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 GMs out there a useful tool:  one question you can ask your players to keep them from making a preventable mistake.

#DMTips #Dnd #OpenDnd #Pathfinder #WOTC #Pinkerton

Ep 174 - Quest Design - 36 Dramatic Situations

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 are just as compelling today as they were then.

 

#dnd #opendnd #Pathfinder #DMTips #StoryDesign 

Resources:

https://www.storyanddrama.com/the-36-dramatic-situations-of-georges-polti/

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations

 

http://ifxgroup.net/plots.htm

Ep 173 - Monster Series - Oozes

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 can be so much more than that.  In this episode I talk about how DMs can use oozes and a couple of particularly nasty encounters that include them.

 

#dnd #pathfinder #opendnd #DMTips #oozes

Ep 172 - PvP and David Carter of Crucible of Fate

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 Crucible of Fate.  We talk about running PvP and the challenges of running a 5e competitive game show.  Thank you David for being so generous with your time and your expertise!

 

#CrucibleofFate #dnd #PvP #DMinterview #DMTips

 

Resources

Crucible of Fate Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJ5d0XblyYA7Sh6sWVhGFw 

Crucible of Fate Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/crucibleoffate/ 

Crucible of Fate Discord server:  https://discord.gg/hjDAER9DWb

Crucible of Fate Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Crucible_ofFate 

Ep 171 - Good NPCs - Quest Givers

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 campaign the directions you'd like.

 

#dnd #Pathfinder #opendnd #orc #DMTips

Ep 170 - Narrative Combat, Armor Class and Hit Points

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 affect narrative combat.

 

NOTE:  Fixed the audio edit error about 11 minutes in.  Sorry about that.

 

#dnd #opendnd #pathfinder #narrative #combat

Ep 169 - Honor Among Thieves Review and Use of RPG Social Skills

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, diplomacy, and intimidation to rob a player of agency over their character.

#dnd #opendnd #Pathfinder #DMTips #persuasion #diplomacy #intimidation

 

Resources:

Dungeons and Dragons:  Honor Among Thieves

Startplaying.games

Warhorn.net

Looking for Players & Groups D&D Beyond board

D&D Beyond Discord

Ep 168 - Monster Series - Hags

In an episode idea from generous donor Tim McKenzie, this week we talk about hags, especially their penchant for deals and their lethal abilities.  What makes hags tick?  What are their motivations and how can GMs use them in their campaign?  Tune in and find out.

 

#dnd #Pathfinder #opendnd #DMTips #hags

 

Resources:

Monsters Know What They’re Doing - Hag Tactics - https://www.themonstersknow.com/hag-tactics/

The Monsters Know What They’re Doing - Hags - https://www.themonstersknow.com/hags-revisited-part-1/

Volo’s Guide to Monsters

Ep 167 - Immersive Roleplaying

This week's topic comes courtesy of listener Daniel Mehefko who wanted me to discuss immersive roleplaying.  What is immersive roleplaying?  How can players and DMs encourage their fellow players to engage in more immersive roleplay?  Tune in and find out.

 

#dnd #pathfinder #opendnd #roleplay #roleplaying

 

Resources:

Venture Forth - 10 Rules to Improve Immersion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw3aJz5lGO0

Grog and Scanlan go hat shopping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvSGvbEf1HI

Ep 166 - Dealing with Ill Prepared Parties

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 hands up and walk away?  Throw hands at your players?  Throw a rave instead of gaming that night?  In this episode look at the different ways parties can be ill prepared for what lies ahead. and talk about multiple options for how to handle this situation.

 

#DnD #Pathfinder #Opendnd #DMTips