Thac0 with Advantage 90. Beyond Persuasion Checks

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, the last time we made a Survival check, we followed the tracks back to D&D. Dungeons & Dragons has established the three tiers of the game as combat, roleplaying, and exploration, and while the definition of these three tiers is native to Dungeons & Dragons, it's easy to see and apply the concepts to other fantasy RPGs. We’ve taken a look at roleplaying and combat, and now we’re going to dive into exploration. What does the exploration tier encompass, how much does it interact with the rules of the game, and what do we need to do to make exploration in the game meaningful.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, the last time we made a Survival check, we followed the tracks back to D&D. Dungeons & Dragons has established the three tiers of the game as combat, roleplaying, and exploration, and while the definition of these three tiers is native to Dungeons & Dragons, it's easy to see and apply the concepts to other fantasy RPGs. We’ve taken a look at roleplaying and combat, and now we’re going to dive into exploration. What does the exploration tier encompass, how much does it interact with the rules of the game, and what do we need to do to make exploration in the game meaningful.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is readying its action to cast hold person on us if we try to leave. Sometimes no matter how much talking you do eventually you end up in a fight. It can be exciting to do big amounts of damage or to barely survive due to your low hit points, but sometimes the numbers game just isn’t as compelling as it could be. That’s why we’re looking at ways of making your D&D and other fantasy gaming combats more exciting and varied.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D gives us permission to be social with people we don’t already know! What are the rules for social interactions? We’re not talking about personal space and active listening skills, we’re talking about the rules in fantasy roleplaying games that govern our interactions with other characters. What are some best practices for those scenes where our characters keep their weapons sheathed and try to flex their soft skills? That’s what we’re looking at in today’s episode.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D won’t let us ascend to become Immortals yet. It is in the nature of all things to end, but what does that mean for D&D and fantasy RPG campaigns? What does it take for the end of a campaign to feel meaningful, and how much effort do you have to invest to get that result? How far out do you plan for an ending, and what happens if you realize the end is nearer than you expected? We’ll look at the end of campaigns in our episode today.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D told us we’re high enough level to build a podcast and attract followers. Sometimes the real treasure is the friends we made along the way. Other times, the real treasure is the treasure we found along the way. But some rewards sit in the middle between those two extremes. This episode we’re going to take a look at other ways to reward your players beyond standard treasure. Get ready to hand out those titles, supernatural gifts, followers, and brand new puppies.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D surrounds us and penetrate us, binding our fandom together. If you’ve ever looked into how fiction is categorized, many times you’ll see sci-fi and fantasy as a meta-category. We know there are some huge differences between sci-fi stories and fantasy stories, but what about those stories that really do have one foot in both genre? And what does that kind of genre mash up mean for fantasy gaming? In this episode we’re going to look at space opera as fantasy, and how that fits into your fantasy gaming.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D gives us puppy dog eyes from our bookshelves if we don’t pick it up and play it once in a while.  In the past we’ve looked at the history of D&D and how it has interacted with diversity and representation, as well as why its important to be mindful of this topic. This time, we’re revisiting the topic, but from a slightly different angle. We want to talk about why its not just the right thing to do, its the smart thing to do when it comes to running a better game. We’re going to look at the benefits of good representation in your fantasy campaigns.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is the game always stocked in our pantry at home. Whether its at a convention, when you want a change of pace from your regular campaign, or you want to introduce new players to a fantasy RPG, compelling one shots can be an important tool for you to have at your disposal. We’re revisiting the topic of one shot games, put them in context of the history of RPGs, and give you some tools for making them work for you at your table.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D changes over time when we’re not looking. When your NPCs has personalities and goals, it can make your world feel more dynamic. But what happens when that NPC depth remains static over a campaign that spans years? How can we advance our NPCs so that they’re not just two-dimensional, but they actually travel through the fourth dimension. Today on the show we’re going to look at how and why to change your campaign NPCs over time.