Characters Over Combat: What We Learned From Gaming in 2021

The tavern. It’s the start of 23 different campaigns that DM Tony has been in over the last three decades. It’s a fantasy adventure trope and gets a lot of hate out there for being basic and unimaginative, but is that necessarily a bad thing? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave return to our RPG Mythbusters series and test the myth, “Is a tavern the best place to start an adventure?” Will it be confirmed, plausible, or busted?0:49 The return of RPG Mythbusters, all the way back to Episodes 39 and 42.1:56 Everyone knows what a tavern is as opposed to, let’s say, a Paladin’s Chapel.3:50 Taverns are a historically accurate meeting place; the true “town square.”6:45 DM Dave returns to the Lord of the Rings novel and reminds us that Gandalf drops lore in Bilbo’s house for 25 pages. Taverns can be much more organic to reveal the plot.9:50 The tavern affords an easy, stress-free environment to introduce the players and their characters to the story and the world – which can be especially helpful with new players.14:15 Session Zero could be a “tavern” by providing an intro to introduce the adventure.15:40 The type of game can change whether a tavern is a good or a bad idea; in can be a phenomenal time sink.17:20 Our tangent into 7-11 and Denny’s being modern-day taverns when we were teenagers.18:10 Implied consent: the unsaid agreement between DM and players that you’re ready to go on an adventure for the session.24:55 What type of adventure/campaign are you running? That should guide how and where you’re starting.33:08 Lore Tolerance: how Taverns and “In Media Res” starts allow you to control the flow of lore dumps.36:45 DM Chris’ idea that combat is the best way to bring characters together: A Band of Brothers. And how DM Dave leaned into this for our Dragonlance campaign.43:15 Final Thoughts: Myth Confirmed, Plausible, or Busted?

With our recent Forged in Fire article series, DM Chris realized how many Conditions that monsters have resistance and immunity to, especially in 5e. With that, we began to discuss how much (or little) we play with Conditions in our home games, and how that might be limiting what we can do to craft engaging, thrilling, and challenging encounters.In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave delve into the Conditions mechanic (both in and out of 5e), the issues we have with some of them, what ones we find to be somewhat limp, and the ones we would love to usemore. We also delve into what we have found is a Condition we often times inflict on ourselves as DMs: Expectations.3:00 DM Tony returns to his problem with Stun mechanics… all the way back from Episode #4!4:00 Making your game challenging without having them turn into “Gotcha” moments for your players.6:20 Developing encounters with certain Conditions in mind. DM Dave’s Lair of Dragansalor from DM Chris’ 12 person Birthday game.7:45 Seeing Advantage and Disadvantage as a Condition.8:35 The power of Conditions through multiple systems and editions.11:10 Using Conditions to control combat… more interesting than bags of hit points.13:15 How Conditions, like Stun, have the players control the combat. Should you change it?21:40 Skills, Saves, and the Rule of Cool article link.22:45 Expectations: Conditions we place on ourselves as DMs.32:45 Heroes of the Realm (including our Star Wars analogy): Be excited when the players mop the floor with the bad guys, regardless of the Conditions.42:05 Resource management, Short, and Long Rests as Conditions.46:15 Final Thoughts

One of the beauties of TTRPGs is the ability to not just watch or read an amazing story, but to experience it… to create it. The mystery, the action, the climactic battle between good and evil; D&D gives us the ability to create our favorite stories.One of the most important aspects of that, as the DM, is creating a level of mystery to the story that the players get the chance to uncover as they delve deeper into the adventure. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss a listener question about the mystery that they’re planning on having last for 10 levels and ask, “am I being cruel by leaving them in mystery so long?” 4:05 3 ways it can go: 1) your plot twist becomes campaign defining, 2) players will rage quit, or 3) it falls flat.4:55 Your campaign is not a novel.7:30 New players might not even understand what they’re choosing when they’re still trying to understand the game mechanics.9:40 If you have something to get through to the players: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.11:00 The difficulties of conveying the story in a spoken medium.12:30 DM Tony discusses his difficulties in conveying lore-heavy campaigns.14:08 What will the player’s choose? How this can affect the overarching campaign if its too set in stone.16:25 New players might not be as new as you think with the advent of live-play games. But, then again, they might not remember what all the different dice are either.19:05 DM Chris’ analogy of trying to teach something to someone and the lessons we can learn for in-game use. Listen for when the players begin to “parrot back” your plot drops.23:50 The difference between YOUR reveal and THEIR reveal… tie the reveal to the characters. Matt Colville’s “A Tale of Two Campaigns” video.28:40 For a campaign-defining mystery like “Mystara is dying,” there are infinite ways to create a breadcrumb trail for the players to pick up on.35:55 Final Thoughts

Homebrewing has been part of the game since its inception. Hell, the game itself is a homebrew of wargames! We’ve discussed homebrewing in previous episodes and articles, but a listener asks the question about how to homebrew magic items and monsters from well-known pop culture sources (like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe.)In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their top nine tips to pulling in objects and ideas from existing beloved pop culture properties and making them have the same level of gravitas as the book, series, or movie that they come from.1:00 A Rock and Roll DM Tour Story.2:05 A listener question about homebrewing monsters and items from The Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson from longtime listener Dr. DM, Jason.4:30 Tip #1: Scaling homebrew to the tier that your campaign is in, for leveling systems like 5e.5:30 Tip #2: Kitbashing from existing items, spells, monsters, etc. (like a Balor that turns into a demonic Bob Ross…)8:10 Tip #3: Ask yourself 2 questions. 1) What is the world you’re pulling from? and, 2) How does the object, magic, or idea work in that world? 9:45 Tip #4: Benchmarking the magic, items, spells, etc. to what your players have and what the enemies have access to.12:45 Our experience with this when we crafted He-Man’s Sword of Power for our Curse of Strahd campaign. Click here for the stats on DM Dave’s unique weapon for Strahd, Lament, the Impaler.16:35 Tip #5: You can have it… you just can’t have it now.21:45 Tip #6: Powerful objects don’t exist in a vacuum. The wars fought over Shardblades and the Spice Melange.24:40 A tangent into how DM Tony’s famous barbarian, Hawk Morgan, has become “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe.”26:20 Tip #7: Take into account how the object affects the campaign world (i.e. the Sun Sword in Barovia).28:05 An example of Tip #5… the quest that needed to happen to craft Takal Aestar, the “Dragon’s Union” (our Sword of Power.)30:50 Tip #8: Scaling up existing magic items and having them grow with the character (DM Chris’ Sun Sword/Holy Avenger, Drakmar Venges, the “Dragon’s Vengeance.”)36:45 DM Dave’s Unique Paladin Longsword, Morthwyl O Duw.40:00 Tip #9: Give powerful items and weapons some history, legends, and gravitas.41:10 Final Thoughts

Birthday games. Several of our recent articles and episodesdiscuss our passion for running birthday games for our game group, whether itbe D&D, the OSR, Avatar Legends, or the classic Marvel Super Heroes system;it’s become our thing.In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the recent BirthdayGame they ran where The Doctor teamed up with the Sensational She-Hulk andmembers of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four to stop the impending Cybermaninvasion orchestrated by the wielder of the Cosmic Control Rod, Annihilus, anddo battle against the Brood in a giant Space Whale (believe us…. It made waymore sense at the table!)We then discuss our 7 best tips to help you build your ownVery Special One-Shot for Birthdays or any other day!2:20 Finding the right type of setting and property toshowcase the gift of the Birthday Game. DM Tony revisits his love of theclassic AD&D adventure, Castle Greyhawk.4:30 Tip #1: Have a Solid Theme.5:30 DM Dave gives a brief overview of the impetus for the “LostEpisode of Doctor Who” that birthed this episode.8:25 Tip #2: Use Existing Properties: How we’ve builtexisting properties like Masters of the Universe into existing games, like our Curseof Strahd campaign. Shout-out to the team over at Nerdarchy!16:20 Tip #3: Choose the Best System for the Setting AND thePlayers.18:00 Tip #4: Go All Out. Terrain, minis, costumes… reallystretch your limits.19:00 We revisit DM Tony’s Murder Mystery One-Shot that hebased off Clue.20:19 Tip #5: Use the Players Favorite Character/Campaign asthe Focus.22:28 Tip #6: Tie It into Your Existing Campaigns… and our overarchingMultiverse.24:50 Tip #7: The most obvious… Focus on the Special Player.30:45 DM Chris brainstorms planning a Birthday One-Shot inreal time.36:45 Final Thoughts.

Inspiration. Along with Advantage and Disadvantage, its oneof the most streamlined mechanics in 5e. However, we all love to try new oradjusted mechanics to continually improve our DMing. Fellow Wise DM Mike Sheaover at Sly Flourish shared an article discussing the Luck System from KoboldPress’ Project Black Flag playtest. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss Inspiration;how we use it in our games and the changes we have made and are thinking ofmaking to improve our games.For all those Inspiration dice, check out our affiliate linkat FanRoll Dice to get 10% off your entire order.3:00 Our recent Marvel FASERIP game that gave us some ideas.Check out Professor Bill at Comic Book University.4:15 Keeping track of Inspiration, both as a player and as aDM.5:20 How something like the Luck System evens out the powerdifferential between DM and players.7:25 Our first change… DM Dave allowing DM Inspiration tostack starting in our Curse of Strahd campaign.13:25 How the idea of karma from the FASERIP system is morethan Inspiration.14:16 We start to brainstorm, in real time, an idea to tiekarma and Inspiration together.15:25 Bards… the pros and cons of the quintessential buffand inspiration class.17:45 Our second change… DM Dave using Inspiration as areaction for the bard from the One D&D playtest in our Dragonlance: Shadowof the Dragon Queen campaign.20:38 Our third change… DM Tony’s method of usingInspiration and other rewards that are active for a single session.24:08 Our fourth change… DM Chris’ method of Inspiration inthe form of Blessings, single-use Magic Items, and Campfire Tales in our Tombof Annihilation campaign.34:30 Introducing the right amount of chaos into your gameand our return to the discussion about the location of the Sunsword in our Curseof Strahd campaign.38:50 A trip down memory lane when you could stack potions…in your belly.39:42 Final Thoughts.

Sharing. It’s one of the first skills that we have to learnas kids and, as anyone who has gamed for long enough, some kids never quitelearned how to do it. Our longtime listener, Jim Laubacker, posed a questionregarding how to best deal with players that won’t share the spotlight. As abonus, Jim is also trying to balance a group that is a hybrid of in-person and virtualplayers!In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the ways inwhich they’ve adjusted to turn the dominant and passive players weaknesses atthe table into strengths. Additionally, they delve more into the difficultiesthey’ve experienced in running hybrid games and some tips and tricks withdealing with a very new issue in TTRPGs.As always, if you’re in the market for dice (who isn’t?)make sure to check out our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice to receive 10% offyour entire order.1:33 Our listener question – How to deal with players thatwon’t share the spotlight with a bonus wrinkle… the group in question is ahybrid of in-person AND virtual.3:05 Players that are so excited that they want to beinvolved in every scene.4:44 The very heavy lift when dealing with a hybrid table ofpart in-person, part virtual.10:36 The difference between players who are actors andthose who are audience members.15:45 The player that is involved with Every. Single.Activity. And my example that pushes DM Tony’s buttons about spell componentsand wizards…21:00 Narrative side scenes: an easy way to give everyplayer their spotlight.25:45 Review the characters in your session prep: Find thespots in the session for their moments.28:00 There’s no “I” in team (think Avengers over IndianaJones) and how sharing the spotlight can keep the campaign together instead of ending.35:50 Curating your group and turning player weaknesses intostrengths.37:37 Giving players a “power position” to balance out thedominant players(s) – the birth of Little One.43:02 The spectrum of passive vs. dominant players – kind oflike railroads vs. sandboxes.46:20 Final Thoughts.

Happy New Year! Just in time for our 2024 Season, Johnny at For Monster Kids has designed our newest logo, a beautiful homage to the legendary Dave Trampier… let us know what you think!And for our first episode of 2024, we delve into a listener question regarding the players constantly Splitting the Party in their Curse of Strahd campaign and how that’s leading to DM Burnout. But, Splitting the Party is a gift to a DM, isn’t it? I mean, now you can really dial up the tension, right? In a dungeon, or a mansion, or a Keep, sure. But what about when the party is split up into three sections of the campaign world?!In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss strategies for dealing with players who constantly want to run, in essence, three separate games within a single session. Further, we delve again into the very real topic of DM Burnout and finish our Final Thoughts with some prescient wisdom from DM Thorin.As always, check out our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice and receive 10% off your entire order!1:25 Our shout out to Johnny Ott at For Monster Kids for our brand-new logo!2:20 A listener question regarding the constant splitting of the party over the whole map is leading to DM burnout.4:57 Splitting the Party leads to splitting the table into multiple 15-minute blocks. Is that fun?6:10 It’s a Trap! The greatest Fantasy movies, novels, and TV series Split the Party but D&D is a game first and foremost.12:50 D&D is a team sport.13:45 A constantly split party? How running multiple side quest missions can help, if time permits. Also, have you Layeth the Smacketh Down, as The Rock would say?16:00 Tying important details and clues to certain characters can entice the players to stick together.18:20 The difference between being a player at the table and being an audience member.19:40 Don’t even split up in Boston. Our experiences with Call of Cthulhu.22:20 The power curve and the loss of fear in players. “We can take this!”26:00 DM Burnout: The place where player agency and Expectations on your DM meet.32:50 Putting it back to the players. Emotional Intelligence and Empathy at the table.34:25 Encounter Charts that can warn players off certain plans.35:45 Session Zeroes and consistent communication. Making sure everyone has the opportunity for fun, including the DM.37:15 Things are going to happen: Strategies for dealing with side quests.42:18 Final Thoughts, with a flashback to some prescient Final Thoughts wisdom from DM Thorin.

What do Hit Points represent? Who knew that this was a controversial question on par with asking about Alignment? Following our episode reviewing the Avatar Legends RPG and their use of Fatigue and Conditions, we posed the question regarding what hit points represent on our socials and the response was impressive. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave take a deeper dive into what Hit Points represent in their games, how they describe the loss of them, and how other systems approach one of the oldest traditions of D&D.1:10 DM Dave’s article on Fatigue and Conditions from Avatar Legends.1:45 What do Hit Points represent?4:00 The history of hit points and armor class and the evolution towards 5e.7:50 5e’s “Big Bag of Hit Points” and how DM Tony adjusted for his Journey to Ragnarok campaign.12:30 When the “Big Bag of Hit Points” still doesn’t matter, even in 5e.13:00 DM Dave’s article on Vampyr and the Dark Powers.14:35 Should severe hit point losses carry additional consequences?21:05 The simplicity of hit points to dial up the tension at the table.23:30 How do we envision hit points and how do we ideally like to describe the loss of them.32:48 How 4th edition handled this in a player-centric way through the Bloodied condition.35:45 Lingering Wounds and additional consequences… are they right for YOUR table?39:20 Final Thoughts.

The 3 Wise DMs just played through the new Avatar Legends RPG Starter Set from Magpie Games. Based off the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Avatar Legends is about as different from D&D and Pathfinder as can be. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave review the Avatar Legends system, the one-shot that we played as well as discuss tips, tricks, and pitfalls to playing completely new systems – how to prepare, how to run, and how to play – for new and experienced DMs and GMs alike.1:00 Yet ANOTHER birthday game playing the new Avatar Legends RPG from Magpie Games.4:30 Running a game that’s so based on a specific pop culture world.7:30 DM Tony LIKED the pre-generated characters?!?9:25 An even easier way of ending single-point failures and having the characters fail forward.14:25 The difference between wargames turned RPG like D&D and roleplay/story-focused games.15:45 How much do players need to be onboarded for lore-heavy systems like Avatar?21:10 The difficulties with running a new system like Avatar Legends for even an experienced DM.23:45 An interesting and cinematic way of approaching hit points through Fatigue and Conditions.32:45 How your preconceptions of RPGs will affect how you play new systems.35:20 How the Avatar Legends Starter Set could help better onboard GMs unfamiliar with the system.42:25 The possibilities of the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics.43:30 Final Thoughts.Check out our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice to get 10% off your entire order!