Ep 79: Actual Prep - Writing an Adventure
/DM Matt goes solo! He walks you through his process of writing an adventure in under an hour. Inspired by the image below and Tremors, Matt creates a village and monster for you to steal!
Ep 78: Penny Arcade Dreadful
/DMs Rob and Matt take a look at the Wizards of the Coast and Penny Arcade crossover hardcover for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. TL;DL Jerry Holkins is the Andy Borowitz of fantasy comedy writing.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Lana Del Ray, Club Clique - Video Games (Remix)
Ep 76: Worldbuilding Species
/Are there gnomes on the sun? DMs Matt and Rob discuss strategies for incorporating the standard Dungeons and Dragons species into your campaign worlds.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Brad Neely - Cat People
Ep 75: Ghosts of Saltmarsh Review
/Matt and Rob sit down and discuss the new nautical WotC adventure book, Ghosts of Saltmarsh! There's a lot of cool stuff here, so we only spend like a third of the episode griping about things we thought could be better.
Spoiler-free until 21:55. Rob is sorry about his squeaky mouse wheel.
Episode 74: Monster Mash 2
/DMs Matt and Rob whip up some new monsters for you to steal for your campaign.
The Rokrubai, fey with a detachable heads
Arcanomorphs, an Aliens inspired soul-stealing aberration
The Fisherman's Whale, a big friendly magical Cetacean
Links:
The Hangover by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Owen Gieni
Letters:
Michael has put together a less problematic character creation schema: Ancestry, Upbringing, Background. We love it!
Dalton asks about simplifying Psionics and the Mystic. Matt offers his own homebrew.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Sam & Dave - Soul Man
The Decemberists - The Mariner's Revenge Song
Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
Ep: 73: Game Master of Thrones
/DMs Matt and Rob discuss the ending of Game of Thrones and what to steal (and what not to steal) for your RPG inspiration file. The maesters did King's Landing 9/11.
Whew, glad that's done. How about a nice game of cyvasse?
SPOILER WARNING for Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire start at 06:00.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Velvet Underground - Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
The Hold Steady - The Bear and the Maiden Fair
Ep 72: Dragon Talk
/DMs Matt and Rob talk about the Dungeons and Dragons news of the week: elf divorce, shameless plagiarism, and the most popular D&D subclasses.
WARNING: SPOILERS for Game of Thrones Season 8 start at 25:00.
Then, your DMs of None discuss how to use dragons in your games and throw together some dragon encounters for you to steal.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Limahl - Never Ending Story
Ep 71: The Art of War and Role-Playing Games
/Dungeon Masters Matt and Rob discuss how to use war in your adventures. Rob rants about the importance of a Cure Dysentery spell. Plus, the answers to some of your letters!
Recommendations:
The Pursuit of Power, William H. McNeill
Forever War, Joe Haldeman
The Forever War, Dexter Filkins
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Donovan - The War Drags On
Complicated - Avril Lavigne
BONUS: Best of Year One!
/Hello friends! Today we celebrate our first year of Dungeon Master of None with some of our best moments, advice, and jokes. Please share this episode with your friends and community!
Episodes:
Episode 4: I'm Not Here to Make Friends
Episode 65: Medieval Times w/ Special Guest Paul Sturtevant
Episode 67: Vancian Podcasting
Episode 25: PbtA, theme, and worldbuilding with special guest Michelle Nickolaisen
Episode 30 - D&D One Shot, One Kill(er Adventure)
Link:
Ep 70: DM Tips 203
/DM Rob gives some Dungeon Mastering tips as he reflects on the end of his three-year-long Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Take what Rob has learned and apply it to your game! And as the poet said, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
Planning throughout the campaign [05:00]
Building party cohesion [13:00]
Dealing with indecision [18:00]
Matt's 3 Tiers of Intra-Party Talk [22:15]
Teaching new players and helping them grow [36:40]
Concluding a campaign [41:15]
Adding an epilogue [50:00]
Link:
The Advanced Artificer on the DMsGuild
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Semisonic - Closing Time
Ep 69: Worldbuilding Plot Hooks
/Nice! Are elves tall? The definition of "Matt's Law of Forgotten RP Servers." Do you allow or encourage romantic and sexy situations in your game?
Your DMs of None discuss building plot hooks big and small into your campaign settings.
Links:
The X-Card by John Stavropoulos
The Advanced Artificer on the DMs Guild
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Silver - Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang
Ep 68: The DMs Guild Grind with Alex Clippinger
/Special guest Dungeon Master Alex Clippinger is here with wise words and sage advice for all aspiring DMs.
Ever thought about publishing that adventure, monster, or magic item on the Dungeon Masters Guild? This is the episode for you!
Check out Alex's cool RPG stuff over at the DMsGuild!
Music:
Roll the Dice - Pac Div
9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Grinding All My Life - Nipsey Hussle
BONUS: We Made a Thing
/DMs Rob and Matt have completed their first (self-) published Dungeons and Dragons book: The Advanced Artificer. Your DMs of None discuss the process of designing and publishing the thing for the Dungeon Masters Guild in the hopes that our conversation will inspire you to publish that thing you've always been meaning to finish.
Meanwhile, why don't you buy our book? It is only two bucks, has a story by Rob, and even has a cute magical robot dog! Leave us a review, comment, and some stars too! Here's the link:
The Advanced Artificer on the Dungeon Masters Guild
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Visigoth - Dungeon Master
Episode 67: Vancian Podcasting
/The Mailbag of Holding (Type III) returns! DMs Rob and Matt answer your questions on Dungeon Mastering and more.
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Jurassic 5 - Freedom
Cake - Wheels
Episode 66: Earthsea is the G.O.A.T.
/Howdy y'all, it's the Kickstarter roundup! Yeehaw! Then, your DMs of None talk about the D&D "canon" and whether it has any value. What should be in the new canon and what are the books that have influenced your Dungeon Mastering? What is in your Appendix N? Let us know!
Kickstarter Roundup:
Critical Role: The Animated Series
Lasers and Liches: Tales of the Retroverse
Welcome to Tikor: The Swordsfall RPG Setting
Witch+Craft: A 5e Supplemental
The Great American Novel: A Roleplaying Game
The Veil Inheritance
Humblewood
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Ice Cube - The Predator
Episode 65: Medieval Times w/ Special Guest Paul Sturtevant
/DMs Matt and Rob are joined by the Smithsonian Institute's Paul Sturtevant. Not only is Paul the founder and editor-in-chief of The Public Medievalist, but he has a new book, The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film and Medievalism, that listeners of this show will really love.
We talk about castles in DC, what the public knows about medieval history, and how to deal with race in role-playing games. Paul tells us about the roots of Dungeons and Dragons races in 19th-century scientific racism, the camp of knightly tournaments, the weird aesthetics of Warhammer Fantasy, and why your shouldn't treat the Middle Ages (and your worlds in quasi-medieval settings) as the "trash pit of history."
Links:
The Public Medievalist Magazine
Paul's new book: The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film and Medievalism
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
GZA, RZA, Ghostface Killah, Killah Priest - 4th Chamber
Episode 64: Artificer? I hardly know 'er!
/DMs Matt and Rob review the new version of the Artificer. An effusion of infusions for everyone, huzzah! Happy Artificer Day to one and all.
But first, the Lasers & Liches kickstarter is back! Be sure to check it out and have a listen to our full review back in Episode 23.
Listener questions:
David asks, "Can I improvise my way through world-building?"
Ryan asks, "How should I prepare for a kickstarter?"
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Iron Man
If I Had a Hammer - Peter, Paul and Mary
Episode 63: Homebrewing Classes
/The DMs of None chat about home-brewing classes in sub-classes in 5e DnD. We take a look at some of our favorite homebrew and third-party classes and speculate about what to create on the show in the future!
Classes and sub-classes reviewed:
The Blood Hunter by Matt Mercer
The Pugilist by Benjamin Huffman
Broath of the Brotherhood by Ryan Bennett
Oath of the Common Man by the_singular_anyone
Tome of the Pact by Alex Clippinger
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Jean-Joseph Mouret - First Suite in D
Seu Jorge - Space Oddity by David Bowie
Episode 62: Dungeons Deep and Caverns Bold!
/Let's talk about and create dungeons! Matt and Rob discuss the essentials of dungeon building: story, theme, ecology, and variation. Your DMs then build a one-page dungeon "live!"
No abusers in our RPG community.
Links:
Rough draft of the one-page dungeon
Final draft of the one-page dungeon
Link to Dyson Logos' table of random dungeon entrances
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Merle Travis - Dark as a Dungeon
Pete Seeger - Which Side are You On?
Episode 61: Worldbuilding 203 - Factions and Politics
/DMs Matt and Rob talk about how to design factions, powers, and political groups that will hook your players. Let's build some better worlds!
Letters:
"What are some strategies to employ between encounters?"
"How do I create emotional and cinematic moments for my players?"
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn)
Ghost Mice - Critical Hit, recorded by DMofNone listener "Cinderblock" Sally