BONUS - Review of Lancer and Mechwarrior: Destiny

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In a special bonus episode, DM Matt reviews two new big, stompy robot RPG systems: Mechwarrior: Destiny and Lancer. Matt explains why the Battletech Universe kicks ass (01:50), how Mechwarrior: Destiny fails to harmonize its narrative and simulationist mechanics (22:20), and why you should play the Lancer RPG (36:00).
Spoilers: there is a free version of the Lancer rules and it does what Mechwarrior fails to do, combine rules-light play and fun tactical combat mechanics. 

Links:

Lancer RPG

Mechwarrior: Destiny

Free Intro to the Battletech Universe

Music: Zipper Interactive - Opening Cinematic to Mechwarrior 3; Flight of the Conchords - Robots; Mechwarrior 2 Soundtrack by Jeehun Hwang, Gregory Alper, and Kelly Walker Rogers - Sable Flame; Yoko Takahashi - A Cruel Angel's Thesis; Ragtime Revolutionaries - Chicks Dig Giant Robots.

131 - Too Many Hobgoblins and Other DM Problems

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How many hobgoblins are too many? How can you mix up antagonists so your players aren't bored? What is the best system for a Last Airbender game? How can you get your foot in the door if your group is all experienced Dungeon Masters? DMs Matt and Rob do their best to answer these and other questions! Plus, they discuss a refutation of the erasure of people of color in medieval Europe from a fan, new RPGs on the horizon, the joy of one of your players taking over as Dungeon Master, a pro-D&D take from a Christian Dungeon Master, and some kick-ass Icelandic runic spells and world-building! Never fear a Tilberi as long as you have your Butterknot stave handy. Trust us, that'll make sense after you listen. 

Links:

Carta Marina

Icelandic Staves

Jacob's Amazing Map for "Tremors"

The Christian Response to D&D

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Louis Armstrong - You're the Top; Sigur Rós - Starálfur; Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand; Ozzy Osbourne - Fire in the Sky; Kaleta & Super Yamba Band - Jibiti

130 - Exploring Eberron with Keith Baker

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It's our favorite Dungeons and Dragons world-builder himself, Keith Baker! Keith is here to talk about his awesome new book, Exploring Eberron, out now! We discuss Keith's "Rule of Three" for world-building details, how to include fairy tales in your lore, how to fight a war with magic, what 5th edition gets right, why you should start small and build out, how to plan history with random tables, when to follow your players, and more Eberron advice from the Hellcow himself! 

Links:

Exploring Eberron on the Dungeon Masters Guild

Keith Baker

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice 

129 - iHunt with Olivia Hill

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DMs Matt and Rob are joined by special guest Olivia Hill to discuss her new tabletop RPG, iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy. Stay tuned for a discussion of RPG design, FATE mechanics, writing games for working and marginalized people, and some great game master insights from our guest! Can you guess who the real monster is? (Hint: It begins with "capitalist..." and ends with "...mode of production.")

Links:

iHunt the Tabletop RPG: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy by Olivia Hill and Filamena Young

Machine Age Productions  

Olivia and Filamena's Patreon  

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice 

The Coup, Lakeith Stanfield - OYAHYTT

128 - The One-Page RPG Expo (and DM Advice)

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Welcome to the World of Tomorrow! DMs Matt and Rob take you on a tour of both host and listener created one-page Role-Playing games. Thank you to everyone who submitted a game!

Then, it's on to some Dungeon Master advice: how to deal with a party that has a magical solution to every problem, how to set prices for magical stuff in 5e, and how should we think about Tolkien's racism and colonialism? 

One-Page RPGs:

Guns & Butter by Rob

Suplexes & Sliders by Matt

Pomp & Circumstance by Steve from Yorkshire

Streeps & Turings by Callahan from Denver

Bad Day in Superhero City by @infinitebrooms

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice 

Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction

Fight Like Apes - I'm Beginning To Think You Prefer Beverly Hills 90210 To Me

Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It

Traditional - The British Grenadiers

Karla Devito - We Are Not Alone

John Williams - Superman Theme 

Led Zeppelin - Ramble On

127 - How Did We Get Here?

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DMs Matt and Rob attempt to take stock of the failures of the corporations that control Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and OneBookShelf) over the past decade and discuss recent goings on in both D&D and Magic: The Gathering. Then, we answer your letters on dealing with overpowered homebrew classes and speeding up combat with large parties! 

Links of stuff discussed:

Orion D. Black's Itch Page

Eat the Rich Anthology

Asians Represent Podcast

Oliver Clegg's DMG Page

Olivia Hill's #iHunt: The RPG

Zaiem Beg, "The Wizards I Know"

Lizbeth Eden 

"Wizards of the Coast, Nic Kelman, & Hypocrisy" by A.E. Marling

Send Us a One-Page RPG by Sunday July 12th 

Performance of She Kills Monsters on July 12th 7pm 

 

Contact Us:

Email or at the DM Hotline (774) 203-4629‬

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

The Coup - The Guillotine 

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Rodriguez - This In Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues lyrics

125 Diversity and One-Page RPGs

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DMs Matt and Rob discuss successes and limitations of Wizards of the Coast's recent statement. Then, we discuss One Page Role-Playing Games! Perfect for breaking you out of a quarantine Dungeon Mastering rut. 

 

Links:

BIG GAY ORCS

Lasers and Feelings

Everyone is John

Honey Heist 

All Outta Bubblegum

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Fight Like Apes - I'm Beginning to Think You Prefer Beverly Hills 90210 to Me

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World 

BONUS Actual Homebrew MEGA-EPISODE

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Howdy Dungeon Masters, in this bonus episode, DM Matt walks listeners through some homebrew magic item (0:02:45), spell (0:25:30), and monster (0:44:00) creation before reflecting on revising the Advanced Artificer (0:57:00) and reviewing a listener undead supplement (1:11:00) and adventure anthology (1:18:00). It's a MEGA-EPISODE. Let us know if you like it! 

Links:

BlackAF Round Table 

Throne of the Crescent Moon Items, Spells, and Monsters

The Advanced Artificer 2.0: Revised and Upgraded

Restless: A Guide to Laying Incorporeal Undead to Restby V.J. Harris

The Princess Project by Ashton Duncan, Carlos Cisco, Catherine Evans, Sharene Gilchrist, Noah Grand, Emily Harmon, Peter Harris, Brittney Hay, Jessica Marcrum, Harry Whitelaw

Music:

Roll the Dice - Pac Div; Say You’ll Say So - Geoffrey Landers;  Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann’s Earth Band; The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel; Ghostwriter - RJD2; My Favorite Mutiny - The Coup; Write This Down - George Strait; Enter Sandman - Metallica; Gimme Some Lovin’ - Spencer Davis Group; Walking with a Ghost - Tegan and Sara; Boss Ass Bitch - PTAF

123 Mythic Odysseys of Theros

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Dungeons and Dragons is back with another Magic: The Gathering crossover campaign setting: Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Dungeon Masters Matt and Rob review the ideas that we love and critique the executions of those ideas that falls woeful short. Strap on your winged sandals, burnish your shield to a mirror shine, and grab your friendly Bubo, because it's time to get Greek with D&D! 

Links:

Mystic Odysseys of Theros

Odyssey of the Dragonlords

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Hedwig & the Angry Inch - The Origin of Love

Donovan - Atlantis 

Locomondo - Odysseia 

The Who - Athena 

122 Dungeon Master Book Club - Throne of the Crescent Moon

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This week DMs Matt and Rob read Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. Dungeon Master of None highly recommends this excellent novel! Come for a discussion of action and adventure in a world modeled on D&D ideas, and stay for the great characters, items, and world-building to steal for your own campaigns.

Links:

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

"Judgement of Swords and Souls" by Saladin Ahmed 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Dick Dale - Misirlou 

Episode 121: A Christian Response to Dungeons & Dragons

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Sit down by the fire and stoke your pipe, because today Matt & Rob put on their academics' robes and read a classic of D&D history. We revisit the halcyon days of the Satanic Panic with "A Christian Response to Dungeons & Dragons: A Catechism for the New Age". Come learn why D&D is "the most effective introduction to the occult in man's recorded history". Fun AND educational!

Episode 117: Running D&D for Kids

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DM Matt and special guest Andy discuss every aspect of Dungeon Mastering D&D and other RPGs for kids and teens. 

Links:

Jamboard

Ryuutama RPG

The Quiet Year

Dungeon World (SRD) (Review Episode)

Amazing Tales

Beyond the Wall

Hero Kids RPG

Black Hack 2e (Open Game Content)

Tiny d6

BASH RPG

Fate Accelerated (SRD)

 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Kim Wilde - Kids in America

P.O.D. - Youth of the Nation 

Episode 115: Roll for Initiative

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DMs Matt and Rob roll for initiative! Let's talk everything initiative and turn order: when to use it, why to use it, and how to track it. Plus, six different variants to the system you can use in your game! 

Unearthed Arcana:

March 2020 - Spell Tattoos and Summon Spells

April 2020 - Psionics (Again!)

Links:

Matt's Psionics Rules

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying initiative aka "popcorn"

Pathfinder 2e initiative rules

Savage Worlds initiative

Dungeon World "initiativeless" rules 

Simple initiative options by Sly Flourish 

Music:

Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Wiz Khalifa - Ink My Whole Body

Pixies - Where is my Mind? 

The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!