180 - Dust to Dust, A Campaign Post Mortem
/Rob is flying solo today, talking about one of his longest running campaigns, and hopefully imparting some useful advice about what NOT to do and how to avoid making the same mistakes.
179 - Guns N' Fantasy
/I do not roll with my hand. They who roll with their hand have forgotten the face of their father. I roll with my heart.
It's time to talk about cannons, blunderbusses, shattershots, fowling pieces, tanegashimas, arquebuses, fire lances, flintlocks, wheellocks, matchlocks, snaplocks, pepper boxes, and muskets. DMs Matt and Rob discuss how to include gunslingers and firearms in your campaigns. But first, a kickstarter updates on two popular and cool RPG campaigns:
178 - Arrakis After Dark (Talking Dune w/ Nat of Metamashina)
/Nat (@ashesforfoxes) of Metamashina joins Matt and Rob to talk about Frank Herbert's 1965 novel DUNE -- which you may have heard, is being made into a major motion picture -- as well as the myriad prequels, sequels, and spinoffs that the book has produced.
177 - Dungeon Master Advice from Us to You
/It's a mailbag episode! Time to help Dungeon Masters with their notes and organization, running fantasy cops, GMing for neurodivergent players, worldbuilding better planar cosmologies, and more!
176 - TEASER Worldbuilding 401 - Dragonology
/TEASER for our July patron episode:
🐉🐉🐉 Have you talked with your players about Dragonology? We are here to help!
It's a dive deep into one of our favorite supplements from 3e, Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. Time to think deep about dragon ecology, colors, and metals. Let's put some engaging dragons into your world. 🐉🐉🐉
175 - Back to Magic School
/Grab your wands and quills because MAGIC SCHOOL is in session. Inspired by the upcoming release of STRIXHAVEN for D&D, DMs Rob and Matt discuss the stories and pitfalls of using a magical school, college, or university as your campaign.
174 - Worldbuilding 201: Monster Ecology
/Matt and Rob discuss recent book announcements, read a classic Dragon Magazine article, and dig into the biology and behavior of your favorite RPG monsters!
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Skillet - Monster
Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber - Monster
173 - Railroading
/It's the Great Railroading Debate! Get your ticket punched and head into our dining car for a discussion of railroading and player agency. Choo choo, Dungeon Masters.
You can access our June patreon reward (and all our patreon rewards) by subscribing now. It's a spooky mythos murder mystery one-shot with coal mines, Yog-Sothoth, snake-handlers, and Egyptology in Appalachia!
172 - 12 Tactical Studies Rules for Life
/It's time to talk about the train wreck that is the corpse of TSR a.k.a. the "New TSR Games" a.k.a. "Weekend at Ernie's." Matt introduces Rob to the cast of grifters and bigots behind this company before getting to some dungeon master advice on handling difficult spells and introducing new players to the Forgotten Realms.
171 - TEASER Scuttlebutts and Discourses
/Preview of our June 2021 Patreon exclusive episode! Join us at https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone for the full episode for a discussion of DMing for Jack Black, Railroading, playing other systems, and speculation about future D&D releases.
170 - Class Warfare: Talking Barbarians & Paladins with Paul Sturtevant
/Our favorite historian, Paul Sturtevant of the Public Medievalist, is back to talk with us about the barbarian and paladin.
But first...flails are cancelled! Then, stick around for a great conversation on history, colonialism, Basques, and Smite Evil.
You can read Paul's article on the barbarian here and his short Twitter presentation on the paladin here.
BONUS - An Interview with Caleb Stokes of Hebanon Games
/Rob sits down to talk with Caleb Stokes about his many many many projects, especially his upcoming Kickstarter, Fae's Anatomy!
More links:
http://redmarketsrpg.com/
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/
https://arcdream.com/home/
https://www.patreon.com/dgdc
https://www.patreon.com/themixedsix
169 - Talking Horror, Publishing, and Ravenloft with Alex Clippinger
/Our favorite D&D writer from St. Louis (who is NOT a member of the Veiled Prophet ball) is back to share his experience publishing his stuff, writing for larger projects, and running horror games. Alex also takes us into his own personal Domain of Dread: a forever posting war in reactionary D&D Facebook groups.
Links to some of Alex's projects:
Ezmerelda's Encyclopedia of Evil
168 - Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft: Part II
/Matt and Rob dive into the actual Domains of Dread -- there's evil carnivals, dangerous games, sewer steampunk, land of the influencers, and more!
167 - Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft: Part I
/Hey, it's new book time and it's a good one.
Lots of great Dungeon Master advice in this one, folks.
166 - May the Mailbag be With You
/Matt and Rob answer your mail! Death! Reading campaign settings! How to pronounce "McElroy"! It's all here folks.
TEASER 165 - Making Villains
/TEASER for our first premium episode: Making Villains. You can join the International DM Union by subscribing to our Patreon page to get the full episode plus write-ups and stats for each villain.
https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone
"Matt and Rob sit down and roll up four villains for you to use today in your games: the relentless lich bounty hunter Dead Eyes, the schemer and social climber Don Marcelo Scarsi, the awakened displacer beast Iluros, and the warforged mastermind Quicksilver. Files with the villain descriptions and stats are included with the full episode. Enjoy!"
164 - Lessons from the 4e Dungeon Master's Guide
/Matt and Rob are back "In the Garage" for Dungeon Master tips, advice, and strategy from the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. There's some real hidden gems, solid advice, and useful tables for planning at you table here! Thanks 4e!
Check out our new Patreon for Bonus Episodes and Cool Stuff!
Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Jenn Champion - In the Garage
163 - O Brother My Brother Where Art Thou: Learning from TAZ
/Matt and Rob discuss THE ADVENTURE ZONE, specifically the now-finished arc, Graduation, which has generated some discourse. There's a lot to learn from other DMs, even and especially Travis McElroy. Also Rob gets really worked up.
Everyone Loves the McElroys, So Why Is Everyone Mad at the McElroys?
Music:
Pac Div - Roll the Dice
Alice Cooper - School's Out
O Brother Where Art Thou - Man of Constant Sorrow
Vitamin C - Graduation
BONUS - The Illrigger and the Warlord
/WARNING: This is a very niche episode reviewing the design and making of third-party classes for 5e D&D. DM Matt dives into the excellent Illrigger by MCDM Productions and our own Warlord. Links below!
The Illrigger Class