The Joys of World Building

Episode  |  February 19th, 2022  |  50 mins 37 secs

adding flavor, three pillars, tips, world building

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a DM can be the time you spend creating a world for your players to adventure within. For those considering building a setting for a campaign, or even those who have done this before but want to up their game, we offer enthusiastic words of advice from our own experience.

Bigger on the Inside: A Guide to Extradimensional Space

Episode  |  January 28th, 2022  |  1 hr 1 min

extradimensional spaces, magic items, spells, tips

Ever needed to carry more stuff than your strength allows? Looking for a place to hide your party for an hour? Maybe your need to imprison a dozen of your enemies? Or store 27,000 cubic feet of gold coin? Whatever your storage needs, we've got you covered this week with our guide to extradimensional spaces.

Spice Up Your Combat Encounters

Episode  |  January 21st, 2022  |  57 mins 43 secs

Sometimes we find ourselves grinding through battles only to reduce our foes to zero hit points -- and frankly, that can get a bit boring. So this week we look at different ways you as either DM or player, can spice up combat by re-focusing the combat objectives away from simply killing everything, towards other more unusual and interesting objectives.

What to do if you give out too much treasure

Episode  |  January 14th, 2022  |  39 mins 15 secs

Sometimes as DMs we tend to over do it. And when it comes to treasure, it's easy to shovel out mountains of gold. But then what do you expect players to do with it? What if they start spending it in ways that de-rails the game? This week we look at some creative options for reducing player wealth.

Season's Greetings: How to Give the Perfect Artifact

Episode  |  December 21st, 2021  |  52 mins 10 secs

artifacts, character buffs, magic items, tips

'Twas the night before Mid-Winter Fest and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a Brigganock. Join us for our annual look at the magic items we hope to see under the tree this year -- with a special focus this season on the best items in the game: Artifacts!

New Feats, Background Feats, Epic Feats and More Feats

Episode  |  December 10th, 2021  |  44 mins 37 secs

ability check, backgrounds, feats, proficiencies, roleplay, social interaction, three pillars

There are so many interesting feats that you will never get to play. Well you could, if you didn't value an ability score bump more. So here's our hot take: with more and more feats being introduced into the game, why not let everyone take one or even two more just to round out their character?

How To Bring a Campaign to Its End

Episode  |  November 26th, 2021  |  33 mins 33 secs

adding flavor, combat, ending campaigns, three pillars, tips

If you are really lucky, maybe you will get a chance to play a long campaign with the same group of players over months, maybe even years. Through countless adventures, the PCs have become seasoned heroes, and now they must face one last challenge: how to say goodbye. This week we look at what needs to happen before the final curtain falls on your campaign.

Be the Support Hero Your Party Needs

Episode  |  November 19th, 2021  |  35 mins 56 secs

adding flavor, combat, support, three pillars, tips, weirdness

While many players try to optimize their damage output, we find ourselves asking: How do we optimize our support output? It's not as glamorous to take the help action, or dodge action on your turn -- but if done well, and combined with a few object interactions, you might soon find yourself significantly boosting the damage output of everyone else at the table.

How To Create Your Own Amazing Dragon

Episode  |  November 12th, 2021  |  48 mins 55 secs

boss monster, dm tips, fizban's treasury, npc build

Having spent some time digesting Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, we set out to put the book to the test: cooking up our very own Brass Dragon. We show you how to roll up the characteristics and features that quickly lead not just to a unique boss monster, but to an enticing NPC that a whole campaign could revolve around.

Revised Monk: Beyond the Flurry of Blows

Episode  |  November 5th, 2021  |  57 mins 48 secs

ki, monk, revised, steal this character

We believe that class design should be about archetypes not stereotypes. Currently, however, all monks kind of look the same, and it takes real effort to style them into something less obvious. That means taking a step back and looking at the whole class differently, and in particular how to use Ki differently.

Top 10 Scary Monsters for Your Halloween Adventure

Episode  |  October 29th, 2021  |  1 hr 5 mins

halloween, horror, monsters, top 10

It's that time of year when we launch our adventurers into the realm of horror to confront the creatures that we love -- love to scare them with at Halloween that is! Join us as we count down our favorite fright night beasts of the season.

Excited for Campaign 3: Is it Thursday Yet?

Episode  |  October 22nd, 2021  |  42 mins 17 secs

critical role, exandria, wildemount

Bidet, fellow critters! We are super excited about the new season of Critical Role that begins today. And in anticipation, we have gone and had a look at Marquet, the continent on which the campaign is set. As well as looking back on some of the exciting contributions that Critical Role has made to 5e, we also make a few predictions of things we'd hope to see.

To Infinity and Beyond: New Science Fantasy Races

Episode  |  October 16th, 2021  |  52 mins 6 secs

astral elves, autognome, giff, hadozee, plazmoid, races, spelljammer, thri-kreen, unearthed arcana

This week we take a journey beyond our Crystal Sphere, out into the multiverse -- bolding exploring new races being playtest in the latest Unearthed Arcana release. Join us for Giff, Plazmoids, Autognomes and more!

Into the Fey: Domains of Delight

Episode  |  September 24th, 2021  |  54 mins 55 secs

archfey, domains of delight, domains of dread, feywild, harengon, pixie, the wild beyond the witchlight

With the recent release of new Feywild source books, we look at the highlights that we love about this new dimension of D&D. We dig into new races, new monsters, new magic items -- and a new way to build a fey campaign setting that is very similar to how the Domains of Dread were laid out in Van Richten's Guide.

Finding You Own Feywild

Episode  |  September 17th, 2021  |  40 mins 43 secs

feywild, ranger, the wild beyond the witchlight, unearthed arcana, warlock

With the new Feywild camapign setting just around the corner, we look at some of the existing mythology of the Feywild, of the Seelie Court and the Gloaming Court, of the Archfey who make up each court, and of the popular culture (and folklore) you can draw upon to make this your own setting -- and how easily the stories of such a place can be told.

Character Origins: Which D&D Race is Best?

Episode  |  September 10th, 2021  |  40 mins 40 secs

So, you've decided to make a new character. Though you might be tempted by the simplicity and comfort of human, we encourage you to take a look at all of the possibilities out there in the Forgotten Realms (and beyond!). This week, we discuss which race gives you the best setup for early game mechainics and long-term roleplay. From Tortles to Yuan-Ti, we lay out each D&D race, picking apart what their best for (and not so great at).