Mastering Dungeons

Episode 284 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Best of Temple of Elemental Evil! Shawn and Teos dive into the classic Temple of Elemental Evil, inspiring countless spinoffs including 5E’s Princes of the Apocalypse. From elemental factions to demigods, we look at the best of this design. News: D&D Greyhawk Announcements, Codex Pricing Reveal, Modules Returning, RPG Growth in Indonesia and Iraq, and more!  Contents 00:00 Sweetest 16 01:22 5E Monsters Either Boring or Deadly? 08:56 Struggling with Prep? 15:18 New D&D Survey 16:40 D&D News from GaryCon 26:51 MCDM Codex Pricing 28:28 Indonesia's Tabletop Scene 30:58 RPG Community in Iraq 33:16 Origins Game Finalists 35:01 D&D Provides Critical Awakening 36:46 Trading Card Manipulation 39:05 Green Games Guide 39:36 Pirate Borg Winds of Hell 40:07 Black Ballad for Shadowdark 40:43 Temple of Elemental Evil 42:12 An Often-Played Classic 44:53 Origins of Elemental Evil? 49:55 Temple's History 54:49 Temple's Legacy 56:51 Hommlet as Innovation 01:01:21 The Moathouse 01:04:25 Cults and Imprisoned Zuggtmoy 01:10:25 Lessons in Boxed Text 01:12:46 Map Booklet 01:13:51 Resting and Travel 01:15:40 Elemental Evil Factions 01:17:58 Interesting Dungeon 01:20:27 Shout-Outs 01:23:46 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 283 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: D&D Encounters Program with Chris Tulach! Chris Tulach, organized play manager for D&D, shares how the revised D&D Encounters program will work for stores and home play, including the upcoming celebration event! Chris also discusses the latest with Adventurers League and Legends of Greyhawk. News: No Tariff Lawsuits, NeoPets Withdraws License, Chris Cocks Interview, Codenames Critical Role, and more!  Contents 00:00 Intro 01:40 Monster Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities? 11:35 Fair Stat Block Manipulation? 17:44 Tariffs Don't Require Lawsuits 21:49 D&D HeroClix 23:26 Hasbro's CEO on AI 29:15 NeoPets Withdraws License 33:15 20 Years of Kobold Press 35:05 D&D Reverse Dungeon Comic 36:02 Codenames Critical Role 38:22 Beyond the Silt Sea Annatan Coast 40:02 D&D Encounters with Chris Tulach 40:29 Chris' Path Through Organized Play 47:53 Longest Org Play Tenure 49:27 Goal of Organized Play 51:41 Measuring Benefits 54:52 Why D&D Encounters Rocked 01:04:37 D&D Encounters in 2026 01:06:32 Celebration Kick-Off Event 01:07:45 Seasons and D&D Encounters Timing 01:12:45 Encounters Through D&D Beyond 01:16:27 Working With Stores 01:17:48 Seasonal Cadence 01:20:02 WPN Store Incentives 01:23:37 Adventurers League 01:26:18 Legends of Greyhawk 01:32:55 Organized Play Options 01:37:06 AL and LoG Seasonality 01:39:22 Follow Chris Tulach! 01:42:31 Shout-Outs 01:46:32 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 282 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Matt Colville Blows Our Minds on MCDM and the TTRPG Industry! Matt Colville is here to absolutely blow our minds on how MCDM operates, how it pays, how it has worked to reach an audience, and what the rest of the industry might learn from that! News: D&D’s New Seasonal Roadmap, Is it Really 5.5, New D&D Website, What is Season of Champions, and more! Contents 00:00 Go Broncos! 02:03 Making Someone's Idea Ours? 10:52 Our Favorite Projects? 15:56 D&D's 2026 Roadmap! 17:11 Season of Horror and Ravenloft 21:16 Season of Magic and Arcana Unleashed 26:19 Season of Champions 27:33 Other Roadmap Items 30:32 D&D 2024 is 5.5 Maybe? 38:45 New D&D Website 40:48 D&D Beyond Q2 Partner Schedule 41:28 Creating Villains & Lairs 43:08 Matt Colville on MCDM 44:21 Matt's Formative Moment 50:45 What Led to MCDM? 56:31 Lessons from MCDM's 5E Era 01:02:00 Launching Draw Steel 01:09:30 MCDM's Financial Approach 01:15:03 Unique in the Industry 01:22:24 Redefining Industry Rates 01:27:20 Our Struggling Industry and YouTube 01:39:03 Perils of Distribution 01:47:08 Charting MCDM's Future 01:52:11 The Codex and VTTs 01:59:22 Shout-Outs 02:02:52 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 281 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: D&D Beyond’s Staff Looks to the Future! Brian Perry (DDB Executive Producer) and Zac Cohn (MAPS Product Manager) join Teos and Shawn to share D&D Beyond’s bold future! News: New D&D London Expo, MCDM Hires for the Future, Critical Role Hires from Hallmark, and more!  Contents 00:00 Weekend Wins 01:36 Why Don't NPCs Fix the World? 06:16 Campaign vs Adventure Design? 10:51 D&D Fan Expo London 14:08 MCDM's Future Includes Paul Hughes 16:25 IGDN Diversity Scholarships 17:25 Industry Sues for Tariff Refunds 19:42 Amber Glenn and Olympic Magic 21:12 Critical Role Hires from Hallmark 23:00 Renegade to Publish Exodus 24:48 BEASTS by Adrian Mejia 26:36 Dragon Rider's Primer 27:42 Fractus the Broken World 28:44 State and Future of D&D Beyond 29:16 Brian Perry and Zac Cohn 34:56 How Wizards and D&D are Organized 39:03 Deciding Priorities 44:03 Rebuilding D&D Beyond 47:23 Quickbuildear and New Players 52:07 DDB as a Honda Accord 55:19 More Features vs Simplicity 56:41 New Functionality 01:02:09 Fully Integrating 3rd Parties? 01:06:24 Use of AI? 01:08:59 Expand the API? 01:10:18 Building a Walled Garden? 01:11:26 Goal of Shifting Play to Digital? 01:13:50 Physical Versions of Digital Dice? 01:15:00 Find Brian and Zac 01:17:15 Shout-Outs 01:20:57 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 280 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Best of Princes of the Apocalypse! Teos and Shawn share the best of Princes of the Apocalypse, an adventure that brings back elemental evil and the elder elemental eye to D&D! News: D&D Beyond’s Roadmap, AEG Parts with Dancey, More WotC Hiring, and more!  Contents 00:00 Intro 01:58 Important to Research Lore? 12:43 Help Players Understand Choice? 18:24 D&D Beyond Roadmap 23:23 WotC Hiring Continues 24:45 AEG Parts with Ryan Dancey 28:47 D&D Cartoon Comics 29:30 Record Pokémon Auction 31:06 Princes of the Apocalypse 31:39 A Positive Analysis 35:12 Product History 37:14 Premise and Approach 44:51 Red Larch is a Great Town 47:59 Low-Level Adventures 50:40 Elemental Cults and Themes 52:46 Adventure Rhythm and Adapting Story 01:03:14 Elemental Nodes 01:07:41 Shout-Outs 01:11:17 What Are We Gonna Do Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 279 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Why is Red Hand of Doom So Good? Teos and Shawn share the best of Red Hand of Doom, a fan-favorite adventure from 3rd edition D&D! News: Hasbro vs Wizards Q4 Results, How AI is Used at Hasbro, Dark Heart of the Wood, and more!  Contents 00:00 Bringing the Loopiness 02:27 Players Always Team Up? 10:48 What Was or Is D&D Encounters? 15:56 D&D Encounters Returning? 17:46 Hasbro Q4 and 2025 Earnings! 20:24 WotC Q4 and 2025 Results 25:06 Upcoming Partnerships 29:00 Chris Cock on AI at Hasbro 35:04 How Big is D&D? 37:50 MCDM Has a Dark Heart 39:02 D&D's Therapeutic Potential 41:59 Portland Promotes Games 42:48 Evil Hat on RPG Finances 45:17 Nine Worlds and Bad Blood 46:48 Monsters & More for Nimble RPG 47:26 Curse of Stoneshatter Tomb 48:09 Red Hand of Doom! 51:05 Red Hand's History 54:04 Designer Notes 56:53 Premise and Approach 01:01:15 Repeated Approach 01:05:01 Starting Attitudes and Tracking Time 01:09:41 Approach Matters 01:12:20 Part 1 Witchwood 01:15:22 Part 2 Ruins of Rhest 01:17:17 Part 3 Ghostlord's Tower 01:19:19 Part 4 Enemy at the Gates 01:23:31 Part 5 Fane of Tiamat 01:31:50 Shout-Outs 01:36:16 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 278 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: What Made Tyranny of Dragons Great? Teos and Shawn look back at the first 5E hardback adventure, Tyranny of Dragons, discussing our favorite aspects of Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat! News: Baldur’s Gate 3 HBO TV Show, Polygon on Vecna, Teos Completes Lifetime, and more!  Contents 00:00 Herald's Guild Awards 03:38 BMG and Greyhawk Reveals 04:58 Too Much In-Character Talking? 10:09 WotC Interactions Change Over Time? 15:14 HBO BG3 D&D TV Show 20:03 Beadle & Grimm Spoiler? 22:13 Polygon on Obelisks and Vecna 29:21 Horrified Adds Ravenloft 31:24 Best of Tyranny of Dragons 32:17 Interesting Product History 35:45 Adventure vs campaign 37:37 An Awesome Premise and Approach 40:59 Additional Encounters 42:58 Campaign Villains 45:41 Campaign-Focused Character Options 48:29 Greenest in Flames 52:08 Caravan Chapter 54:42 Memorable Locations and Council of Waterdeep 59:57 Dragon Masks 01:01:21 The Cult Strikes Back 01:02:43 Epic Conclusion 01:06:50 Shout-Outs 01:10:28 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Episode 277 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Working in the RPG Industry! Shawn shares a panel he had with Jackson DiCarlo at the Running GAGG Gaming Conventions. They discuss working in the RPG industry, sharing the insights of Shawn’s long career and Jackson’s two-year experience as a designer! News: Cosmere’s Apple TV Deal, 5th New WotC Hire, D&D + Fortnite + Hytale, and more!  Contents 00:00 Winter Fantasy Bound 02:42 Happy 37th Birthday to 2E 05:08 Two Organized Play Campaigns? 23:55 Taylor Ann Navarro Joins WotC 25:53 D&D, Fortnite, and Hytale? 28:51 Variety Covers GMs 29:27 D&D as Organized Social Fun 31:41 Asmodee Partners for Wellbeing 32:31 Cosmere's Apple TV Deal 34:24 D20play Spotlighted! 36:12 TTRPG SRD Card Creator 37:07 Working in the TTRPG Industry 38:11 Shawn and Jackson's Backrounds 40:28 Getting Started in the Industry 49:59 Seizing Opportunity 56:14 How to Get Started 58:19 Design and Conventions 01:05:46 Technical Vs Creative 01:15:39 The Skill of Writing 01:18:19 Questions and Answers 01:22:54 Shout-Outs 01:27:15 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/  Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

They rethink what a session zero should actually accomplish and which goals deserve real time. Safety tools, consent checklists, and anonymous safety cards get practical attention. They debate challenge level, death mechanics, and how lethality shapes tone. Tips on collaborative campaign planning, allowed sources, character creation timing, and treating session zero as a social kickoff round out the conversation.

Savannah Houston-McIntyre, creative director at Baldman Games and senior designer for Mythmakers, led organized-play projects like Legends of Greyhawk and RealmsBound with Ed Greenwood. She discusses running convention-first campaigns, structuring regional metaplots, coordinating writers, virtual event logistics, and how to contribute writing and support for these large shared-world projects.