Dungeon Master of None

Another week of piping hot Dungeon Master advice, served with a smile! Plus, join us for a discussion of Kate Welch's departure from WotC and some amazing analysis of fascism and 40k from Special Warhammer Correspondent CthulhuBen! What is the best old UA subclass? How should I build a campaign around a city in the Feywild? What is the deal fascism in Warhammer 40k? How to create some great homebrew subclasses for the monk and sorcerer? How does a DM deal with role-playing multiple NPCs in one place? Links: Ben's Twitter David Roth's on "Starship Troopers" When Warhammer Was Radical: The Egalitarian Origins of the Fantasy Battle Game Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco Bolt Thrower vs. Neo-Nazi Scum Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Cake - Frank Sinatra; Bolt Thrower - The Killchain; Look at Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch

Rob is back with a functioning microphone, and the DMs are talking about WotC surveys, APPS, and of course, encounter design. If you're mad that Matt said "WILLIAM Dafoe", don't worry, so am I. https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dd-survey-2020 Inclusive TTRPG List Music: Pac Div -- Roll the Dice Nightwish - Wishmaster Imagine Dragons - Warriors

Is T1 - The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax the best adventure for novice players and new Dungeon Masters? Should you run it or adapt it for your group? Is it even any good? DM Matt and Special OSR Correspondent Andy do a deep dive into this classic of grognardia. Your hosts go into the history of Hommlet, the reasons why you might want to play T1, and how to learn DM skills by converting and putting your own spin on this old school adventure. The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax on the DMsGuild Links: Tales of the Iron League Rules by Andy The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon The Delian Tomb Intro Adventure by Matt Colville Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Iris DeMent - Our Town

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.

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

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

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

DMs Matt and Rob discuss the character options in the most recent Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana on Feats! Links: Unearthed Arcana - Feats Matt's Half-Feat Rules Music Pac Div - Roll the Dice Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

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

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