What do you do when your player is unhappy with the direction of their class and wants to change over into a new class mid-campaign, but with the same character? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave answer a listener question about their player that wants to change their character’s class from Paladin to Sorcerer at 5th level. We delve into not just the narrative components of a change like this, but also the mechanical effects that such a change would inevitably bring. Along the way, we offer...
Apr 28, 2024•42 min•Ep. 140
The tavern. It’s the start of 23 different campaigns that DM Tony has been in over the last three decades. It’s a fantasy adventure trope and gets a lot of hate out there for being basic and unimaginative, but is that necessarily a bad thing? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave return to our RPG Mythbusters series and test the myth, “Is a tavern the best place to start an adventure?” Will it be confirmed, plausible, or busted? 0:49 The return of RPG Mythbusters, all the way back to Episodes 3...
Apr 14, 2024•51 min•Ep. 139
With our recent Forged in Fire article series , DM Chris realized how many Conditions that monsters have resistance and immunity to, especially in 5e. With that, we began to discuss how much (or little) we play with Conditions in our home games, and how that might be limiting what we can do to craft engaging, thrilling, and challenging encounters. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave delve into the Conditions mechanic (both in and out of 5e), the issues we have with some of them, what ones we ...
Mar 31, 2024•57 min•Ep. 138
One of the beauties of TTRPGs is the ability to not just watch or read an amazing story, but to experience it… to create it. The mystery, the action, the climactic battle between good and evil; D&D gives us the ability to create our favorite stories. One of the most important aspects of that, as the DM, is creating a level of mystery to the story that the players get the chance to uncover as they delve deeper into the adventure. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss a listener quest...
Mar 17, 2024•44 min•Ep. 137
Homebrewing has been part of the game since its inception. Hell, the game itself is a homebrew of wargames! We’ve discussed homebrewing in previous episodes and articles , but a listener asks the question about how to homebrew magic items and monsters from well-known pop culture sources (like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe.) In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their top nine tips to pulling in objects and ideas from existing beloved pop culture properties and making them have th...
Mar 03, 2024•49 min•Ep. 136
Birthday games. Several of our recent articles and episodes discuss our passion for running birthday games for our game group, whether it be D&D, the OSR , Avatar Legends, or the classic Marvel Super Heroes system; it’s become our thing. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the recent Birthday Game they ran where The Doctor teamed up with the Sensational She-Hulk and members of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four to stop the impending Cyberman invasion orchestrated by the wielder o...
Feb 18, 2024•44 min•Ep. 135
Inspiration. Along with Advantage and Disadvantage, its one of the most streamlined mechanics in 5e. However, we all love to try new or adjusted mechanics to continually improve our DMing. Fellow Wise DM Mike Shea over at Sly Flourish shared an article discussing the Luck System from Kobold Press’ Project Black Flag playtest. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss Inspiration; how we use it in our games and the changes we have made and are thinking of making to improve our games. For all...
Feb 04, 2024•47 min•Ep. 134
Sharing. It’s one of the first skills that we have to learn as kids and, as anyone who has gamed for long enough, some kids never quite learned how to do it. Our longtime listener, Jim Laubacker, posed a question regarding how to best deal with players that won’t share the spotlight. As a bonus, Jim is also trying to balance a group that is a hybrid of in-person and virtual players! In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the ways in which they’ve adjusted to turn the dominant and passive...
Jan 21, 2024•54 min•Ep. 133
Happy New Year! Just in time for our 2024 Season, Johnny at For Monster Kids has designed our newest logo, a beautiful homage to the legendary Dave Trampier … let us know what you think! And for our first episode of 2024, we delve into a listener question regarding the players constantly Splitting the Party in their Curse of Strahd campaign and how that’s leading to DM Burnout. But, Splitting the Party is a gift to a DM, isn’t it? I mean, now you can really dial up the tension, right? In a dunge...
Jan 07, 2024•54 min•Ep. 132
What do Hit Points represent? Who knew that this was a controversial question on par with asking about Alignment? Following our episode reviewing the Avatar Legends RPG and their use of Fatigue and Conditions, we posed the question regarding what hit points represent on our socials and the response was impressive. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave take a deeper dive into what Hit Points represent in their games, how they describe the loss of them, and how other systems approach one of the o...
Dec 17, 2023•46 min•Ep. 131
The 3 Wise DMs just played through the new Avatar Legends RPG Starter Set from Magpie Games. Based off the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Avatar Legends is about as different from D&D and Pathfinder as can be. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave review the Avatar Legends system, the one-shot that we played as well as discuss tips, tricks, and pitfalls to playing completely new systems – how to prepare, how to run, and how to play – for new and experienced DMs and GMs alike. 1:00 Yet AN...
Dec 03, 2023•52 min•Ep. 130
We recently shared a post about our Halloween one-shot adventure that we started referring to as the “Kurt Russell Campaign.” Four players, all playing one of the legendary roles made famous by your favorite, and ours, Mr. Kurt Russell. The response was fantastic, so we thought we’d do a deeper dive. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave are joined by return guests Bonnie and the Monster Wrangler himself, and now official DM, Matt, who decided that for his first official session behind the scre...
Nov 12, 2023•47 min•Ep. 129
Most of us who enjoy TTRPGs like D&D also love board games… classic board games, strategy games, resource management games, and the list goes on. It won’t take long until you as a DM start thinking of implementing some of your favorite board games or board game mechanics into your D&D sessions. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the ways that they have utilized their favorite board games and board game mechanics to create some incredibly unique, innovative, and fun game sessi...
Oct 29, 2023•43 min•Ep. 128
Spell effects in Fantasy TTRPGs are easily the times when we as DMs and GMs have to respond on the fly to changing parameters. In systems like 5e, we’ve discussed how they’ve crafted a system that does some of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to rulings. But, no matter how many rules exist, you are going to have times that interesting uses of spells make you have to adjudicate in a completely new way. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss ruling on how spell effects change the la...
Oct 15, 2023•48 min•Ep. 127
Roleplay. It’s commonly understood to be one of the three pillars that make up the game of D&D. But, roleplaying between the DM and player is one thing… how do you get your players roleplaying amongst themselves? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their best tips in getting players to roleplay amongst themselves, drawing from their games in Tomb of Annihilation, Shadow of the Dragon Queen , Journey to Ragnarok, and their homebrew world of The Further. A game full of great rolepla...
Oct 01, 2023•51 min•Ep. 126
12 players. 2 DMs. 6 dragons. Tiamat. 2 birthday cakes… and a whole hell of a lot of fun! As a companion piece to DM Tony’s recent article , the 3 Wise DMs are joined by some special guests to discuss and detail the lessons learned from running our largest endeavor yet – a massive, multiple-campaign ending game that required 2 DMs to pull off. If you’ve ever thought of running a massive Endgame-style game, or toyed with the idea of co-DMing, this is the episode for you! As always, please visit o...
Sep 17, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 125
In the immortal words of The Bard… “To roll or not to roll, that is the question…” Rolling dice is the cornerstone of TTRPGs, because without them, as DM Chris says, we’re just telling a story as we play with our GI Joe’s in the backyard. So, when you’re running a session, when do you decide to haventhe players, and yourself, pick up the dice? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave springboard off a listener question that deals with trying to speed the game up in a homebrewed superhero campaign....
Sep 03, 2023•44 min•Ep. 124
Cutscene. In a video game, it’s a scene shown to the player when they reach a particular point in the game, such as at the end of a level or when the player's character dies. The immense popularity of videogaming and the similarities between them and TTRPGs begs the question: Can you, or should you, utilize cutscenes in your game? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave respond to a listener’s question regarding the idea of “cutscenes” in your TTRPG sessions and how best to deliver narrative, lor...
Aug 20, 2023•51 min•Ep. 123
Murderhobos. It’s one of the most discussed issues in any TTRPG discussion. Players who don’t feel like there’s no encounter that can’t be solved by casting “Sword.” But what happens when your party turns out to be what we refer to as “Anti-Murderhobos”? What if the party isn’t motivated to engage and/or end the evil machinations of the Bad Guys? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss a listener question regarding their Curse of Strahd group who wants to let the evil NPCs in Barovia “Liv...
Aug 06, 2023•45 min•Ep. 122
Magic. It’s the thing that separates Fantasy RPGs from all others. Every other TTRPG can have combat, exploration, social situations… but magic is the secret sauce that makes fantasy special. Many DMs and GMs toss around the idea of “low magic” worlds, but what does that mean exactly? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the definitions and parameters of low magic and how we’ve implemented it into our games. Along the way, we share several tips and tricks to limit access to god-like po...
Jul 23, 2023•46 min•Ep. 121
Gold. It’s the perfect representation of the reward mechanic from the earliest days of the White Box. Hell, it even used to represent experience! As a companion piece to our 19th episode on RPG Economics, Tony, Chris, and Dave delve into not just how to make things worth using the gold for, but also the idea of how you, or DO you, account for the treasure that the party finds? And please visit our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice for all your dice and dice accessories and get 10% off your entire o...
Jul 09, 2023•44 min•Ep. 120
At some point, most DMs pursue the idea of a world and/or a campaign where multiple DMs are running the game. This is an audacious and exciting project, so in this week’s episode, 3 Wise DMs teamed up with our friends, Lewanika, Josh, and Glen at Tabletop Journeys (www.TTJourneys.com), to discuss shared worlds, shared campaigns, and shared universes… as well as all the other discussions that happen when you try to corral six DMs into a conversation. 1:33 The first ever DM Duet In history? 3:00 O...
Jun 25, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 119
The DM Screen. It’s one of the quintessential D&D visuals. But what goes behind it? What lurks behind that foot-high barrier between the characters and the gods? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave delve into how they use the DM screen, what they want to have behind it, and what they need to have behind it. One thing you do need behind your screen though is dice… so check out our affiliate link with FanRoll dice for all your dice and dice accessories. Go to www.Fanrolldice.com/ref/2871 to...
Jun 11, 2023•44 min•Ep. 118
We’ve talked about it many times on the podcast. We’ve been waiting for a chance to run it. We finally did! DM Dave ran us through an old-school dungeon crawl for our friend Scott's birthday with the Basic Fantasy Roleplaying RPG. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave review the pros and cons of returning to Basic Moldvay-era D&D with the OSR. Final verdict: More pros than cons… try it out! For any Dice and Dice Accessories, visit our affiliate link at www.FanRollDice.com/ref/2871 for 10% o...
May 28, 2023•46 min•Ep. 117
Sleep takes you as you wrap yourself into your bedroll in your campsite in the forest. Your slumber is surprisingly restful this night. As you wake in the morning, you find yourself having taken an Oath to a God and possessing several new spells… Not very satisfying, right? We can all understand that Fighters and Rogues just get better at doing the things they do, but what about Paladins, Warlocks, Clerics, etc… characters that gain incredibly powerful class abilities that are not of this world?...
May 14, 2023•42 min•Ep. 116
Running a game is a lesson in balance. There are so many dials and mechanics that you need to manage while also focusing on being what Gary Gygax referred to as “the Shaper of the Cosmos.” Anyone who has started running games or been running for decades has found hacks to make running the game that much easier and streamlined. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their favorite DM hacks that we’ve employed in our games. 1 :30 Hack# 1: Where are we going next? Focusing your prep. 2:30 H...
Apr 30, 2023•54 min•Ep. 115
Game groups fall apart. It’s as inevitable as the rain. What do you do when your current group goes south, but you still have a player who wants to continue? Do you continue with the current campaign? Do you now run the entire rest of the party, the monsters, and all the NPCs? The 3 Wise DMs answer long-time listener Jared’s question about his Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign and delve deeper into utilizing Sidekicks, DMPCs, and other tips with one-on-one gaming. 0:51 Co-host introduction… whom ...
Apr 16, 2023•41 min•Ep. 114
New DMs. It’s easily the most discussed topic in the TTRPG hobby. We’ve talked before about tips and tricks for new DMs looking to run their first games. However, this week, we got the chance to sit down with our return guest Chris and his brand-new to all things fantasy, D&D, and DMing friend, Lenny Szot… who decided to dive into the deep end and run his first game ever! Throughout the episode, we detail 13 tips and tricks to help but, in the end, Lenny’s advice is the most succinct: Just D...
Apr 02, 2023•53 min•Ep. 113
In this episode, Tony and Dave sit down with our good friend and fellow gamer, Scott Washburn of Paper Terrain ( www.paperterrain.com ) to discuss the tradition of using terrain, maps, and minis from the earliest days of the game up to our current times. Along the way, we discuss how we have used and continue to use physical props to enhance our games as well as the tips and tricks to ease the burden on the DM. 1:35 Scott’s Story. 3:30 The mythical “White Box.” 5:20 Minis evolution from wargamin...
Mar 19, 2023•54 min•Ep. 112
Hello and welcome BACK to 3 Wise DMs! It’s been quite some time and we’re glad that we’re back… Back in Black, that is - like Vampyr, our epic, final BBEG to end all BBEGs in Barovia. We thought that it worked out that the absolute, final ending to our 2+ year Curse of Strahd campaign coincided almost perfectly with the initial launch of 3 Wise DMs – and that deserves a proper sendoff. So, we gathered the players, the Monster Wrangler (what’s that?), and the DM to discuss how we homebrewed the s...
Mar 05, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 111
