Ep 67: Vancian Podcasting
The Mailbag of Holding (Type III) returns! DMs Rob and Matt answer your questions on Dungeon Mastering and more. Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Jurassic 5 - Freedom Cake - Wheels
Mar 27, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Dungeon Master of None
A general interest podcast for fans of Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs
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Episodes
Ep 66: Earthsea is the G.O.A.T.
Howdy y'all, it's the Kickstarter roundup! Yeehaw! Then, your DMs of None talk about the D&D "canon" and whether it has any value. What should be in the new canon and what are the books that have influenced your Dungeon Mastering? What is in your Appendix N? Let us know! Kickstarter Roundup: Critical Role: The Animated Series Lasers and Liches: Tales of the Retroverse Comrades RPG Arcana of the Ancients Rosenstrasse Seas of Vodari Welcome to Tikor: The Swordsfall RPG Setting Witch+Craft: A 5...
Mar 20, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Ep 65: Medieval Times w/ Special Guest Paul Sturtevant
DMs Matt and Rob are joined by the Smithsonian Institute's Paul Sturtevant. Not only is Paul the founder and editor-in-chief of The Public Medievalist , but he has a new book, The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film and Medievalism , that listeners of this show will really love. We talk about castles in DC, what the public knows about medieval history, and how to deal with race in role-playing games. Paul tells us about the roots of Dungeons and Dragons races in 19th-century scienti...
Mar 13, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Ep 64: Artificer? I hardly know 'er!
DMs Matt and Rob review the new version of the Artificer. An effusion of infusions for everyone, huzzah! Happy Artificer Day to one and all. But first, the Lasers & Liches kickstarter is back ! Be sure to check it out and have a listen to our full review back in Episode 23 . Listener questions: David asks, "Can I improvise my way through world-building?" Ryan asks, "How should I prepare for a kickstarter?" Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Sir Mix-A-Lot - Iron Man If I Had a Hammer - Peter, Pau...
Mar 06, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Ep 63: Homebrewing Classes
The DMs of None chat about home-brewing classes in sub-classes in 5e DnD. We take a look at some of our favorite homebrew and third-party classes and speculate about what to create on the show in the future! Classes and sub-classes reviewed: The Blood Hunter by Matt Mercer The Scholar by Charrmeleon The Pugilist by Benjamin Huffman Broath of the Brotherhood by Ryan Bennett Oath of the Common Man by the_singular_anyone Tome of the Pact by Alex Clippinger Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Jean-Joseph...
Feb 27, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Ep 62: Dungeons Deep and Caverns Bold!
Let's talk about and create dungeons! Matt and Rob discuss the essentials of dungeon building: story, theme, ecology, and variation. Your DMs then build a one-page dungeon "live!" No abusers in our RPG community. Links: Rough draft of the one-page dungeon Final draft of the one-page dungeon Link to Dyson Logos' table of random dungeon entrances Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Merle Travis - Dark as a Dungeon Pete Seeger - Which Side are You On?...
Feb 20, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Ep 61: Worldbuilding 203 - Factions and Politics
DMs Matt and Rob talk about how to design factions, powers, and political groups that will hook your players. Let's build some better worlds! Letters: "What are some strategies to employ between encounters?" "How do I create emotional and cinematic moments for my players?" Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn) Ghost Mice - Critical Hit, recorded by DMofNone listener "Cinderblock" Sally
Feb 14, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Ep 60: DM Tips 202
DM tips! Learn how to start games good! Practice shutting the hell up! And more! Plus, DMs Matt and Rob answer your letters and get some deserved criticism and critiques! Tips: playing on the cheap...setting the tone...seeing, hearing, smelling for your players' characters...using your posture...preparing social situations...listening to your players...how to make mistakes... Letters: steampunk and hopepunk responses and critiques! What's the best way to build dungeons? How do I get started read...
Feb 06, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Ep 59: Genre Talk and Goths who like Brown
DMs Matt and Rob answer your questions! Then, let us sit upon the ground. And tell sad stories of the death of genres. Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Aurra - A Little Love Jeremiah Kane - The Future Past
Jan 30, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Ep 58: Do we need a 6th edition?
DMs Matt and Rob tackle the ultimate question of life, the multiverse, and everything: should there be a new edition of D&D? Spoilers: we don't. But we will get one...eventually. Your DMs then speculate wildly about what might and should be changed. Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice David Bowie - Cat People (Put Out Fire)
Jan 23, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 58
BONUS: Listener Worldbuilding
As iron sharpens iron, so one worldbuilder sharpens another. Matt and Rob discuss your homebrew campaign settings and ideas in this special bonus episode! Thank you to everyone who sent us your work! Music: Roll the Dice - Pac Div Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McClintock Princes of the Universe - Queen
Jan 20, 2019•58 min
Ep 57: Worldbuilding 102 - Gods & Magic
The professors are in! It's an advanced worldbuilding class focusing on gods, faith, and magic systems. Links: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down Gillian Welch - Old Time Religion
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Ep 56: Dice Farce
Happy New Year! After alienating every listener from the UK, your DMs of None answer some unwanted advice and then use real historical artifacts to build new magic (and mundane!) items for your campaigns. Image Gallery Historical Magic Items 2: The Dragon's Maw, the Cyrosiphon, and the Mirror of the Exalted Ancestor Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Ty Dolla $ign - Shell Shock Nicki Manaj and Eminem - Roman's Revenge...
Jan 09, 2019•56 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Ep 55: The Old School with Special Guest Andy
Happy new year! Welcome to a brand new episode of Dungeon Master of None on Old School Rules and mega-dungeons with special guest Andy. [00:19:20] What is OSR? Andy discusses what types of campaigns and players work best with Old School Rules. [00:49:00] The art of the mega-dungeon design. Plus, Andy gives his trademarked 1d4 rules for creating a mega-dungeon. [01:04:45] Matt and Andy riff up some sweet mega-dungeon concepts for you to steal. [01:10:20] How to raise money for charity at your con...
Jan 02, 2019•1 hr 13 min
Ep 54: Strongholds and Footnotes
It's your mega-episode for the holidays! DMs Rob and Matt review two successful kickstarters that are now available for public purchase: Savage Worlds Adventure Edition [00:11:05] and Strongholds and Followers [00:44:00]. Then, on to your DM questions and letters [01:20:00]! Gerard asks, "Will I destroy my game giving my players opposing goals?" [01:21:10] Scott says, "Quidditch is trash." [01:25:45] Ryan asks, "What are quick tips for creating interesting NPCs and setting their CR?" [01:26:05] ...
Dec 26, 2018•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Ep 53: Hobbit Phrenology
DMs Matt and Rob sit down for a deep dive into Tolkien, race, drow, Game of Thrones, and Euro-centric campaign worlds. Listen to a discussion of how to think critically about ideas of race in fantasy RPGs. We hope you will leave with some ideas about to tell anti-racist stories in our games. You can do your DM of None homework by reading Paul Sturtevant's article on the Public Medievalist, "Race: the Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre." Recommendations: Saladin Ahmed - Throne of the Crescent Moon...
Dec 19, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Ep 52: You are a Pirate!
WARNING: Spoilers for Skulls & Shackles begin at 37:30! Have your players ever wanted to acquire a ship? Pirates are the murder-hobos of the sea, so let them! DMs Rob and Matt discuss how to plan open-ended nautical adventures for your players. Stick around for a review of Skull & Shackles, one of the best pirate modules ever published! Music: Roll the Dice - Pac Div Black Is the Color - Lucette Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid - Luigi Boccherini You are a Pirate - Lazy Town...
Dec 13, 2018•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 52
Ep. 51: Worldbuilding 101
DMs Matt and Rob cover the essentials of building your own world for RPG campaigns: scale, theme, and conflict! If you want to join us on this worldbuilding epic quest, then join us on twitter . Let's all build new campaign worlds together! Music: Roll the Dice - Pac Div Drunk as Dragons - The Woodbox Gang Dungeon Master - Visigoth
Dec 05, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Ep 50: Pod of Many Things
It's a mailbag episode! We. Answer. Your. Letters. But first, DMs Rob and Matt chat about surprise Yog-Sothoth as well as the new errata and unearthed arcana for DnD 5e. Here's a link to Matt's homebrew rules for 5e Naval Combat. Also, because we live in Hellworld, we talk more about the Flaming Sphere of Shit that is White Wolf (now featuring Instagram despot Ramzan Kadyrov). Here comes the letters: Jai asks, "Did you here some other stuff about Nolan T. of Roll20 being a jerk?" [00:21:00] Sall...
Nov 29, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Ep 49: D&D is an eSport now?
Hoooooo boy. So remember back when the CEO of Hasbro said that D&D was going to be the new "E-Sport?" Well, it didn't take long for someone to try to put that together. DMs Matt and Rob watched the very first competitive PvP game of D&D on Twitch and are here to talk about it. We aren't saying you can't have competitive RPGs. You can. But, uh, this ain't it, chief. Music: Roll the Dice, Pac Div He Got Game, Public Enemy & Stephen Stills Fight Night, Migos...
Nov 21, 2018•50 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Ep 48: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Mage (plus Ravnica)
Matt and Rob review two new releases from Wizards of the Coast: The Dungeon of the Mad Mage and The Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica . NO SPOILERS! If you are planning on playing Mad Mage , do not be afraid! Your DMs only talk about the adventure in general terms. Megadungeons! What are they? What types of players and dungeons masters will enjoy this type of adventure? Matt and Rob discuss the benefits and limitations of megadungeon-style adventure and what you can steal for your own campaigns. DM...
Nov 15, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Ep 47: D&D is a bicycle and other tortured metaphors
After some uninformed speculation about what the announced 2019 D&D campaign setting book will be, Rob and Matt discuss a recent article in Quartzy , "Dungeons & Dragons Created the Blueprint Nerd Culture Still Follows Today" by Dave Gershgorn. Q&A time! If you could DM for any three celebrities, who would they be? What video game needs a TTRPG rulebook? Can a DM metagame? What is your answer to these questions? Let us know at dmofnone@gmail.com ! Music: Roll the Dice, Pac Div Be Hea...
Nov 06, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Ep 46: The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Put on your masks and get out your account books! Matt and Rob are joined by a very special guest, Dave the Prof ! They discuss Seth Dickinson's groundbreaking fantasy novel, The Traitor Baru Cormorant . The book's approach to race, queerness, and empire will get your fantasy world-building gears turning like no other novel! Happy Halloween and happy the Monster Baru Cormorant day! Links: On Top of the World, Dave's podcast (Matt is also a co-host) The Traitor Baru Cormorant The Monster Baru Cor...
Oct 31, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Ep 45: Water Heist, Deep Dragon
Matt and Rob review the newest adventure from Wizards of the Coast, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist! WARNING! Spoilers begin at 45:10. But first, we gird ourselves for a Tales from the Loop TV series and a Wheel of Time TV series. Matt shares his bafflement with TORG: Eternity . Now, on to Waterdeep ...Dragon Heist is a welcome departure from the all the other 5e adventures...modular antagonists...it's so short (and that's a good thing)......non-adventuring things for your adventurers to do...walking th...
Oct 24, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Episode 44: Mail Bag of Holding, Type II
DMs Matt and Rob talk about RPGs in the classroom using the Reacting to the Past curriculum and Matt's panel on Paradox Interactive 's video games and history. Now, on to your letters: Nate writes, "Discord has a dice roller and a macro add-on!" [16:30] Ryan asks, "Is the Dynamic Lighting option in Roll20 worth it?" [21:00] Abstract Figure writes, "I love old school throwing weapons and boomerangs from movies of the 80s and 90s. What's the best way to put these iconic items into a game for my ki...
Oct 17, 2018•51 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Episode 43: DMing 201
"7 DM Tips to take your game to the next level...#6 will blow you away!" "Players hate him! Master the Game with this one Weird Trick!" Matt and Rob are back with some slightly more advanced tips to help you as a game master! But first, a listener asks, "Can I run a game with two swapping Dungeon Masters?" On to the tips: creating a recap blog...playing to your strengths...you are using your DM screen wrong...the freedom of rolling in the open...binders full of NPC names...player name tents...ge...
Oct 02, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Episode 42: Playing Extremely Online
Matt and Rob discuss some recent drama related to Roll20, a virtual tabletop platform [05:40]. Your hosts then try present both the challenges and opportunities of running RPGs online [20:30]. Last, Matt and Rob try to give you some practical tips for using Roll20 and other online tabletops [41:30]. Have you struggled or had success running games online? Let us know how it went! dmofnone@gmail.com Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi, MGMT, and Ratatat "Smoke and ...
Oct 01, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Episode 41: History + Magic Items
Matt and Rob love history. They also love making custom magic items. In this episode, your hosts combine these two loves by using historic artifacts as inspiration to create stats for D&D magic items. Image Gallery D&D 5e Magic Item Descriptions Music: "Roll the Dice" by Pac Div "Season of the Witch" by Donovan "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes "Nothin' But A Good Time" by Poison "The Magic Clap" by The Coup...
Sep 20, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 41
BONUS: RPG Books to Prisoners
Read the full blog post here. This is a call-to-action for all our listeners! Please, donate your RPG books or buy a manual or two for prisoners in the United States. RPG manuals are on the "most requested" list of almost every prison book donation website and are never stocked by the humorless authoritarian bureaucrats that run what's left of prison libraries. These books are so in demand that when charities are no longer accepting general donations, they will always make an exception for RPG b...
Sep 13, 2018•7 min
Episode 40: One Shot, Part Deux
The Celestial Job : A Planescape Adventure for 3rd-level Characters DMs Matt and Rob return to "The Celestial Job," a one-shot Planescape adventure we wrote during Episode 30. Today, we take a fresh look at the adventure after play-testing it with two groups of players. Your DMs discuss how to run an adventure with an eye towards revision. We look at what didn't work, what was fun, and what was hilarious! If you liked our journey from brainstorming ideas to writing and revising an adventure modu...
Sep 13, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 40
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