Matt and Rob discuss the Tian Xia world guide from Paizo, a triumphant return to the continent on Golarion and a much-needed update to some outdated regions, peoples, and ideas. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Xian - Ancient Fantasy Journey Chinggis khaanii Magtaal - Batzorig Vaanchig North Korean National Anthem 《如懿传》片尾曲 Closing Theme Song - Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace - 《梅香如故》 毛不易+周深...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Have you ever played something that isn't a TTRPG? Well, it turns out there games out there that are not D&D or even a role-playing game that also generate story through play. In the first episode about things that are not RPGs, DMs Rob and Matt will take you on a whistle-stop tour of the wide world of narrative miniature wargaming. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Links: Mordheim Frostgrave Rangers of Shadowdeep One P...
Jul 01, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 315
Happy Solstice! Rob and Matt are here to answer your Dungeon Master questions about starting sessions, Vecna/Kas shipping, old systems, failed MMOs, the benefits of classical education, X-COM, and more! Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Links: Vecna and the Tears of Unmaking - Sly Flourish Vecna Remix - DMofNone Whatever Happened to Pathfinder Online, Anyway?- Kai Tave AGON RPG - John Harper Odyssey of the Dragonlords Pathf...
Jun 21, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 314
Matt and Rob talk about Rogue Trader , the now-defunct Warhammer 40k TTRPG. It's got orks, it's got big gothic cathedral ships, it's got chonky weapons, it's got profits, folks, it's got it all! Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord!...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 5 min
DMs Rob and Matt clock into the Dice Workshop for a long shift working on custom dice mechanics and discuss dice probabilities and mechanics put in practice! Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone
Jun 13, 2024•8 min
Matt and Rob talk about dice! Mechanics, systems, resolution, modifiers, taxonomies, the whole shebang! It's not boring, we promise. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Links: https://anydice.com/ https://snake-eyes.io/examples.html https://anydice.com/articles/the-pool/ https://thoughtfuldane.com/2023/05/05/game-design-with-anydice/ Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice NMIXX - DICE Odetari - Dice and Roll...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Follow your rod to the second half of WotC's final 5e Adventure, Vecna: Eve of Destruction. Rob and Matt discuss missed opportunities, share some secrets, and offer some tips to fix this adventure. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; The Turtles - Eve of Destruction....
May 29, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 311
Matt and Rob talk about the newest WotC Adventure, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, a celebration of D&D and an adventure through the multiverse! You guys love multiverses, right?
May 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min
DM Matt walks you through his prep for a Friendly Local Gaming Convention and his tips for running a successful Con slot. Links: Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone RPG Geek Global Game Conventions List https://rpggeek.com/wiki/page/Game_Conventions Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Dschinghis Khan - Dschinghis Khan....
May 24, 2024•7 min
A tome! A tome of forbidden dungeon master knowledge has been unearthed by your intrepid hosts. DMs Matt and Rob discuss the first principles and Apocalypse World -style GM moves for Old School Rules games from the Principia Apocrypha ! Principia Apocrypha: Elementary Axioms & Aphorisms On Running & Playing Tabletop RPGs In The Old School Style - Ben Milton, Steven Lumpkin, David Perry, Evlyn Moreau https://lithyscaphe.blogspot.com/p/principia-apocrypha.html Subscribe to the DMofNone Pat...
May 19, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 309
Matt and Rob talk about what they learned from running Brindlewood Bay, what worked, what didn't, what to watch out for, and what you can learn and take away for your own games. Hear the full episode (and more!) on our Patreon .
May 18, 2024•5 min
Almost everyone has house rules for their games, but are there house rules that are good for (nearly) every game? DMs Matt and Rob share over a dozen house rules from their games and their favorite systems that can (probably) be lifted and inserted into whatever TTRPG system your table plays. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Links to rules: FATE CORE, "Declaring a Story Detail" Year Zero Engine SRD, Chapter 4, "Rounds &...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 308
Matt and Rob travel back in time to the era of mullets and shoulderpads to talk about a strangely relevant article from 1984 in DRAGON MAGAZINE #82. What happens when your players have grown TOO POWERFUL? Check out our Patreon! Join the Discord!
May 04, 2024•51 min
Brew your tea, pack your knitting needles, and put on your most comfortable jogging suit because DMs Matt and Rob are off to solve the coziest murder this side of Cape Cod! Brindlewood Bay is a mystery RPG that combines the Golden Girls with Call of Cthulhu using an innovative set of mechanics to sidestep the frustration of running a whodunit. Then, head across the pond to gothic London for The Between, an anti-cozy game using the same "Carved From Brindlewood" mechanics. Check out the DMofNone ...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 306
Here is a preview TWO of our subscriber episodes reviewing what could be the best published megadungeon and the best published hexcrawl. To listen to the full episodes subscribe below and check out these adventures for yourself. Subscribe to the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls by Michael Curtis The Dark of Hot Springs Island by Jacob Hurst, Evan Peterson, Donnie Garcia, and Gabriel Hernandez...
Apr 20, 2024•12 min
DMs Matt and Rob wade into The Discourse discussing if “system matters” and “rules elide.” Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join DMofNone on Discord ! Links: Fireside Chat for Chapter 2 of World Beyond Number - Dimension 20 Detours and Lies (1, probably) - “What Is A D&D Anyway? - Combat Orientation and Stoves” - The Daily Blade Rules Elide - Jared.blot (Archived) The Baker-Care Principle - Emily Care Boss The Fruitful Void - Lumpley Games Stance T...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 305
Rob sits down with designer Andy Pressman to talk about, well, design, but also about games! The conversation ranges from Andy's active projects to onboarding players to mechanics to game jams and hacks and more. Andy's Itch Patchwork World Errant
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Matt and Rob cover the REST of the Daggerheart playtest, including the GM section, adversaries, maps, worldbuilding, and the included starting adventure -- there's a lot going on here! Download the playtest materials here for free: https://darringtonpress.com/daggerheart/ Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join DMofNone on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Luca Turilli - Demonheart Slowdive - Dagger...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 9 min
DM "Dagger" Matt and DM "Heart" Rob are here to chat about the recently released playtest of Daggerheart, a fantasy TTRPG by Darrington Press and Critical Role. Download the playtest materials here for free: https://darringtonpress.com/daggerheart/ Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join DMofNone on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Blondie - Heart of Glass....
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 302
Matt and Rob are joined by Daniel Kwan of Asians Represent to talk about his TTRPG of lethal melodrama, Wandering Blades ! We talk wuxia, TTRPG design, playtesting, mechanics, inspirations, and more! Daniel's Patreon Daniel's Itch.io
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min
So you want to run an RPG. No, not the one you are running right now, but a different one. DMs Matt and Rob are here to talk through their method and tips for learning a new game system. Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join DMofNone on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover....
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 301
Matt and Rob sit down with Lin Codega and Rowan Zeoli of rascal.news , the new independent TTRPG news site that is rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of, well, several other sites. We talk plans, the state of TTRPGs, the death of journalism, and more! In Search of a Hot Pink Bitch Named Breakfast Harlem Hellfighters Never Die...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 1 min
DMs Rob and Matt are joined by Keri Blakinger , investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times, to talk about her piece for New York Times Magazine, " The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row ," which can be read for free at the Marshall Project, " When Wizards and Orcs Came to Death Row. " Links: Keri Blakinger - The Marshall Project https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/08/31/dungeons-and-dragons-texas-death-row-tdcj Keri Blakinger - Corrections in Ink: A Memoir https://us.macmillan....
Feb 16, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 299
Special West Marches Correspondent Andy joins Matt and Rob to explain a wonderous campaign where all are welcome: The Open Table! Learn what an open table-style game is, why you might want to ditch your old dedicated story-driven campaigns, and how to prepare and GM an open table game. Plus, learn the Five "S"s of Open Tables: Setting, System, Scheduling, Starting, Stopping! Links: Andy - Tales of the Iron league https://ironleague.org/ Tales of the Iron League Discord https://discord.gg/xY8K7qS...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 298
Matt and Rob talk about how to make role-playing adventures, player guides, and games look nice. Join us for a journey through design and layout tools from simple to complex. Listen to the full episode on the DMofNone Patreon ! Links: Homebrewery GM Binder GIMP Cartographers' Guild Explorers Design Adobe InDesign InDesign Template for 5e DriveThruRPG - Stock Art Open Access at The Met...
Feb 03, 2024•7 min
Matt and Rob talk about how to run a one shot! As it turns out, finishing a whole adventure in one sitting is a lot more complicated than it sounds. Rat Queens They Want to Be Us Savage Worlds One Sheets Summer in December The Great Grav Train Robbery Bite Sized Dungeons Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join us on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Hamilton - Aaron Burr, Sir Eminem - One Shot, Two Shot Ferran - One Shot...
Feb 02, 2024•56 min
Rob abuses his power to force the podcast audience to listen to him ramble about his unfinished campaign setting, Thunder on the Steppe! We talk through the idea behind the campaign, issues with getting it presentable, next steps and takeaways. Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! Link to the Thunder on the Steppe Preview doc . Join us on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice The Hu - Wolf Totem...
Jan 25, 2024•32 min
Matt and Rob review So You Want to be a Game Master? by Justin Alexander (of thealexandrian.net), which is exactly what it says on the tin. We talk about Alexander's approach, what you'll find in the book, and what you can use in your games! Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join us on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Duck Tales Theme Mission Impossible Theme Jefferson Starship - We Built This City...
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Matt and Rob reflect on the events of the year, go over the many (12!) systems they've reviewed, and talk about what they're looking forward to in 2024. Listen to the rest of the episode (and an entire day's worth of premium episodes) on the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join us on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Lorne Balfe - Juice of the Vine....
Jan 17, 2024•8 min
DMs Rob and Matt are back to answer your questions about Game Mastering! Plus, the triumphant return of Unwanted Advice! Check out the DMofNone Patreon ! https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join us on Discord ! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Du gamla, du fria - Sabaton; Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John....
Jan 11, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 295
