Crypt of Knowledge
Season 2 Episode 12 - Beyond the Basics: Understanding Conditions

Conditions in D&D can be confusing. There are many of them, and several overlap and build on previous ones. Despite this, conditions can have a major affect on your characters and the game. From going blind, being stunned, or even petrified, we'll break down all the nasty things that can happen to you on this episode of the Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction
01:17 - What are conditions in D&D?
04:30 - Listing conditions and their effects
38:00 - Exhaustion
44:01 - The long goodbye

We want to thank each and every one of you for joining us on this journey. We hope that we've been able to teach you a few things and enrich your enjoyment of this wonderful hobby. Continue to learn and grow, and may the dice rolls forever be in your favor!

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Crypt of Knowledge
Season 2 Episode 11 - Class Act: The Rage and Fury of Barbarians

This week we take a deep dive into our favorite raging warrior, the barbarian. 5th Edition has done a wonderful job with adding diversity to the play styles of the barbarian, as well as most of the other classes. No longer are you destined to only smash everything, now you can smash everything with lightning or the help of your ancestors. We'll give you all the tips you'll need to build the best Conan of your dreams, along with breaking down all the subclasses, on this episode of the Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction
02:11 - What is a Barbarian?
03:21 - Who would enjoy playing one?
05:15 - Important barbarian stats
07:29 - Things every barbarian have
27:42 - Path of the Berserker
34:29 - Path of the Totem Warrior
43:48 - Other Primal Paths
53:50 - Possible feats that work well with the class
58:04 - Our top 3 Primal Paths
1:02:18 - Coming up on the next episode

Did you miss our conversation on feats? Be sure to check it out here to learn how to improve your character builds.

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If you've played D&D for long, you've probably been at a table that had at least one player that caused problems. It's becoming an increasing problem as more games move online and tables aren't just made up of friends. We'll take a look at seven different types of unruly players and give you our ideas on how to handle them at your tables on this episode of the Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

Session Zeros are an important start for any table. If you missed our conversation about them, check it out here!

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Since 5th Edition was released, people have argued over whether it was better to improve your ability scores or take a feat every 4 levels. Feats are powerful changes to the way your character plays, sometimes even adding increases to your ability scores themselves. While sporting a list that includes over 60 published feats, they still seem to be under-utilized in 5th Edition. We'll discuss why they're important to your character build, when the best time to take them is, and give you our list of must haves on this episode of the Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

Did you miss our discussion on the Fighter class? We went in depth during that discussion about feats that fight that class.

In this previous UA discussion, we talked about changes to some of the feats, including Alert.

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Wizards has released another playtest UA for One D&D. This time they're covering druids and paladins. Both classes get lumped in with the cleric to form the Priests subgroup, which might give you some idea as to what they're trying to focus these three classes on. This UA definitely brings some big changes that completely change the way these classes are played, especially the druid. So listen in as we break down everything that changed on this episode of the Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

Did you miss our episode on how martial classes work? No worries, you can find it here!

Want to know more spellcasters like the druid? We've got you covered with this review episode.

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Clerics often get the bad rep of only being healers. But with the addition of subclasses in 5E, the cleric has a wide array of play styles to choose from. This week we'll take a deep dive into everything that makes a cleric tick. We'll discuss which stats are most important, the abilities every cleric gets, and break down how each divine domain works on this episode of Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

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Crypt of Knowledge

Every DM dreams of their players coming to the table with a well thought out backstory. But what happens if they're not comfortable with that type of writing? We'll take a look at how you can help your players write deep backstories that fit into your world, how you can use their background to get started, and why it's important to integrate their backstories into the main story line on this episode.

00:00 - Introduction

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We  reviewed the entirety of the spellcasters recently. Now it’s time to  discuss their counterparts, the martial classes. Since as far back as I  can remember, D&D fans have debated who was better, the martial  classes or spellcasters. The argument has diminished somewhat since  there’s no clear distinction in 5E, but it’s still relevant. We’ll take a  look at each class and give our insight on what stats are best for each  build, what roles they fill in the party, and rank them based on how  easy each one is to play on this episode of Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 – Introduction

Did you miss our episode on spellcasters? Go back and listen to it here!

Want to know more about the fighter? We did an entire breakdown of the fighter class you can listen to here!

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The fighter class in D&D is your quintessential martial character. But they're more than just sword and board. Depending on your subclass choice, your fighter can take control of the battlefield on horseback, use maneuvers to overwhelm your foes, or use magical runes to enhance your power. We'll take a look at what it takes to create the perfect fighter by reviewing the most important stats, discuss the many skills every fighter gets, and then give our top five subclass picks on this episode of Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

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People jump into the DM seat for many different reasons. From not being able to find a DM to just wanting to give it a try, running the game can be a scary proposition. Andrew is joining us this week on the podcast to give his unique perspective on this issue. We'll discuss why he choose to DM, what obstacles he's had to overcome, and how his preparation has changed in the few games he's run. Then we'll break down the usual pitfalls that new DMs face and give our tips on how to avoid them on this episode of Crypt of Knowledge.

00:00 - Introduction

We talked a lot about making decisions relating to combat in this episode. If you missed our episode on balancing combat, you can find it here!

Miss our discussion on Session Zero's? Find it here!

Thanks for joining us! Be sure to check out cryptofknowledge.com for more information, tools, and exclusive member benefits.