D&D Dads

In this episode your Dads talk about what game you should play. To take on this question we talked to Rob Donoghue, co-founder of Evil Hat and RPG writer. This episode was recorded in 2019 so when Rob says we are living in a Golden Age and says he hopes to see us at a convention he is being entirely earnest.

This week, D&D Dads was supported by Bully Pulpit Games! Bully Pulpit offers a wide selection of excellent, award-winning games that are sure to be a hit with your friends. In our D&D dADs segment we talk about J.R.’s attempts to play it cool around certain game designers. We talk about The Lesser Players Tale, Juggernaut, Fiasco and that beautiful place where art and games meet. Check out their games and support their ongoing work on their Patreon! (Tell them your Dads sent you.)

In this episode your Dads talk about what game you should play. To take on this question we talked to Rob Donoghue, co-founder of Evil Hat and RPG writer. This episode was recorded in 2019 so when Rob says we are living in a Golden Age and says he hopes to see us at a convention he is being entirely earnest.

This week, D&D Dads was supported by Evil Hat! In our D&D dADs segment we talk about Blades of the Dark, a tabletop role-playing game about a crew of daring scoundrels seeking their fortunes on the haunted streets of an industrial-fantasy city. Brennan plays a bad guy, which, we assure you, is against character. Check out this, and many other excellent games including Fate and Monster of the Week at Evil Hat!

This week your dear Dads ask for advice about how to have an advice show. Fortunately, our guest, Cunning Minx, has a wealth of experience in advice giving from her show Polyamory Weekly, which has been casting around the internet since 2005. We talk about getting to the core issues of any question, compassion, and trust. We came to Minx for advice about giving advice to our listeners and she ended up giving us advice about our relationship as friends, Dads, and co hosts. Perhaps we should have expected this from a person who has over 600 episodes of advice about relationships.

The sponsor for this show wanted to remain anonymous but asked us to tell you about Children’s Literacy Initiative, a non-profit working with pre-k through 5th grade teachers to improve early literacy instruction so that children become powerful readers, writers, and thinkers. Go ahead and throw them a donation. It could be your Big Dad Energy for the week.

Have a question for us? Email [email protected] for advice about running, writing, or playing roleplaying games.

Dr. John Cmar is a medical doctor and an infectious disease specialist who has practiced medicine for over a decade and we’ve brought him on our show to point his incredible expertise at the problem of getting dice out of a child’s nose. Like any good parent, when it comes to the snozz of our child, we’re making sure we call in the very best. Dr. John Cmar goes above and beyond and brings us several solutions to this problem utilizing items you are likely to have at the table during an RPG session.

Should we bring John back on to talk about the ongoing global pandemic on which he certainly has insight or should we bring him back just to talk about more dice related issues? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

In this episode we tackle the origin story of Dungeon Masters with a man who has mastered many a game, dungeon, and podcast, the incredible Jeff Stormer. We talk Dad energy, pro wrestling and where to find a dungeon master. Listeners of D&D Dads will enjoy his fabulous actual-play podcast Party of One, which is focused on two-player role playing experiences.

This episode also unveils Brennan’s Secret Wrestling persona: The Dad, who is, surprisingly, a heel?

This week, D&D Dads was supported by Galileo Games and the game: Thousand Arrows. Designed by James Mendez Hodes, Thousand Arrows is a tabletop role-playing game about the Japanese Warring States Period. The fast-paced, quick-to-learn Apocalypse Engine powers your tale of passion, loyalty, and tragedy worthy of Kurosawa’s camera. Check it out at Galileo Games.

Today your Dads talk about letting it go, railroading, perfectionism, preparation, and what it means to be a good GM. We also discuss the joy of buying tools we don’t need. We are joined by podcasting legend and dungeon master extraordinaire Christiana Ellis who fills us in on how she learned to use her storytelling skills to be a better GM. If you like what you hear from Christiana Ellis, check out So Many Levels, an actual play D&D podcast and livestream.

D&D Dads was sponsored this week by Party of One, an actual-play podcast focused on two-player roleplaying experiences. Every week, host Jeff Stormer sits down with friends for a two-player game to have some laughs, maybe a few tears, and a really good time. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Today we dare to ask the question: should we have an advice show? We turn to experienced advice giver and our guest Dad Judd Karlman for his thoughts on the matter.

Judd Karlman is a game designer and podcaster who has some experience giving advice, and uses his talents to advise us not to start an advice show. Judd also raises the classic question: What if you go over a hill and their are 700 Dragons? On his podcast, Daydreaming about Dragons, he talks about the techniques that help make tabletop role-playing games fun.

To take Judd’s advice from the show we’d like to thank to all our listeners. We’re glad you’re here. Brennan and I are honored that you are spending time with us. We’d also like to thank the person who ended up editing the show which isn’t Brennan or JR but Seamus Ronan, who is an absolute treasure.

Note: This episode was recorded before the pandemic, thus the talk of going to concerts and going to events.

Episode six of D&D Dads was sponsored by The Five Wits who return to us with another game of “Guess That Wig Color!" The Five Wits are a geeky traveling business belonging to Ruth and friends.  They sell comfortable, quality wigs for any occasion. You can find the wigs mentioned in this episode: Onerous Strapping Hermit Hunk, Sauntered Vaguely Downwards, Beloved World Domination Chan, Glimmering Rough Puff Pastry, and many more wigs at their online store.

If you need a wig, check them out, and let them know your Dad sent you.

This week your Dads dive into the second part of our two part series tackling one really big question. In this episode we’re talking to a sociologist about the social structures that enable negative behaviors.

Our guest Dad is Taleisha Bowen who is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina. She received her MS in Couples and Family Counseling from UNCG and has worked in community mental health settings providing individual, family, and in-home therapeutic services, crisis management, and training. Talisha helps us answer a question about abuse and assault in the gaming community. We talk about coping with trauma, seeking support from community, and Taleisha teaches us how to find a therapist.

Episode 4 of D&D Dads deals with topics related to abuse and bigotry. We don’t deal with specific incidents or people but we do discuss abuse in general and how people can cope with the impact it might have. This is the first part of a two part series dealing with abuse and bigotry in the gaming community. In our next episode we talk to a sociologist about the social structures that enable negative behaviors. More lighthearted episodes will return on August 16.

On today’s episode of D&D Dads we talk about how to share the spotlight with other players at the table. Is this something that the game master needs to enforce or something we all need to do? Fortunately, our guest Dad Strix brings brilliant insights into games as a social contact as well as an impressive Dad joke. Our very first Dad joke! A landmark moment for the show. (The joke involves a parrot.)

Strix, AKA, Whitney Beltrán is a writer and narrative designer for analogue and video games, scripts and features, and transmedia IP. You may know her from her multiple award winning game, Bluebeard’s Bride. Find our more about Strix at www.strixwerks.com.

Thank you to All My Fantasy Children for sponsoring this episode of D&D Dads!

All My Fantasy Children is a tabletop character creation, storytelling, and worldbuilding podcast powered by YOU! Each week hosts Jeff Stormer & Aaron Catano-Saez take a listener-submitted prompt and, using some of their favorite tabletop RPGs, spin them into an original fantasy character, populating a shared universe one story at a time.