Finding Atoria

By Malcolm O'Stephan, Tori Selznick, Arcadia Deschane

Three friends, each with 30+ years playing and running TTRPGs sit down weekly to tell stories about the games, community and topics surrounding the Table Top Role Playing world.

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FAQs about Finding Atoria:

How many episodes does Finding Atoria have?

The podcast currently has 16 episodes available.

Finding Atoria episodes:

May 29, 2025Big News at the Table: Finding Atoria Around the World
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Malcolm leads us out in our sweet 16 episode. We're down for laughs, sharing news, and celebrating the TTRPG community joining us at the table around the world. We want to know where you're finding Atoria, and would love to talk with you on our socials. Tori brings us big announcements for our Patreon community, Arcadia tries her hand at pronouncing your hometowns, and Malcolm is ready to ship you your FA merch!
Go support our friend Adam ---> www.questsforall.co.uk
Visit our Socials to see the merch Malcolm's ready to ship!
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49min
May 22, 2025Vampire: The Masquerade Clans: Banu Hakim vs. Clan Malkavian
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Malcolm is the GM today while Tori calls in and is on the air remotely! The ladies cover a couple of clans in VTM for this episode. Arcadia leads off by talking about the Banu Hakim. This clan isn’t one of the most well-known clans in VTM because it's one of the most isolated and isn't part of the Camarilla. The Banu Hakim clan has its own history, caste system, and organization. The Masquerade isn't as necessary for them as it is for other clans, and they've stepped away from most Kindred society. They're a clan of laws and judges, which brings them a fair bit of infamy and even some prejudice from the Western world. Arcadia chose this clan because the sheer amount of lore drew her in. Tori comes back from break with Clan Malkavian, another of the original 13 clans. This clan can be played as a joke clan to most because it's the clan of madmen who use mental illness both to their advantage and to their detriment. It's also a group of seers and for those who have powers that don't fall under the purview of any of the other clans. Every member of the clan was chosen with a specific purpose in mind; the sire chooses with a purpose but may also abandon their children soon after the embrace. Clan Malkavian also utilizes the Cobweb to their advantage, creating a built-in network to reach their clanmates, even if it does end up being a very random thing. If you couldn't tell, we really like this TTRPG.
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56min
May 15, 2025New Toys From the Bros: The Power of the OGL and Creative Commons
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Tori brings the latest and greatest news for Dungeons & Dragons content creators to share with Malcolm and Arcadia. Is this news for the community? What does it mean? Is anything new at the table for lovers of the world's largest TTRPG? Join Tori, Malcolm & Arcadia at the table as they discuss what the update to D&D's System Resource Document means for Third Party D&D content creators.
Wizards of the Coast Updates the SRD With 2024 5e Rules: A New Chapter for D&D’s Open Gaming Future
Our Sources:
D&D System Reference Document v5.2.1
ORC License

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47min
May 08, 2025Don't Be an Arseling: Best Practices for TTRPG Players and the Art of D&D
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Arcadia is our GM this episode, and Jess is back! Tori leads off after losing initiative with the topic of good and bad player characteristics. The number one great player characteristic is being engaged in the game. Remember, you’re working with the GM, not against them, which rings true for most tables. Both GMs and players can work together to make this happen. Sharing the spotlight and letting folks make mistakes are also good PC traits. Telling people they are doing a good job or that something is cool is a good thing, too. Malcolm brings us back from the break to talk about the movie “Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons and Dragons.” This movie brings up all of the art involved in the game and the whole D&D universe. This art became iconic and gave a base for our minds to imagine more for the world. It brought this world to life and gave us things to dream about. We also talk about AI art and when it's appropriate to use it.
Our Sources: IMDB.com
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1h
May 01, 2025School TTRPG Clubs and Finding Your Table
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We get to try out new podcasting tech as we have a special guest today calling in remotely. Coel Scheel joins us to talk about his experience with gaming clubs in school. For him, it was a good opportunity to meet more of his fellow gamers and bond over some of the geekier parts of life. He talks about how these high school clubs give kids the opportunity to be a part of the gaming community and access to D&D Beyond, including all of the sourcebooks, minis, character sheets, dice, and more. With 50 kids, this was a big undertaking for those teachers who shared their time. Coel shares that this gave folks the chance to play without the pressure to buy all the stuff. When we return from break, we're joined by Chase Krise to share a lot of the same sentiments that Coel shared. He had a good time playing in his school club and also met fellow gamers. His club was a bit smaller than Coel’s, and unfortunately, Chase played with kids who didn’t seem to get the spirit of the game. He got to play with peers but did not find his table during at that club. Fortunately, he did not let this drive him away from the hobby and he was able to find his table later on. Both of them share the same sentiment that this was good for building their community. Also, we figure out that Tori needs to stop eating gummy bears on mic; she apologizes.
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56min
April 24, 2025Homebrewing for the Classroom and the Importance of Lore
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Malcolm GMs this one and Arcadia has the winning initiative role. Cady talks about how teachers can use TTRPGs for learning and how homebrewing can create the correct platform for teaching specific skills and knowledge. Hack and slash campaigns don't always cut it to teach economics or other subjects. Worldbuilding can be challenging to begin with and takes more consideration than most of us have time for; teachers are amazing and deserve better, period. Tori returns from break to discuss the importance of lore in a TTRPG. Lore is important in both homebrew and modules alike and can absolutely (see what I did there?) be a collaborative effort between the GM and your players. Players can be your greatest resource because at their core, TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling. Players can throw curveballs at their GMS that may require some flexibility but also can result in some amazing lore and storytelling. Thunder rolls in the distance… No sources cited.
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54min
April 17, 2025Furry Vengeance and Game-Based Learning
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Malcolm is our ref for this episode, in which Tori rolled highest on initiative and comes back to the topic of the "Satanic Panic” and how we're now facing its modern re-occurrence in the form of the FURRIES Act, introduced by a legislator in Texas. Due to the vague language of this bill, it can block TTRPG clubs in schools due to “nonhuman behavior.” Arcadia comes back from break with game-based learning and its role in the classroom. This style of learning involves adapting TTRPGs for traditional classrooms and offers multiple ways to engage students in active learning, especially those students whose preferred learning style isn't what is considered standard. Game-based learning is more prevalent than you might expect and can improve learning outcomes and help students of all learning styles be more engaged with learning.
Our sources:
https://www.them.us/story/texas-republican-legislation-furries-in-schools
https://www.rascal.news/texas-furries-act-tabletop-roleplaying-games-in-schools/
https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/us-news/texas-bill-moves-to-ban-non-human-behavior-in-schools-to-eliminate-furry-trend/, foxnews.com “FURRIES Act Texas”, rascal.news "A Texas Conformity Bill Could Impact TTRPG in Schools Statewide", Above the Table “Roleplaying is Under Attack Again”, Eldritch Rolecast “Has the Roleplaying Satanic Panic Returned?”
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42min
April 10, 2025Character Flaws and You Don't Have To Be an Actor To Roleplay
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Tori gets to ref this episode and we have a guest! Jess is with us in the studio. Malcolm covers the topic of character flaws. This doesn’t mean nerfing your character, but it does prevent players from munchkining their characters. Flaws also give a character more depth than just being stereotyped heroes. Some examples of flaws include Shadowrun's elf poser and VTM's known corpse, compromised haven, and prey exclusion. Many players include flaws without thinking but for DMs, these can flavor your game in so many ways. Flaws can grow and change along with characters and can help PCs become so much more dynamic. Unfortunately, Jess had to leave due to nasty Midwest weather. Arcadia comes back from break to talk about how tough roleplaying can be. Not everyone is an actor, nor can they emote like one. This shouldn't be a factor that prevents you from participating in the hobby, though. We don't gatekeep based on your ability to do different voices. There are many ways around some of the more RP-heavy aspects of the game. You can describe what you're doing instead of acting it out. If you are into acting, then TTRPGs can be a great medium for you, but not every player is into that and that's just fine.
Our Sources: Malcolm- DMG 2nd Ed, DMG 5th Ed, VTM PH, Shadowrun PH
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44min
April 03, 2025TTRPG Pet Peeves and Character Death
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Arcadia gets to ref this episode. Tori leads off with a list of gaming pet peeves from both sides of the table. Most of the items on that list boil down to just being aware that you're playing a collaborative game; be courteous to your fellow players and to the GM. The GM and the players are not opposing forces; it shouldn't be adversarial. Also, take the time to look at your character sheet! It will have the info you need to play the game and now slow down the game play for your fellow players. Malcolm comes back from break to talk about PC death. This can be highly emotional for all involved and should be discussed during Session Zero., which can really help mitigate issues before they happen and so everyone knows what to expect. Player character death is something that can happen and should be taken seriously by everyone at the table. There's always the chance that it can happen and it can even be a good thing at times. However, it needs to be a conversation had before the game even starts so both players and GM know how to handle it so that everyone is still enjoying the game. May your dice never roll a 1 on a death saving throw...
Our Sources: Tori- All of the D&D creators on YouTube
Malcom-D&D 5th Ed. PBH and DMG, Pathfinder 1st Ed. PBH, newest edition Vampire PH, 2024 PBH and DMG
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Rise (Epic, Inspirational, Cinematic) by Artur Aravidi is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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52min
March 27, 2025Min-Maxxing and Don't Forget About Dave
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Arcadia leads off with her shot at the moderator spot. Tori brings up the topic of min maxxing in D&D. Tori is an admitted optimizer when it comes to her builds but strives not to be a problem player. Powergamers, munchkins, min-maxxers, and optimizers can be yproblem children at the table. Min-maxing and optimizing are usually brought up in the build for the PC. Munchkins are problem children regardless. DMs have the ability to tweak the game to mitigate some of that power gaming. Main character syndrome abounds with regards to powergamers. Malcolm brings us back from break to tell us of the Secrets of Blackmoor. This tells the story of David Arneson and his role in creating Dungeons & Dragons alongside Gary Gygax. It tells the origin of D&D springing from war gaming. Blackmoor was there before D&D and is still being played to this day. TSR moved Dave out of the pic later but Dave was the person that helped make the DM the role they serve today.
Sources:
Tori Sources- “I hate Min-Maxxing” The Grungeon Master, “Powergamers, Munchkins, Optimizers, and Min/Maxers in D&D” Treatmonk’s Temple, “Know your Player: Minmaxer” Runesmith, “D&D Min-Max-ers Are Valid” Dimension 20
Malcolm sources-“The Secrets of Blackmoor”, IMDB
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Rise (Epic, Inspirational, Cinematic) by Artur Aravidi is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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A production of WordLeaf Media
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48min

FAQs about Finding Atoria:

How many episodes does Finding Atoria have?

The podcast currently has 16 episodes available.