Game Mastery

We talk about the basics of what a dungeon is, why dungeons are, and how you can use them to create story hooks, diversions, or random encounters. You can even use dungeons to limit your players so they can explore their characters in specific ways.

Find out the technique Andrew uses to keep track of where he is in a dungeon. It's a mapping idea that would've saved lots of is LOTS of time and grief trying to figure out where we are, where we were, and how we get to where we need to be.

Sometimes exploring is its own reward, and dungeons are great tools to keep players interested in the adventure. Think of dungeon encounters as team building exercises. 

We mention some iconic dungeon adventures that are some of the best from D&D's long history:

- White Plume Mountain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Plume_Mountain

- Pharoah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh_(module)

- Tomb of Horrors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Horrors

And on episode 21 we take what we talk about here and walk through the process of creating a dungeon encounter for your own adventures.

(See the last third of episode 18 for the 'apple spell' reference.)

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We interview an in-game serial killer and the GM who let this character loose on his world.

We've touched on uncomfortable situations at the gaming table before, and we were not prepared for where this conversation took us.

We each had preconceptions about what kind of game this must be, what kind of person would want to run this kind of character, and what the Hell a GM thinks when they allow this kind of thread into their game.

If you're interested in what it takes to go off the rails and handle years-long subterfuge and scheming in a game group, come inside, check your assumptions at the door, and say hello to Lord Lucious, Serial Killer.

We welcome Tracy back to talk about running games outside of your home, with an eye to the end of Pandemic Time!

We had an idea for the episode, and it turned out a little different than we intended.

RPG resources! Local libraries, D&D Beyond! There are interesting options for running games for kids and new players available. If you've been interested in running a game, and/or have some newbies you'd like to get into the hobby, check out the links below.

Learn about how your local library can help you with a place to play once we can get together in person again: https://games.ala.org/librarians-report-dungeons-and-dragons-in-the-library/

Steve(n) recently ran his first bona fide adventure for his childhood friends. They tested the OVA rpg system from Clay Gardner at Wise Turtle, and it was more fun than a bucket of caffeinated otaku. 

But! How did he think it went, really? What criticisms, pitfalls, and re-dos will be revealed this episode? Did the grid system Mark suggested work? Did the 3-Act play structure Andrew talked about come in handy? Next stop on the Steve learns train? He's going to run the same adventure for some listeners. And we'll get some feedback from n00bs and experienced gamers on a future episode! 

Want to hear what the Roleplay Geeks thought about OVA and Steve(n)'s lessons on Colorado's geology? Check it out:

Intro to OVA and character creation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1EjvCB1lMlwLjGnGXeyLNQ?si=CYduShCdRJKYe8XDeM8_HQ 

OVA review and Steve(n)'s first GM'ing review: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Qj1rwtCzP0vpAXsNUf7VH?si=n5Sl1-R7T7Ov5XvyZXdwgg

We welcome GM and boardgame guru Jay to this week's episode. We talk about different game systems, whether or not you can get the same experience from the same story in different rulesets, what kind of system you should think about when taking small groups, large groups, and/or inexperienced groups on adventures, and we end on some board game recommendations from our guest. We hit on Shadowrun, OVA, D&D 4e, 5e, Pathfinder, Dread, Call of Cthulu... we mention a lot. 

And, thanks to a heads-up from our listener Charlotte, we found out not all our platforms are translating our hyperlinks so you can get more information in our descriptions. Because they brought this to our attention, we'll start listing the full urls to important info. Thanks, Charlotte! 

The board game recommendations from this episode, as reviewed by Steve(n)'s favorite source for board game info, Board Game Geek: 

Three Kingdoms Redux: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/145371/three-kingdoms-redux 

Pandemic Legacy, Season 1: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161936/pandemic-legacy-season-1

Using the 5x5 system and 3-act play as a guide, Steve(n) goes off the rails after Building a Campaign part 1. He changes everything up on the established narrative for his new GM story idea.

Steve(n) is reviewing character creation and game mechanics for OVA with the Roleplay Geeks, and using what he learned to take some fans of Game Mastery on a little adventure in the coming weeks.

How should Steve(n) work out how he failed at GM'ing his own campaign when he tried before?