Grumpy Dungeon Masters

Christopher starts us off with another tale of Adventures League where he killed another character. In the process the guys discuss whether or not D&D is too simple as an introductory RPG or is it the only real way to introduce players to RPG’s? Naturally not everybody is in agreement on this topic.

Jay tells another story about his Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure Caverns of Thracia. This one involves a lich and how powerful magic can be with good dice rolls. Also always be careful when opening doors in dungeons and reading scrolls.

Dan walks through a story of Dungeons & Dragons where his players actually decided to go hunt down the legendary Tarrasque. Normally that sounds like a really bad idea, but if you have a good plan it might come together.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The guys take a look at the current road map for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 for 2026. So far this includes a new Ravenloft book coming later in the year, a book for spellcasters, and some other un-named project around the end of the year. The guys are speculating that it will be Dark Sun, but only time will tell.

Dan takes a look at the pdf for Shadowdark Cursed Scroll number 5. This one focuses on “The Deep”, which is the Shadowdark version of the Underdark. As if light sources weren’t already an issue, imagine diving even deeper underground. It’s full of weird and dangerous critters and the Grumpy Dungeon Masters are here for it.

Jay decided to take it upon himself to play some Dungeons & Dragons with an AI game master. While the AI GM was able to get a decent little adventure going it didn’t seem to have a full grasp of the rules or understand how to make combat fair. Perhaps at some point it will become viable, but it’s got a ways to go.

Kristian takes a dig into the past and talks about play by email games. These were games of D&D or other RPG’s via email, where you would describe your turn and await a reply. Games like Birthright or other war games worked quite well using this method.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week the guys were lucky to sit down and chat with Ahmed Suffety. He runs https://www.suffety.com/, which designs one of a kind role playing wooden pieces, such as dice trays, quills, and dice. On top of that they create incredible roleplaying games.

The most recent one is a kickstarter titled Tales From the Tape Deck. It is several one shot RPG’s that are intended to be played along with music. These games are packed neatly inside of cassette tape cases. On top of that they have worked closely with a number of music groups to create tracks that are perfect for running with each game.

If you are looking to play some Mad Max style game to 80’s hair metal, vampires missing their coffins, or possibly some androids trying to free their brethren then this is the kickstarter for you.

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Dan is on a roll and has another incredible ecology for you guys. This time it’s the kobold. You know, the little dog like creatures that stab you in the ankles. Or maybe they are actually more draconic. We finally get to the bottom of why there has been so much confusion over the years surrounding the kobold.

Kristian has a few more zines to talk about this week to wrap up zine month. If you’re an old grognard like the Grumpy Dungeon Masters then some of these will be right up your alley, especially if you like heavy metal classics.

Chris talks about a new miniature war game titled 1490 Doom. This leads the guys to talk about wargaming and why they have generally avoided it. Tons of incredible games out there and the Grumpy Dungeon Masters love all of them.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week the guys are back to their regular schedule. Kristian takes the guys through a dungeon design competition that was going on based on 8 bit video games. The idea was to take 3 randomly assigned Nintendo Entertainment System games and mash them up into a dungeon crawl. Some masterpieces came out of this, such as “Oh Shit, Ninjas!” and “Battlewugs” Links to these can be found on the Grumpy Dungeon Masters discord in the podcast chat channel.

Dan finally gets back to work on his deep dive of dragons. This time he starts walking into the wild world of D&D second edition. This includes all the settings such as Dragonlance, Spelljammer, and Dark Sun. It’s really a massive amount of dragons and all the changes through editions. Listen in if you want to know everything ever about the dragons part of Dungeons & Dragons.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week the guys had a couple of guests join them. Rick Heinz and Erik Frankhouse from Storytellers Forge. They are the people responsible for The Black Ballad. That is a Dungeons & Dragons 5E setting that begins when your characters die. It’s a really creative idea that can work for any campaign or pretty much any game.

Currently they are preparing for a kickstarter conversion of the setting to Shadowdark. The Grumpy Dungeon Masters dive into the setting and the process Rick & Erik used for bringing this game to life. Listen in and make sure to check out the kickstarter, which opens soon.

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week is the beginning of Zine month. That’s Zine, as in magazine. A Zine for RPG’s is a booklet often times filled with an adventure or useful tools for a game master. Every February is Zine month and you can always find some incredible things to pick up. Kristian dives into a number of the Zine’s he has found this year, including the Poor Lichard’s Almanac.

Christopher talks about some scams that are going on in the Role Playing community. This includes everything from fake dice to projectors and free maps. Listen in and don’t get scammed.

Christopher also talks about a new Ed Greenwood novel her purchased: Souls for the Taking: The Return of Larloch. It is more than just a novel however, as it has some Dungeons & Dragons 5E magic item, NPC, and monster stats within the book. Guess that’s a new interesting way to help sell novels.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Christopher actually got to try something new as a DM. He ran a D&D game for a person he didn’t know as their birthday party. I guess technically this makes him a professional Dungeon Master? He needs to get that resume put together.

The guys take a look at Wizards of the Coasts newest Unearthed Arcana. If they were grading this it would get a D at best. Nothing really new in this UA and certainly nothing to write home about. WotC needs to step up their game.

The guys take a look at the lawsuit involving Wotc and their shenanigans surrounding Magic the Gathering. Apparently they have been fudging the numbers of sales and even dumping pallets of magic cards to make it seem as if they sold more product.

Jay gets the guys to think about what their top 5 favorite role playing games of all time are. Some of the ones on the list may actually surprise you.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Christopher got a chance to go and hang out at Scarab Con in Columbia South Carolina this weekend. He comes back to regale the guys with tales of drunken escapades….or gaming or something. He did meet some interesting people though.

Dan & Kristian got a chance to play Fabula Ultima this past week. An RPG designed in the style of Japanese RPG’s. They talk a bit about the rules and how the game operates. Their thoughts and review on the game were quite positive. Coming from Grumpy DM’s that’s a bit of a surprise.

Kristian talks a bit about Delve. It’s an RPG made by Bob the World Builder. If you’re not familiar with him he’s a Youtuber who talks a lot about game design.

Jay tosses an encounter he ran this weekend in Dungeon Crawl Classics to the other to see how they would have run it. Somehow this involved Christopher getting chased by a black bear.

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week the guys take a look at books that were originally designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5E and then re-made for another game system. While it generally works it’s not difficult to tell that the feeling of the book is a bit off. Things written for 5E and then converted to Shadowdark or Dungeon Crawl Classics always leave a bit to desire and the guys dive into it.

Jay talks about the Caverns of Thracia and Dungeon Crawl Classics remakes of old modules and what changes should be made. The original modules are very dense and wordy and DCC has upheld that with their conversions. There is an argument to be made that the remakes should be shortened up and reformatted.

Chris talks about how his daughter is getting into miniatures and painting them. He ordered a mini to paint with his child, but it didn’t exactly turn out how he expected. All this and more on this weeks Grumpy Dungeon Masters!

Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of your gaming needs. Use code word Grumpy for 10% off any order!

Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok!

Join our Discord to chat with the Grumpy DMs. Bring us your toughest DM questions or ask us to review your TTRPG work!

Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitch for our Live Play D&D session.

Intro Music Provided by:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hit N Smash by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5360-hit-n-…
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––