Hook and Chance

So you want your world to feel real, and it's time to scheme up some godly goodness. There's two ways we know to screw this up real good. The first is to just forget to do it, and all the sudden you've got a fantasy ripoff of whatever religion you know best in real life. The second is to go way too deep. Reading a 350 page tome cover to cover that goes into a wild fantasy pantheon, then realizing your table did NOT do their homework, and this is gonna take a lot of exposition. Well, following the system in this episode will give you just enough for some incredible roleplay.

There's so many different kinds of delighful horror to dive into, but if you've ever wanted to explore the themes associated with body horror in a way that creates a disturbing sense of dread while respecting everyone at the table, this is the episode for you. We promise, if you put this planning in you'll have a great adventure, and it's much more interesting than plain old gore.

Ever want to pop off your hand and throw it across the room? Try Mage Hand instead. It's a cantrip that has an incredible variety of uses, and they're all fun as heck. Well, I'm sure you could fold laundry or something, but you're playing D&D here. Well, then again, if laundry's your jam, go for it. The lesson is there's very few situations in which you shouldn't cast Mage Hand.

Can you keep the threat of death in a game without worrying about pissing off the players? We think so. There's a few strategies that can make death a lot more important and meaningful in a game, which leaves everyone a lot more satisfied. It goes a lot farther than the classic rationalization of "let the dice fall where they may".

Want a little help getting that finely crafted character or NPC from the page into the game? Or maybe you've got all these ideas as a DM, but find it tricky to run those flowing, exciting sessions you see in your mind? Well, Joanna Gaskell is here to help. She's a cast member of a D&D improv show, DM's professionally, and even wrote, produced, and starred in a long-running D&D inspired web series!

One of the most satisfying things you can do as a DM is to truly shock your players. The bigger the better. That's why we're figuring out plot twists in this episode, and exactly how to put them in your game.

Cliffhangers are an incredibly powerful tool for your games. They create a serious psychological desire for closure, which makes people eager to return to the table. Sitting with that unresolved story also means they'l have time to roll it over in their minds, imagining all the possibilities. Ending on such a great moment also means your players are gonna remember what's happening a lot faster! So many reasons to use cliffhangers!

Wizards are pretty incredible, what with their dazzling array of cosmic powers and daunting intellect. They can, however, be challenging to roleplay due to said intellect, and it's easy to rely on classic archetypes when you aren't sure where to go. That's why in this episode we try to get into the minds of the real life wizards that have blown away our perceptions of reality throughout history, known as scientists, and create our best wizards yet.

Staring at another player, sweating through the seconds, thinking to yourself "must...roleplay..." is a rough moment. Instead, we want the moments where people are verbally bouncing off each other, and it feels like a real group of people chatting about the dangers of dungeons. Well, a little consideration of the relationships your character has with each party member can go such a long way.

Figure out where you fit into a group, and the roleplaying between party members becomes so much easier. The fundamentals of this concept is that there's two characters that contrast each other, and there's characters that bridge the gap. This plays out in different ways in different group sizes. Think of any great team or ensemble cast and you'll find these principles.