Mastering Dungeons

By Mastering Dungeons

RPG veterans and game designers Teos Abadía and Shawn Merwin look at the game and the hobby of D&D from a variety of viewpoints: reporting the news, understanding the business, reviewing the produ... more

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FAQs about Mastering Dungeons:

How many episodes does Mastering Dungeons have?

The podcast currently has 412 episodes available.

Mastering Dungeons episodes:

November 19, 2025 Does 1 Player Really Work with Dragon Delves? (MD 267)
Episode 267 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Does 1 Player Really Work with Dragon Delves?
Shawn runs Teos through Dragon Delves and they find out whether the adventure’s rules for one player work. Spoiler: no, listener, they do not work!
News: Mighty Nein on Amazon, D&D Challenging for Netflix, Draw Steel Codex, 5E on Demiplane, and more!
Contents
00:00 FR Goodness
01:03 DnD Bologna Contestants - Die Egg Cup
02:32 DnD Press-On Nails
03:54 People Mag and DnD Wedding Cakes
06:17 What Should WotC Design?
18:01 Demiplane 5E Support
23:14 Mighty Nein on Amazon Prime
25:27 D&D on Netflix is Challenging
30:45 Draw Steel Codex
32:51 Codex Draw Steel Marketplace
33:32 Crack the Sun!
35:54 Amazon Warhammer 40k Shows
38:03 Baldur's Gate Adventure Jam Released
39:38 D&D Municipal Ethics Adventure
40:56 Beast RPG
43:55 Alpha Star Magazine
44:33 Darrington Press Seeks Creators
45:38 Dungeons of Drakkenheim for Daggerheart
46:20 DM and Player Gaming
50:06 Story So Far
52:00 Forest and Candy Trail
56:10 Investigating the Outside
01:07:05 Exploring the Interior
01:10:01 Taffy and Bugbears
01:14:22 Discussing 1 Player Combat
01:17:57 Secret Passage
01:22:10 Critical Hit!
01:33:57 Reflecting on 1-on-1 Combat
01:35:27 Saving Asger
01:39:23 Additional Thoughts

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 48min
November 12, 2025 Solo Actual Play with Dragon Delves! (MD 266)
Episode 266 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Solo Actual Play with Dragon Delves!
Can solo play work? Shawn runs Teos through Dragon Delves. See their ridiculous antics and what they think about the design!
News: Daggerheart’s New Bloodhunter, Moonbeam Shuts Down, WotC Restores Educator Resources, HeroForge and Daggerheart Dilemma, and more!
Contents
00:00 Playing All the Games
04:08 Reasons Why PCs Have New Features?
12:18 Lost Art of Dungeon Design?
22:47 Favorite Community Program?
27:54 Moonbeam Shutting Down
30:01 Organize Play Adds FR Options
32:58 DnD EU and AP Release Dates
34:26 WotC Restores Educator Resources
35:51 Daggerheart Playtests Blood Hunter
37:37 HeroForge and Daggerheart Dilemma
41:21 Solo Play with Dragon Delves
42:55 Using Maps VTT
45:58 Solo Play Rules in Dragon Delves
50:27 Adventure Starts with Fire
57:01 Saving the Halfling
01:01:41 Investigating the Fire
01:09:58 Golden Lizards
01:14:21 Mischief at the Bakery
01:28:41 Behind the DM Curtain
01:30:08 Shout Outs
01:33:38 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 35min
November 05, 2025 Shannon Appelcline and Designers & Dragons Origins! (MD 265)
Episode 265 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Shannon Appelcline and Designers & Dragons Origins!
Renowned RPG historian Shannon Appelcline joins Teos and Shawn to discuss his new 4-book series capturing the amazing stories behind every D&D product from OD&D, AD&D, and Basic!
News: New Daggerheart folio, Tales of Woodcreek starts with a bang, Free FR preview, and more!
Contents
00:00 Thankful for community
03:44 Draw Steel allows roleplay?
06:38 Get players to make stuff up?
19:32 Netflix and Hasbro KPop Demon Hunting
20:48 Hasbro Q3 report
22:54 WotC Q3 results
24:07 Videogame costs
26:49 Hasbro's 45-50 shows and movies
29:34 WotC explains D&D well, actually
35:34 How big is D&D?
42:13 Are we getting a Dragonlance show?
45:15 Sigil will be no more
52:06 Daggerheart on class design
54:41 PAX Unplugged BIPOC demo days
55:37 Drakkenheart
57:07 Draw Steel recoveries and respites
57:52 Ending combat
01:03:02 Balancing adventuring days
01:06:23 Recoveries
01:08:12 Resting and victories
01:11:23 Respites and downtime
01:21:52 Project roll
01:23:34 Project events
01:28:13 Rewards and downtime
01:32:52 Shout-outs
01:37:19 What are we gonna do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 50min
October 29, 2025 Draw Steel – Resting and Downtime! (MD 264)
Episode 264 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Draw Steel – Resting and Downtime! (MD 264)
The Draw Steel RPG has a unique and deliberate approach to what it takes to rest and what you can do during your rest. Respites become a key element, bridging combat recovery with larger campaign and personal goals.
News: Hasbro KPop Demon Roleplay, Hasbro Q3 Results, Dragonlance TV Show? Sigil has 1 year, and more!
Contents
00:00 Thankful for community
03:44 Draw Steel allows roleplay?
06:38 Get players to make stuff up?
19:32 Netflix and Hasbro KPop Demon Hunting
20:48 Hasbro Q3 report
22:54 WotC Q3 results
24:07 Videogame costs
26:49 Hasbro's 45-50 shows and movies
29:34 WotC explains D&D well, actually
35:34 How big is D&D?
42:13 Are we getting a Dragonlance show?
45:15 Sigil will be no more
52:06 Daggerheart on class design
54:41 PAX Unplugged BIPOC demo days
55:37 Drakkenheart
57:07 Draw Steel recoveries and respites
57:52 Ending combat
01:03:02 Balancing adventuring days
01:06:23 Recoveries
01:08:12 Resting and victories
01:11:23 Respites and downtime
01:21:52 Project roll
01:23:34 Project events
01:28:13 Rewards and downtime
01:32:52 Shout-outs
01:37:19 What are we gonna do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 39min
October 22, 2025 Live from Gamehole Con - Complexity in RPGs! (MD 263)
Episode 263 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Live from Gamehole Con - Complexity in RPGs!
We discuss complexity with our live audience!
News: Asmodee Controls Lord of the Rings, Circle Magic, Biggest Industry Surprise, New Kobold Hires, and more!
Contents
00:00 Live with pants
01:13 Gamehole games so far
03:53 Modularity of RPG for GM?
06:16 Odds of Dark Sun 5E?
09:06 What do I do this week?
10:05 Biggest surprise in the industry?
12:28 Survivability of games with financial changes?
16:22 Financial shift to premium products?
17:08 Asmodee controls Lord of the Rings
19:00 Circle Magic and New Spells
26:31 New Kobold Press hires
27:23 Your Creator Corner
29:05 Complexity in RPGs
29:46 Character complexity
40:29 RPG rule complexity
50:21 Thank you!

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
52min
October 15, 2025 Draw Steel Combat Encounters! (MD 262)
Episode 262 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Draw Steel Combat Encounters!
Teos and Shawn examine how the Draw Steel RPG handles player turns, including forced movement, damage, and dying!
News: D&D Hellfire at Target, Free Daggerheart Roll20 Quickstart, Drakkenheim for Daggeheart, Our Approach to Learn New RPGs, and more!
Contents
00:00 Gamehole Peak Prep
02:11 Remembering Rob Weiland
04:29 Our Daggerheart and Draw Steel Games
09:12 Our Process to Learn an RPG?
16:30 Hellfire Club Released
20:03 Daggerheart Quickstart on Roll20 and Demiplane
22:07 Hellfire in Target
23:09 Hasbro's SORRY Mobile Game
24:05 Licensing D&D and MtG
25:21 Drakkenheim for Daggerheart
29:43 How Much Magazine Stuff
31:05 Designers & Dragons Origins Preview
34:29 Keith Ammann on Writing About Dragons
35:22 Allies & Enemies for Shadowdark
36:18 Jerry Garcia's Cosmic Journey
36:56 Fred Armisen's 100 Sound Effects
38:46 Draw Steel Combat Encounters
39:42 Three Action Types
45:47 Tactical Details
48:09 Forced Movement
53:10 Critical Hits
59:49 Damage and Stamina
01:04:54 Daggerheart Damage Comparison
01:10:17 Shout-Outs
01:15:39 See you at Gamehole Con!

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 17min
October 08, 2025 Draw Steel Combat Basics! (MD 261)
Episode 261 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Draw Steel Combat Basics!
Teos and Shawn examine how Draw Steel creates tactical, cinematic, and heroic play with its combat system!
News: New D&D Video Game Studio, Demogorgon Crunch, Kickstarter’s Union, and more!
Contents
00:00 Miles of Games
03:08 Designing for Someone's IP?
15:05 D&D New Video Game Studio
19:38 D&D Hiring a Game Designer
22:27 Revised Psion UA
25:23 Designing to Guarantee Effects
30:31 Kim Mohan in Hall of Fame
32:33 Acq Inc Pirate Borg!
34:20 Demogorgon Crunch
35:30 Kickstarter's Union Wants Protections
36:29 How Much Setting Stuff Is There?
41:55 Designers & Dragons Origins
43:51 Draw Steel Combat Basics
44:36 Beastheart Playtest News
45:25 Power Rolls in Draw Steel
46:44 Tiered Outcomes
49:03 Power Rolls and Gameplay
54:32 Potency
56:29 Gating Outcomes
59:02 Draw Steel and Daggerheart Similarities
01:02:00 Example Actions
01:04:12 Edges and Banes
01:08:52 Hero Tokens
01:11:39 The Map
01:20:11 Initiative, sort of
01:32:29 Shout Outs
01:36:16 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 38min
October 01, 2025 Draw Steel - Kits and Complications! (MD 260)
Episode 260 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Draw Steel Kits and Complications! (MD 260)
Teos and Shawn finish creating their characters, reviewing the cool rules for Kits, how Complications wildly spice up a game, and Perks!
News: Salvatore May Retire Drizzt, Lorwyn Digital-Only D&D Setting, Cosmere New Releases, and more!
Contents
00:00:00 War torn
00:02:36 Do elaborate mechanics create narrative?
00:21:44 Lorwyn is a Digital-Only D&D Setting
00:25:15 DDB adds Maps and Party Inventory
00:26:02 Heroes of the Borderlands tutorials
00:26:30 Stranger Things product info
00:27:44 WizKids smaller dragon Trophy
00:30:29 MtG enters Federation Space!
00:32:32 Salvatore may retire Drizzt
00:35:34 Cosmere New Releases
00:37:18 The Last Caravan - Westward Bound
00:38:11 What's My Foundation?
00:39:08 Our Draw Steal Character Creation
00:40:19 Step 6 - Kits
00:54:56 Perks
00:56:55 Step 7 - Add Free Strikes
00:59:49 Step 8 - Complications
01:12:11 Step 9 - Details
01:13:05 Step 10 - Connections
01:17:10 Thoughts on Advancement Speed
01:24:49 Shout-Outs
01:30:24 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 32min
September 24, 2025 Draw Steel Character Classes, Careers, and Cultures! (MD 259)
Episode 259 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Draw Steel Character Classes, Careers, and Cultures!
Teos and Shawn create two characters, reviewing how Draw Steel creates engagement through complex classes, careers, and create-your-own cultures!
News: Daggerheart Void Update, Diamond Selling Disputed Stock, Baldur’s Gate Jam, and more!
Contents
00:00 Pirates and Cowpokes
02:57 Should Serving Your Deity Matter?
16:51 What Would We Create?
23:40 DM Retcons Okay?
29:39 Unearthed Arcana - Arcane Subclasses
31:15 Update on Diamond Selling Disputed Stock
36:32 New D&D Educator Resources Location
38:39 DMsGuild Baldur's Gate Jam
40:19 Demiplane is Hiring
41:29 Daggerheart Playtests Adversaries and Environments
41:53 How Much D&D Stuff Is There?
47:04 Cypher Revised Final Days!
48:07 Draw Steel Character Creation
50:37 Creating Our Cultures
55:32 Career Background
01:01:20 Draw Steel Classes
01:05:17 Tactician and Troubadour Classes
01:06:49 Class Basics
01:10:04 1st Level Class Features
01:16:45 Kits and Other Class Features
01:32:49 We Really Liked This!
01:34:34 Shout-Outs
01:38:41 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 40min
September 17, 2025 Inside Heroes of the Borderlands: Justice Arman on creating D&D’s new starter set! (MD 258)
Episode 258 of Mastering Dungeons!
No News Segment this week!
Main topic: Inside Heroes of the Borderlands: Justice Arman on creating D&D’s new starter set!
Justice led the project to create a new Starter Set updating the famed module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands! Justice joins Teos and Shawn to share what it was like creating the set.
Contents
00:00 Justice Arman!
01:35 Settings with Limited Options?
10:04 Justice's Path as a Creator
14:28 Teos Likes this Set
15:56 Creating a New Starter Set
19:28 Starter Set Goals
22:08 Design Challenges
29:40 Keep on the Borderlands Revisions
35:14 Fun Innovations
42:23 Future Class Boards?
44:17 Advice on Running the Adventures
47:23 How it was Playtested
51:44 Board Game Entryway
01:02:17 Wisdom from Justice
01:04:04 Providing Feedback
01:04:57 Find Justice!
01:05:47 Shout-Outs
01:09:10 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
...more
1h 10min

FAQs about Mastering Dungeons:

How many episodes does Mastering Dungeons have?

The podcast currently has 412 episodes available.

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