Mastering Dungeons

Now that they’ve talked about what you need to do before you even consider running a game, Shawn and Teos break down, in detail, what they would like to see in their ideal introductory scenario!

• D&D Movie Finishes Filming!
• Roll 20 is hiring a Community Manager
• Hasbro announces Pulse Con 2021 Oct 22-23
• Twitch Streamers face huge problems with hate raids
  • From YouTube
• ENnies Voting is Live, and had issues on the first day
• Paradigm launches “Codex of the Mind – A complete Psionics System for 5E”
• Trapmaster – Traps that Aren’t… And how to Beat them
• 13th Age free Quickstart Rules
• Arcadia issue 7

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• Follow the show at @MasteringDnD on Twitter.

So after listening to the first part, you’ve studiously taken everything into account and prepared as best you can for running your game… now what? Specifically, what, exactly, are you going to run? Shawn and Teos list out every single possible option for everything a new DM could run… kidding! That would mean an episode that was 4 years long! They do offer advice as to where to start looking and some options as to how to go about narrowing the nearly infinite options to what appeals to you and your players!

• D&D releases Celebration Package
• ENnie Award Nominees announced
• Podjam ‘21
• Steve Perrin passes
• D&D Gets Nerfed
• Evil Hat on the Costs of Publishing
• How to Play the Adventurers League Mist Hunters
• DM David on Confidence and Faking It

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Shawn and Teos go back basics as they tackle the topic of getting started and where to do it: the beginning? before that? Once again, the Masters of Dungeons offer ego-saving guidance as they offer up the best ways to tackle your game before you even start!

• D&D has a new senior producer
• New D&D Survey
• DMs Guild has new Print-on-Demand Guidelines
• The Avatar Kickstarter tops $4M!
• Latin American Monsters free Kickstarter preview
  • Free 11-page preview on DriveThru
• WizKids thinks you need a full-size Drizzt Statue
  • (They also announced two new sets of figures!)
• GhostFire Games adds Greg Marks to its blog series
• ID DM Takes us to School on Strixhaven
• The Suicide Squad cast plays D&D
• Conventions tighten covid requirements
• GameHole Con has its list of games, and we are on it!

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Shawn and Teos welcome James Haeck to discuss Critical Role’s Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting (link) – what’s new, what’s updated, and what’s Matt Mercer like to work with? Spoiler: He’s cool! James invites us to join him on his journey to discover what they needed to learn to make this project as great as it is!

• D&D Canon – D&D Studio Blog
• More news from the Hasbro Q2 earnings call
  • D&D and MtG to see price increases
  • Hasbro mentioned a new digital roleplaying initiative for D&D
• 4th and 5th Free Magic the Gathering D&D Adventure Released
  • Deepest Knight
  • From Cyan Depths
• Next D&D Virtual Weekend: August 13-15
• D&D Beyond cancels contest
• Arcadia issue 6 is out!
• PAX Updates Covid Policy
• WizKids introduces beginner paint line
  • WizKids is adding four color neoprene-style battle mats at $60 each: Ocean, Tundra, Forest, Grasslands
• Shawn on DiceGeeks’ 100th episode

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Who knows what evils lurk in the mists, shadows, and echoing halls of Ravenloft? Shawn and Teos know! Let’s take a look at the Monsters that Make the Domain of Dread as dreadful as it is!

• ICv2 releases Q1 2021 Rankings
• Hasbro earnings call early results
• Baldman Games seeks DMs for Origins
• Dragon+ is edited for new info from D&D Live
• Perkins and Crawford on what is not canonical for D&D
• The Legends of MtG Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
• 4th Free Magic the Gathering D&D Adventure Released – Deepest Knight
• Evil Hat shares financials for their Thirsty Sword Lesbians Kickstarter
• Critical Role’s Darrington Press announces relaunch of Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting
• Teos was on the Tome Show
• Teos was on D&D Beyond, talking about Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
• Last week for Dungeons of Drakkenheim Kickstarter

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With the Mad Wizard once more on a quest, Teos summons the new AL Community Director and his fellow streamer; from the Broadswords!; the amazing Bee Zelda to talk about the bevy of news as well as break down their stream about the newly-released Dune RPG from Modiphius!

• Bee Zelda joins the D&D Adventurers League as the newest Community Manager
• D&D Live Announced the Next Book
  • We learned new details about The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
  • WizKids will have visible minis NPC sets tied to The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
  • New Strixhaven updates
  • 10 DM Challenge Finalists were announced
  • D&D and Nerds candy?!!??
• Acquisitions Inc C-Team was back!
• WotC releases the 3rd free adventure to promote the Magic the Gathering card set
• Hobby Game Sales top $2 Billion for 2020
• WizKids expands premium offerings
  • Wand of Orcus
• Chris Spivey speaks out on the challenges for small companies
• MCDM releases Kingdoms & Warfare pdf

• Follow Bee at @Bee_Zelda on Twitter or at… like, all this stuff – linktr.ee/BeeZelda
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• Follow the show at @MasteringDnD on Twitter.

What is the nature of the Mists of Ravenloft? Where do the Domains come from? Why is magic different in the Realm of Mists? Shawn and Teos take on questions similar to these ones, in this episode.

• D&D MtG Adventure 2, The Hidden Page
• D&D Live is Coming… with new book news! (July 16-17)
  • G4 D&D Dive
• Ravenloft Character Sheet Released for D&D Virtual Play Weekend
• Shawn and Teos Brave Ravenloft’s Mists Virtually, Allowed to Come Home to Finish Podcast
  • AL article discussing the safety tools
• Gen Con (Sep 16-19) is dropping mask requirements
• Jared Rascher on Using Monsters that Fit Your Theme
• JVC Parry Turns Monsters Into Traps
• Mixing Eberron and Ravenloft: Dread Metrol

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There are more to the Domains of Dread than can be held in a singular tome. So what does it take to build a Dread Domain from scratch? Shawn and Teos walk through the process detailed in Chapter 2, from exploring the various sub-genres of horror to building a unique and terrifying Darklord to wrapping him in a Domain to determining what goals the Dark Powers might have in propagating this Domain.

• D&D Releases MtG Adventure, In Scarlet Flames
• HarperCollins Announces new D&D Books
• Dragon+ Issue 38
• Dave Chalker on how to approach the MtG Set as a D&D fan
  • A recent MTG site article walks you through the types of cards, including amazing Flumph art
• Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) creates draft guidelines for Professional Standard & Practices
• Dwarven Forge releases the free Wildlands Bestiary
• Greg Marks returns to the Kobold Press Trapmaster Series – Location, Location, Location
• Evil Hat and Roll20 team up to offer Safety Tools!
• Ravenloft Mist Hunters Release Schedule

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What sort of hero would dare brave the mists of Ravenloft? What kind of adventurer would be willing to fight for hope against the unending waves of terror held by the Demiplane of Dread? A returning Shawn and a sweltering Teos discuss more character creation options in Van Richten’s guide!

• Second D&D Live stream is WWE
• Strixhaven Unearthed Arcana Survey
• D&D Releasing New 5E Adventures based on MtG Set
  • How Dungeons work
• WizKids releasing new D&D Tabletop Game: Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain
• Ghostfire Gaming has a Design Blog
• Dungeons of Drakkenheim Kickstarter
• Origins Game Fair Registration Opens, policies unclear
• PAX West posts policies
  • PAX West badges

• Follow Teos at @Alphastream on Twitter and check out his blog at alphastream.org.
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• Follow the show at @MasteringDnD on Twitter.

WebDM co-host Jim Davis stops by as Shawn gets some much needed rest… or he’s battling his way out of a hive of neogi or the like. There was oddly-colored blood, so we narrowed it down to vacation or Shawn off killing monsters. Either way, he’ll be back and refreshed next week!

Jim and Teos walk us through the Strixhaven Unearthed Arcana content and then break down the end of everything as they discuss WebDM’s post-apocalyptic Weird Wasteland setting, currently on Kickstarter!

• First D&D Live stream carries big names, big news
  • D&D Twitter
• MtG released Saturday Morning D&D “Secret Lairs” cards!
• The DM’s Challenge Revealed – good luck!
• Introduction to Mist Hunters – AL Blog
• Arcadia Issue 5
• New Strixhaven Unearthed Arcana
  • Unearthed Arcana Article
• Weird Wastelands on Kickstarter

• Follow Teos at @Alphastream on Twitter and check out his blog at alphastream.org.
• Follow Jim at @therealjimdavis on Twitter.
• Follow Shawn at @shawnmerwin on Twitter.
• Follow the show at @MasteringDnD on Twitter.