Mastering Dungeons

Shawn and Teos work more of their magic on the player side of Tasha’s with a breakdown of the Sorcerer options and subclasses. Then they navigate the tricky surroundings of the DM side by checking out the Environmental Hazards section. All this plus the week’s D&D news in this episode of Mastering Dungeons!

• PAX Online dates are announced as July 15-18
• WOTC and Baldman Games open signups for the next Virtual D&D Weekend
• WizKids announces their largest miniature ever: Tiamat!
• Ashes of Athas playthrough
  • Check out @TheOneWorldPod on Twitter
• Kobold Press article: “Trapmaster: Hidden Distractions” by Greg Marks
• Another Kobold Press article: “Play with Class: Craft a Cool Cleric” by Celeste Conowitch
• “How to Build a D&D Cleric Who’s Super Fun in a Fight” by DM David

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Shhh! The Masters of the Dungeons are breaking down the options for Rogues from Tasha’s including the long-awaited Soulknife! Whoops. Got excited there, I forgot we had to stay quiet as we also talk about… Parley. Well, I guess if we’re talking, we’re talking and we’re talking about talking. But how does a player go about parleying with slobbering monstrosities? Find out, here!

• D&D TV Series gets some details!
• Survey is up for Folk of the Feywild
• Sly Flourish on the “Three-of-Five Collection Quest”
• Mike Shea apparently also has a blog, and his post this week is on Safety Tools
• New AL Rime Plague of Ancients adventure

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The amazing Celeste Conowitch comes by to chat with Shawn and Teos about making rules as she breaks down her latest project, The Venture Maidens Campaign Guide, an adaptation of the setting used in Celeste’s ground-breaking actual play livestream and podcast! Fun ensues!

• Candlekeep Mysteries is Out!
• Gen Con Postpones to September 16-19
• ICv2 Releases 2020 Industry Review
• Magic: The Gathering Announces the D&D Set Release Date
• Dark Alliance Video Game Details
• Goodman Games Wants Adventurers League Games at their Con
  • Announces DCC Legacy
• ENnies Award Submissions due May 1st
• Arcadia Posted a Sneak Peak of the March Issue

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Shawn and Teos talk the folk of the Feywild from the latest Unearthed Arcana, discuss the latest from Adventurers League, and review other D&D news. Then it’s off to track the Ranger archetypes from Tasha’s player options and then look at taking on extra help for the Sidekicks rules from the DM options.

• Unearthed Arcana: Folk of the Feywild
• Shawn on The Tome Show with JVC Parry, Jeff, and Tracy
• DM David: “How to Adjust Combat Difficulty on the Fly Using the Magic of Roleplaying”
• Adventurers League wants your feedback
• Adventurers League epic release: Terror in the Ten Towns by Ginny Loveday and John Conor Self
• 14th Eberron adventure: From Dust by Andy Dempz
• Dark Moon Rising from Baldman Games
• Cold Benevolence by Justice Arman and A Blight in the Darkness by Patricia Barnabie
• The Harrowing of Hell by Carl Sibley
• Wings of Death by Emily Harmon and Garrett Colon

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Shawn and Teos home in on the Ranger options from Tasha’s, breaking down the variety of options for one of the most discussed classes. Then we start at Session Zero with the DM’s options, discussing the importance of starting before scratch, sometimes, and discussing safety tools in D&D!

• D&D Movie casts Hugh Grant and Sophia Lillis
• New D&D Video Game in the works
• WotC announces James Wyatt is back… via book
• Adam Bradford now at Demiplane
• Million Dollar Kickstarters
• Jeremy Crawford clarifies a custom lineage means you don’t qualify for racial feats
• Owen K.C. Stephens – Why isn’t GAME COMPANY doing THE THING?

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What was the purpose of the ghostly visions from last week? Found out here as Shawn and Teos head back into Tasha’s Guide to break down the options for those goody two-shoes, the Paladins!

• Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
• Hasbro promotes WotC to become 3rd operating Division
• Fantasy Grounds – D&D grows to 71% of games for 2020 Q4
• Adventurers’ League awards Eric Menge the Lifetime Achievement Award!
• AL abandons the PHB +1 Rule!
• D&D Virtual Weekends – upcoming dates confirmed
• Dragon+ Issue 36 is out
• WizKids announces new deal expansion with WotC for D&D and MtG minis/props

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Shawn and Teos come in from the cold and are joined by another pair of Masters of Dungeons, GM Tim and Marcello De Velazquez to break down what they’ve gone over the last several months. Now that we’ve seen it, what do we look out for, how do we make it better, and how can we make it speak in our voice? We warm up as we wrap up the Icewind Dale.

• The Message from D&D
• Arcadia issue 2 is out!
• Sly Flourish – Handling Rests in D&D
• POC in Play Discord channel!

• GM Tim
  • Twitter
  • Norse Foundries on Twitch
  • DM’s Guild
  • Website
• Marcello De Velazquez
  • Twitter
  • DM’s Guild

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Coming in a little late and in from the cold, we wrap up the last few chapters of the Icewind Dale. Also: more alternate Monk action with fewer Monk puns!

• Roll20 / Orr Group releases Q3 2020 play numbers
• Bridgerton Star Rege-Jean Page Cast of Dungeons & Dragons Movie
• D&D Beyond Update – Dragon Prince RPG Free Playtest
• MT Black releases an experiment: the Book of Wondrous Magic for 5E
  • On DriveThru RPG
• WizKids offering replacements for broken minis

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After the news, the Men of Mastery KICK this one off by GRAPPLING with the options for the Monk, from Tasha’s. Does the Monk get the PUNCH it needs or is it time to CHOP this one from the game? STRIKE that, we like Monks!

And then! What’s next in the Icewind Dale? Good things, right? Maybe it warms up? Oh… no, no, no, no, no.

• DM David on NPCs that won’t cooperate
• Keith Baker on creating campaigns
• Kickstarter: Under the Seas of Vodari
• We have a Survey on Rime…

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I’m writing this before I even look at the notes in an attempt to predict what will be in this episode and I foresee… even more news, including a celebration of an anniversary; Shawn and Teos breaking down a psychic class option for Fifth Edition (and some other ones); and, this last one, it’s unclear… unfocused. It’s dark and cold… so… cold…

• Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages!
  • Owlbear Soup review
  • Survey
• Stuff of Legends – A 6 episode YouTube series with puppets on a D&D adventure!
  • Stuff of Legends YouTube Channel
• Winter Fantasy is this week!
• D100 News takes a look at 2020 Top 100 Kickstarters
• D&D historian Jon Peterson looks back at the earliest uses of Immersion
• D&D Adventurer’s League web page updates
• Beadle and Grimm’s is offering 20% off of their Gold Edition Eberron boxed set during February
• Kickstarter – Ghostfire Games and Eldermancy

• 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.