I talked with Scraw about DMing and his campaign, Gnomestones. Scraw runs a 1st edition D&D game with only a few modifications (as everyone does). We chatted about system choice and how it affects your game. We talked about online resources that DMs can use to enhance their game or provide inspiration.

We referenced a few websites during the episode. You can check them out here:

The Thieves Guild

Fantasy Name Generators

DNDSpeak

Scryfall Random Cards

Scraw also has a few of his D&D sessions up on the Gnomestones YouTube if you'd like to get a deeper look.

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I talked with Atti about the Blades in the Dark system and setting produced by Evil Hat Productions. Blades is set in a gothic, steampunk ci ty centuries after an apocalypse closes the gates to the afterlife. Without a way to their eternal rest, ghosts wander a world where the sun and stars are gone from the sky. Blades has simple, narrative-focused mechanics for resolving action. The system is similar to Powered by the Apocalypse games, but with a new name, Forged in the Dark. It's spawned many offshoots that tweak the rules to fit a number of different settings and play ideas from westerns to teenage school dramas.

If you're interested in Blades in the Dark, the basic rules are available for free on the Blades in the Dark website.

Also the system has excellent integration into Roll20 and is easy to pick up and play online.

Here is a map of Blades in the Dark's established setting world, the Shattered Isles.

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Unaz tells us about his campaign world Zierna, a traditional continent based fantasy world. In recent history Zierna was attacked by elemental archons which conquered vast swaths of territory. Thousands of humanoid refugees have taken shelter from the fire archon in the dwarven realms where they are safe. Unaz has a detailed campaign world with much of its recent history created in his past campaigns. He also keeps all of his notes using pen and paper the old-fashioned way!

Here is a map of Zierna

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Lloyd tells us about his ten player campaign in Kalgrad. The PCs started off by taking on Lord Farquad after encountering Shrek. The campaign stakes ballooned into the the PCs vying to protect the fate of magic itself. Lloyd also talked with me about how to steal the good parts of 4E and Pathfinder to use in 5th edition and how to improve martial classes.

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Darrell tells us about his campaign the Jungle Jingle! Darrell's campaign is a more open "bottom-up" world where the adventures and surrounds are built as the players explore. The players are journeying through a jungle towards a distant objective, but the campaign is really more about the journey than the destination. Darrell has homebrewed a few rules to improve the survivalist feel for the players as they make their way through the jungle with limited resources and few safe places to rest.

Darrell also is a player in a D&D play podcast called "Gold and Glory." He plays a robot named Theo. The podcast is available on all major podcast apps.

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Rikh talks about his campaign world of Skyf. Skyf is a megastructure called an Alderson disk built around a star. On the top side dwell thousands of races rescued from planets across the galaxy. The bottom side is inhabited by dragons, drawn to Skyf's magical energy. The Majisters oversee the world giving divine gifts to the pure while the impure develop sorcerous powers.

You can read more about Skyf on Rikh's website.

Rikh is also a DM on the Dungeons and Dragons Podcast UK which you can check out online.

His campaign should be starting soon after this episode is released, so stay tuned!

Skyf is too large to have a functional map of the whole space. Instead, here is a map of the region where one of Rikh's campaigns takes place: Map of Kuchoma Taka Region

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Edwin's campaign world is called Xetros and the main continent where all the action takes place is called Marwoleth. Marwoleth was devastated by an apocalypse a long time ago. Now the people of the continent have a deep distrust of dragons and dragonborn. The dragonborn live in fear while other nefarious threats seek to undo creation.

Here is a Map of Marwoleth

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Carina's campaign world is called Terra, but the country her players have their adventures in is called Ciokotai. It's a land the gods have abandoned due to a past cataclysm. The people of Ciokotai have a close connection to the beasts of the land, but without their gods the country is slowly losing it's cultural identity. A group of dragons arrived to save the land and preserve the people. After a betrayal from within the draconic order the only hope for Ciokotai is the return of the gods.

Here is a Map of Ciokotai.

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I talk with my friend Will about JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth and how it can be used as a campaign setting for D&D.

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A quick overview of the podcast format and an introduction of myself and my history with D&D.

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