Taking 20 Podcast

Prewritten modules and adventures are a DM's friend.  They are simple, canned documents that you can insert into your world as needed but they're better if you customize them; make them more integrated with your game world, your players' characters, and important NPCs.  Don't know where to get started?  I'm here to help.

You're starting a new campaign!  Yay!  Everything is so shiny and new.  Your DM has asked you to come up with a backstory for your dragonborn druid from the high deserts and you have no idea where to begin.  How do I incorporate my backstory into the DM's world?  How can I help my DM create adventures with my backstory?  

Or you may be a DM who wants to incorporate backstories into the new campaign and you aren't quite sure how to proceed.  Good news everyone!  This episode can help you either way.

Owlbears - one of my favorite monstrosities to throw at my players.  Sneaky ambushers?  Nah.  Subtlety is for chumps.  In this episode we talk about the history of the owlbear, its properties, and how DMs can use them in their campaigns.

You were looking forward to an antagonist for the PCs that would last a few months.  You had a plan to integrate him into two of the PCs' backstories and for a climactic battle on a volcanic rock.  But the PCs were smart and found a way to kill your big bad earlier than you wanted.  In this episode Jeremy discusses what you should do next and some strategies to keep it from happening in the future.

This topic was suggested by Adrian Young on the Taking 20 Facebook page.  Lots of DMs burn out because they spend hours and hours preparing for gaming sessions while their players get to just show up and play.  In this episode, we talk about tools that DMs can use to reduce their overall prep time before each gaming session.

Certain conditions that affect characters can have a negative effect at your table.  While I don't advocate completely getting rid of some of these conditions, in this episode I talk about how DMs should use them with caution and advice for players whose characters are taken out of the fight or gaming session by one or more of these conditions.

Artifacts can be simple engines to generate adventures or powerful items wielded by the PCs to accomplish a mission or slay a powerful creature.  Used without care, however, and artifacts will break your game.  In a slightly long episode, we discuss the positive and negatives of artifacts and how DMs can use them in their games.

Succubi and their lesser known male cousins, the incubi:  devious, corrupting masters of temptation with pleasures of the flesh and mind.  How can a DM use these in a campaign?  How do they fight?  What would my succubus look like?  Tune in and find out!

A good villain can make or break your campaign.  How do you make villains that feel real, are well-rounded, and memorable for your players?  Come on in and take a listen.

Edit:  Yes, it's a touch over 20 minutes.  I edited down and edited down and feel like I already cut too much.  I'm asking for your forgiveness for the 24 extra seconds.

Magic items are supposed to be these powerful relics that can make your PCs harder, better, faster, and stronger (we'll miss you Daft Punk).  So why does it feel like most players react with, "Oh, another +1 scimitar."  How do you make magic items feel special in your high-magic or low-magic campaign?