Wandering DMs

Paul & Dan take an old-school spin on Vampires in D&D games. Why were they considered "the most dreaded" of all the original D&D monsters? What pop traditions influence your vampires the most? How many unique subsystem spun off from their inclusion in the game -- clerics, undead turning, classed monsters, and more? With a lively chat and support from the Wandering DMs crack research squad!

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul discuss how best to get your D&D sessions in jump-scare mode for a thrilling October!

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul buckle in to complete their one-page live dungeon design with a hard limit in their 2nd hour! This time they're focused on laying a bunch of fiendish traps, tricks, and puzzles to confound the unwary adventurers. What will they come up with? And are the live viewers even more crafty than they are?

• See Dan's OED Traps Digest that we use to generate ideas in a jiffy

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul get to speak with Michael Curtis -- creator of the acclaimed OSR Stonehell Dungeon, the Dungeon Alphabet, and contributor to over 60 titles in Dungeon Crawl Classics other Goodman Games products. And more: he's just been announced as the brand-new Director of Product Development for DCC. We'll take the opportunity to reflect with him on how Stonehell has passed the test of time, and what's next for the OSR and DCC!

• Get Michael's Stonehell Dungeon on Lulu
• See Michael's new position announcement at Goodman Games

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul set themselves a challenging design goal -- can they build an entire dungeon adventure, live on air, in a single hour? Will they collapse under the burden? Maybe with help from our live viewers they can fight through to final victory!

• Get Matt Finch's Tome of Adventure Design (which we use for idea generation)
• Read up on the Target 20 system (which we use for super-fast old-school combat resolution)
• Get the free OED Traps Digest (which we'll use in our next design-dash episode!)

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan interviews Timm Woods -- pro DM, PhD in English literature, and now designer of The Green Knight RPG in association with the movie by A24 Films! We loved the film -- written & directed by David Lowery and starring Dev Patel, perfect for thoughtful fantasy gamers. So we wanted to hear all about what it was like for Timm to synch up with a movie production cycle, what his design motivations were for an RPG welcoming to people who've never played one before, and what experiences from his pro DM'ing were brought to bear. It's a unique interview and perspective!

• See The Green Knight film, now in theaters and everywhere you rent movies
• Read the director's note on the film
• Get The Green Knight RPG
• And visit Timm's DM'ing website!

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul get to sit with legendary gaming mogul Peter Adkison -- game designer, founder of Wizards of the Coast, rescuer of TSR and Dungeons & Dragons, owner and co-chair of the Gen Con gaming convention, and so much more! We're eager to hear from him about the unique plans around this first-ever Gen Con in September of this year. Plus questions about what it was like to run WOTC, Magic the Gathering, acquire D&D, and design his own RPGs like Primal Order and the 40-year World of Chaldea campaign. This should be big!

Register and follow for Gen Con 2021:

• Info & registration
• Gen Con on Twitch
• Gen Con on YouTube

Check out Peter's epic World of Chaldea campaign play:

• Home website
• Full episodes on YouTube

And watch our past interviews with other great guests mentioned today:

• R.A. Salvatore
• Sean K. Reynolds
• James Mendes Hodes

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul are joined by Mark Greenberg from Necromancer Games to chat about the new revision to Necropolis. Based on the original work by the grandmaster himself, Gary Gygax, Necropolis is an epic desert adventure series for 5e D&D and Swords & Wizardry. Previously published by Necromancer Games as a d20 system adventure, it's been entirely updated and revised by Mark, co-author of The World of the Lost Lands by Frog God Games. We've been fans of Necropolis for a long time, and people are literally dying to find out more!

• Join the Kickstarter for the new Necropolis
• Watch Dan & Paul play the original Tomb of Ra-Hotep with Web DM last Halloween
• Check out our Season 1 chat on the Tomb of Horrors
• Watch our last interview with Jon Peterson
• And our talk with Zach Howard on his Holmes' Tower of Zenopus 5E update
• Finally, read Stephen Buckley's article this week on "Meet the Tomb of Horrors" at Cracked!

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Polymorphing magic, druidic shapeshifting, and more -- shapechanging is one of the trickiest things in D&D to get right. How has it changed over the years? Is it overpowered, underpowered, or just right? And what's the best way to handle it in your games? Dan & Paul hash it out with help from our viewers.

• See RPGBot's 5E Practical Guide to Polymorph
• Check out the Andy Collins article that removed Polymorph from the entire D&D 3.5 system (via Wayback Machine)
• Also read Dan's blog on Polymorph Through the Ages
• Plus a handy chart of Polymorph spell features through early game editions

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

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Dan & Paul roll up their sleeves to debate the best use of unarmed combat in your D&D games. Pummeling, grappling, overbearing and more -- how often does this get used in your games? What's your favorite style? What's the best way of handling it from all the editions of D&D? Queensbury Rules and other variants welcome.

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Subscribe to Wandering DMs for new episodes