Dan and Paul return from the Rising Phoenix Game Con with tales from the front lines of fast-paced dungeon creation! In this episode, they break down their latest Dungeon Design Dash, crafted live in front of a seminar audience and then playtested at the convention just two days later. What worked? What didn’t? And what did the players do that nobody expected?

Whether you’re a dungeon designer looking to sharpen your tools or just love a behind-the-scenes look at live convention play, you won’t want to miss this one!

Want to join us next year? Check out the convention here!

Dan & Paul get to chat with R. Alex Murray, one of the cast members of Twenty-Sided Tavern, a live theatrical D&D stage production! TST has had a smash year off-Broadway in New York City, and now they're about to take the show across the country. What's the difference between playing D&D at home with friends, versus entertaining hundreds of audience members every night? What elements of D&D cut across those lines and what needs to be cut or changed?

Check out D&D Twenty-Sided Tavern on your favorite social media

Paul & Dan chat with the legendary Bill Webb, founder of Necromancer Games and Frog God Games. Bill's back with a new, even-more-old-school TTRPG ruleset -- the Necromancer's Game, naturally! We find out how "wild man" Bill Webb runs his own regular home games, and what "First Edition Feel" means in 2025. Plus more surprises!

Join the Kickstarter for Bill's Necromancer's Game here

Should the DM keep their D&D adventure map hidden, or reveal it to the players at the outset? Dan & Paul discuss the sometimes-surprising benefits of giving your players more information instead of less. From partial dungeon maps as treasure, to visualizing the layout of the wilderness, to games where the map's the thing, we'll share everything we know.

After a packed weekend at their annual house convention, Dan and Paul return with fresh insights into the mechanics behind the games they played. From the moves-based mechanics of Powered by the Apocalypse titles, to Quest's streamlined abilities, D&D's shifting focus across editions (from old-school attribute checks to modern skill lists), and the freeform chaos of Fiasco, they examine how different systems shape the player experience.

Do tightly defined moves encourage bold choices—or just narrow options? When does a skill list feel empowering, and when does it just get in the way? And what happens when you throw out mechanics entirely, like in Fiasco? Join the Wandering DMs for a lively discussion on how systems guide creativity at the table—or sometimes, hold it back.

Dan & Paul chat about Elementals in D&D. Where do they come from, and how often do they get used? Are they really a good option for high-level wizards to conjure? And how have they evolved into the newest Monster Manual for D&D 5E 2024?

Hasbro/WOTC announced this week that their long-anticipated virtual tabletop tool (VTT), Sigil, is suddenly end-of-life. How did they come to spend so many resources into a project like this, only to cancel it? Does it disrupt their overall strategy for the brand-new 2024 edition of Dungeons & Dragons? What's the landscape of VTT's for D&D look like today. And… is anyone really surprised?

Dan and Paul are joined by Tom McGrenery, game designer and co-host of the podcast Fear of a Black Dragon, to discuss the surprising common ground between OSR and story games. Do they have more in common with each other than either has with modern traditional RPGs? Find out what they discover in this thought-provoking episode of Wandering DMs!

Can an AI truly run a game of Dungeons & Dragons? In this episode, Paul & Dan review Paul’s recent live-streamed experiment, Martha the AI DM, where he played a session of Basic B/X D&D with an AI as his Dungeon Master. How well did Martha craft adventures, roleplay NPCs, and adapt to unexpected player choices? Did she bring the magic of tabletop storytelling — or did she fall into mechanical pitfalls? Join us as we break down the session, discuss the strengths and limitations of AI-driven RPGs, and explore what this means for the future of roleplaying games.

Here's some links to the articles mentioned in this show:

As a DM, should you offer different subject matter to your players when the real world looks grim?