Mastering Dungeons

Best of Gary Gygax’s Against the Giants G1-2-3! (MD 289)

Episode 289 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Against the Giants G1-2-3!

We revisit the classic Against the Giants Dungeons & Dragons adventure, including the very first adventure ever published for D&D! Join us as we walk the halls, glacier, and steading to find the best of this influential series.

News: WotC Team Unionizing, Free Zombie Clot Encounter and Draw Steel Treasures, WotC’s AI Patent, D&D Encounters Explained, New UA, and more! 

Contents
00:00 PC Roles in Daggerheart
07:58 ToV Giants for Patreon!
08:47 Converting Old Adventures to 5E?
16:10 Dungeon Masters AP is Live
20:10 Free Zombie Clot Encounter
22:37 Gremishka's 2nd Play Pack
23:37 New DMAP Soundtrack
25:00 D&D Encounters Explained
39:54 WotC's AI Patent
45:54 MtG Arena Team Unionizing
46:37 UA Villainous Options 2
48:45 Free Draw Steel Magic Items
52:07 New Official Terrain
54:04 Against the Giants
56:00 Additional Disclaimer
57:20 A Brief History
01:01:03 Premise and Approach
01:11:52 Introduction
01:16:56 Wheels Within Wheels Structure
01:19:01 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
01:24:16 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
01:29:20 Hall of the Fire Giant King
01:40:00 Amazing Elder Elemental God Area
01:47:16 Shout-Outs
01:51:18 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

How Good is D&D’s New Website? (MD 288)

Episode 288 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: How Good is D&D’s New Website?

We take a look at D&D’s new site and discuss how well it works for new players, community, Baldur’s Gate fans, new Ravenloft and actual play reveals, and much more!

News: New Ravenloft Details, Dungeon Masters AP, Daggerheart Hope and Fear, Legends of Greyhawk, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Little Giant Patreon Creations
04:13 Is 5E Oatmeal?
10:07 Montages?
21:28 Ravenloft Horrors Within Details
23:10 D&D's New Actual Play Dungeon Masters
25:42 Actual Play Play-Along Packs
27:37 Legends of Greyhawk on DDB
30:32 Daggerheart Hope & Fear Date
32:08 Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG
34:01 Dice are 12000 Years Old
35:58 Human-Made Alternatives Guide
36:44 Indie Groundbreaker Awards
37:28 Legends of Eleanora Charity Livestream
38:28 D&D's Website
40:50 Looking Back Through Newbie Eyes
45:43 Initial Welcome Screen
49:30 Discover the Feeling of Play
53:14 Your Inner Hero
01:00:34 CPU Intensive
01:02:17 Dungeon Masters New AP
01:08:04 Community?
01:13:21 Inspiring TTRPGs
01:14:38 Digital Games
01:17:14 Cinematic
01:22:19 Ravenloft Landing Page
01:24:58 Preorders and DDB Focus
01:31:44 Shout-Outs
01:36:47 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Best of Storm King’s Thunder! (MD 287)

Episode 287 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Storm King’s Thunder!

Bring the thunder with this giant-filled D&D 5E adventure! Shawn and Teos review what truly makes this adventure shine.

News: Big Patreon News, New D&D Job Speculation, Hasbro’s AI Principles, Ravenloft Comics, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Back and Inspired
02:18 Big Patreon News!
05:12 Skip the Boring Bits?
17:19 New Ravenloft Comics
19:31 What a New D&D Job Tells Us
31:47 Evil Hat on Inflation
35:11 Hasbro's AI Principles
40:11 Darrington Press' Great Survey
44:37 Best of Storm King's Thunder
46:22 Storm King's History
52:03 Premise of Ordning and Shakespeare
56:31 Approach and Intro
01:08:31 Starting at 1st vs 5th Level
01:10:22 Chapter 1 Nightstone
01:17:38 Chapter 2 Choice of 3 Towns
01:20:01 Chapter 3 and Quests in the North
01:27:16 Chapter 4 Giant Temple
01:32:17 Chapter 5 Giant Lair
01:38:23 Chapter 10 Maelstrom and Storm Giants
01:41:23 Chapter 11 is James Bond
01:44:01 Chapter 11 Showdown with a Dragon
01:49:39 Shout-Outs and Patreon News
01:54:39 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Best of Curse of Strahd (MD286)

Episode 286 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Curse of Strahd!

One of 5E's highest-rated adventures! Jeff Mueller joins Shawn to discuss why it is so good and how Jeff is running it yet again - this time for Daggerheart!

News: MegaDungeon Month, BG3 TV Show Delays, UA Villainous Options, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Introduction
34:29 Curse of Strahd

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Best of Out of the Abyss! (MD 285)

Episode 285 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Out of the Abyss!

Out of the Abyss may be one of the finest Underdark sourcebooks D&D has created… and it’s also an adventure! See what really shines in Out of the Abyss.

News: We Try D&D Beyond’s Quickbuilder, Colbert Helms Lord of the Rings, Cookie Brigade’s History, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Teos Has a Sad
01:30 Elemental Evil Update
03:13 Indonesia RPG Scene Update
05:04 Fantasy Properties Into Games?
07:46 Quality of D&D Reviews?
13:48 What Makes Great Adventures
14:50 Starter Set Localized in EU
15:56 D&D Beyond Character Quickbuilder
17:47 Stephen Colbert Writing LotR Movie
19:27 Survey on Tabletop Designer AI Use
22:13 New Dragonlance War Wizards Novel
23:22 History of the Cookie Brigade
24:32 Tatters of Myth Drannor
25:15 Best of Out of the Abyss
26:11 Product History
32:41 Premise and Approach
35:54 Chapter 1: Prisoners of the Drow
42:55 Chapter 2 as Underdark Sourcebook
46:07 The Darklake and Kuo-Toa
49:01 The Instigating Plot
51:28 Gracklstugh, Neverlight Grove, Blindengstone
56:08 Escaping the Underdark to Go Back In
59:36 Mantol-Derith and Fraz-Urb'luu
01:04:42 Gravenhollow and Establishing Facts
01:08:32 Vizeran and His Plan
01:11:23 Wormwrithings and Faction Play
01:14:46 The Fettid Wedding
01:16:55 Against the Demon Lords
01:20:25 Appendices
01:22:27 Looking Back on Its Ranking
01:26:47 Shout-Outs
01:31:52 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Shawn and Teos Do Things For the First Time!

Shawn and Teos Do Things For the First Time!

Welcome to a special edition show, modeled after YouTube's increasingly hard-to-attain quality standards.

Contents
00:00 First Read of ToEE!
00:26 First Time Rolling Dice
01:08 First Time Seeing 5.5

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

Why is Temple of Elemental Evil So Good? (MD 284)

Episode 284 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Temple of Elemental Evil!

Shawn and Teos dive into the classic Temple of Elemental Evil, inspiring countless spinoffs including 5E’s Princes of the Apocalypse. From elemental factions to demigods, we look at the best of this design.

News: D&D Greyhawk Announcements, Codex Pricing Reveal, Modules Returning, RPG Growth in Indonesia and Iraq, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Sweetest 16
01:22 5E Monsters Either Boring or Deadly?
08:56 Struggling with Prep?
15:18 New D&D Survey
16:40 D&D News from GaryCon
26:51 MCDM Codex Pricing
28:28 Indonesia's Tabletop Scene
30:58 RPG Community in Iraq
33:16 Origins Game Finalists
35:01 D&D Provides Critical Awakening
36:46 Trading Card Manipulation
39:05 Green Games Guide
39:36 Pirate Borg Winds of Hell
40:07 Black Ballad for Shadowdark
40:43 Temple of Elemental Evil
42:12 An Often-Played Classic
44:53 Origins of Elemental Evil?
49:55 Temple's History
54:49 Temple's Legacy
56:51 Hommlet as Innovation
01:01:21 The Moathouse
01:04:25 Cults and Imprisoned Zuggtmoy
01:10:25 Lessons in Boxed Text
01:12:46 Map Booklet
01:13:51 Resting and Travel
01:15:40 Elemental Evil Factions
01:17:58 Interesting Dungeon
01:20:27 Shout-Outs
01:23:46 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

D&D Encounters Program with Chris Tulach! (MD 283)

Episode 283 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: D&D Encounters Program with Chris Tulach!

Chris Tulach, organized play manager for D&D, shares how the revised D&D Encounters program will work for stores and home play, including the upcoming celebration event! Chris also discusses the latest with Adventurers League and Legends of Greyhawk.

News: No Tariff Lawsuits, NeoPets Withdraws License, Chris Cocks Interview, Codenames Critical Role, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Intro
01:40 Monster Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities?
11:35 Fair Stat Block Manipulation?
17:44 Tariffs Don't Require Lawsuits
21:49 D&D HeroClix
23:26 Hasbro's CEO on AI
29:15 NeoPets Withdraws License
33:15 20 Years of Kobold Press
35:05 D&D Reverse Dungeon Comic
36:02 Codenames Critical Role
38:22 Beyond the Silt Sea Annatan Coast
40:02 D&D Encounters with Chris Tulach
40:29 Chris' Path Through Organized Play
47:53 Longest Org Play Tenure
49:27 Goal of Organized Play
51:41 Measuring Benefits
54:52 Why D&D Encounters Rocked
01:04:37 D&D Encounters in 2026
01:06:32 Celebration Kick-Off Event
01:07:45 Seasons and D&D Encounters Timing
01:12:45 Encounters Through D&D Beyond
01:16:27 Working With Stores
01:17:48 Seasonal Cadence
01:20:02 WPN Store Incentives
01:23:37 Adventurers League
01:26:18 Legends of Greyhawk
01:32:55 Organized Play Options
01:37:06 AL and LoG Seasonality
01:39:22 Follow Chris Tulach!
01:42:31 Shout-Outs
01:46:32 What Are We Gonna Do?

Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.

Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ 

Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.