RPG veterans and game designers Teos Abadía and Shawn Merwin look at the game and the hobby of D&D from a variety of viewpoints: reporting the news, understanding the business, reviewing the products, and illuminating the design. Whether you’re a fan, a player, a DM, or a designer, Shawn and Teos cover topics of interest to you!
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Episode 165 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Monsters in Morte’s Planar Parade!
We take a look at Planescape’s monster book. We get traits to add to monsters, faction agents, and creatures from across the planes. Hear what we like and what we would change.
News: Free Inspiration Deck, VTT at PAXU, GameHole Panels, and more!
Contents
00:00 Explore the Space
01:34 Unsafe Gate Towns?
08:34 Best Planar Adventures?
14:13 Free Inspiration Deck Handout
18:28 D&D VTT at PAXU
20:57 2 GameHole Panels
23:29 Simple Reputation System
26:31 Seeker’s Guide to Enchanting Emporiums
28:00 Free Sigil 2E Locations
29:01 AL Planescape
31:08 Morte’s Planar Parade
32:01 Introduction
37:00 Included CRs
39:12 Petitioners
47:54 Planar Influences
50:07 Monster Traits
58:27 Encounter Tables
1:04:49 Notable Monsters
1:08:25 Faction Agents
1:12:13 Final Verdict
1:15:49 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
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/).
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Episode 164 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: The Outlands!
Outside of Sigil are the Outlands, marked by fantastic and intense gate towns reflecting the plane beyond. Find out why we would change these up and how!
News: D&D TV Launches, Chains of Asmoeus, Biggest Crowdfunders, and more!
Contents
00:00 Scary Candy
01:58 Span the Ages?
07:23 Reduce HPs?
14:01 Session Length?
21:13 Buck Stops Here?
29:08 FAST D&D Adventures
31:43 Autism and Many Things
34:16 B&G Encounter Cards
35:42 Chains of Asmodeus
40:38 Planar Adventures Blogs
41:52 Top Crowdfunders
46:39 Forge of Foes Available
48:44 Planescape – The Outlands
52:45 Cosmic Realignment
1:00:49 Outland Characteristics
1:06:17 Gate Towns and Automata
1:07:54 Bedlam
1:08:30 Is It Too Much
1:16:38 Faunel Post-Realignment
1:18:05 Fortitude and other Gate Towns
1:23:00 Other Realms
1:25:44 This Book Overall
1:28:07 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
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/).
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Episode 163 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: Planescape: Sigil’s Factions and Wards!
The City of Sigil’s factions can be hard to grasp, but they play a critical role and shape the city itself, turning the city’s neighborhoods into reflections of their philosophies.
News: WotC Recalls Many Things, Rough Hasbro Q3, D&D Anthology, and more!
Contents
00:00 Back from GameHole!
03:28 Social System?
11:42 Skill List Creativity?
20:14 Slipcase Format?
26:24 WotC Recalls Many Things
29:43 Rough Hasbro Q3
36:00 D&D Anthology Glimpses
43:46 AL Update
45:08 Sigil’s Factions and Wards
47:00 Role Factions Play
1:01:56 Ascendant Factions
1:12:09 Minor Factions
1:14:22 City Wards
1:19:06 Adventures in Sigil
1:24:19 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Episode 162 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: Live at Gamehole 2023 – Setting Products!
We discuss settings with our live audience! What do you want from a setting? Paper or digital? And is it Sigil or Sijil?
Contents
00:00 Live at GameHole!
00:47 Sigil or Sijil?
05:09 What Do We Want from Settings?
06:23 Adventure Atlas: the Mortuary
10:20 Another Mortuary?
13:11 Audience Interest
14:24 Purchase Planescape?
15:02 Planebreaker Compatibility
16:38 Shifting RPGs
18:27 Books vs Small Supplements
20:11 Tools We Use
21:12 Rereleasing Settings
23:32 Digital Format
31:25 Ideal Setting Product
33:42 Included Adventure?
34:36 Ratio of Player Content
37:58 Player Guides
44:15 Production Challenges
49:57 Setting Breadth?
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Episode 161 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: Planescape: City of Sigil!
The City of Sigil is a sci-fi conundrum. Let’s learn what makes the city so intriguing and how a DM can make the most of it.
News: WotC hiring, Baldman at PAXU, Unforgettable Villains, and more!
Contents
00:00 D&D Tutor
03:16 Class Sales?
08:33 Bigger Books?
10:28 Reskinning?
15:50 Dungeon Tropes?
19:54 Baldman at PAXU
22:52 WotC Hiring
24:23 Unforgettable Villains
25:31 James Haeck Channel
26:52 HeroQuest Release
29:10 Tony DiTerlizzi Book
30:10 Hellwatch
31:32 Nimble Streamlining 5E
32:43 Sigil, the City of Doors
33:20 What is Sigil?
40:52 City Weather
43:04 Magic Changes
47:29 Summoning
50:57 Portraying Life in Sigil
1:00:21 Rats and Razorvines
1:01:39 Portals
1:04:12 Lady of Pain
1:14:14 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Episode 160 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse!
5E finally has Planescape! We take a look at Sigill and the Outlands, the first book introducing the setting and offering character options.
News: The End of Everything, D&D Adds Bastions, WotC Drops Penguin, and more!
Contents
00:00 Alex Kammer!
01:15 What is Gamehole Con?
09:30 Our Gamehole Plans
12:36 Introduce New RPG?
23:10 Bastions and Cantrips
35:12 End of Everything
44:41 WotC Drops Penguin
49:32 Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse
51:09 Planescape History
52:10 2024 Multiverse Focus
53:50 Sigil and the Outlands
55:12 Definitions and Truths
1:08:04 Character Backgrounds
1:12:52 Feats
1:16:02 Spells
1:20:15 Magic Items
1:24:11 Closing
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Episode 159 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: Modiphius 2D20 RPGs!
We take a look at the Modiphius 2D20 RPG system, including a close look at Star Trek Adventures and Dune: Adventures in the Imperium.
News: Evil Genius Sues Netflix, Planescape Previews and Downloads, Free Lightning Keep, and more!
Contents
00:00 Boosted
01:42 Modules?
11:21 New or Modify?
17:09 Planescape Previews
28:55 Minecraft and free Lightning Keep
31:14 Evil Genius Sues Netflix
34:33 FR Wiki Turns 18
34:59 Building a French Castle
36:25 Vecna’s Book of Vile Darkness
37:21 Modiphius 2D20 RPGs
39:16 Free SRD and Previews
40:03 Basics of 2D20
45:28 Skill Mechanics
55:19 Dune – Adventuring in the Imperium
1:01:32 Star Trek Adventures
1:10:23 Closing Thoughts
1:15:43 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Episode 158 of Mastering Dungeons!
This week's main topic: DMG Conclusion: Creating Monsters, Spells, Magic Items. Appendices!
The 2014 DMG ends with teaching DMs how to create rules and tries to inspire DMs. We then look back on the whole of the DMG and what 2024 might bring.
News: What the D&D Community Update Forgot, New Eldraine Monsters, Maps VTT, and more!
Contents
00:00 Lakeside
01:14 Playtesting Complexity?
10:47 Disarm is Simple?
17:10 D&D Community Update Forgets
26:40 New Eldraine Monsters
31:19 Maps VTT
37:02 Acq Inc Season 2
37:56 The Eye of Everywhere
38:31 DMG Chapter 9 – the end
38:57 Creating a Monster
46:37 Creating a Spell
49:59 Creating a Magic Item
51:35 New Character Options
59:13 Appendix A Random Dungeons
1:01:55 Appendix B Monster Lists
1:03:16 Appendix C Maps
1:03:57 Appendix D Inspiration
1:06:46 Comparison to 4E’s DMG
1:12:17 2024 Potential Changes
1:14:20 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
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