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A general interest podcast for fans of Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs
The CKUA Radio Network presents Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, a new 26-part series featuring the original recordings of the Folkways Collection, now a cornerstone of Smithsonian Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Hosted by Michael Asch, the only child of Folkways Records' founder Moses Asch, the weekly one-hour program debuted Sunday, January 18th, 2009. This series, researched by Robert Wiznura, is a co-production of The Smithsonian Women's Committee, Smithsonian Folkways Recordin ...
Another episode of actual prep! Matt and Rob work on the outline for a one-shot loosely inspired by DIE HARD. Ten stories of sheer adventure! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Beethoven - Ode to Joy Guyz Nite - Die Hard
DM Matt takes a look Arcadia, MCDM Productions' new magazine for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. What is Arcadia? It ain't in Greece, Louisiana, or the plane of Peaceable Kingdoms in the Great Wheel cosmology. Knowing Matt Colville it's probably a Duran Duran reference. Confusing name aside, this magazine rules. Check out the review! Links: Arcad…
Our house...our rules. DMs Matt and Rob go through the most popular, and the most hated, house rules for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Links: Half-Feats (Updated with Tasha's) Inspiration by the Apocalypse (D&D 5e Houser Rule) That GWM / SS Fix by Think DM Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Talking Heads - Burning Down the House.…
New year, same Dungeon Master of None. DMs Matt and Rob reflect on the best of 2020. Good vibes only! Then, they dive into the generic narrative Roleplaying System from Fantasy Flight Games: Genesys! Here's some pictures below, because it's hard to understand the system without looking at the dice, the outcome symbols, and the probability chart. St…
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148 - Dungeon Master Book Club - The Fifth Season
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DMs Matt and Rob explore N.K. Jemisin's Hugo award-winning novel, The Fifth Season. Plus, your DMs take a brief aside into "DragonLaw: The Contract Chronicles" with an update on the Weis & Hickman lawsuit and into the idea of Minor Advantage/Disadvantage in 5th edition. Links: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin Numenera RPG "I build a world with fant…
Matt and Rob answer your letters! A lot of which were about how wrong we were about Tasha's Cauldron of Everything!
Get out of that Cyberfunk and start playing Cyberpunk RED, the brand new edition of the classic Cyberpunk RPG by R. Talsorian Games! Link: Cyberpunk RED Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; 3RA1N1AC - Flash RAM.
DM Matt dives deep into Eyes Unclouded, a heartwarming and thought-provoking adventure anthology for Dungeons and Dragons inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli. Link: Eyes Unclouded Anthology
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145 - Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (Part 3)
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We finally get to the really good stuff, the Dungeon Master sections of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything: how to use Group Patrons, Tasha's magic items and artifacts, and a delightful section of supernatural manifest zones. Then, DM Matt and Rob force themselves to discuss the puzzle section at the end of the book and how to create better puzzles tha…
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144 - Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (Part 2)
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DM Rob and Matt continue deep diving into the new player options for Dungeons and Dragons presented in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Monks, Sorcerers, Rangers, Rogues, Paladins, Wizards, Warlocks, feats, and spells! Links: ThinkDM - "Blade Cantrip Changes" Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Mott the Hoople & David Bowie - All the Young Dudes.…
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143 - Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (Part 1)
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DM Matt and Rob are back and diving deep into each tasty bit of the newest Dungeons and Dragons supplement: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Thurston Harris and the Sharps - Little Bitty Pretty One; David Bowie - Oh! You Pretty Things.
DM Rob is England and DM Matt's school is fighting a COVID outbreak, so here is our first ever replay of one of our favorite episodes, "82 - Anyone Can DM." There is a lot we can all learn from the basics and some good Dungeon Master thinking here. We hope to bring you more of these types of episodes in the near future. See you next week! Episode 8…
Special OSR Correspondent Andy explains the joy of hexcrawls in Dungeons & Dragons! Learn how to build a sandbox exploration game, one hex at a time. Links: Hex TML Hexographer US GIS Maps Swordfish Islands, a system neutral hexcrawl Arcana of the Ancients X1 The Isle of Dread Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps.…
It's the return of the classic Dungeons Master of None reading series as we go back, back to the future, to 1984 and read one of the most bizarre articles ever published in Dragon Magazine. Then, your hosts head to into the 9th Layer of #DnD TikTok Hell. Here are the accompanying equations and tables you will need to master to play D&D: Links: http…
DM Matt and Special Legal Correspondent Brent discuss Dragonlance authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's lawsuit against Wizards of the Coast. Links: Margaret Weis, LLC and Tracy Hickman v. Wizards of The Coast LLC Brent's Twitter Story first reported by Cecilia D'Anastasio of Wired Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man…
Dungeon Master advice served hot and fresh, plus our rule of three wish list. Questions: Do I need to make my party roll some healers? Can I design my own monster for the Shadowfell? Why do the geeks love fascism so much? Is offline one-to-one communication with players a good thing? Is my worldbuilding idea too much for my players to handle? Will …
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BONUS - Rob's review of Shadowrun Sixth World
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Rob reviews the newest edition of Shadowrun, Sixth World, a book that was definitely not rushed out unfinished by a bunch of amoral grifters!
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139 - Rime of the Frostmaiden (Part 2)
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It's 2 Frost, 2 Maidens as DMs Rob and Matt return to Icewind Dale for the second part of the newest Dungeons and Dragons adventure module.
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138 - Rime of the Frostmaiden (Part 1)
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Matt and Rob talk about the new WotC release, Rime of the Frostmaiden, and get a little carried away. This one's a doozie folks!
It's Dungeons and Dragons....IN SPAAAACE! Finally, DMs Matt and Rob take a look at their favorite but flawed campaign setting: Spelljammer! Links: Spelljammer Books Wildspace Commercial Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice; Bob Marley & The Wailers - Jamming; David Bowie - Space Oddity.
Oh, you like Dungeons and Dragons? Then, name five dragons. We'll wait. DMs Rob and Matt are here to prove the uselessness of lore knowledge by beating the nerds at their own game...the most dangerous game...the game of trivia. But first, a discussion of what to except from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and the coming of Magic: The Gathering to To…
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Episode 135: An Interview with Mikayla Ebel
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Writer and designer Mikayla Ebel joins Matt and Rob to talk about the upcoming WotC release, Icewind Dale: Rime of Frostmaiden, and how they ended up writing for the big leagues. Goats, labor relations, anxiety -- folks, this interview has it all. Follow Mikayla on Twitter or visit their website!
Another week of piping hot Dungeon Master advice, served with a smile! Plus, join us for a discussion of Kate Welch's departure from WotC and some amazing analysis of fascism and 40k from Special Warhammer Correspondent CthulhuBen! What is the best old UA subclass? How should I build a campaign around a city in the Feywild? What is the deal fascism…
Rob is back with a functioning microphone, and the DMs are talking about WotC surveys, APPS, and of course, encounter design. If you're mad that Matt said "WILLIAM Dafoe", don't worry, so am I. https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dd-survey-2020 Inclusive TTRPG List Music: Pac Div -- Roll the Dice Nightwish - Wishmaster Imagine Dragons - Warriors…
Is T1 - The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax the best adventure for novice players and new Dungeon Masters? Should you run it or adapt it for your group? Is it even any good? DM Matt and Special OSR Correspondent Andy do a deep dive into this classic of grognardia. Your hosts go into the history of Hommlet, the reasons why you might want to play T1…
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BONUS - Review of Lancer and Mechwarrior: Destiny
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In a special bonus episode, DM Matt reviews two new big, stompy robot RPG systems: Mechwarrior: Destiny and Lancer. Matt explains why the Battletech Universe kicks ass (01:50), how Mechwarrior: Destiny fails to harmonize its narrative and simulationist mechanics (22:20), and why you should play the Lancer RPG (36:00). Spoilers: there is a free vers…
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131 - Too Many Hobgoblins and Other DM Problems
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How many hobgoblins are too many? How can you mix up antagonists so your players aren't bored? What is the best system for a Last Airbender game? How can you get your foot in the door if your group is all experienced Dungeon Masters? DMs Matt and Rob do their best to answer these and other questions! Plus, they discuss a refutation of the erasure o…
It's our favorite Dungeons and Dragons world-builder himself, Keith Baker! Keith is here to talk about his awesome new book, Exploring Eberron, out now! We discuss Keith's "Rule of Three" for world-building details, how to include fairy tales in your lore, how to fight a war with magic, what 5th edition gets right, why you should start small and bu…
DMs Matt and Rob are joined by special guest Olivia Hill to discuss her new tabletop RPG, iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy. Stay tuned for a discussion of RPG design, FATE mechanics, writing games for working and marginalized people, and some great game master insights from our guest! Can you guess who the real monster is? (Hint: It begin…
DMs Matt and Rob discuss the character options in the most recent Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana on Feats! Links: Unearthed Arcana - Feats Matt's Half-Feat Rules Music Pac Div - Roll the Dice Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow
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128 - The One-Page RPG Expo (and DM Advice)
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Welcome to the World of Tomorrow! DMs Matt and Rob take you on a tour of both host and listener created one-page Role-Playing games. Thank you to everyone who submitted a game! Then, it's on to some Dungeon Master advice: how to deal with a party that has a magical solution to every problem, how to set prices for magical stuff in 5e, and how should…
DMs Matt and Rob attempt to take stock of the failures of the corporations that control Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and OneBookShelf) over the past decade and discuss recent goings on in both D&D and Magic: The Gathering. Then, we answer your letters on dealing with overpowered homebrew classes and speeding up combat with la…
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126 Avatar: The Last Dungeon Master
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DMs Matt and Rob journey to the mystic realm of Avatar: The Last Airbender for inspiration for world building and characters. Time to get bent!
DMs Matt and Rob discuss successes and limitations of Wizards of the Coast's recent statement. Then, we discuss One Page Role-Playing Games! Perfect for breaking you out of a quarantine Dungeon Mastering rut. Share your One Page RPG with us here: dmofnone@gmail.com Links: BIG GAY ORCS Lasers and Feelings Everyone is John Honey Heist All Outta Bubbl…
Matt & Rob answer more letters! We've got fire! We've got edition wars! We've got cool initiative stuff! Plus your regular tangents on vaguely related topics. Also make sure to check out the Black AF Roundtable! Fate Worlds Volume One: Worlds on Fire Perilous Wilds Music: Pac Div -- Roll the Dice Billy Bragg -- The World Turned Upside Down Anna Mae…
Howdy Dungeon Masters, in this bonus episode, DM Matt walks listeners through some homebrew magic item (0:02:45), spell (0:25:30), and monster (0:44:00) creation before reflecting on revising the Advanced Artificer (0:57:00) and reviewing a listener undead supplement (1:11:00) and adventure anthology (1:18:00). It's a MEGA-EPISODE. Let us know if y…
Dungeons and Dragons is back with another Magic: The Gathering crossover campaign setting: Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Dungeon Masters Matt and Rob review the ideas that we love and critique the executions of those ideas that falls woeful short. Strap on your winged sandals, burnish your shield to a mirror shine, and grab your friendly Bubo, because…
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122 Dungeon Master Book Club - Throne of the Crescent Moon
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This week DMs Matt and Rob read Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. Dungeon Master of None highly recommends this excellent novel! Come for a discussion of action and adventure in a world modeled on D&D ideas, and stay for the great characters, items, and world-building to steal for your own campaigns. Links: Throne of the Crescent Moon b…
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Episode 121: A Christian Response to Dungeons & Dragons
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Sit down by the fire and stoke your pipe, because today Matt & Rob put on their academics' robes and read a classic of D&D history. We revisit the halcyon days of the Satanic Panic with "A Christian Response to Dungeons & Dragons: A Catechism for the New Age". Come learn why D&D is "the most effective introduction to the occult in man's recorded hi…
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Episode 120: Lost Mine of Phandelver
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DMs Matt and Rob dive deep into the Dungeons and Dragons introductory adventure from the 5e Starter Set, Lost Mine of Phandelver. Tune in for a discussion of how to prep, how to make the module your own, and how to punch up the key NPCs of LMoP!
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Episode 119: Handy Haversack (of Mail)
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Matt and Rob talk about the news, answer some mail, and dispense questionable advice, as usual. Rob has his best game of "real or woe" yet!
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Episode 118: Dungeons and Dragons: The Movie
2:11:53
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Dungeon Masters Matt and Rob brave the lowest point in D&D history: the 2000 New Line film by Courtney Solomon. Joined by guests Adam, Katie, and Sam we watch this entire film full of Garbage Dwarves, Stuffed Cats, and Jeremy Irons' O-face. The instructions for watching along with us are in the show so you can experience the beautiful pain along wi…
DM Matt and special guest Andy discuss every aspect of Dungeon Mastering D&D and other RPGs for kids and teens. Links: Jamboard Ryuutama RPG The Quiet Year Dungeon World (SRD) (Review Episode) Amazing Tales Beyond the Wall Hero Kids RPG Black Hack 2e (Open Game Content) Tiny d6 BASH RPG Fate Accelerated (SRD) Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Kim Wild…
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Episode 116: Worldbuilding Settlements
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Matt and Rob build out the sleepy little town of High Cyre and come up with some truly terrible names in the process. Get some tips on building settlements for fun and profit (well, maybe not profit). Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Will Smith - Wild, Wild West Linda Ronstadt - Desperado The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun Ennio Morricone - Th…
DMs Matt and Rob roll for initiative! Let's talk everything initiative and turn order: when to use it, why to use it, and how to track it. Plus, six different variants to the system you can use in your game! Unearthed Arcana: March 2020 - Spell Tattoos and Summon Spells April 2020 - Psionics (Again!) Links: Matt's Psionics Rules Marvel Heroic Rolep…
Matt and Rob talk about the news, free stuff, and answer some letters. Here's the links! https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial https://blog.roll20.net/post/612497773955350528/stay-at-home-play-at-home https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/lmop/ https://www.myth-weavers.com/ https://beyond20.here-for-more.info/…
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Ep. 113: So You Want to Play an ONLINE RPG
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Dungeon Masters Matt and Rob are here to walk you through everything you need to know to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons ONLINE. Free Adventures: The Celestial Job Rumblings Links: Maptools Token Stamp Foundry Virtual Table Top Fantasy Grounds Roll20 Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Rodriguez - Sugar Man Right On - Marvin Gaye Adam Schlesinger (R…
Quarantined Dungeon Master Matt and Quarantined Dungeon Master Rob are here with advice and answers to RPG questions. May this podcast be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out. Keep sending us letters at dmofnone@gmail.com or leave us a message on the Dungeon Master Hotline at (774) 203-4629. Links: Dark Sun 5e Homebrew that R…
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Ep. 112: Explorer's Guide to Wildemount
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DMs Matt and Rob review the first new official Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting in two (?) decades: Critical Role's Explorer's Guide to Wildemount! Links: Salt in Wounds Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice The Killers - All These Things That I've Done Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual City of Heroes: Freedom - Main Theme Yusuf - Wild World…
Matt and Rob sit down and try to figure out what the hell is happening with Magic: The Gathering lore and how you can use it for your own worldbuilding. Please ignore the coughing. We're fine. Music: Roll the Dice - Pac Div Do You Believe in Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful Santana - Black Magic Woman Heart - Magic Man B.o.B. - Magic…
