Mastering Dungeons

Episode 223 of Mastering Dungeons!  Main topic: Monster Manual Previews! Previews have begun for the 2025 MM! Shawn and Teos discuss the preview and just how hard it is to create monster books. News: Pinball Wizards, Most Anticipated RPGs, Singapore GMing, and more! Contents 00:00 Rip Off the 2025 Band-Aid 02:50 New Crafting Rules? 11:29 Games for Campaigns vs One Shots? 27:08 Pinball Wizards 30:28 2025 Most Anticipated RPGs 32:19 Appelcline's Year in Review 39:45 Singapore Professional GMing 42:40 Universal Fan Fest D&D Details 43:58 Will Doyle on Directive 8020 45:53 Kobold Press Monster Vault 2 46:16 Shawn Merwin's Design Tips! 46:59 Monster Manual Previews 49:14 The Challenge of Monster Books 51:26 Describing Monsters in the World 57:38 New Art to Represent D&D 01:00:52 All Paths Lead to CR 01:09:35 What Changed and Monster Families 01:11:45 Monster Type Changes 01:16:46 Bloodied and Exhaustion 01:18:29 Biggest MM Ever? 01:19:49 The 2014 DMG is Bigger than 2024 01:21:07 Shout-Outs 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.

Episode 222 of Mastering Dungeons!  Main topic: Looking Back on 2024, Forward to 2025! Shawn and Teos revisit the year’s biggest stories, the show’s main topics and guests, and look forward to what will impact our hobby in 2025. News: Bigger Monster Manual, CNBC on D&D’s Financial Success, Beyond Ranked Skills, and more! Contents 00:00 Happy New Year! 02:37 Vancian Magic Limits Narratives? 12:03 Adjust DCs Based on PC? 23:41 Bigger Monster Manual 25:33 CNBC on D&D Financial Success 30:09 Using Third Places 32:32 How to Do a Character Voice 34:42 Weapons of Lore 36:13 Beyond Ranked Skills 40:00 Clank Acq Inc 2 41:00 Looking Back, Looking Forward 41:16 2024 Highlights 57:25 Our Guests in 2024 59:17 Our Main Topics 01:02:25 Our Fans 01:03:14 Our 2024 Favorites 01:07:58 Our Questions for 2025 01:26:14 Shout-Outs 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.

Episode 221 of Mastering Dungeons!  Main topic: The Psychology of D&D! Dr. Jamie Madigan joins Teos and Shawn to explain that their dice aren’t cursed, the benefits of online vs in-person gaming, hot hand fallacy, and much more! Check out Jamie’s new book: https://www.psychologyofdnd.com/ News: Kobold Press Finances, Artificer on Unearthed Arcana, Goodbye Dark Alliance, and more! Contents 00:00 We Got You a Jamie Gift 03:18 Build World With Players? 08:32 Death Saves Proposal? 23:43 Unearthed Arcana Artificer 35:19 D&D Secret Level Review 40:47 Cyberpunk VG Adds RPG 41:56 Kobold Press 2024 Finances 45:14 Draw Steel Core Rules to Patrons 45:54 Goodbye Dark Alliance 47:17 Vote for Most Anticipated RPG 49:45 Psychology of D&D 50:19 Dr. Jamie Madigan 52:06 Writing and Publishing Process 55:22 Book Approach 58:10 Psychology of Dice Randomness 01:00:28 Gambler's Fallacy 01:02:28 Hot Hand Fallacy 01:04:45 Psychology of Game Choices 01:08:37 Fewer Compensatory Options 01:10:02 Satisficers vs Maximizers 01:13:49 Benefits of Play 01:16:25 Online vs In-Person Benefits 01:24:59 Shout-Outs 01:27:34 Find Dr. Jamie Madigan 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.

Episode 220 of Mastering Dungeons!  Main topic: Listener Question Mega-Show! What do we do when we have tons of listener questions? Shawn and Teos dedicate the main segment to answering some truly awesome questions. Find out why this was the most fun we’ve had in months! News: Moonbeam Launches Alpha, New Maps Features, D&D Immersive Quest, and more! Contents 00:00 Bad Movie Season 02:14 Maps Adds Monster Stats 10:18 D&D Immersive Quest 14:11 D&D Adventurer Magazine 15:53 Licensing and WotC 18:05 Mearls on Death Saves 39:02 Jail-Compliant RPGs 40:54 One Foot in Fairy Land 42:47 Moonbeam Launches Alpha 44:34 Listener Questions 45:29 Improv Anxiety? 49:39 Player vs Character Skill? 01:02:12 Find Playtesters? 01:07:36 Easy RPG Entry Point? 01:18:46 Tricks for Creativity? 01:25:14 Shout-Outs 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.