Mastering Dungeons

Episode 316 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: World of Warcraft’s Dungeons! The new D&D WoW book is out, with a new approach to encounters. We look at Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep to see how this approach works! News: Daggerheart Accessories and Sale, Baldur’s Gate 3 Revenue, Warcraft Organized Play, and more! Contents 00:00 Warcraft Time 01:15 Why Some RPGs Struggle? 12:10 Warcraft Organized Play Update 13:21 New D&D Encounters Season 14:23 D&D Beyond Drops for November 24:39 Daggerheart Sale and New Products 26:14 Daggerheart 1-Shot Partnership 28:37 EN World Visits CERN 31:17 Baldur's Gate 3 Revenue! 33:37 Munchkin 5.5 35:10 Origins Expanded 37:07 World of Warcraft Dungeons 37:38 Amazon Pricing 40:01 Warcraft and Encounters 42:11 Tie-In to D&D Encounters 42:50 First Universes Beyond Book 50:57 Dungeon Approach 54:12 Deadmines Dungeon 57:41 Ingredients vs Recipe 01:06:23 Mast Room and Cinematic Play 01:10:12 Ironclad Cove and Juggernaut 01:17:12 Treasure Tables 01:19:26 New Boss Monsters 01:23:04 Shadowfang Keep 01:25:20 Keep Areas 01:28:29 The Keep and Final Boss 01:30:01 Shadowkeep Bosses 01:32:43 Our Final Thoughts 01:34:25 Shout-Outs 01:38:57 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.

Episode 314 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Caves of Chaos and Keep in the Heroes of the Borderlands 5.5 Starter Set! We dive into the heart of the starter set. See how the updated Caves of Chaos and Keep on the Borderlands drive open play experiences! News: Dan Ayoub Elevated to WotC President, Lyla Fujiwara Joins D&D, The Price is Right for D&D, Is Challenge Rating a Lost Cause, and more! Contents 00:00 Mike Shea Segment 01:48 From one RPG to Another? 11:18 Dan Ayoub Elevated to Pres of Wizards 16:18 Lyla Fujiwara Joins D&D Team 20:42 Brooke Whitney Cosmere Project Lead 21:10 Warcraft D&D Releases with Delays 22:28 The Price is Right for D&D 23:44 Improved DDB Search 25:37 Palladium Ends Mutant Ninja Turtles 27:13 Is Challenge Rating a Lost Cause? 33:11 Dwarven Forge Perilous Frontiers 34:56 Heroes of the Borderlands pt2 37:28 Keep on the Borderlands Booklet 41:41 The Keep as Open Town 47:26 Focusing Player Tendencies 01:03:27 Using Quests to Drive Play 01:08:16 The Caves of Chaos and 1st Cave 01:13:07 Cave Lairs 01:23:37 Birthday Cake and Cave Links 01:32:07 Obligatory Stirge Encounter 01:33:10 Shrine of Evil Chaos 01:37:45 One Desired Improvement 01:39:03 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 314 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Best of Heroes of the Borderlands 5.5 Starter Set! One year after 5.5 launched – was it worth the wait? We look at this innovative starter set and how it updates the classic Keep on the Borderlands! News: Hasbro and D&D’s Q3 Revenue Growth, D&D Wallpaper, Misplaced Monsters, and more! Contents 00:00 Gamehole Memories 01:38 Go See Wildwood Movie! 02:57 Tastiest Monster? 05:46 What Should Aspiring GMs Read? 13:53 Hasbro's Huge Q3 2026 18:58 Wizards' Record Q3 for Magic 22:24 D&D Revenue Estimate 24:14 Estimating 2026 and 5.5 Impact 26:10 Misplaced Monsters V2 26:56 Sad Bioware News 28:43 D&D Wallpaper at Target 30:31 Army Painter D&D Paints and Academy 31:20 Pacific NW RPG Fest 33:23 Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set 36:58 History of Starter Sets 39:56 What Makes This Different 46:03 What's Inside? 55:03 Credits and 2025 Releases 57:35 Premise and Approach 01:02:54 Every Player Can DM 01:05:37 Wilderness Booklet and Road 01:19:06 Woods, Fens, and Tamarack Stand 01:23:16 Balancing Brevity, Open Play, and DM Info 01:28:49 Random Encounters 01:29:54 Shout-Outs 01:33:57 What Are We Gonna Do Now? 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 313 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: James Introcaso on Crows, Draw Steel, and MCDM! Live from Gamehole Con! The incredible James Introcaso discusses the last six years at MCDM, including the creation of Draw Steel and Crows, plus insights into being a creator in the industry. (No separate News segment this week!) Contents 00:00 Live from Gamehole! 01:36 Excited for Dark Sun? 03:16 If Universes Beyond is Most Poplular? 05:16 Knitting Like the DMs Guild? 08:30 James Introcaso and MCDM's Transformation 12:12 Designing for Hope & Fear 14:51 Advantages of Full-Time Employment 16:52 Product Line and Enjoying Victories 20:59 Crows RPG 23:28 Crows Gameplay 26:05 Motivation in Crows 28:02 Crows as a Big MCDM Change 31:03 Playtest and Revision Approach 34:34 Adventure Design Rut? 38:05 Stretching Crows and an OGL? 40:18 Mechanics vs Narrative for New RPG? 45:44 Playtesting Higher Levels? 49:35 New RPGs and Flexibility? 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 312 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Remonstered! Keith Ammann Updates The Monsters Know What They’re Doing! Keith joins Teos to discuss his innovations for running great monsters, how 5.5 monsters have changed, and the best new and updated monsters! News: D&D and Magic Joining Union, PH 5.5 Errata, Star Wars and Dark Sun Previews, Project Lamordia Review, and more! Contents 00:00 Rapping with Keith 02:29 Sirrangia Update 03:04 Is Turn-Loss Educational? 11:25 D&D and Magic Joining Union 19:42 Project Lamordia Launched 24:14 5.5 PH Errata Update 25:25 Star Wars and Dark Sun News 29:46 D&D Staff DMing at Gamehole 31:26 Ohlen Launches Malborn 34:06 Encounter Organization 40:53 Microscope 2E 42:51 Threats of the Timescape 44:33 Job Trail 45:52 Keith Ammann 47:45 Keith's Origin Story 49:40 Why Books? 53:50 Has Success Changed Keith's Game? 56:55 What Remonstered Offers 01:00:42 New Innovations 01:07:56 Shenanigans 01:17:56 Best New and Updated Monsters 01:21:55 Monster Type Changes 01:27:05 The Flumph and Alignment 01:33:04 Where to Buy Keith's Books 01:36:39 Shout-Outs 01:41:11 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.