Dungeon Master of None

DMs Rob and Matt review what might be the best pointcrawl ever designed, Luka Rejec's Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City 2e. Forests of meat, underwater VOMEs, psychic cats, and not-quite-liches await your caravan as you transverse the prismatic heavy metal wastes on a definitely Dying Earth. It rules. It rocks. Check it out.  Ultraviolet Grasslands 2e: https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/collections/wizard-thief-fighter Just the PDF: https://wizardthieffighter.itch.io/uvg-2e The sequel, Our Golden Age: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/exalted-funeral/our-golden-age-an-ultra-violet-grasslands-rpg-sequel "Plagiarism in Unconquered (2022)," Traverse Fantasy, Marcia B. https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2023/12/plagiarism-in-unconquered-2022.html Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!

What if Pathfinder was...rational? What if the ruling House Thrune of Cheliax embraced effective altruism as an economic and social policy? What if you taught the god Nethys game theory? What if hot women wanted to listen to lectures about intelligence-promoting alleles and arbitrage? Tune in for the answers to all these questions and more (and by more we mean this game's harems, torture, rape, and eugenics...so CW!) as DMs Rob and Matt discuss the worst and most influential Pathfinder game/fanfic you will probably never read.

We talked to Mason Allen about his new game, Ivory Tower! Be a terrible immortal archmage in a fallen world and resolve your disagreements with committee meetings! https://riftkidgames.itch.io/ivory-tower http://sky.app/profile/riftkidgsmes.bsky.social YouTube.com/@riftkidgames Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!

Matt and Rob report back to you, dear listeners, on what we learned from GenCon, the biggest collection of TTRPG enthusiasts/sweaty nerds in the world! https://playstorypress.org/books/gathering-of-gamers/ Jon Peterson The Cunning Folk Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!

Listen to the full episode here!  DMofNone is back from GenCon and over GenCon sicknesses for another edition of Your Kickstarter Sucks: Tabletop Edition (here are entries one and two). This time, DMs Rob and Matt are talking about Tabletop News, a crowd-funded video news show, that unlike our previous projects, actually delivered what it promised in a timely fashion. Our discussion gets into the show's weird production, cringe tone, hiring practices, refusal to do "journalism", and strange metrics. Was it awful? Not really. Did they do some shady stuff? Tune in to find out! Links: https://www.youtube.com/@watchtabletop Matt's TtN Metrics Data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14ON2dsDSU2TGb4NGT0GRFA2ZkUO7W8cM1W0jy-8wKhA/edit?usp=sharing Read some better TTRPG news: https://www.rascal.news/ https://www.enworld.org/

Matt and Rob talk about writing and presenting good descriptions -- what to do, what not to do, with lots of examples! NOT a writing course! No one wants to hear your gratuitous description of horse fetlocks, Robert Jordan! Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!

Matt and Rob do some more campaign prep live, expanding on their sandbox, building more points, and then (the fun part) linking the nodes together! Part 1: 362 - Actual Prep: Sandbox Related Past Actual Preps: The Best Starting Adventure (Part 1) The Best Starting Adventure (Part 2) Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Matt and Rob do some campaign prep live, this time with a sandbox. We get a little weird with it and only make it about halfway, so stay tuned for part two! Past Actual Preps: The Best Starting Adventure (Part 1) The Best Starting Adventure (Part 2) Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Matt and Rob return to Greyhawk to talk about the setting guide included in the new 2024 DMG, discuss what's there, and what you can use for your games. Our discussion of the Greyhawk setting: https://dmofnone.libsyn.com/ep-80-greyhawk Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice.

The savage cries of its defenders now silent and still as its ruin was overseen by the architect of its very destruction. A 16 HP Dragon - Sage LaTorra Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice.  

Join Matt and Rob for an episode of actual design, where the GMs try to hash out a framework for encouraging interparty conversation and downtime interactions -- with as little input from you as possible. Want your players to argue? Build something? Make love? Fight? Let's see if we can't make that happen. Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice

GenCon! Rebel Scum! WotC layoffs! Plus, DMs Rob and Matt give a gaming update. Then, a call to arms and to battle from Founding Father Gary E. Gygax of the upmost importance. Gamers rise up! Rebel Scum delisted by Roll20 & DriveThruRPG - Chase Carter, Rascal News Rebel Scum 2nd Edition Our reading today, comes from Dragon Magazine #65, from September 1982.  Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice.

Matt and Rob discuss Pathfinder Adventure Paths #67-78, Reign of Winter and Wrath of the Righteous! We are almost through 2014 folks! Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice.

It's part 2 of our review of the final release of Daggerheart, covering the Game Master and campaign advice in the new system. DMs Rob and Matt review GM advice, GM moves, adversaries, environments, and the six campaign "frames" published as part of the system: the Witherwild, Five Banners Burning, Beast Feast, Age of Umbra, Motherboard, and Colossus of the Drylands.  Daggerheart SRD Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice.

Matt and Rob talk about names! Generating lists, how to come up with interesting ones, how to use them in your games, some ideas for saving time, and more! Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! 1994 Fighting Baseball Rosters https://whgazetteer.org/ https://www.samcodes.co.uk/project/markov-namegen/ relatedwords.io

The full and final release of Daggerheart, a new TTRPG System from Critical Role and Darrington Press, is here. DMs Rob and Matt review it's "fiction first" approach, good math, smooth design, effortless character creation, and still hefty bit of crunch. Is it the fabled 5e dragon slayer?  Daggerheart SRD Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice

Matt and Rob talk through the masterfully designed first act of the critically acclaimed CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3. The DMs cover what you can learn, what you can steal, and what's not so easy to do in a video game that you can effortlessly do at your table. For the full episode, head to patreon.com/dungeonmasterofnone !

Matt and Rob continue to talk about the even more of the 5e hacks/clones/heartbreakers published over the last year. This time we review Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition and Tales of the Valiant in Part 2 of 5e Heartbreakers series. Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!

Matt and Rob talk about the explosion of 5e hacks/clones/heartbreakers, including what's good, what's bad, and what's this all about? We talk about Nimble 5e and DC20 in this episode, but there's more to come! Fantasy Heartbreakers Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord!  

Open your Cortex RPG books to page 128, and get ready to rock, roll, and worldbuild. DMs Rob and Matt follow take three random genres and attempt to mash them together into settings and campaigns that are ready to run as TTRPGs.  The Genre Table: 1 Comedy 2 Dark Fantasy 3 Espionage 4 Giant Robots 5 High Fantasy 6 High School 7 Horror 8 Military 9 Post-Apocalyptic 10 Religious 11 Road Movie 12 Romance 13 Science Fiction 14 Superhero 15 Swashbuckler 16 Western Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky:  https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social  https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone  Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice Felix Mendelssohn - Violin Sonata in F major, Performed by Jinjoo Cho & Itamar Golan