Episodes
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
Breaking Combat
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
Season 2, Episode 4: Understanding the two official methods of combat encounter design, where I think they help and where I break the rules when constructing a combat encounter.
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Your Mind is a Theater
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Season 2, Episode 3: In consideration of Theater of the Mind style play. Recent life distractions forced me to employ a purely TOTM approach and it reminded me of the benefits to the game when you put aside the pretty minis and maps.
Monday Mar 04, 2019
The Empathy Trap
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Season 2, Episode 2: A complex morale scenario traps the players in a town about to be overrun by undead from without and within. Alignment, morality and what makes a character proactive.
Monday Feb 18, 2019
Designing a City
Monday Feb 18, 2019
Monday Feb 18, 2019
Season 2, Episode 1: Discussing methods for designing a city based on the purpose, history and alignment of the location. Unless you're intending to publish your city, you'll need to be efficient and prioritize where you should focus your design efforts. My goal is to provide my players a place to engage and interact that feels unique and distinct within the game world.
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Big Endings and New Hooks
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Episode 35: The Season Finale! Part 5 of 5 covering the lessons from the Adventure at the Temple of Borlane. What are the components of an ending and how do you pivot into the next story? We have another Player audio contribution and special ending to this episode.
Sunday Jan 27, 2019
Thunderdome!
Sunday Jan 27, 2019
Sunday Jan 27, 2019
Episode 34: Part 4 of the final 5 part series of this season. Exploring conflict and how it can be used to enhance drama in your game across all manner of scenes, including combat.
Monday Jan 21, 2019
Driven to Adventure
Monday Jan 21, 2019
Monday Jan 21, 2019
Episode 33: Driven to Adventure - integrating character motivation and backstory into the plot. Part 3 in our 5 part series centered on the party's 5th level milestone adventure in the Temple of Borlane. Characters are the centerpiece of any game, but how do you use them, what are the pitfalls and how much or little of their backstory should be included?
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
Dungeons Are Stupid
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
Episode 32: The second of the final five episodes for the season. Dungeons can be a challenge, but they remain a viable staple of the game. What are the pitfalls and how did I approach adapting Against the Cult of the Reptile God's dungeons for my adventure?
Monday Dec 31, 2018
Head Full of Ideas
Monday Dec 31, 2018
Monday Dec 31, 2018
Episode 31: Season One Finale Part 1
In the first of the final five episodes of this season, we're taking a broader view of the end module at the Temple of Borlane. There are a number of dangling threads and new ideas as we enter this final adventure. Many things have been bubbling up since the beginning and it can be hard to tie things together in a satisfying way. This is about pulling those ideas together so they can work for you.
Saturday Dec 15, 2018
Embracing the Player's Story Version
Saturday Dec 15, 2018
Saturday Dec 15, 2018
Episode 30: We went a different way. Events in the session, driven by player choice and the dice, served up a different scene than I expected. Seizing on the opportunity, I changed things up to feed into the emotional impact at the end of the battle around the farmhouse.