Unearthed Mundana: Metagaming
This article was first broadcast in Episode Sixty-Four on 6th March 2019. Ostron: Oh come on! This should be working! Lennon: Did you de-power an artifact in the workshop again? Ostron: No. I’m trying to configure the Realized Oikumenata- Ryu: You know it’s easier to just say ROSTRO. Ostron: Oh…huh. Never thought of that. Good point. Lennon: What do you mean you never though-…okay never mind. What were you trying to make the scary math machine do? Ostron: I was trying to configure it to detect metagaming and it keeps saying the parameters are invalid. Ryu: Well I swore I’d never agree with that thing but I think it’s right this time. Ostron: Well how do you guys pick out metagaming. Lennon: That’s complicated. Metagaming is one of those topics that tends to split the D&D community like psionics, 4th edition, and Warlocks. Ryu: Again, Warlocks are not controversial unless *you’re* in the room. Anyway, as soon as you mention…
Unearthed Mundana: Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood
This article was first broadcast in Episode Sixty-Three on 27th February 2019. *Sounds of a large crowd* Ryu: Okay, who are all these people? Lennon: Yes, thank you, we’ll be in touch, next please! Ostron: Lennon? What are you doing? Lennon: Job interviews! Ryu: For what? We’ve got a full staff, don’t we? And I mean, with the Oblex in HR… Lennon: No, no, I’m trying to fill out a village for my campaign. I need some tradespeople. Ostron: Don’t you just need to say “hey there are this many people in the village”? Lennon: Sure, if you want to half-ass it. A lot of times when players in a campaign wander into a village, they only get to know three types of people: the innkeeper (assuming an inn exists), any shopkeeper willing to buy things from them, and whomever in the village has work, or a problem, or some item the characters need. But there are a lot…
Adventurer’s Journal: Flawed Personas
This article was first broadcast in Episode Sixty-Two on 20th February 2019. Ryu: Blah. Okay, time to kill some characters. Lennon: We hid the hat again, just so you’re aware. Ryu: Yeah that never matters, but anyway, I’m not going to need KayDee’s help for this one; I’ve got another player that’s decided “annoying edgelord” is a cool character concept, and they’ve come up with mechanics where they’re in such mental anguish that even brief moments of happiness count as a short rest for them because they’re so rejuvenating. “Rejuvenating” isn’t “resurrecting,” though, so that character isn’t going to see a session two. Ostron: You know you’re asking to just have them come back with another annoying concept unless you give them some suggestions. Ryu: Do you have any? I’m all ears at this point. Lennon: I think we can throw something together. In past editions of D&D, the idea of character backstories imparting skills or abilities to…
Wisdom from the Masters: Puzzling Issues
This article was first broadcast in Episode Sixty-One on 13th February 2019. Lennon: Ugh, Ostron! Oh where is he? Ryu: Something wrong? Lennon: The lock on the vault is messing me up again. Ryu: Oh, well, give me a few minutes with it…. Lennon: Wait, there he is! Ostron! Why does the lock on the vault look like an MC Escher painting!? Ostron: Well, parts of it are in another plane. Ryu: Oh, now that you mention it, that kind of makes sense! Lennon: Wait, how does that make sense? Most people are aware of the major “encounter” types in D&D: fighting monsters, chases, social encounters, and traps. But there’s another category of encounter that can make it’s way into your games: puzzles. Now, a brief terminology review. Puzzles are usually different from traps because they are designed to impede progress. Traps are usually one shot constructs that do damage to a player or players and are done. Puzzles,…
Gnomish Workshop: Monster Modification
This article was first broadcast in Episode Sixty on 6th February2019. Killer DM: Oh dear. Why is my favorite organ donor lying on the floor? If he’s dead and I didn’t kill him I will be very upset. ROSTRO: Inquiry. This situation has been explained previously. What is the source of confusion? Killer DM: Oooooh you’re all big and flashy. Are you that new thing Ryu’s been worried about? ROSTRO: Creature personality profile re-analyzed. Greetings. I am the Realized Oikumenatal Solution To Removing Obfuscation. You may refer to me as ROSTRO. I assist Ostron with more complex issues of a mathematical nature. Killer DM: I thought Ryu said we’re talking about how to create deadly encounters for high level characters. Surely Ostron doesn’t need help with that. ROSTRO: It is possible he received a post-hypnotic suggestion that mathematical analyses in the future should involve me regardless of complexity. Killer DM:…
Unearthed Mundana: Imposter Syndrome
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Nine on 30th January 2019. “The psychological experience of believing that one’s accomplishments came about not through genuine ability, but as a result of having been lucky, having worked harder than others, or having manipulated other people’s impressions” Many, many people when they begin playing D&D or when they take on a new role within the game start to get pervasive feelings of doubt that don’t go away. In their head, they have a refrain going of “I don’t know what I’m doing,” “So many other people could do this better than I can,” “Everyone’s just humoring me until it all comes crashing down and they ask me not to come back” and similar, intrusive thoughts. All of those feelings are the result of what psychologists call “Impostor Syndrome”. Though every person is different, usually people with impostor syndrome convince themselves that they aren’t…
Wisdom of the Masters: Longer Resting
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Eight on 23rd January 2019. Ryu: Ugggh do we seriously only get an hour to rest? Lennon: What do you think “Short Rest” means? Ryu: I don’t know, can’t it just…be longer? I’m tired. Ostron: Actually, it can. Lennon: Okay, no, you’re not casting your wibbly-wobbly time magic again. Last time I thought we had a three hour conversation with you about the difference between 1d20 and 2d10, but when I looked at my watch less than 5 minutes had passed Ostron: Okay, first of all, that was just a regular conversation, it did only last 5 minutes. Secondly, I’m a wizard, I know my schools, and if that were to happen it would be illusion magic, not time magic; and thirdly, this method doesn’t require magic at all. It’s just an optional way of adventuring. If you look in the Dungeon Master’s guide on page 267, there’s an optional…
Gnomish Workshop: A Pointed Discussion of Magic
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Seven on 16th January 2019. Lennon: Ostron? Is…oh. ROSTRO: Greetings Lennon: Recalculating the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything? ROSTRO: I would not presume to question the conclusions of my peers. Ryu: Lennon, did you find Ostro-…ah ROSTRO: Ostron requested that I assist in an analysis of magic so that his spellcasting can be improved. Lennon: And how did that go? ROSTRO: I have some possible courses of action based on comparative analysis of other systems of magic as they exist in the multiverse. A review with other parties would be welcome at this juncture. Lennon: Okay but Ryu? Poke me every so often and make sure I stay awake. Ryu: How do you know *I’m* going to be awake? Whether or not you think much about how magic works in D&D usually depends on two things: If you play a spellcasting class at all, and whether you’ve played any other tabletop or…
A Short Rest: Wisdom of the Masters: Superheroes
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Six on 9th January 2019. Ryu: Ugh, again with this. I swear these players are one session away from dealing with Kay-Dee full time Lennon: Players giving you lip? Ryu: Not…exactly, but they keep diving into situations without thinking, nearly die, and then complain about it afterward. Ostron: Now, this might be an atypical response, but why don’t you let them? Ryu: Because it’s not working? Ostron: Well yes, but it can work; you just have to pull out some extra rules. Ostron: As we’ve mentioned previously, the Dungeon Master’s Guide has a lot of optional rules in it that can slightly or drastically alter the feel and mechanics of a game you’re running. Kay-Dee *Thunderclap* Ryu: Yeah, she’s kind of…sensitive about who uses that name Ostron: Okay well the KDM already told us about some ways to make games potentially more challenging, we’ve covered adding madness and sanity as features, now…
Wisdom of the Masters: Madness and Insanity
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Five on 2nd January 2019. Lennon: Hi…Ryu? Ryu: Hi. Did you think I’d left? Lennon: No, but…given the subject matter I thought for sure the Killer DM would show up. Ryu: Oh, yeah, she knew about it but she said *ahem* Killer DM: If I want my players to lose their minds and start crying in a corner I hardly need game mechanics to help. Ostron: That…impression of her you do is getting uncanny. Lennon: Anyway, Madness, right Players’ mental state is not usually something D&D focuses on. There are a number of spells that can directly affect it, like Confusion or Crown of Madness that describe spell effects altering creatures’ mental states. Various adventures also have deranged or mentally altered NPCs for the characters to interact with, but very rarely does anything deal with the mental health of the characters. Unless players actively try to roleplay it, most of the…