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,…
Heroes Rise, sixty-first entry: She Sells Sahuagin Scales By The Sea Shore
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the sixty-first entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday February 9th 2019, and released Wednesday February 13th, 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
Heroes Rise, sixtieth entry: The Wisest Adventurer
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the sixtieth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, February 2nd 2019, and released Wednesday, February 6th 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
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:…
Heroes Rise, fifty-ninth entry: No News is Good News?
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-ninth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, January 26th 2019, and released Wednesday, January 30th 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
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…
Heroes Rise, fifty-eighth entry: All’s Fair in Love and Warlord
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-eighth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, January 19th 2019, and released Wednesday, January 23rd 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
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…
Heroes Rise, fifty-seventh entry: The Lost Lavatory
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-seventh entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday January 12th, and released Wednesday January 16th 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com