Wandering DMs
315 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★ - 6 ratingsDan "Delta" Collins and Paul Siegel host weekly discussions on topics relating to old school D&D, tabletop RPGs, DM advice, and D&D history.
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Episodes
Drugs and Alcohol in D&D | Roleplaying Under the Influence | Wandering DMs S06 E21
June 24, 2024 16:10 - 1 hour - 82.7 MBDan and Paul discuss the presence of drugs and alcohol in D&D and other tabletop roleplaying games. They'll touch on how state alterning substandces are represented in the fiction, rules for handling characters under the influence, and even what happens when the players themselves partake! According to addiction researcher Martin A. Plant, some people go through a period of self-redefinition before initiating recreational drug use. They tend to view using drugs as part of a general lifestyl...
Secret Rules | Playing D&D in the Dark | Wandering DMs S06 E20
June 10, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBDan & Paul discuss experiences in TRPGs when players don't know the rules. Is it fundamentally fair or unfair? Does it add to the immersion of the roleplay? What added flexibility dos it give to the GM? Is exploring the rules of a new world an essential part of roleplaying games, that we've lost along the way? Games with concealed rules are games where the rules are intentionally concealed from new players, either because their discovery is part of the game itself, or because the game is a ...
Jobs in D&D | Gainful Employment for Adventurers | Wandering DMs S06 E19
June 03, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.5 MBThe Wandering DMs tackle employment in D&D. Do adventurers need day jobs? Does starting a business or pursuing a craft undermine the motiviation to go out treasure hunting? What of systems that define prior careers as part of characgter creation? It's time for Dan and Paul to get to work! Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organ...
Skill Systems | Cunning à la Carte | Wandering DMs S06 E18
May 27, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.3 MBDan & Paul discuss the role of skill systems in D&D and other tabletop RPGs. Not part of the initial Original D&D ruleset, they give PCs an opportunity to master individual skills in a fine-grained manner. Have they been beneficial to D&D, or a distraction? Do they work better in other games, like sci-fi or horror? A skill represents the learned knowledge and abilities of a character. Skills are known by various names, including proficiencies, abilities, powers, talents and knacks. During ...
Rats! | …and Other Vermin in D&D | Wandering DMs S06 E17
May 20, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBThe Wandering DMs take on rats and other vermin in D&D. From swarm enemies to wizard's familiars, Dan and Paul will explore every way to delight and torment your players with everyday pests. The term "vermin" is used to refer to a wide scope of organisms, including rodents (such as rats), cockroaches, termites, bed bugs, ferrets, stoats, sables. Disease-carrying rodents and insects are the usual case, but the term is also applied to larger animals—especially small predators—typically becaus...
Mothers in D&D | Moms in Myth | Wandering DMs S06 E16
May 13, 2024 16:12 - 58 minutes - 79.6 MBThis Mother's Day, Paul and Dan discuss the role of mothers in D&D and mythology. From troll wives to Grendel's mother to the spawn of all monsters, Tiamat herself, moms make an impact in our lives! Throughout history, mothers have been depicted in a variety of art works, including paintings, sculptures and written texts, that have helped define the cultural meaning of 'mother', as well as ideals and taboos of motherhood. The institution of motherhood in western art is often depicted throu...
Player Secrets in D&D | Achieving a Satisfying Dramatic Reveal | Wandering DMs S06 E15
May 06, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 84.8 MBDan and Paul discuss how to play a character in an RPG with a dramatic secret. How can we include the rest of the players in the fun without giving away too much? When do we reveal the secret to create the most satisfying dramatic moment? Humans attempt to consciously conceal aspects of themselves from others due to shame, or from fear of violence, rejection, harassment, loss of acceptance, or loss of employment. Humans may also attempt to conceal aspects of their own self which they are no...
Matt Finch | Swords & Wizardry Expanded! | Wandering DMs S06 E14
April 29, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBPaul and Dan get to bring back OSR guru Matt Finch to talk about his new Swords & Wizardry: Expansions, Monsters, and More!, currently on Kickstarter. What new things has Matt cooked up? And what updates has he finally made to the revered Quick Primer for Old School Gaming? Swords & Wizardry is the longest-standing retro-clone of Original D&D, first published in 2008, and now there's a whole set of expansions to make your game wilder, weirder, and more flexible! The Book of Options gives y...
Michael Moorcock | Fantasy Master Chats | Wandering DMs S06 E13
April 15, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 93.3 MBDan and Paul are thrilled to chat live with the master of fantasy, Michael Moorcock. What are his current thoughts on the legacy of his writing Elric, the Eternal Champion, critiques of Tolkien, and so much more? Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English–American writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a...
Mistakes in Original D&D | Critiques & Corrections | Wandering DMs S06 E12
April 08, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 86.4 MBDan and Paul reflect on what we think are the biggest mistakes and errors in the first publication of original D&D in 1974. What are the biggest blemishes that troubled the game for decades afterward? What are some of our top house rules to correct the largest problems? The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set was the first published role-playing game, a fantasy game system modeled on medieval Europe. This set introduced elements which would become standard in later editions, including abi...
Our D&D House Con 2024 | Playtesting Our Dungeons | Wandering DMs S06 E11
April 01, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 92.6 MBPaul and Dan check in on their annual D&D mini-convention with friends in a house on the Massachusetts shore, now in its 15th year. What went well, what could go better, what lessons will feed into our future gaming? Find WDM 01 - Asymmetric Monastery of the Deranged Berserkers on DriveThru RPG here!
Irish Myths in D&D | Feats and Faeries | Wandering DMs S06 E10
March 18, 2024 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBThis St. Patrick's Day, Paul and Dan discuss the rich history of Irish myths, legends, and stories in the D&D game. From Druids and Bards to the Banshees and Firbolg, what are some of the best ways to spice up your game with inspirations from the Emerald Isle? Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era. In the early medieval era, some myths were transcribed by Christian monks, who heavily altered and ...
How to Run a D&D One Shot | Tips and Tricks for Single Session Play | Wandering DMs S06 E09
March 11, 2024 16:12 - 59 minutes - 82.4 MBHow does one run a successful dungeons and dragons one shot game? Dan and Paul discuss how to condense the D&D experience to a single night of fun. They'll share techniques they've developed over the years behind the DM screen, discuss which scenarios fit the one-shot format best, and advise would-be DMs on the best road to one-shot success.
Performing Characters in D&D | Tips for Non-Actors | Wandering DMs S06 E08
March 04, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBDan & Paul discuss tips for embodying a character in body and voice when playing D&D at the table. When we compare ourselves to well-known D&D performers, what are simple simple tricks anyone can use, even if we aren't trained actors? Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed imagination, emotional facility, physical expressivity, vocal projection, clarity of speech, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also demands an ability to employ dialects, accents, imp...
Love in D&D | Roleplaying Romance Respectfully | Wandering DMs S06 E06
February 19, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBFor Valentine's Day, Dan and Paul take a look at how romantic love is portrayed in Dungeons and Dragons. From NPCs with love-based plot lines to the infamous philter of love, we'll cover ever instance we can think of in D&D in which love plays a part. Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another"—and its vice representing a human moral flaw akin...
Love in D&D | Roleplaying Romance Respectfully | Wandering DMs S06 E07
February 19, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBFor Valentine's Day, Dan and Paul take a look at how romantic love is portrayed in Dungeons and Dragons. From NPCs with love-based plot lines to the infamous philter of love, we'll cover ever instance we can think of in D&D in which love plays a part. Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another"—and its vice representing a human moral flaw akin...
Year of the Dragon | Dungeons & Dragons at 50 | Wandering DMs S06 E06
February 12, 2024 17:12 - 57 minutes - 79.4 MBPaul & Dan celebrate the Year of the Dragon in New Year's 2024! In this 50th anniversary year for original D&D, we'll look back to our best uses for dragons, new discoveries we've made, and how best to use unusual dragon types in your fantasy RPG. The Dragon, also known as Loong, (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍; pinyin: lóng; Jyutping: lung4; Cantonese Yale: lùhng) is the fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar....
What Do You Need to Play Original D&D? | Recommended Equipment | Wandering DMs S06 E05
February 05, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBDan & Paul analyze the -- sometimes surprising! -- list of recommended equipment in Original D&D. Sure, you should have dice, paper, and pencils. But is the 3-ring notebook and drafting equipment really needed for the referee and each player? How about the multiple other games you need, Chainmail and Outdoor Survival? And what does say about using miniature figures? The original Dungeons & Dragons set, subtitled Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil ...
Anachronisms in D&D | Where Fantasy Meets History | Wandering DMs S06 E04
January 29, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBThe Wandering DMs dig into the concept of anachronisms in D&D settings. They will explore the historic roots of D&D campaign settings, and where modern objects, events, or ideas have leaked in. Does the existence of anachronism break immersion, or is the very nature of the fantasy genre open to all forms of content? Where and how do we draw the line? An anachronism is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and...
Ice Age Animals | Cold School D&D | Wandering DMs S06 E03
January 22, 2024 17:12 - 56 minutes - 77.3 MBPaul & Dan dig into the buried fossils of original D&D -- like the hidden encounter table for Ice Age adventures in the original boxed set. Where else can you get to use Cave Bears, Woolly Mammoths, and Saber-Toothed Tigers in your fantasy RPG? Pour a cup of hot cocoa and bundle up for this one. In the Late Pleistocene, both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern but with many more large land mammals such as Mammoths, Mastodons, Diprotodons, Smilodons, tigers, lions, Aurochs,...
Original D&D Adventures | Jaquays Legacy | Wandering DMs S06 E02
January 15, 2024 17:12 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBDan & Paul take a look back at published adventures for D&D in the 70's -- at the time, a revolutionary and controversial idea! And also take a look back at the pioneering contributions of Jennell Jaquays (creator of Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, and many more), and our other favorite early adventures. The first published Dungeons & Dragons scenario was "Temple of the Frog", included in 1975's Blackmoor Dungeons & Dragons rules supplement. This scenario was later developed into the stand-...
RPG Form Factors | Examining the Shape of the Text | Wandering DMs S06 E01
January 08, 2024 17:12 - 1 hour - 87.3 MBPaul & Dan kick of season 6 with an examination of the physical shape of RPG books. How does the choice of number of books, size, binding, and layout impact the overall design of the game? How did the three book format of D&D come to be, and why is it the one design aspect that has persisted throughout every edition? The layout and binding of a role-playing game are integral aspects that significantly influence its overall design and user experience. A well-thought-out layout enhances reada...
5th Year Anniversary | 2023 Year in Review | Wandering DMs S05 E40
December 11, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 87.4 MBPaul & Dan look back at the year in old-school D&D for 2023. And moreover, the first 5 years on Wandering DMs! What were your favorite encounters of the year? And what can we expect in the future? The Wandering DMs YouTube channel has been a hub for tabletop gaming enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of content related to dungeon mastering, role-playing games (RPGs), and tabletop gaming culture. Over the past few years, the channel has gained recognition for its unique approach and commit...
D&D Mentors | How Future DMs Are Made | Wandering DMs S05 E39
December 04, 2023 17:12 - 59 minutes - 82.1 MBIn this episode of Wandering DMs, Dan and Paul discuss the role of mentorship in teaching D&D. How did the role of mentors help the spread of D&D in the early days? How has that changed over the years? And how does the game present itself to new players who aren't furtunate enough to have this kind of personal introduction? The word mentor was inspired by the character Mentor in Homer's Odyssey. Although the Mentor in the story is portrayed as a somewhat ineffective old man, the goddess Ath...
Flying in D&D | Battles in the Sky | Wandering DMs S05 E38
November 27, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 83.9 MBDan & Paul reflect on the history of rules for flying in D&D. How easy and powerful should it be to achieve? Does it make castles and climbing skills useless? Is the standard spell sufficient, or should your PCs seek out flying mounts -- and what rules provide a market for that? From the earliest days, humans have dreamed of flying and have attempted to achieve it. Greek and Roman mythology have examples of gods who were gifted with flight. Daedalus and Icarus flew through the air, and Icar...
Ruins of Adventure | Pool of Radiance Redux | Wandering DMs S05 E37
November 20, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 88.4 MBPaul and Dan reflect on Dan's epic saga playing through the AD&D Pool of Radiance Gold Box game live in 2022-2023, and dig into the 1988 print publication of the same adventure, Ruins of Adventure. How similar are they? Does this one adventure work better as a computer game, as a tabletop game, or something else? What lessons can we take for converting scenarios between different systems and media? Ruins of Adventure is a Dungeons & Dragons module that was based on the "Gold Box" role-playi...
Money in D&D | More Treasure, More Problems | Wandering DMs S05 E36
November 13, 2023 17:12 - 59 minutes - 82.3 MBDan and Paul discuss money in D&D, and how they've both independently arrived at the need for a silver standard. From measuring encumbrance in coins to stocking dungeons with treasure, to how to drain the players of their inflated wealth, the Wandering DMs will cover everything numismatic in your D&D game. Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The Mesopotamian shekel was a unit of weight, and relied on the mass of something like 160 grains of barley...
Werewolf Games | The Monstrous Mafia | Wandering DMs S05 E35
November 08, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 86.4 MBPaul & Dan discuss Werewolf and Mafia-style games -- party-style games with secret roles assigned, including a hidden evil faction, and a group of mostly-innocent civilians trying to survive and uncover the adversaries. What different variants of this game work the best? What psychological lessons can we take away? And what elements can be worked into your D&D and other role-playing games? Mafia, also known as Werewolf, is a Russian social deduction game created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986....
Fearful Ends | Watch Party | Wandering DMs S05 E34
November 06, 2023 17:12 - 2 hours - 186 MBDan hosts a watch party for the Fearful Ends actual play, as we roll into Halloween and the last few days of the Fearful Ends Kickstarter. Join us and watch along with Dan for the first time! Fearful Ends is a rules-light, story-centric roleplaying system for horror themed games. It features nihilistic stories about characters discovering impossible horrors. It aims to allow players to roleplay characters that experience mental or emotional collapse in a safe play environment that neither s...
Diceless Devices | With Matt Finch | Wandering DMs S05 E33
October 23, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.8 MBDan & Paul are joined by Matt Finch, to talk about ways it can be more efficient in your D&D game setup to get random results with dice. Consider cards, chits, spinners, toppling block towers, or Matt's new app for the Fantasy Adventure Builder, now on Kickstarter? Dice were just the start! Physical devices were used to generate random numbers for thousands of years, primarily for gambling. Dice in particular are known for more than 5000 years (found on locations in modern Iraq and Iran), f...
Adapting Content | With the Alexandrian | Wandering DMs S05 E32
October 16, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 82.6 MBDan & Paul host Justin Alexander, creator of the Alexandrian and the new book So You Want to be a Game Master, for an in-depth chat on the best ways to adapt content to and from D&D and other RPGs. What tricks work well? What things should you avoid? And what content is simply incompatible with other systems? Have you ever wanted to step into your favorite movie or book or television series? Do you want to take your friends on impossible adventures? Do you want to play a cunning elf, a dari...
Safety Tools | Stress Free Roleplay of Stressed Out Characters | Wandering DMs S05 E31
October 11, 2023 16:12 - 59 minutes - 81 MBHow do we play characters reacting naturally to highly stressful situations without completely stressing ourselves out? Paul and Dan discuss the variety of safety tools in use in modern roleplaying systems, and how those impacted the development of Paul's upcoming horror RPG Fearful Ends. John Stavropoulos, creator of X-Card, said on why to use this safety tool: "The X-card creates a specific mood at the table. It says "We're here together. If you need to stop, we'll stop. The people playi...
Impossible Odds | Player Autonomy vs Overwhelming Opposition | Wandering DMs S05 E30
October 09, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBWith the launch of the Fearful Ends Kickstarter imminent, Dan and Paul discuss roleplaying impossible situations. How do we maintain player autonomy when the deck is clearly stacked against them? What does it mean to "play to fail", and how do we enjoy games when there is little to no hope of success? Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) defined autonomy by three themes regarding contemporary ethics. Firstly, autonomy as the right for one to make their own decisions excluding any interference from oth...
Natural Healing in D&D | Wandering DMs S05 E29
September 25, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBWithout magic, how fast does a character heal in D&D? It may surprise you how much the answer has changed over the editions! Dan & Paul debate which rule is best. And what are hit points, anyway? Wound healing refers to a living organism's replacement of destroyed or damaged tissue by newly produced tissue. In undamaged skin, the epidermis (surface, epithelial layer) and dermis (deeper, connective layer) form a protective barrier against the external environment. When the barrier is broken,...
Assassins in D&D | Wandering DMs S05 E28
September 18, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 82.8 MBAssassins were prominently available for hire in the earliest edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and they became a core character class of their own in 1st Edition Advanced D&D. Where did they sneak off to since then? What's the best way to handle PC's wanting to run a solo assassination mission? Some famous assassination victims are Philip II of Macedon (336 BC), the father of Alexander the Great, and Roman dictator Julius Caesar (44 BC). Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as di...
D&D Character Sheets | Setting the Record Straight | Wandering DMs S05 E27
September 11, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBDan and Paul dive into character sheets! Between edition changes and advancing technology, how have they changed throughout the years? And what's the best way to keep tabs on your character's most important details now? Original Edition Dungeons & Dragons (1974), did not include a character sheet. The first one ever published was in the Haven Herald fanzine of Stephen Tihor published on May 3, 1975. One month after, another character sheet was released in the APA magazine Alarums and Excurs...
Mazes in D&D | Getting Lost is Half the Fun | Wandering DMs S05 E26
August 28, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 86.3 MBJoin Dan and Paul as they discuss the use of mazes in D&D adventures! They will explore the twists and turns of these navigation puzzles, and try to discover the line between captivating challenges and maddening exercises in frustration. The word maze is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead unambiguously through a convoluted layout to a goal. The pathways and walls in a maze are...
D&D on Mars | The Warriors of Mars | Wandering DMs S05 E25
August 21, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 86.2 MBPaul & Dan chat about the huge influence that tales set on Mars (Burroughs' John Carter Barsoom stories) had on the design of early Dungeons & Dragons. Did you know that original D&D had a built-in table for Martian encounters in the core books? That Gygax released a "Warriors of Mars" book almost simultaneously with D&D? We'll delve into the ancient sands to find lost treasures! Warriors of Mars is a 1974 miniatures wargame rule book, written by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume and published by ...
Real World Inspirations | Creating D&D Adventures From What’s Around You | Wandering DMs S05 E24
August 14, 2023 16:12 - 59 minutes - 82.1 MBDan & Paul chat about using the world around them to create D&D and other TTRPG scenarios. They share personal anecdotes of times they stumbled upon real places that sparked their creativity, reinforcing the notion that the real world is a goldmine of inspiration for game masters and storytellers.
Weather in D&D | What Can You Do About It? | Wandering DMs S05 E23
August 07, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBDan & Paul chat about different weather systems for D&D they've seen over the years. Do you prefer yours simple, or very detailed? Dice-based or DM narrative fiat? And why is it so important for wilderness adventures and wargaming? Numerical weather prediction (NWP) uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of computer simulation in the 1950s that numerica...
Paranoia RPGs | Mandatory Fun | Wandering DMs S05 E22
July 23, 2023 18:22 - 1 hour - 87 MBFresh from playing the Paranoia Mandatory Bonus Fun Card Game, Dan and Paul discuss their experience with various editions of the Paranoia RPG. Stay alert, trust no one, and keep your laser handy! Paranoia is a humorous role-playing game set in a dystopian future along the lines of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, Logan's Run, and THX 1138; however, the tone of the game is rife with black humor, frequently tongue-in-cheek rather than dark and heavy. Most of the game's humor is derived...
Unboxing War of Wizards (1975) | Wandering DMs S02 E21
July 09, 2023 21:55 - 1 hour - 126 MBPaul's acquired an ancient treasure: A copy of M.A.R. Barker's 1975 "War of Wizards" game, still in the shrink wrap, from Gary Gygax's personal collection no less! This is the first-ever publication set in Tékumel, the world of the Empire of the Petal Throne. Inspired by the D&D spellcasting system, it features two opposing wizards cast a barrage of spells at each other across an arena. What does these elder rules look like? Can Dan & Paul make sense of them within an hour? War of Wizards i...
Invisibility in D&D | The Unseen | Wandering DMs S05 E20
June 26, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 86 MBDan & Paul chat about the complications of invisibility in D&D, how to handle it, and how easily opponents can counter it, through the ages. How often have you cursed because of it? In fiction, people or objects can be rendered completely invisible by several means: Magical objects such as rings, cloaks and amulets can be worn to grant the wearer permanent invisibility (or temporary invisibility until the object is taken off). Magical potions can be consumed to grant temporary or permanen...
Unicorns in D&D | What’s the Point? | Wandering DMs S05 E19
June 12, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 86.8 MBPaul & Dan share their thoughts on Unicorns, which have been part of the standard monster list since the earliest days. Are they meant to be magical, fey representations of ineffable mysteries? Or are they meant to be a high-level brute melee attacker? Do they really belong in the world of D&D at all? In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years or so been depicted as a white horse-like or goat-like animal with a long straight horn with spiralling grooves, clo...
D&D Honor Among Thieves | Wandering DMs Review | Wandering DMs S05 E18
June 05, 2023 16:12 - 57 minutes - 79.2 MBDan & Paul give their thoughts on the 2023 movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. For old-school D&D players, is it worth the watch, or another one for the garderobe? Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a 2023 American fantasy heist comedy film directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Gilio from a story by Chris McKay and Gilio. Based on the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, it is set in the Forgotten Realms ...
Wargame Lessons | Revising Fantasy Medieval Campaigns | Wandering DMs S05 E17
May 29, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBPaul & Dan reflect on lessons we've learned for our D&D games based on playing wargames in the recent past. Is there anything we can use to improve our fantasy RPG? Heck, yes! The original Dungeons & Dragons set, subtitled Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures, was written by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and was published by TSR in 1974 as a digest-sized boxed set in a brown wood-grain box. The set included three digest-sized bo...
Morale in D&D | Let’s Get Out of Here!? | Wandering DMs S05 E16
May 22, 2023 16:12 - 48 minutes - 47.1 MBDan & Paul discuss the large variety of different morale rules in classic D&D -- and its roots in related wargaming. Which method is best? What would be most believable? What makes the best gameplay? What's easiest for the DM to manage? Clausewitz stresses the importance of morale and will for both the soldier and the commander. The soldier's first requirement is moral and physical courage, both the acceptance of responsibility and the suppression of fear. In order to survive the horror of ...
d6 vs. d8 | What’s Best for Core D&D? | Wandering DMs S05 E15
May 15, 2023 16:15 - 1 hour - 85.6 MBPaul & Dan discuss the history of what counts as the "standard" die in D&D used for hit dice, damage, miscellaneous checks, and more. Was switching from the six-sided to the eight-sided die really such a great idea? Various shapes like two-sided or four-sided dice are documented in archaeological findings; for example, from Ancient Egypt and the Middle East. While the cubical six-sided die became the most common type in many parts of the world, other shapes were always known, like 20-sided ...
Wights, Wraiths, and Spectres | The Unholy Trinity | Wandering DMs S05 E14
May 08, 2023 16:12 - 1 hour - 85.9 MBDan & Paul reconsider some of the most feared undead in D&D -- wights, wraiths, and spectres. You know: the types that are most likely to drain your character's XP. How do you like your level draining best? The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by supernatural means, technology, or disease. In s...
Pinkerton Goons vs. WOTC Fans | Game Company Gaffes | Wandering DMs S05 E13
May 01, 2023 16:12 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBDid you know that the Pinkerton National Detective Agency -- famed protector of Abraham Lincoln in the 1800's, and union-busting goon squad in the 1900's -- is still around? And they have time to chase down Magic: the Gathering fans for using prohibited card sets? It's true: Dan & Paul discuss the latest WOTC goony actions, other game-companies that lost their sanity checks, and more. Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by ...