Merry Critmas & Happy Holidays from 3WD!
3 Wise DMs wanted to wish all our listeners and their friends and families a very Merry Critmas, a wonderful Holiday Season, and a real Natural 20 of a New Year!
Dave
Thorin: In Memoriam
Hello and welcome to the 3 Wise DMs podcast, where three Dungeon Masters who have been doing this for way too long, talk about how we handle all the tricky ins and outs of running a game of D&D or whatever else you might play. I’m Thorin and, like my namesake from The Hobbit, I … Read more
Update From 3 Wise DMs
As you have undoubtedly noticed, Thorin, Tony, and I have not been posting our weekly podcasts. Some of you have reached out to ask if there were any problems, and we are truly thankful for that; we’re still completely humbled that so many of you have joined us in our continuing conversations. Without giving details … Read more
Not Just For Beginnings: How Session Zero Can Serve As An Ongoing Tool In Your D&D Games (And Other RPGs)
Does what you’re currently running still feel fresh and fun? Are your players as invested in it as they were in the beginning? Does something feel missing? Are you burning out?
Beginning to look at what Session Zero does for us at the start of a campaign can assist us in gauging what is happening in an ongoing campaign.
3WD Talk Dungeons & Dragons on Dragon Talk!
Our recent article on running scenes outside of your game sessions caught some attention by none other than the official D&D podcast Dragon Talk! So, Thorin and Tony got the chance to sit down with Dragon Talk’s co-host, Shelly Mazzanoble, on their “How to DM” segment to discuss the devil the in the details!
3 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your D&D Session Prep: Factions Edition
In our recent episode on faction building in your TTRPG, we discussed how we design, develop and implement factions in our own games. But, in case you need to develop factions before this week’s game, I decided to break down three specific ways to approach faction building in your own game.
What to Do With Curse of Strahd’s Megaliths? Making Published D&D Material Your Own
“The four ancient stones near the windmill were erected centuries ago by the valley’s original human inhabitants. Each moss-covered stone bears a crude carving of a city, each of which is associated with a different season. The city of winter is shown covered in snow. The city of spring is arrayed in flowers. The city of summer has a sunburst overhead, and the city of autumn is covered in leaves. If the characters ask any of the priests or scholarly NPCs in Barovia about the stones, the characters are told that ancient legends tell of the Four Cities, said to be the cities of Paradise where the Morninglord, Mother Night, and the other ancient gods first dwelled.” – Curse of Strahd
What Happens When Your D&D 5E Party Gets Too Big?
In our recent episode on “How Many Players Are Too Many for One D&D Game,” we answered a listener’s question regarding “How big is too big” for adventuring parties. The challenges this creates can be confusing for both beginners and advanced DMs. So, I decided to share two examples of running 5e games with eight players to reflect on how I did it, what worked and what didn’t, and, hopefully, help you agree that, while having too many people wanting to play is a good problem to have, it’s still a problem.
Learning From the Legend: 3 Lessons The Legend of Vox Machina Reveals About DMing Your Best D&D Game
I’ve made no secret of the inspiration and enjoyment I get from being a fan of Critical Role, the D&D live-play stream that has taken the TTRPG world by storm. Now in its third season, the show’s creators unveiled the much-anticipated animated series on Amazon Prime, The Legend of Vox Machina, dramatizing (or comedyizing?) some of the adventures in their first season. There are things to learn about ways to improve our games from these types of creators.
The True CR20 Strahd: Powering Up Your BBEG for the Epic Big Battle
5e’s Curse of Strahd contains a double entendre. While it seems as if the big bad Lord of Barovia is the curse that follows the players around, the deeper truth is that the curse is his own. He cannot leave. Barovia is his prison. Having just completed our run of this infamous adventure, I found an even deeper curse lying within the module: Strahd just isn’t powerful enough to handle the heat of the epic, final battle when the players are level appropriate and have recovered the artifacts.