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Thorin

3 Ways to Design RPG Campaigns: Railroad vs. Open World vs. Dave

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Is it better to put players on the train through your tight, entertaining story, or create a reactive world for them wander around at their leisure? In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about how they build their campaigns, from what they want to accomplish to how they prepare week to week. Along they’ll way, we’ll look at how the different styles affect the players and their game experience. And we’ll discuss whether or not, in the end, they’re really all that different?

RPG Economics: What Can Players Do With All That Gold?

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Gold and jewels are all over the treasure tables in the Dungeon Master Guide. But what can they do with it? In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about how they handle the RPG economy and the crazy things players can and can’t do with gold in their games.

Digging Into Character Backstories for Fun and Pathos

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Some players come into any RPG they play with a 4-page character origin and personal history that drives them to adventure — others can barely pick a name. What do you do with player character backgrounds like these? In this week’s episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave dig into what they want and don’t want from character backstories, and how they use them in their games.

19 Crazy Player Characters’ Stunts and How We DMed Them

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Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about 19 of the craziest stunts players have pulled in their games and how they bent the systems to make it happen — or sometimes didn’t. Along the way, hear our best secrets for adlibbing and adjudicating some of the hardest situations DMs face.

9 Things D&D 5E Does Really Well, and 10 Things It Doesn’t

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How we lean in to the best of D&D 5E while adjusting and homebrewing its role-playing game mechanics to fit the campaign styles they run.

6 Components You Need To Make Great RPG Adventures

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Even if you're an improv DM, taking some time to build real adventures can improve your RPG game.

You campaign may be all about your player’s characters’ “adventures,” but designing and running specific, self-contained adventures is about more than just stringing a few encounters together. Here’s why it matters and 6 tips that will help you build adventures that are worthy of the name.

Adventure Time: 15 Tips to Build and DM Great Adventures

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The Feeling of Embarking on a DnD Adventure

Role-playing games, at their heart, are all about adventure! But are the stories you’re telling and sessions you’re building really creating “an adventure” your players will enjoy? How do you build focused, engaging, self-contained quests that span 3-6 sessions (roughly) with a tight theme, clear goals, fun ways to achieve them, and satisfying rewards at the end?

9 Killer Monster Combos for D&D 5E – Use With Caution!

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KIller combos can get out of hand quickly if you're not careful.

We talked about some of our favorite monster combos in giving out “wisest” answers to the 7 Questions Dungeon Masters Ask. But we came away feeling like those barely scratched the surface. So I reached back to my InQuest Magazine days and went digging for monster combos like they were Magic cards. While I didn’t find any Channel-Fireballs, here are 9 monster combos for D&D 5E that will give your players a lot to think about.

7 Questions Dungeon Masters Ask and Our ‘Wisest’ Answers

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How do you handle a TPK? How do you get players to do their homework? What are some good D&D 5E monster combos? From Facebook to Twitter to the 3WiseDMs.com website, these are the top Dungeon Master questions listeners have asked the wise guys at 3WD.

DM or PCs: Whose Story Is It, Anyway?

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One of the most common assumptions in role-playing games is that the DM brings the story and the players play in it. But is that the way it should be? If the players are controlling the main characters in it, isn’t that, by definition, their story?