“Heeeere’s Johnny!”: The Long-Awaited Return of 3 Wise DMs
After several months off, and the start of a brand new year, DM Tony and DM Dave are pleased to announce the return of the 3 Wise DMs podcast!
DM Mistakes
The Problem With the Servant DM: The Fastest Path to Dungeon Master Burnout
Every DM and GM puts together their campaign to have fun with their players. You want everyone to have a good time. But by chasing that goal too hard, many DMs take all the pressure and responsibility for the players having a good time on themselves, and they lose site of running a game they’ll have fun DMing. This is the problem of the servant DM. If you’re not careful, it can be the fastest path to DM burnout, and even falling out with your players in real life.
The Pregnant PC: Handling Odd Character Creation Requests in Dungeons and Dragons and Other RPGs
Would you allow a player to bring a pregnant PC into your game? That’s the question listener Joel brings to us for this episode. And while at first, it caught us off-guard, we realized this doesn’t need to be a deal-breaker. In fact, not many PC backstory requests need to be a deal-breaker. It all depends on how you implement them in your fantasy game.
Characters Over Combat: What We Learned From Gaming in 2021
Happy New Year! It’s a new year for new games or just continuing the ones you already love. But before we look forward to 2022, it’s important to look back at what we learned from gaming in 2021. In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about everything they learned throughout 2021, how it’s changed the way they play, and what they’re planning for 2022.
What I Learned Playing the TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG (aka FASERIP) for a Year
The last decade has seen the rebirth of superheroes, bringing them back into the spotlight. And while that’s changed what’s on tap for Hollywood, many gamers also want to be part of this awesomeness. Case in point, when I had a chance to join a game using the classic TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG system from the 80s, it was a no-brainer.
Gods and Cheese: 5 Tips for Running RPG Deities, Demigods and Super-Powered NPCs
Every fantasy RPG setting has its share of super-powered beings worthy of legend. And as the DM, it can be extremely tempting to introduce one of these mighty beings directly in the game to establish a presence. But such an NPC can cause numerous problems that easily do more harm than good, even derailing your campaign. This is why we’ve composed these 5 tips on how to introduce and run extremely powerful NPCs without wrecking the continuity of your game.
Keeping Your Story Straight: How We Manage All the DM Details of Our RPG Campaigns
No DM’s plan survives contact with the players. Between remembering the story you’re trying to tell, the details you had to improvise, and the players’ actions (which may or may not have made sense), it can be hard to keep the details straight in your RPG campaign. Thorin, Tony and Dave each have their own tricks for keeping their stories straight.
A Bad Day for the Black Dragon: 5 Mistakes I Made DMing My First D&D 5E Dragon Fight
Dragons! They are the logo monster of Dungeons & Dragons. They are fire. They are death. They are the winged nightmares of any fantasy citizen. … Except the one my party chewed through in about 3 rounds. *sigh* So, the party had fun, and good for them! But on my end, mistakes were made, and here’s what I think they were.
RPG Communication Breakdowns: What to Do When the DM and Players See Things Differently
It’s one of the hardest things for any DM to handle: What do you do when the way you see the game and the way the players see the game is no longer in sync? This is no academic discussion. One of our own games is suffering from miscommunication, and it’s not fun. Can it be saved? Can yours if it’s starting to see some of these same issues?
When Crits Go Wrong: The Critical Hit/Miss Table That Nearly Destroyed Our Game
If you’ve listened to a few episodes of the podcast, you’ve no doubt heard us talk about the critical miss rule that wiped out half a party. To follow up on this week’s episode about Rolling the Dice, here’s how the old Penndel Critical Hit System worked, where it eventually went wrong, and how I think you could still save it (for any D&D edition) by making some tweaks.