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The Old School Renaissance: 3WD’s Top 4 Pros and Cons to Returning to Basic Dungeons & Dragons With the Basic Fantasy RPG

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A change of pace can be nice, and when it comes to gaming it’s no exception. Case in point, we recently played two basic style D&D games using the Basic Fantasy RPG, and they were interesting to say the least. The rules are based on the Moldvay system from the 1980s which is about as old school as you can get without playing the White Box.  

If you haven’t tried this system, you might have heard things like: it can be a lot of fun, but you better bring several character sheets to the game. Because if you make it to the end of the adventure it probably won’t be with the same character you started the session with. 

So does this classic stand the test of time and is it worth playing today?  To answer this question we put together a list of reasons both for and against so you can be the judge.

Glory Days: 3 Wise DMs Shares the Pros and Cons With Their Return to Basic D&D Through the Old School Renaissance

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We’ve talked about it many times on the podcast. We’ve been waiting for a chance to run it. We finally did! DM Dave ran us through an old-school dungeon crawl for our friend Scott’s birthday with the Basic Fantasy Roleplaying RPG. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave review the pros and cons of returning to Basic Moldvay-era D&D with the OSR. Final verdict: More pros than cons… try it out!

Baiting the Hook: How to Create Immersive Adventure Hooks When Running the Game and in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

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All kidding aside, putting the time into creating a believable, character-centric hook to the upcoming adventure does a lot of the heavy lifting for you by increasing player buy-in to the story and giving them a seriously good reason to risk life and limb to go adventuring.

My Name’s the Teacher: Making Leveling with Character Abilities, Oaths, and Patrons Matter in your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

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We can all understand that Fighters and Rogues just get better at doing the things they do, but what about Paladins, Warlocks, Clerics, etc… characters that gain incredibly powerful class abilities that are not of this world? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss how they make character choices in leveling matter more when it comes to BIG class changes.

Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst: The Five Tips That Will Help You Run a Smooth and Fun D&D Session

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It’s been said that how you say something is just as, if not more important, as what you say. For a DM, this also applies to how your material is being delivered to your players – as it can be frustrating when you felt prepared for the game but your wording or even the overall rhythm seemed off. 

Maybe the scenes were choppy between their transitions. Perhaps when you were relaying some important information, you fumbled the lines. Or when delivering the big reveal to the players, it really didn’t connect with your group as intended. 

These things have happened to the best of us.  Fortunately, from these mistakes lessons were learned which we would like to share with you now. We’ve distilled this into five tips that will hopefully allow you to avoid some of the gaming trainwrecks which we have both caused and been a part of.

It’s So Easy: 3 Wise DMs 18 Favorite Dungeon Master Hacks To Help Make Running Your TTRPG Game That Much Easier

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Running a game is a lesson in balance. There are so many dials and mechanics that you need to play with while also focusing on what Gary Gygax referred to as being “the Shaper of the Cosmos.” Anyone who has started running games or has been running for decades has found hacks to make running the game that much easier and streamlined. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their favorite DM hacks that we’ve employed in our games.

D&D Calisthenics: The Benefits of Solo Gaming And How It Can Help You Improve Your DM Skills When Running Your Own TTRPG Sessions

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I can understand why it seems odd to many, but the real secret is that it isn’t really DM-less. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. DM-less and solo gaming help us to learn to use our imagination at run-time. So much preparation is geared towards anticipating scenes and encounters ahead of time that we often feel afraid to let the story run its own course. Using a DM-less system like Mythic Role Playing or a solo system like 5e Solo Gamebooks can help develop your imagination in ways to help improvise while the story is evolving. 

When Good Gaming Groups Go Bad: 3 Wise DMs Tips On How To Continue Your TTRPG Campaign With Only One Player

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Game groups fall apart. It’s as inevitable as the rain. What do you do when your current group goes south, but you still have a player who wants to continue? Do you continue with the current campaign? Do you now run the entire rest of the party, the monsters, and all the NPCs? The 3 Wise DMs answer long-time listener Jared’s question about his Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign and delve deeper into utilizing Sidekicks, DMPCs, and other tips with one-on-one gaming. And, as an added surprise, we introduce our newest co-host…

The Fine Line: 3 Wise DMs List of the 5 Most Overpowered Feats and Abilities in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

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With 5e being an arguably complicated system, not every rule or power is going to be perfectly balanced. However, some defy reason making them so wildly powerful that it’s hard to believe they not only made it into the Player’s Handbook but were never amended. This is why we have put a list together of five things everyone enjoys having in their campaign – except, possibly, the DM. 

Just Do It! 3 Wise DMs Interviews a Brand-New D&D Enthusiast About the 13 Tips and Tricks to Mastering the Dungeon

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New DMs. It’s easily the most discussed topic in the TTRPG hobby. We’ve talked before about tips and tricks for new DMs looking to run their first games. However, this week, we got the chance to sit down with our return guest Chris and his brand-new to all things fantasy, D&D, and DMing friend, Lenny Szot… who decided to dive into the deep end and run his first game ever! Throughout the episode, we detail 13 tips and tricks to help but, in the end, Lenny’s advice is the most succinct: Just Do It!