RPG veterans and game designers Teos Abadía and Shawn Merwin look at the game and the hobby of D&D from a variety of viewpoints: reporting the news, understandi...
The Psychology of D&D with Dr. Jamie Madigan (MD 221)
Episode 221 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: The Psychology of D&D!
Dr. Jamie Madigan joins Teos and Shawn to explain that their dice aren’t cursed, the benefits of online vs in-person gaming, hot hand fallacy, and much more! Check out Jamie’s new book: https://www.psychologyofdnd.com/
News: Kobold Press Finances, Artificer on Unearthed Arcana, Goodbye Dark Alliance, and more!
Contents
00:00 We Got You a Jamie Gift
03:18 Build World With Players?
08:32 Death Saves Proposal?
23:43 Unearthed Arcana Artificer
35:19 D&D Secret Level Review
40:47 Cyberpunk VG Adds RPG
41:56 Kobold Press 2024 Finances
45:14 Draw Steel Core Rules to Patrons
45:54 Goodbye Dark Alliance
47:17 Vote for Most Anticipated RPG
49:45 Psychology of D&D
50:19 Dr. Jamie Madigan
52:06 Writing and Publishing Process
55:22 Book Approach
58:10 Psychology of Dice Randomness
01:00:28 Gambler's Fallacy
01:02:28 Hot Hand Fallacy
01:04:45 Psychology of Game Choices
01:08:37 Fewer Compensatory Options
01:10:02 Satisficers vs Maximizers
01:13:49 Benefits of Play
01:16:25 Online vs In-Person Benefits
01:24:59 Shout-Outs
01:27:34 Find Dr. Jamie Madigan
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
--------
1:30:31
Listener Question Mega-Show (MD 220)
Episode 220 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Listener Question Mega-Show!
What do we do when we have tons of listener questions? Shawn and Teos dedicate the main segment to answering some truly awesome questions. Find out why this was the most fun we’ve had in months!
News: Moonbeam Launches Alpha, New Maps Features, D&D Immersive Quest, and more!
Contents
00:00 Bad Movie Season
02:14 Maps Adds Monster Stats
10:18 D&D Immersive Quest
14:11 D&D Adventurer Magazine
15:53 Licensing and WotC
18:05 Mearls on Death Saves
39:02 Jail-Compliant RPGs
40:54 One Foot in Fairy Land
42:47 Moonbeam Launches Alpha
44:34 Listener Questions
45:29 Improv Anxiety?
49:39 Player vs Character Skill?
01:02:12 Find Playtesters?
01:07:36 Easy RPG Entry Point?
01:18:46 Tricks for Creativity?
01:25:14 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
--------
1:29:54
Recent Game Design Lessons (MD 219)
Episode 219 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Recent Game Design Lessons!
Shawn and Teos share what they learned from recent projects, from late 3E, 4E, and beyond.
News: New Greyhawk OP Campaign, AI Takes Down Itch.io, Talking Exploration, and more!
Contents
00:00:00 We're 93!
00:01:38 Redesign Gnomes?
00:10:08 Encourage in Character?
00:17:10 Adventure Opening?
00:22:14 Legends of Greyhawk and MagicCon
00:25:28 AI Takes Down Itch.io
00:26:57 12 Days of Beyond
00:29:06 Everyone's Talking Exploration
00:31:49 2024 Magic Item Changes
00:33:39 Kickstarter Project Finances
00:37:19 Recent Game Design Lessons
00:39:16 Form and Function
00:44:05 Know the Medium
00:46:08 The Audience
00:50:58 Xendrik Expeditions
00:55:09 Living Forgotten Realms
00:59:19 Ashes of Athas
01:03:01 Getting Noticed
01:04:34 Playtesting and New Editions
01:05:56 Understanding Companies
01:09:19 D&D Encounters
01:12:09 Full-Time Work
01:13:09 Balancing Freelance and Self
01:16:02 Other Paths
01:17:25 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
--------
1:21:36
Lessons Learned from Our Early Projects (MD 218)
Episode 218 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Lessons Learned from Our Early Projects!
Shawn and Teos share what they learned from the days when they started as designers, back in the 2000s and the 3E era.
News: Exodus is Hasbro’s Newest RPG, Lord of the Rings and Illrigger on Beyond, PAX Unplugged, and more!
Contents
00:00 Snow Job
02:24 DM Types?
08:57 Exciting Sandbox Pace?
18:55 Exodus Video Game Gets RPG
30:45 Lord of the Rings on DDB
34:57 MCDM's Illrigger on DDB
38:19 D&D at PAX Unplugged
39:20 Combo Encounters
40:59 Mearls Teaching at UW
41:29 Monstrous Menagerie II
43:21 Lessons Learned from Early Projects
44:31 Build a Community?
49:47 Starting in 2000 and the LG Era
52:54 Organized Play Lessons
56:57 Learning is Investment
01:00:02 Changing Social Media
01:02:59 Clear and Concise Language
01:04:01 Understanding Industry Pay
01:05:27 Great Success is Rare
01:07:30 There is No Perfection
01:13:58 The Product that Isn't
01:16:31 Edition Change Challenges
01:18:31 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
--------
1:23:15
Qualities RPG Companies Look for in an RPG Designer (MD 217)
Episode 217 of Mastering Dungeons!
Main topic: Qualities RPG Companies Look for in an RPG Designer!
Shawn and Teos review the qualities companies say they look for in an RPG designer.
News: Investors Sue Hasbro, Hasbro Abandons Movies, Juggling Teenagers, and more!
Contents
00:00 Hello World
02:11 Adopt Rules More Quickly?
13:22 Juggling Teenagers?
21:01 Hasbro Shifts from Movies
24:43 Investors Sue Hasbro
27:10 Social Media Changes
32:31 Post Office D&D Flyer
33:30 Winter Fantasy
34:13 Goodman Games Con
35:10 Roll20 Bastion Contest
35:58 DM David's D&D Wish List
39:39 Cupcake Dragon Card Game
40:56 Iskandar Explorer's Journal
41:50 What Publishers Look For
42:51 Standardized Job Descriptions?
45:25 Wide Skill Range
49:53 Reliability and Communication
58:32 Curiosity
01:01:23 Style Guides
01:04:06 Excitement
01:05:45 Mindfulness and Compassion
01:09:11 Big Bold Ideas
01:11:28 Courage
01:17:30 2 Designers
01:23:37 Praise
01:24:48 Shout-Outs
Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon.
Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/
Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.
RPG veterans and game designers Teos Abadía and Shawn Merwin look at the game and the hobby of D&D from a variety of viewpoints: reporting the news, understanding the business, reviewing the products, and illuminating the design. Whether you’re a fan, a player, a DM, or a designer, Shawn and Teos cover topics of interest to you!
USA