Inspiration Point
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160 episodes
This week, Adam continues taking Tiana through a campaign planning document he assigns to his D&D students in his day job. We'll be diving deep into the core concepts of creating a campaign over the next few weeks, so grab a notebook and start noodling your own ideas! The document Adam uses: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Alwm8ghRSKMFnOEP941VcYERXMxKadL3Df0WYmjKXsE/edit Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam begins taking Tiana through a campaign planning document he assigns to his D&D students in his day job. We'll be diving deep into the core concepts of creating a campaign over the next few weeks, so grab a notebook and start noodling your own ideas! The document Adam uses: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Alwm8ghRSKMFnOEP941VcYERXMxKadL3Df0WYmjKXsE/edit Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about a part of the Dungeon Master's Guide that isn't commonly used: Chapter 8, Diseases and Poisons. While diseases and poisons touch our real world in some ways (*cough cough*), we're interested in how they can be used to tell a story. Come join us! Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana continuing talking about first level D&D spells and where we rank them. Bucking the usual tier list conventions, we rank them by things like RP potential and how much they serve the secret ingredient in a tabletop party. There's definitely some interesting opinions about the spells in this list! Come join us as we talk about them. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana continuing talking about first level D&D spells and where we rank them. Bucking the usual tier list conventions, we rank them by things like RP potential and how much they serve the secret ingredient in a tabletop party. There's definitely some interesting opinions about the spells in this list! Come join us as we talk about them. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana start talking about first level D&D spells and where we rank them. Bucking the usual tier list conventions, we rank them by things like RP potential and how much they serve the secret ingredient in a tabletop party. There's definitely some interesting opinions about the spells in this list! Come join us as we talk about them. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about making encounters more than just trading hit points, using an encounter that happened in the Westgate Patron game Adam runs. We specifically look at page 81, where the DMG talks about Character Objectives that drive encounters. When you know your characters and what they want, focusing in on how to make the players feel is incredibly rewarding. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about making a monster for encounters that may not fit the typical mold. Whether that's something silly for a joke game (as we inevitably did) or changing up a known monster to keep people from metagaming, GMs should never be afraid to mess with monsters to keep things interesting. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about the ways Baldur's Gate 3 changed D&D 5e rules, and which of the changed rules we'd bring into our games. Some of the changes are great! Others...well, it's a video game, there's thing we can't really do around the table. Check out the resource we used here: https://bg3.wiki/wiki/D%26D_5e_rule_changes Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about ways to begin your TTRPG game that doesn't involve "you walk into a tavern..." While that is a time-honored tradition, we feel like there's a ton of ways to get player characters together for that first session so they can start learning about each other, and one of our favorite ways is factions. Have a listen, see what you think! (Gnarled Frontier players, Adam requests that you skip 51:03 to 51:53 because of spoilers for your Patron game.) Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/fQkm2tFh7U
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about suffering in games, and how conflict results in a story that everyone remembers. While we don't advocate for GM sadism, there is an element of suffering and striving that makes the storytelling better for everyone. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
Happy New Year, everyone! This week, Adam and Tiana look back at the year we just wrapped up and talk about what we liked, and what we want to improve. New Year's Resolutions are always a challenge, but we think there's been a lot of interesting things happening in the TTRPG space lately. Join our Discord to continue the conversation! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana welcome Andrew back onto the podcast to wrap up the year. We talk about Baldur's Gate, give Andrew a pop quiz on the subject we've talked about without him, and talk about holiday plans. Come join us as we finish up this year with warmth, laughter, and love.
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about the issue of player engagement from the player side. It's so easy to get distracted and veer off in various directions, but it's so important to keep combat turns focused and RP moments engaged. We offer some tips on the subject, but would love to hear thoughts from you! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about NPCs who become part of the party, or otherwise aid the campaign in significant ways. There are real dangers about DMPCs, or other ways that NPCs can steal the show; join us as we talk about the benefits and pitfalls, and build our own NPC with a series of dice rolls. Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/gYSp3vcrqs
This week, Adam and Tiana a plan for the episode topic. It was even going to be a good one! And then we kinda rabbit trailed in a bunch of different directions, all at once. So grab a mug of your preferred comfort drink, wrap up in a blanket against the autumn weather, and come hang with us as we talk about burnout and how to prevent it, campaign planning, Big Moments in our personal gaming history, and a bunch of things in between. Including Bluey! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/Qwc7KSfwtd
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about the first session of the new Patron game, Westgate, and discuss a cool realization Adam had during the game. There's a lot of ways to get information to players and their characters! But one of the more interesting ways is for the players to know at least some of the knowledge, and let them pass it along in character whenever and however they see fit.
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about a very important part of any gaming experience: the session zero. Running a successful session zero can feel very intimidating, so we're talking about activities that a GM can use to explore themes and ideas with their players in a fun and engaging way.
This week, Adam and Tiana take a break from mechanics to talk motivation. There's a lot of anxiety around GMing TTRPGs; every one of us have felt it. But! Letting anxiety and fears block the stories you have to tell is a crime, and we're here to pump you up and hopefully inspire you to get out there and tell your stories.
This week, Adam and Tiana continue their deep dive into Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. This time, we're talking about random encounter tables; when to use them, how to use them, and thoughts for how to build them for your campaign. While we agree that fights just for the sake of fights can be a massive pain, we think there's value in using encounter tables to flesh out the world. See what you think!
This week, Adam and Tiana take a look at chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master's Guide to discuss how to build a campaign around an event. We talk about Big Bad Evil Guys (BBEGs), the event at the center of the campaign, and how to hook players into the story. The results are rather absurd!
This week, Adam and Tiana dive into a topic that can be a challenge for both GMs and players: the death of a player character. We talk about examples from games that we've played, as well as looking at how character death can shape a story. While it can be a somber topic, as we all get deeply attached to the characters we play, we hope that this discussion can open up some discussion about when and why it's sometimes the right play.
This week, Adam and Tiana take a bit of a step back from the mechanics of the game and talk about some of the struggles that come with running and playing games. Specifically, we discuss anxiety and the tendency to overthink every decision, and talk about some of the ways we handle that kind of mental struggle. We're not mental health professionals, but we are gamers and GMs who deal with this issue on a regular basis.
This week, Adam and Tiana take a step back and talk about the Patron game that just wrapped up, Wrath of the Scorned. We discuss themes and how the final confrontation fit within the narrative of the game overall, and how Adam has been seeding things throughout that Tiana entirely missed until they came to fruition. We then switch over to talking about game tables and what we want from the spaces where we play. There's so many variables when it comes to tables and lighting and music; we have our preferences, but we're always open to new ideas.
This week, inspired by events in Baldur's Gate 3, Adam and Tiana talk about hags. We talk about their origins in mythology, how they've been used in stories in the past, and how to set the stage to make the encounter truly memorable. CW: Light body horror.
In this week's episode, Adam and Tiana talk about using setup and payoff to create memorable moments for your games. We show examples of setup leading to a satisfying payoff, and touch on a couple times in media when it doesn't work and discuss why that may be the case. Video referenced in the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGDdpXLc1CQ&t=1s
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about the Do's and Don'ts of balancing optimization and roleplay. We all know the kinds of players who focus on getting their numbers higher, or the players who want to do something unoptimized for the sake of a good roleplay flavor. Where's the balance between the two, and what are some pitfalls to watch out for?
This week, Adam and Tiana talk about jobs the players can take on to relieve some of the burden the GM carries. This is a great way to build up some of that Strength player stat, and make things easier for the GM as well. This is by no means an exhaustive list! Add to the list or take away as suits your table.
This week, Adam and Tiana continue the conversation by delving deeper into the mental stats: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. We definitely have opinions about which stat is the most important, but we feel that a blend of the stats is necessary for every player.
This week as a follow-up to the previous episode talking about GM stats, Adam and Tiana talk about physical player stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, so we talk about what it looks like to be strong in a stat, while offering some suggestions for how to improve your game in that area.
