The Dm's Deep Dive With Mike Shea

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:59 D&D & RPG News: Jim Ward Passes Away 01:37 Commentary: Bob World Builder's Survey of D&D and WOTC Popularity 12:55 D&D & RPG News: Legos and Sneakers and Hawaiian Shirts 13:59 D&D & RPG News: Tome of Beasts 2023 on D&D Beyond 21:45 Patreon Spotlight: The SF Patreon Q&A Database 25:41 D&D & RPG News: Larian says No BG3 Expansions or BG4 29:27 DM Tip: Reach and Run Awesome Campaign Endings 45:36 Patreon Question: Too Much Comedy and Joking at our Serious D&D Game 49:15 Patreon Question: How Much is Gold Worth? Function Economies in our D&D Games 52:55 Patreon Question: Lazy Encounter Benchmark for Multiple Battles in a Day Links James Ward Wikipedia Page Bob World Builder WOTC Survey Video Take the Survey Here Tome of Beasts 1 2023 Larian Studios Won't Make Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Expansions, or Baldur's Gate 4 Ending Campaigns The Lazy Encounter Benchmark

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Video Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:28 D&D & RPG News: Dungeon Crawl Classics Humble Bundle 04:35 D&D & RPG News: Worlds Without Number SRD in CC0 07:07 D&D & RPG News: WOTC's "Do You Like Me" Survey 16:11 D&D & RPG News: Hasbro's Chris Cocks on D&D and AI 20:36 D&D & RPG News: WOTC Partners with StartPlaying.Games 23:26 D&D & RPG News: Daggerheart Open Beta Available 30:05 Sly Flourish News: Lazy DM's Companion On Sale! 30:47 Patreon Spotlight: Dungeon Chambers 36:44 DM Tip: Challenging High-Level Characters 55:28 Patreon Question: Getting Players to Speak Up During (Online) Games 58:01 Patreon Question: Staying Excited about Long Campaigns Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Lazy DM's Companion on sale for 50% off! Huge DCC Humble Bundle Worlds Without Number SRD CC0 Hasbro on AI for D&D Penny Arcade on Hasbro WO

Mike explores using https://obsidian.md/ for tabletop RPG prep. Episode Contents 00:00 - Show Start 01:18 - Why Obsidian? 02:40 - Choose the Tool You Dig 04:19 - What Is Obsidian 05:11 - Check the Resource Links in the Show Notes 07:17 - The Fun and Dangers of Dorking With Our Systems 11:28 - Why Obsidian Again? 13:10 - On Markdown 20:10 - On Synching Notes 24:30 - Keeping Things Simple 35:18 - Limiting Hyperlinking 36:03 - The Lazy GM Campaign Template for Obsidian 41:38 - The Danger of Plugin Proprietary Notes 45:32 - Espanso for Text Autofilling 49:40 - Printing Notes to PDF with Automator, Shell Scripting, Pandoc, and Latex... 52:32 - Final Thoughts Links Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Getting Started with Obsidian for D&D – PhD20 Nicole van der Hoeven's D&D and Obsidian YouTube Playlist Nicole's RPG Obsidian Notes D&D-tagged notes Non-Lazy DMs use Obsidian for D&

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:06 Sly Flourish News: Last Week's Sly Flourish RPG Newsletter 03:42 Kickstarter Spotlight: Planestrider 09:52 Kickstarter Spotlight: Surviving Strangehollow 12:02 Sly Flourish News: Lazy DM's Companion On Sale 50% Off 13:59 D&D & RPG News: NASA Releases a 5e Adventure 16:04 D&D & RPG News: Chaosium RPG Design Contest 21:58 DM Tip: Taking Notes During and After the Game 36:43 Patreon Question: Running City of Arches as an Open Table Game 41:18 Patreon Question: Villainous Plans and the Three of Five Keys Model 48:21 Patreon Question: Introducing New Players to RPGs 51:18 Patreon Question: Secrets and Lore as Character Knowledge 54:22 Patreon Question: Secrets and Clues in Dark Sun Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Last weeks Lazy RPG News Letter Planestriders Kickstarter Surviving Strangehollow NASAs RPG adventure Chaos

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:01 D&D & RPG News: Rascal.News for TTRPG News 03:19 D&D & RPG News: Ginny Di on D&D with ADHD 05:50 D&D & RPG News: Shadow of the Weird Wizard Released 08:50 DM Tip: The Benefits of Character Factions 16:35 Commentary: The Many Right Answers of TTRPGs 32:53 Patreon Question: WOTC and Table-Usable Maps 38:06 Patreon Question: Selling Magic Items -- Info and Inventories 39:57 Patreon Question: Tying Backgrounds to Curse of Strahd 42:34 Patreon Question: How do I Feel about AI in TTRPGs? Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Rascal.News Ginny Di on D&D and ADHD Shadow of the Weird Wizard Using Maps for In-Person Games

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:26 D&D & RPG News: D&D 2024 Core Book Release Dates 03:58 Commentary: Call the New Books "D&D 2024" 06:47 D&D & RPG News: D&D 2024 on Roll20 08:41 D&D & RPG News: Humblewood on D&D Beyond 16:43 D&D & RPG News: How D&D Began Video 20:56 Patreon Spotlight: Best of Sly Flourish 2013-2023 27:30 DM Tip: Different Steps for Different Circumstances 40:45 Patreon Question: Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Campaign 44:27 Patreon Spotlight: A Player's Version of Forge of Foes. Forge of Heroes? 49:52 Patreon Question: Favorite Three RPG Mechanics Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: D&D 2024 Core Book Release Dates Humblewood D&D 2024 on Roll20 How Dungeons & Dragons Started Video Choosing the Right Steps from the Lazy DM Checklist Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:04 D&D & RPG News: Ginny Di on One-on-One D&D 02:33 Product Spotlight: Crown and Skull by Runehammer 32:10 Patreon Spotlight: City of Arches Updates 34:31 Patreon Spotlight: 1d100 Monuments 40:18 DM Tip: Build Custom Faction Lists 47:52 Patreon Question: Banning Subclasses 52:16 Patreon Question: Paralysis Choosing What to Run Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Ginny Di on D&D Duets – One-on-One D&D Games Crown and Skull by Runehammer

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:07 D&D & RPG News: D&D on Foundry 16:39 Commentary: D&D Beyond Isn't Destroying the 5e Hobby 29:19 D&D & RPG News: Shadowdark Print Books For Sale 30:46 DM Tip: When To Use Simple or Complicated Stat Blocks 46:13 Patreon Question: XP Loss on Death in Shadowdark 47:53 Patreon Question: Why No Shapechange for Flee Mortals Vampires? 49:20 Patreon Question: Looking Back on Old Secrets 51:05 Patreon Question: Teaching New Players 5e through D&D 53:59 Patreon Question: Quest Continuity in Shadowdark Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: D&D on Foundry Sly Flourish YouTube Poll Responses Shadowdark Print Copies Available Forge of Foes A5e Monstrous Menagerie Flee Mortals

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:05 Kickstarter Spotlight: Vault 5e Crafting and Alchemy by Cubicle 7 03:50 DM Tip: Making Your Lore Optional by PHD20 10:49 D&D & RPG News: Bob World Builder on 15 Different RPGs 12:55 D&D & RPG News: Kelsey Dionne and Baron de Ropp on RPG Design 14:02 D&D & RPG News: Tegan J Gaming on a Defense of Dungeons & Dragons 18:01 Patreon Spotlight: Dwarven Forge VTT Backdrops 21:34 DM Tip: TTRPG Tips from Baldur's Gate 3 44:29 Patreon Question: Are Casters Better than Martial Characters in 5e? 47:38 Patreon Question: Running Single-Session One-Shot Games On Time 50:54 Patreon Question: Running Too Many NPCs 54:01 Patreon Question: Writing Adventures as Good as Published Ones 58:47 Patreon Question: Wolfgang Baur on Worldbuilding Links Vault 5e Crafting and Alchemy Kickstarter by Cubicle 7 Making Your Lore Optional by PHD20 Bob World Builder on 15 Different RPGs Kelsey Dionne and Baron

Mike dives deep into Forge of Foes – build and run awesome monsters for your 5e RPG! Video Contents 00:00 Show Start 02:05 Forge of Foe's Main Advantage 04:26 Forge of Foes and 5e Modularity 06:36 Is Forge of Foes Compatible with Other RPGs? 08:38 The Book's Structure 13:28 The Quick Monster Builder and Stats by CR 23:35 Quick 5e Monster Stats Tool 24:33 Adding Monster Powers 28:00 General Use Stat Blocks 31:59 Using Stats by CR to Benchmark Existing Monsters 36:11 Monster Powers 36:49 Monster Roles 37:54 Other Lazy Tricks 39:01 Monster Advice Chapters 40:34 Alternative Takes on Encounter Building 42:57 Monsters By Adventure Location 43:43 More Monster Advice 45:14 Monsters by Story or Story by Monster? 45:57 Anticolonial Play 47:57 The Best 5e Monster Book Links Forge of Foes Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:11 Kickstarter Spotlight: Tales of the Valiant Gamemaster's Guide 06:36 Kickstarter Spotlight: Gate Pass Gazette 2023 for Level Up Advanced 5e 12:00 Commentary: What Is 5e? 30:01 DM Tip: Using the Eight Steps At the Table 47:26 Patreon Question: How Many Battles in a Dungeon? 51:19 Patreon Question: Should We Demand Players Read the Books? 54:19 Patreon Question: Player Rolls or Player Skill for Puzzles? Links Tales of the Valiant Gamemaster's Guide Kickstarter Gate Pass Gazette 2023 for Level Up Advanced 5e Kickstarter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books:

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:29 Patreon Spotlight: City of Arches Update 09:52 D&D & RPG News: Jennell Jaquays Passes Away 11:26 Commentary: Don't Throw Away 5e Because of Hasbro 27:47 Product Spotlight: Weapons of Legend for 5e by Jeff Stevens 33:40 DM Tip: Add the Black Flag Luck System to your 5e games 45:36 Patreon Question: Pacing Quests for Villainous Plots 50:31 Patreon Question: Pricing Magic Items 53:03 Patreon Question: Best Quest Vehicles in City of Arches 56:04 Patreon Question: Preparing Players for a 2e Campaign Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Jennell Jaquays Go Fund Me The Legacy of Jennell Jaquays Don't Throw Away 5e Because of Hasbro Weapons of Legend for 5th Edition Black Flag Reference Document

Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming! Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 1 Dyson Maps