Mastering Dungeons

Episode 280 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Best of Princes of the Apocalypse!

Teos and Shawn share the best of Princes of the Apocalypse, an adventure that brings back elemental evil and the elder elemental eye to D&D!

News: D&D Beyond’s Roadmap, AEG Parts with Dancey, More WotC Hiring, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Intro
01:58 Important to Research Lore?
12:43 Help Players Understand Choice?
18:24 D&D Beyond Roadmap
23:23 WotC Hiring Continues
24:45 AEG Parts with Ryan Dancey
28:47 D&D Cartoon Comics
29:30 Record Pokémon Auction
31:06 Princes of the Apocalypse
31:39 A Positive Analysis
35:12 Product History
37:14 Premise and Approach
44:51 Red Larch is a Great Town
47:59 Low-Level Adventures
50:40 Elemental Cults and Themes
52:46 Adventure Rhythm and Adapting Story
01:03:14 Elemental Nodes
01:07:41 Shout-Outs
01:11:17 What Are We Gonna Do

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.

Episode 279 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Why is Red Hand of Doom So Good?

Teos and Shawn share the best of Red Hand of Doom, a fan-favorite adventure from 3rd edition D&D!

News: Hasbro vs Wizards Q4 Results, How AI is Used at Hasbro, Dark Heart of the Wood, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Bringing the Loopiness
02:27 Players Always Team Up?
10:48 What Was or Is D&D Encounters?
15:56 D&D Encounters Returning?
17:46 Hasbro Q4 and 2025 Earnings!
20:24 WotC Q4 and 2025 Results
25:06 Upcoming Partnerships
29:00 Chris Cock on AI at Hasbro
35:04 How Big is D&D?
37:50 MCDM Has a Dark Heart
39:02 D&D's Therapeutic Potential
41:59 Portland Promotes Games
42:48 Evil Hat on RPG Finances
45:17 Nine Worlds and Bad Blood
46:48 Monsters & More for Nimble RPG
47:26 Curse of Stoneshatter Tomb
48:09 Red Hand of Doom!
51:05 Red Hand's History
54:04 Designer Notes
56:53 Premise and Approach
01:01:15 Repeated Approach
01:05:01 Starting Attitudes and Tracking Time
01:09:41 Approach Matters
01:12:20 Part 1 Witchwood
01:15:22 Part 2 Ruins of Rhest
01:17:17 Part 3 Ghostlord's Tower
01:19:19 Part 4 Enemy at the Gates
01:23:31 Part 5 Fane of Tiamat
01:31:50 Shout-Outs
01:36:16 What Are We Gonna Do?

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.

Episode 278 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: What Made Tyranny of Dragons Great?

Teos and Shawn look back at the first 5E hardback adventure, Tyranny of Dragons, discussing our favorite aspects of Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat!

News: Baldur’s Gate 3 HBO TV Show, Polygon on Vecna, Teos Completes Lifetime, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Herald's Guild Awards
03:38 BMG and Greyhawk Reveals
04:58 Too Much In-Character Talking?
10:09 WotC Interactions Change Over Time?
15:14 HBO BG3 D&D TV Show
20:03 Beadle & Grimm Spoiler?
22:13 Polygon on Obelisks and Vecna
29:21 Horrified Adds Ravenloft
31:24 Best of Tyranny of Dragons
32:17 Interesting Product History
35:45 Adventure vs campaign
37:37 An Awesome Premise and Approach
40:59 Additional Encounters
42:58 Campaign Villains
45:41 Campaign-Focused Character Options
48:29 Greenest in Flames
52:08 Caravan Chapter
54:42 Memorable Locations and Council of Waterdeep
59:57 Dragon Masks
01:01:21 The Cult Strikes Back
01:02:43 Epic Conclusion
01:06:50 Shout-Outs
01:10:28 What Are We Gonna Do?

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.

Episode 277 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Working in the RPG Industry!

Shawn shares a panel he had with Jackson DiCarlo at the Running GAGG Gaming Conventions. They discuss working in the RPG industry, sharing the insights of Shawn’s long career and Jackson’s two-year experience as a designer!

News: Cosmere’s Apple TV Deal, 5th New WotC Hire, D&D + Fortnite + Hytale, and more! 

Contents
00:00 Winter Fantasy Bound
02:42 Happy 37th Birthday to 2E
05:08 Two Organized Play Campaigns?
23:55 Taylor Ann Navarro Joins WotC
25:53 D&D, Fortnite, and Hytale?
28:51 Variety Covers GMs
29:27 D&D as Organized Social Fun
31:41 Asmodee Partners for Wellbeing
32:31 Cosmere's Apple TV Deal
34:24 D20play Spotlighted!
36:12 TTRPG SRD Card Creator
37:07 Working in the TTRPG Industry
38:11 Shawn and Jackson's Backrounds
40:28 Getting Started in the Industry
49:59 Seizing Opportunity
56:14 How to Get Started
58:19 Design and Conventions
01:05:46 Technical Vs Creative
01:15:39 The Skill of Writing
01:18:19 Questions and Answers
01:22:54 Shout-Outs
01:27:15 What Are We Gonna Do?

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.

Episode 276 of Mastering Dungeons!

Main topic: Rethink Your Session Zero!

Shawn and Teos rethink all that a session zero is trying to do and how to approach each of the many goals to start your campaign!

News: D&D Beyond’s Partner Schedule, D&D Proves AI’s Shortcomings, AI RPG Scams, Shawn is a Warlock, and more!

Contents
00:00 Shawn is a Warlock!
05:59 How Should Death Saves Work?
27:10 Jean Rabe Passes
29:59 DDB Partnered Content Schedule
34:50 Hasbro's New Board Members
36:31 Demiplane Adds Campaigns
38:23 4th Player Theory of RPG Design
43:19 D&D Proves AI Shortcomings
46:10 RPG Maps Bundle AI Scam
48:45 How to Please Your Layout Designer
49:42 Rethinking the Session 0
52:03 FEYPOP's Video on What is a Session 0
55:57 Effective Safety Tools
01:01:54 Challenge Level and Behavioral Expectations
01:04:23 Theme, Tone, and Characters
01:10:01 Allowed Sources
01:12:32 Collaborative Campaign Planning
01:14:38 Character Creation
01:16:21 First Adventure?
01:19:12 As a Social Event
01:20:22 Shout-Outs
01:24:12 What Are We Gonna Do?

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.