DoubleDM

Something that we've heard and said ourselves quite often is that TTRPG and D&D Characters are supposed to be special in regard to the world around them, but what does that mean, how do we achieve that and what consequences can we draw from it?

That is what we are discussing today. We talk about Players and their Characters being unique in the context of TTRPGs. We talk about how the fact of characters being a unique presence and the knowledge of that fact can help you in your games, your prep, and your worldbuilding. We also highlight different ways for you to use and highlight that uniqueness yourself to create gaming experiences that won't be forgotten so quickly.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Have you ever dreamed of swashbuckling action among the skies, battling across flying airships? Then this episode and this Kickstarter is right for you!!

Today we talk to Tom and Bodhi from HomieandtheDude, the Father and Son Podcast for all things MMA and TTRPG, Tom and Bodhi are long-time great friends of the show and we are so thrilled to have them with us again to talk about their latest project, their Sky Zephyrs Kickstarter which will allow you to build and board Airships in an easy and yet tactical way in your D&D 5th Edition games. We get a special inside scoop on how and why they designed their Kickstarter the way they did and what will await you once the Kickstarter launches.

Use our Ref Link below to get notified when it launches and back it once it releases, giving back to us as a Podcast without any extra charge.

Go check out everything from Homie and the Dude right under these links:

Murderhobos are a specific subset of players everyone has heard about in TTRPGs. They murder everything, violence is the solution to all the problems and they just don't learn from the consequences. But how do we deal with them? Should we just kick them from the table? Should we show them new ways?

That's what we discuss in today's episode! We talk abut much more than just murderhobos in D&D and TTRPG but more generally playstyle differences and how to communicate across different playstyles to create an amazing and engaging table experience for all at the table. We talk about ways to prevent murder hoboing from ever happening and also how to steer a group away from violence in systems that are geared towards a lot of violence (like D&D). We talk about handling out-of-game problems out of the game and in-game problems in the game and not mixing the two to solve problems where there aren't any.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

when playing TTRPGs we want the challenges to be hard but beatable. We want something that gives us that feeling of actually having overcome a challenge but how can we do that in a more creative and engaging way instead of just making the combats deadlier, the limits higher and the rolls harder?

That's what we discuss in today's episode! We talk about creating unique new challenges for your D&D and TTRPG tables and campaigns to allow players to use their creativity, their characters features, and teamwork to beat the challenges we throw at them. We talk about the design aspects of these challenges and the different situations we can create using them. We talk about Victory and Defeat and why both have their place in TTRPG challenge design and we also discuss balance.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

TTRPGs are like a Movie, TV Series, or Video Game but they are something entirely of their own. They are a medium of Entertainment and Creation at the same time. But in creation, we often hit hurdles things like writer's block where we don't know how to move the fiction forward. This can be due to any number of reasons but sometimes it happens that TTRPGs grind to a halt and a table sits in silence not knowing what to do. These moments mean nothing is happening which arguably is a bad thing to happen to a TTRPG Table, so how do we fix it?

That's what we discuss in today's episode! We talk about the moments of stillness, option paralysis, and fiction halting to figure out how you can make sure your D&D and TTRPG Campaigns keep on rolling creating more awesome moments for you and your players to interact with without them having to be forced. We discuss the flow of the game and how to keep it going, how to stop it without breaking it, and a lot of different techniques and tricks for you to implement to make your games run more smoothly.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Players are the Protagonists of the TTRPG and D&D Campaigns we play. But often times they can be a little detached from the World and Plot of our Campaigns, we can easily mitigate and erase this feeling by having players create backstories that connect them to the world, NPCs, and plot. But how do we use these Backstories to create awesome adventures and give the character and player the resolution to their story? That is the topic of today!

We discuss what makes a great and engaging Player-Focused chapter to give each character the awesome story moments and character development they deserve. We talk about connecting them to the main plot of a campaign instead of making them sidequests alone. We talk about what players can do in chapters designed for characters other than their own and how they can become the best supporting cast and so much more on how you can enrich your D&D campaign with a few chapters that focus on the characters rather than the plot of the world.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Danger is an ever-present Theme in Tabletop Roleplaying, constantly Characters face off against Mages, Demons, and Dragons in stories that put the fate of an entire world on the line. Player Characters put themselves on the line to fight off a villain, save a town from destruction, and destroy a magical artifact, they face danger every day in TTRPGs, but why is that?

That is exactly what we answer today. We discuss why it is dangerous situations that put everything on the line that we crave so much when playing D&D and TTRPGs. Danger often means Challenges, Risks, and Choices, these things create Player Agency and Drama, two things we desperately seek when playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. And we will discuss exactly how you can create Drama-filled Moments of Bold Choices, Incredible Storytelling, and Risky Action using Danger in today's episode!

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Lore is an interesting topic for TTRPGs, it creates an immersive world filled with rich places and people. Lore can give your world its heart and its character. The past influences the present and while the future will be influenced by your player's actions the lore will inform the way the world reacts to your players. So lore is pretty important to TTRPGs, right?

Well, kinda. Lore can give you all of those things but it often is not that relevant to actual play and to your players, they can invest themselves in it and learn more about the world you present but you need to remember that lore should serve the purpose of supporting players and the play at the table. And today we talk about how you can create lore that will support play and help your players immerse themselves in the games you play. We discuss techniques in making your lore open but informing and how to create the best setting for your needs.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

As a Content Creator, you face many unique and interesting challenges and Russell joins us today to talk about some aspects of Content Creation, What he has been up to, and how he was able to build meaningful relationships with other brands and creators so you can do the same and shoot your shot!

Russell is the Game Master for the TTRPG Actual Play Channel that is D20Tales where they go on amazing adventures in outer space and fantasy realms. They create incredibly well-polished content and Russel joins us again to give you a peek behind the curtain of how D20 Tales came to be and what challenges they face and what he thinks is important for content creation. We talk at length about what it feels like to have an audience and the unique responsibilities that come with it, the amount of work that goes into creating a great TTRPG Actual Play, the best advice Russell has for creating one, and we also discuss how to build partnerships and relationships in the TTRPG Space to help you grow your brand and projects.

Find Russell E. Welsh III and D20Tales at these Links:

Your Villains are one of the big building blocks your D&D and TTRPG Campaign runs on and making them compelling, grand, and villainous is crucial to feel of a Campaign with a Villain. But how do you make that Personality, the Acts they commit, and their Motivation actually matter? You need to bring them to the players so they can be a present force in the game. And that's what we'll discuss today!

We discuss about what it means to make your villains a present driving force in your Campaigns and how to make their Actions and Plans matter to the Players. We highlight different forms of interactions between players and Villains to make sure your players get the personal motivation to stop the villain and not just a feeling of having to do it because they are evil. We give a lot of advice on making your villain present and perceived by your players to make sure your games become that much more compelling and driven.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Exposition can be tedious and boring to sit through but it is needed to make sure your audience can fully buy into the immersion of your narrative and world and TTRPGs are no different, however, exposition works differently in such an interactive medium and we are here to help you make your next D&D Campaigns Exposition an Engaging, Interesting and Immersive experience that will lay the first stones for your awesome D&D campaign.

We talk about exposition as a whole from a writing and filming point of view, what it is for and how it works to inform an audience with necessary key information without revealing too much or too little, and how you can write and create awesome and immersive exposition for your own stories. We then talk about the TTRPG Spin on Exposition and how you can use that spin to create expositions more easily with greater effect to immerse, inform and interact with your players to create an unforgettable campaign opening!

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Time is a Resource that we don't have much of in our lives so how can we make sure that every moment of that time that we use for TTRPGs can be used to create the most joy and fun around our tables? That is exactly what we are here to talk about and discuss today.

We talk about how you as a Game Master can improve every single aspect of GMing by using time effectively. From taking a few seconds in the game to think about reactions and outcomes to taking needed week-long breaks from TTRPGs altogether to beat D&D and TTRPG Game Master Burnout. There is a lot to cover when it comes to making sure your TTRPG moments are the greatest they can be but we are here to help with this episode.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

In this episode, we talk about if you should split your D&D and TTRPG Parties. This is a meme as old as Tabletop Roleplaying itself and came from the first Editions of D&D where characters would run through dungeons and splitting the party just increased the difficulty of each encounter. But TTRPGs evolved since then, so is it still true to never split the party?

We discuss everything around Splitting your D&D and TTRPG Party. Spoiler Alert: We believe you should and sometimes will have to split the party. So we talk about when you should or shouldn't do it, how to do it as a player, and how GMs can split the party to achieve certain narrative, dangerous and suspenseful moments at the table.

If you ever asked yourself: "Should we split the party in my D&D Game?" This is the episode for you!

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Today we talk about ways you can make your D&D and TTRPG combats more interesting, difficult, and engaging by using monster and enemy tactics.

In this episode, we talk about what it means to use tactics and how even the most simple tactic can already have a great impact at your tables. We also discuss how you can come up with tactics easily for every single monster and enemy by just using them the way they are already designed.

We discuss and advise on creating tactics and the most simple ways to spice up your combats and make your players sweat. We talk about what different Monster features mean and how they would be using their features to their advantage or how a simple structure and a leader on the enemy's side can already make combats better for everyone involved. We talk about how they heighten immersion, make the world feel more natural, and create a sense of complexity in your world too.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Today we talk about the reason why TTRPGs are becoming bigger and bigger and more and more mainstream. Obviously, there are many reasons working together here but we are here to talk about the aspect that experience plays.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between consuming content and experiencing content and why our world has evolved from just wanting to consume specific content to make the experience of said content unique and exciting. This is where TTRPGs play a crucial part for us since they are a way to experience, create and explore our own content without many extra requirements.

We discuss what it means to consume content and why the experience of content consumption and creation is different and more important in todays world. We talk about the factors that lead to this development like Social Media and the Availability of the Internet and bring it all back around to talking about why TTRPGs are such amazing tools for everyone to use. We give out advice on creating and heightening immersion at the table, how to experience a story rather than telling it, and what you can do to make your games spectacles no one will ever forget.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Today we talk about how you can hand the right magic items to your D&D and TTRPG players to reward them, spotlight them and level them up. We also answer questions like: "What Magic Items should i give out?" or "How many D&D magic Items are too many?"

In this episode, we talk about magic items in D&D and how generous you should be in handing them out to your players to not boost their power too much but to still make them feel rewarded and powerful. If you ever asked yourself the question of what kind of magic items, how many of them, or how powerful they should be this is the right episode for you.

We discuss what it means to be generous and if there is something like being too generous or not generous enough when it comes to magic items and rewards for players in D&D. We highlight that different TTRPG playstyles will call for different levels of generosity and that players should have some say in what way they are rewarded. We give out advice on creating the right balance of power and danger using magic items and rewards, how you can work with your players to create the best magic item rewards possible, and what you can do if you ever gave your players too many magic items.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Why Your World Matters is back!!

This is the 4th Instalment of Why Your World Matters - A TTRPG Worldbuilding Panel aiming to bring together creative people to discuss creating more immersive, wonderful, inclusive, and creative worlds.

Why Your World Matters message is simple, everyone can be creative and create wonderful worlds and stories. This time we once again bring you 5 new Content Creators that create Podcasts, Streams, Books, and Worlds for you to enjoy, they reveal their techniques for creating worlds, what inspires them, and how you too can create even more wonderful things.

Click here to get to know our amazing Cast:

Sage:

WE'RE FINALLY BACK!!

Join us today as we start Season 2 of DoubleDM, where not much changed and we are still doing the same discussions in the same format!

This time we talk about how to always improve as a Game Master, that you are never the perfect Game Master and can always seek to improve your skills to weave even greater stories, craft even grander worlds, or roleplay even better villains. There is always something you can do and improve on but it's important to look back once in a while too to appreciate where you came from and what Mistakes and Past Experiences helped you the most in becoming who you are today.

We discuss making the best of every moment at the table and playing with a focus on improving your games to have the best time possible and give advice that will help you in shaping future sessions to come and especially how to evaluate the games you played and moments that happened.

Our Midroll Music is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License 

We're supposed to be on break but we need to talk about the news now so we thought to at least make a short update including all the information currently available and what we are doing with the information available and also Wizards just updated on D&D Beyond so it's the perfect time to upload. :)

This new OGL is not about empowering their own game and its creator space but an attempt to control and squash the market in their hands to make D&D not only the world's greatest roleplaying game but the world's only roleplaying game. Wizards of the Coast has shown their intent to control and with this short update, we want to just tell you what that means for us, you, and the content creation space.

Please make your voice heard and support an #OpenDnD in whatever way you feel comfortable, cancel your D&D Beyond Subscription, File Support Tickets with Wizards, and talk about this online and offline. If you want to look further than D&D and play new games I encourage you to do so too.

Please inform yourself further using these links:

It's been 2 years since we started DoubleDM. Thank you for joining us on this incredible life-changing journey into TTRPG Content Creation. This episode is us looking back at the amazing 2 years we had and what we learned about Content Creation, TTRPG Game Mastering, and just us as Human Beings. We talk about how our lives, our Game Master Style, and our Content changed in those 2 years and talk about what it means to us that we have been able to produce content for you all this time. 

(I'm getting a little teary-eyed writing this Description)

This episode also features some of the best things, practices, and ideas we have learned about content creation and D&D and TTRPG Game Mastering and kind of serves as a recap of 99 Main Show Episodes. We also look into the future of DoubleDM and what will happen next for us in the next 2 years of Content Creation.

Once again, thank you for joining us on this journey and we hope we can stay together for another 2 amazing years.

Reminder: We're on break till February 6th and won't be releasing any Main Show Episodes (there might be other Content dropped) 

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Join us for this episode where we talk to Alec Azzam a Professional TTRPG Game Master and Content Creator.

Professional Game Masters run TTRPGs and D&D for a living and today we talk about what it means to get paid for running a session of D&D. Alec runs 12 to 15 sessions of TTRPGs a week and with that Alec runs more games a week than most of us do in a month. We talk about how he is able to balance all that and what it means for a session to be a paid session. We ask Alec all kinds of questions many people have when they first meet a Pro GM and also dive deeper into how to get started as a Pro GM, what it means to be a professional GM, and how being a professional GM changes your views about playing and running games than a normal kitchen table game master.

For more information see these timestamps:

9:00: Let's meet Alec Azzam

12:30: How do you prep as a Pro GM?

16:30: Whats the difference between Hobby and Job GMing?

24:30: How does being a Pro GM work?

34:00: Does it ever get boring?

39:00: Pro Gming is a new concept how does it feel to be in this new field?

45:30: How much of Pro GMing is D&D?

47:30: What happens before Session 1?

56:30: Consume a lot of Content

60:00: Don't plan for the party

You can find Alec with these links:

Join us for this episode where we discuss creating and telling wonderful stories and how TTRPGs help (and/or hinder) you from telling the best stories.

Different building blocks are needed for a Story to exist and in this episode, we talk about exactly those building Blocks and how TTRPGs help you in creating them and the story. We go over simple tricks and tools you can implement to use these building blocks to tell the story you want to tell. We talk about what it means to experience a story using TTRPGs instead of just telling it and a whole lot more! We talk about Balancing Tension, Buildup, Themes, Storyrules, and the Basic Building Blocks of a Story today so you have easy guidelines and helpful tips for creating the stories you want to tell.

For more information see these timestamps:

15:00: What makes a good Story?

19:00: A Story makes its own rules

27:00: Your Storyrules need to persist

29:00: Themes are the Baseline for Stories

35:00: Balance is needed in a Story

38:00: Buildup as a Tool 

41:00: TTRPGs are about experiencing a Story

44:30: What does a Story need to be great?

55:00: TTRPGs help you tell a Story

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Join us for this episode where we discuss creating the most exciting, spicy, engaging, and/or memorable combat for your D&D and TTRPG tables!

We talk about what makes D&D and TTRPG combats fun and what makes them boring and some easy simple tricks you can use to make combats better for your table experience.  Combats are supposed to be tense, dramatic, and engaging experiences for the whole table that shape the story just as much as impactful decisions and with just a few simple tricks and a little know-how, you easily can make your combats feel like epic high stakes situations. Often it really comes down to what you want from combats in the first place and that is why this episode talks about a whole lot of different types of combats and how you can achieve them.

For More Information see these timestamps:

13:00: What do we want from combat?

15:00: Making Combats Flashy!

19:00: Change the rules of the combat

23:30: Think about the Setting of your combat

26:00: Increasing Danger and Risk in Combat

35:30: Better Statblocks lead to better Combats

39:00: Movement is crucial to Dynamic Combats

43:30: Combats should breed Creativity

49:30: Combats are Story Devices

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Join us for this episode where we discuss creating the best Homebrew Rules for your D&D and TTRPG Tables.

We talk about what Homebrew Rules in D&D and TTRPG do and why we use them at our tables so often. Homebrew Rules are supposed to nudge a game a little more into the direction you want it to go not outright change the fundamentals of it and that is why this episode discusses which Homebrew Rules are the best for your D&D and TTRPG Tables and how you can create and formulate better rules to get even more out of your already great games.

For More Information see these timestamps:

13:30: So let's talk about Homebrew Rules 

17:00: Homebrew Rules should bring more Fun

23:30: Homebrew Rules should reflect what you want

29:30: Learning from other games

35:30: Adding something that is missing

39:00: Why playing RAW is good

42:00: Major vs Minor Homebrew Rules

47:00: Make sure you know the system before creating rules

52:00: Every Table enjoys the game differently

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode of DoubleDM we talk about how to start a new D&D and TTRPG Campaigns, something that happens more often than ending one. This episode talks about what the first session of your new TTRPG campaign should accomplish and how you can make sure to create the best first session and make the best first impressions ever. The first session of a campaign is the first view the players get of the world, story and also their characters so getting it right is important. And here you will learn how! We talk about the Early Campaign Stages, common problems that often arise in new campaigns, and how you can make sure to prevent an unengaged campaign.

For more information check these timestamps:

14:00: How important is the Start of a Campaign

18:00: What do you need to know before Starting your Game

30:00: Write down concepts at the beginning

35:30: Making the Group work together

42:30: Give the PCs Motivation and Make your PCs Motivatable

47:00: Every Campaign is a huge Mechanism

49:00: Name your Campaigns!

53:30: Make every Character shine in Session 1

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In today's episode, we cover the topic of Player Character backstories and how you can write great engaging D&D backstories your GM can use to weave you into the world and narrative of the campaign. 

A great backstory can mean a lot of different things depending on the game, world, campaign, other players and so much more and that's why we are talking about what steps you should take to create a great fitting backstory or if you are a GM what steps you should take so your players create the backstories you want. We also talk about what it means to create no backstory or limit the length of the backstories you are getting from your players.

For more information check out these timestamps:

18:00: What are we looking for in Backstories?

23:00: Limiting Backstories is not a good idea

28:00: Find your way to create a character in play

36:00: A Backstory needs to fit the Game

40:00: Include things that GMs can use

47:00: A Backstory needs to support the Game Story

49:00: First get a feel for the Character and then create a Backstory

52:00: Include a TL;DR in your Backstory

56:00: Work with your GM to make the backstory fit.

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In this episode, we discuss Session 0s and especially what makes a Session 0 a good Session 0. In Session 0 you can do a lot of stuff but most importantly you lay the groundwork for your campaign in and out of the game by ensuring Safety, Managing Expectations, Creating Characters, and a whole lot more. It depends a lot on what you need from your Session 0, however, there are a few key points that we believe create the perfect session 0 and we are covering them in this episode.

For more information check these timestamps:

13:30: We are doing a Session 0

16:00: How to start a Session 0

20:00: Leaving is Okay

24:30: Understand the Game

29:00: Safety is Important

35:30: Organisation needs to happen

39:00: What does everyone expect from the game?

43:00: Talk about the Details

48:00: House Rules

54:00: Character Creation in Session 0

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

This week we talk to Bart Wynants about Spurned of Orcus his D&D 5e Kickstarter which has been built by new up-and-coming TTRPG writers through blind collaboration with a minimal prompt style approach. If this seems a little unorthodox to you, that's because it is!! This Kickstarter is something new and exciting to talk about so we just had to talk to Bart, the organizer for this, and what the process of this looks like. Bart also talks about his love for Immersive Storytelling and how he finds Inspiration and how to incorporate both into your D&D games!!

For more information see these timestamps:

17:00 Let's meet Bart

20:00 Okay what is Spurned of Orcus

28:00 How Immersive Audio can help an Adventure

34:00 Immersive Audio Puzzles (also for Podcasts)

38:00 How does a Kickstarter feel?

40:00 What do "Blind Collaboration" and "Minimal Prompt" mean?

45:00 These are all newcomer writers

52:00 What advice for Kickstarter starters

60:00 Acknowledgments and Shoutouts

In this episode of DoubleDM we discuss why you are a great Game Master and TTRPG Player too. We discuss that it is hard to define a Game Masters Value at a TTRPG Table and what work you need and should do for your Games. We also discuss the comparison between different GM Styles and the GM vs. Player Comparison and why we think it's not healthy to always compare yourself to others.

For more information check these timestamps:

19:00: Does the Game Master do more work than the Players?

24:00: So what Work does the GM do?

27:00: Lets talk about how long a combat turn should go

35:00: Quantity vs. Quality in Work

39:00: Two Sides working together

42:00: Every Game Master is different

46:00: You're a great Game Master

50:00: Pro GMing is something different

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In this episode of DoubleDM we talk about our most recent new TTRPG experience, a Total Party Kill in one of our D&D Games. So this episode talks about how to deal with a Player Character Death in D&D and TTRPG as a Game Master and how you can make it an impactful story moment or as a player and how to deal with your PC dying. We also talk about how to use Ressurection in D&D and what to do as a table when a TPK happens.

For more information check these timestamps:

17:00: How was our TPK?

25:00: TPKs can be so much fun!!

30:00: Death is an Integral Part of the Game

33:00: Processing the Feelings of a PC Death

38:00: Death will change your Story

41:00: Use Death as a Fuel for a Story

46:00: Death is a Session 0 topic

48:30: Ressurection makes Death more impactful

53:00: Don't punish a player for their character dying

56:00: What to do after a TPK as a Group

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

Join us for this episode where we discuss why Metagaming isn't always bad in D&D and TTRPG. 

You will find tons of advice and insight on how to handle metagaming as a DM so it does not destroy the tables enjoyment or immersion. We even talk about how metagaming will elevate your game's immersion, engagement, and enjoyment.

For more information see these Timestamps: 

13:00: let's chat about Metagaming

18:30: Worldbuilding as a Fix for Metagaming?

21:00: Metagaming with BBEGs

25:00: let's talk about Matthew Mercers/Critical Roles Metagaming

29:00: TTRPGs are about Chance

32:00: Metagaming will happen

37:00: What are TTRPGs?

39:00: Metagaming isn't bad and here's why

44:00: Using Metagaming to enhance the Gameplay

46:00: Metagaming is not a big deal

50:00: How can you stop Metagaming?

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In this episode, we talk about running, preparing, and also writing Premade Modules for D&D and TTRPG. We help with lots of advice and insight into how it is to run a premade campaign and what things to keep in mind while doing so. After this episode, you will have a better understanding of how premade modules want to run and played so you can pick one up from a store or website and be ready to run a game of TTRPG in no time.

For more Information, see these Timestamps:

13:00: What is a Premade Adventure?

17:00: Premade Adventures don't need Prep

23:00: How to adapt Premade Modules to your Game

31:00: Premades help you develop skills

33:00: What Premades do really well for you

38:00: Even Veteran GMs benefit from Premade Modules

41:00: Not all Modules are the same

47:00: Modules are a Baseline, not a Full Story

50:00: They help with structure

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In this episode of DoubleDM we discuss TTRPG Game Master Attitudes and Mindsets.

By that, we mean your attitude towards running tabletop roleplaying games, the players and their characters, and the world you created. It's not about which Mindset is better than the others cause GM Mindsets are heavily dependent on a lot of factors like the group of players you have and even depend just on the person you are. Obviously, we can all agree that an Asshole shouldn't be a Game Master, right?

In this episode, however, you can still find a lot of interesting information about how you can make more conscious well-informed decisions as a Game Master for your Table to uphold fun, safety, and expectations. We talk about Adversarial GMing and Ironfist GMing in particular and what it means for us to think in a Player vs. GM Mindset. You will also find lots of advice on how to make sure you don't become an Adversarial Game Master. Don't worry you will mostly be fine.

You will also find some of our fun and interesting takes on Game Master Advise and why we think Game Mastering is an inherently weird thing to do.

This episode was Sponsored by: MasterScreen.App

In this week's episode, we discuss Urban Adventures in D&D and TTRPGs and answer questions about creating, running, and planning Urban Adventures to create your next fun session of Roleplay and Action. 

Urban Adventures are defined by two aspects that play together constantly, the city and the adventure. In this episode, we will discuss how to make these two parts play together to create a fun adventure inside a city. We talk about different story beats and tools you can use inside your city to create a better adventure and we talk about how to make your city an adventure-friendly environment to allow for Urban Adventures that engage with the city.

We offer tons of advice centered around making sure your adventure and city feel engaging and fun to your players and talk about different points that make a city interesting and ready for your next D&D adventure.

In this episode of DoubleDM we discuss Dungeon Crawls and Exploring Dungeons in D&D and other TTRPGs. 

When it comes to Dungeon Crawls it's about exploring and mystery for us. Learning about an Unkown and often Hostile Environment and how to traverse and survive it. That's why Dungeon Masters should create an experience using their dungeons that is about exploration. In this episode, we discuss how we make our dungeons interesting and engaging to our players and how to make every dungeon crawl feel unique in its own way.

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

This episode of DoubleDM answers the Question: "How to make D&D Combats more dramatic?"

We talk about the basis of drama and action sequences and how you can make them play together to create incredibly fun, interesting, and bone-chilling experiences in D&D and TTRPG for your players to revel about weeks later. We discuss how you can use the dramatic question to elevate your storytelling and how that question is embedded in everything you do in a Game of D&D and other TTRPG.

We present you with lots of advice on how you can use the inherent drama of the games you play and also how you can insert drama into your action sequences by creating Tension through Meaningful Loss and Failure will yield a much more dramatic experience or creating a meaningful variation in the combat strategies. There is a whole lot more to explore so join us on this episode.

For more information check these Timestamps: 

13:30: Beginning of Episode

15:00: What Is Drama?

19:00: The Dramatic Question

23:00: What Is Action?

25:30: What Forms of Action Exist?

32:00: Combining Action and Drama

37:00: There Is Inherent Drama in Action

43:00: Make Everything Unique

46:30: Storytelling in Fights

49:30: Meaningful Tension

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we are discussing the use of recurring non-player characters for your D&D Game and talk about their functions for the story and worlds you create. This episode is less about creating these Important NPCs and more about how you can use them to create a more deeply connected world and narrative in your games.

In this episode, you will find lots of advice centered around how to use Important NPCs for your Story to help or antagonize your players to create a more engaging narrative for your players that shows a deeply connected world and story. These NPCs are there to further the story and give you the opportunity to connect your players to events and places too.

Check out the episode if you want to find out more about using recurring characters in D&D and TTRPG and how they help you create deeper worlds and narratives.

For more information check these timestamps: 

13:00: What is a Side Character

17:00: What do Recurring Characters do

25:00: Labeling Side Characters

34:00: Guest Players are Side Characters

38:00: Avoiding DMPCs

44:00: Qualities of a Good Side Character

47:00: How to get these Qualities

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Episode 79 of DoubleDM discusses the topic of creating Settlements and Cities for your D&D and TTRPG Homebrew Worlds. This Episode focuses on the worldbuilding and developing aspects of Settlement creation. We have lots of advice geared towards creating believable, fantastical, engaging, and interesting settlements for your players to explore and fall in love with.

We talk at length about different aspects that shape the way a city will look, feel and work such as Geography, Economy, and Politics so you can ask yourself a few simple questions and make a few bullet points to make sure you get the creation process right. At the same time, we talk a lot about how to make a city interesting and engaging for your players to find secrets, mysteries, and adventure wherever they look.

For more information check these timestamps:

12:00: What is a Settlement?

14:30: What are Settlements good for?

17:00: Why do we have Settlements in D&D?

25:00: Step 1: Geography of a Settlement

31:00: Step 2: Economy of a Settlement

33:00: Step 3: Politics of a Settlement

38:00: Intermission: Focus on one Step and do the others Baseline

40:00: Step 4: Demographics of a Settlement

44:00: Step 5: Cultural and Religious Sections of a Settlement

45:30: Step 6: History of a Settlement

48:00: Step 7: Planning of a Settlement

54:00: Add Incentives To Explore and Engage

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we discuss Personality vs. Stats and what is more important for a D&D and TTRPG Character. We discuss if there is a distinction between the two and why you will always need both to create a great TTRPG Character

We highlight the many different ways Stats can manifest into your character and how they can influence their Personality and at the same time highlight how the Personality of your Character will also have an influence on their stats. This episode also features a discussion around roleplaying stats and where the limits of your stats should be in dictating your roleplay.

In this episode, you will find lots of great advice centered around how you can create characters more in tune with the stats you have, how to let stats and personality influence each other, and how you can roleplay stats in a unique and new way for every character you create.

For more information see these Timestamps:

12:30: What is a Character Sheet?

18:00: What composes a character?

20:00: What is important in a Backstory?

24:00: How do Stats manifest into Personality?

28:30: Why You Always Have Both

33:30: What can a Character do that is not on the Sheet?

44:30: What Makes a Good Character Sheet?

49:00: Should Stats limit Roleplay?

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we are discussing Boss Battles in D&D and TTRPGs and especially how you can make them more memorable, interesting, and engaging for your players.

For us Boss Battles can and should do a lot of things for your Games, like give closure on certain parts of the story, reward your players for a victory, but also leave them on the edge of their seats for the whole fight. This is a big task and oftentimes can be achieved through so many different ways that you really are spoiled for choice. You do not have to use every single way but one to three are totally enough to make your battles memorable and engaging.

Boss Battles should also be dangerous and tipping points. You might not want your players to lose but some of the best bottles are the ones where it was felt the whole fight through that every decision, every action, and every dice roll could decide fate. You achieve this through the ways we will be discussing in this episode.

For more information see the Timestamps below:

12:00: What is a Boss Battle?

16:00: Why are Boss Battles important?

19:00: What makes a Boss Battle good?

26:00: How to make a Boss Battle good, memorable, and interesting?

26:00: Legendary Actions

27:30: Lair Actions

29:00: Environmental Effects

31:00: Build Up

34:00: Interaction

39:00: Stages or Phases

40:30: Ambiance

43:30: Uniqueness

44:30: History

48:00: Timers

49:30: Objectives

52:20: Minions

55:30: Once per Encounter Actions

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Episode 76 of DoubleDM discusses the Topic of Using Environments for your D&D and TTRPG Sessions and Campaigns.

We discuss a lot of different ways Environments can be used to create Immersion, Challenges, and so much more.

For Example, we discuss how they are Influential Factors in Worldbuilding and how you need to pay attention to a settlement's environment when creating it as it will have a lot of influence on its infrastructure, people, and appearance. Another way is how they are needed for great Encounter Design as not just a Backdrop for your great Boss Fight but also how they can be used in the combat by either side using Lair Actions or Area Effects.

As you can see they influence every scene and encounter you have in your games and are therefore an important topic to think about. This episode is focused on helping you understand how to make use of environments in the game and how to better play with them in the future.

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this upcoming episode, we discuss Theater of the Mind vs. Battlemaps for D&D and TTRPGs and what the Advantages and Disadvantages of both are.

We have a lot of thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of both and especially how both can be used together. Maps provide a certain Consistency and Accuracy for your games, while Theater of the Mind provides Freedom and Collaboration. Both however also have some Disadvantages that will influence which might be better for your situation. 

As always remember that it's not about which of the two is actually better than the other and more about what fits the situation you have going on. so a lot of our talk is focused on identifying aspects of both that can help you understand which of the two you should go for

For more information see these Timestamps:

13:00: What do we mean when we say Theater of the Mind?

19:00: Why even use maps?

23:00: Accuracy in Combat

26:00: Maps keep Track for you

28:00: Benefits of Theater of the Mind

31:00: Theater of the Mind allows for Collaboration

35:00: Maps are static

40:00: What do you want to accomplish?

43:00: It's also about Fairness

48:00: Theater of the Mind has less and more Room for Error

You can find our friends at Snyders Return right here:

In this episode, we discuss Power Creep at your D&D and TTRPGs Tables. We will describe a lot of different ways how you can identify and deal with different kinds of Power Escalation and Threat Levels and why Power Creep can come from both sides of the table. We highlight a lot of different ways how you can handle power escalations by creating different new challenges that will challenge your players more than their powers only.

Often times Power Creep can also creep into Storytelling where we are compelled to design greater and greater challenges that become more and more ridiculous for our players to deal with which pushes us to deal with a more and more increasingly hard challenge to come up with these challenges themself. We give guidance and advice on how to make sure you slow down on your threat development.

For more information check these timestamps:

16:20: What do we mean when we say Power Creep?

22:00: The Actual Problem of Power Creep

26:30: Why Power Creep is not Universal

29:00: The Many Ways to deal with Power Creep

36:00: Power Creep is not outright bad

40:00: How do you prevent ridiculous Threats

45:00: Slow Down in Escalation

50:00: Power Creep is a Perception Thing

54:00: You will need to change it up

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this week's episode, we are talking about Story Telling, especially Story Paths and Branches, and Why TTRPG Stories are so unique. We discuss different Storytelling Media How Storytelling works in each of them and how to use that to your advantage when telling a story in the respective medium. TTRPGs are a special medium that allows you to not just tell a story but rather experience a story while telling it. It combines all sides at the table into one experience and that comes with its own benefits and challenges. We give advice on taking advantage of the benefits and working with the challenges to create an incredible TTRPG Story with your Players around the table.

Join us as we discover what it means to have infinite Story Paths and Decision Outcomes, what this all means for a Story ending, and why it is great that your players have the agency to fully influence a story in their own way.

Check these Timestamps for more Information:

16:00: TITANS CALL TRAILER

19:00: What are Story Branches?

21:00: What is Linear Storytelling?

27:00: What is Image Storytelling?

30:00: What is Multiple Path Storytelling?

34:00: Multiple Endings 

37:00: What is Non-Linear Storytelling?

40:00: Infinite Path Storytelling? The Open Field Story

46:00: How do you write a TTRPG Story?

51:00: Time as the Key Component

57:00: Listen to your Players

1:02:00: Create Events

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

This week join us as we discuss Campaign Length and Why it Matters to have a defined Campaign Length. We discuss why you should have a defined length for your D&D and TTRPG Campaigns before even playing and what a defined length can give you, like a more defined scope of the game. 

A Defined Campaign Length can give you and your players a lot more visions for stories, characters, worlds and games that can actually fit that scope so you can have more fun at the table. By creating a better idea of scope for the game you allow everyone around the table to manage investment and expectations more easily which in turn will create a more rounded and fun experience at the D&D and TTRPG Table.

For more Information see these Timestamps:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR NEXT WEEK

15:30: What do we mean with Campaign Length

19:00: Ways to Define Length

24:00: Talk about it in Session 0

27:00: Why This also applies to Actual Plays

29:00: What are the Benefits of Campaign Length

32:00: This is not a Limitation

39:00: The System plays a big part

42:00: Balancing Pros and Cons

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we will discuss presenting your TTRPG and D&D Worlds lore to your players and how you can get your players to care about your setting as well as remember the lore you have presented in the past. We discuss all the different ways you can present lore and why you want to present lore in the first place. We talk about Loredumps and why Loredumps are badly executed most of the time and give guidance on how to create better more engaging lore dumps. 

If you want to know more you can check out these timestamps:

18:00: What even is lore?

22:00: How can you present lore?

24:00: Written vs. Spoken

27:00: How does Lore Evolve?

31:30: The Driving Forces behind Lore Dumps

34:00: Why Lore Dumps are Bad?

36:30: When to Present Lore?

39:00: How to make Lore Dumps better

43:00: Passive vs. Active Presentation

49:00: Present the Lore easier

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we talk to Tom and Bodhi from HOMIEandTheDude a Father and Son MMA and D&D Content Creator Duo & Team. Tom and Bodhi talk to us about how you can create unique and exciting content for an audience and how you can connect to that audience.

We discuss creating a TTRPG Actual Play Show, conducting Interviews, and generally getting yourself out there and creating the content you want to see. All 4 of us give peaks behind the curtains of being a content creator and how hard it sometimes can be.

We talk about all the Steps of Content Creation, Coming up with Ideas, Executing those Ideas, Dealing with Problems, Connecting with a Community, Developing Content Further and so much more.

To top this off there is lots of great vibes to go around as we bounce the ball around between each other about how awesome the content is we produce and how we can learn from other creators.

HOMIEandTheDUDE:

In this episode, we are joined by Navaar from Secret Nerd Podcast to discuss One-Shots, the Joy of Playing, and just general TTRPG Goodness.

Navaar hosts an Interview Podcast called Secret Nerd Podcast, where he invites all kinds of folks to talk TTRPGs, Nerdom, and just general Fun Stories to showcase these Games and Nerdculture is for everyone.

But for this episode, he is talking to us about One-Shots and especially what they provide to you as a GM and as a Player and why you should play more One-Shots. We all 3 enjoy One.-Shots for the Care-Free Environment they provide and the Environment to be creative and zany but there are a lot more Benefits as we discuss in the episode.

In this episode, we will discuss how Game Masters of TTRPGs will have to say No to Player Ideas and Suggestions. We give advice and insight on how you can identify those situations when they arise and what you can do to work with your players to achieve an outcome favored by all. We also talk about what a Game Master actually does for the table and why it is on you to shut down certain ideas. We talk about the ways we use to prevent moments of disruption and our experience with shutting down ideas. We want you to remember that saying No is not an Act of Disprution but rather an Action to prevent it. For more information check out these Timestamps:

14:00: What does Saying No even mean?

18:00: Saying Yes does not mean Success

21:00: The Considerations you need to make

25:00: How To Involve Creativity

31:00: What actually is the Job of a Game Master?

38:00: Leave a Table if you have to

41:00: Have an Explanation

45:00: Session 0 is your Foundation

49:00: You have nothing to worry about

Welcome to DoubleDMs Episode on D&D and TTRPG Non-Player Character Creation. In this episode, we will discuss Creating interesting Non-Player Characters, how to make NPCs feel more alive and real; why and how you create NPC Templates and Categories that will help you in creating NPCs on the fly during a session or more easily in prep and we discuss Throwaway NPCs and why your Players always attach to the NPCs you didn't plan instead of the Believable NPC you wrote. So sit back and let's chat about making your TTRPGs better. For more information see the Following Timestamps:

14:30: What is an NPC?

20:00: NPC Categories

23:00: How to create NPCs?

27:40: A Baseline NPC

33:30: How to build Major NPCs?

40:00: How to make an NPC feel more alive?

44:30: How to play with Throwaway NPCs?

47:00: Let your Players Decide who is Major too!

Another Announcement: Starting next Episode all our Episodes will upload on Mondays instead of Sundays!

Go Hire Allie for Branding and Graphic Design Work:

In this episode, we discuss the Topic of Voices in Tabletop Roleplaying. We discuss how you can create better voices for your Non-Player Characters and Player Characters. Character Voices can elevate your game's immersion and atmosphere for your players and allow them to connect better to your Characters. We present a lot of advice on how everyone can create a wide range of voices and how to decide on the perfect voice for your special NPCs. We touch on when you should create a voice for your characters and the many reasons why voice distinction can help you create a better experience for your players. For more information check the following Timestamps:

15:00: What is a Voice?

18:00: How to do voices?

26:00: Why do voices?

29:00: How to play with Voice Distinction

32:00: It's about Training your Voice

34:00: How to create better Voices?

38:30: When should you do voices?

44:50: How do I remember a Voice later on?

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we discuss the process of adaptation and changing the game to fit the needs of your table. You will have to adapt your notes, the game, or the world at some point so with this episode we give advice and insight into how to prepare for adaptation and keep the effort of adaptation as low as possible. We talk about building Constructs instead of Structures and how you can make sure you are always ready for any curveball being thrown your way. 

We also discuss the newest and fresh D&D Direct, Spelljammer, Dragonlance and the Future of D&D.

See the Timestamps for more Information:

20:00: What is Adaptation?

22:00: Adaptation can be scary

27:00: Let's Talk about Session Prep

33:30: Build Constructs Not Structures

37:30: Why you need to adapt

39:30: Adaptation Pro and Cons?

45:00: Build with Natural Orders

48:30: Cling to the Player Characters

54:30: Work with Streams of Thought

In this episode, we talk to Allie from Dice Drop Evolution, a Mutants & Masterminds Podcast about Player Comfort and Safety. Allie and We agree that your Players and the Comfort should be a Top Priority in creating a fun and exciting Tabletop Roleplaying Experience. Everyone deserves to play TTRPGs and Comfort allows them to create, play and portray Characters. In this episode, we talk about how we ensure our player's comfort and what you can learn from us and our stories.  

Timestamps for more Information:  

11:30: Lets meet Allie 

15:00: What does it mean to be Comfortable 

18:00: A Heads Up is not a Spoiler 

21:00: Know your Players 

25:00: Player Comfort vs. Character Comfort 

30:00: You will need to talk to your Players 

35:00: Players are allowed to prepare 

38:00: There isn't a game if someone is uncomfortable 

45:00: It's a Privilege not a Right 

50:00: How to make an Audience Comfortable with a Show 

Allie and Dice Drop Links: 

In this episode, we discuss traveling in Tabletop Roleplaying Games and how you can make it interesting. We touch on our opinions on travel just being the connection between engaging Points of Interest and how it could be so much more. We give advice on how to make travel engaging for you and the players through showcasing different places and people, worldbuilding, and interesting challenges. We discuss how travel can become an Impactful Tool for you to use. For more see these timestamps:

14:00: What do we mean with Travelling

18:30: Exploration is a Pillar of the Game

23:00: Travel opens up Connections

27:20: Campfire by Abyssal Brews is great

30:30: Make the Days count

34:00: Skip the Travel

36:00: Video Games Parallels

43:20: Travel Challenges

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

Why Your World Matters is a TTRPG Worldbuilding Panel organized in part by DoubleDM aimed at encouraging and inspiring people to start creative writing and never stop creating. In this Panel Discussion, our Host Sage is joined by 5 creative, diverse, and simply amazing Content Creators creating their own worlds and content coming together to celebrate creativity and worldbuilding. This is a stream recording turned Podcast Episode and is therefore unedited.

Thank you all once again for the love and support for this project.

Check out the People that helped us make this Panel a Reality:

Our Guests:

In this episode, we talk and discuss the topic of Player Agency and why it is so integral to the Collaborative Storytelling Experience of TTRPGs. We discuss what Player Agency even means, how you can give your Players Agency and how you do not fall into the trap of neglecting Player Agency. We give lots of advice and insight into preserving Agency at the Table and how you can create an experience your players think they are actually a part of and not just first-class viewers. For more information see these Timestamps:

11:30 What is Agency

18:30 What does it mean to give Agency to the Players

20:30 Agency is part of the Experience

27:30 The Playground Analysis

30:30 What does Agency Consist of?

34:00 How to give your Players Agency?

46:00 How Agency gets taken away?

48:30 Is there too much agency?

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with the latest content, schedules, and more:

In this episode, we are joined by Klaus also known as The Dungeon Newb's Guide on YouTube. Klaus Content is focused on various different ways to play Tabletop Roleplaying Games so you can find new systems to play and love. That is also the topic of this episode, we talk about branching out of your comfort zone and finding new systems to play. We give a variety of systems you can try to expand your horizon and explore new possibilities and options to maybe find your new favorite game that isn't D&D.

For more Info see these Timestamps:

15:00: D&D is accessible for so many people

21:30: No system is perfect

28:00: You don't have to branch out 

36:00: Playing and watching means learning

40:00: Get your friends to learn with you

44:00: You gotta make the game your own

48:00: It's never been easier

Klaus Links:

This episode focuses on creating a good, compelling, interesting Political Intrigue game in D&D and other TTRPG. We discuss steps in creating the intrigue, common pitfalls to avoid, and best practices in handling players and information for the game. Political Intrigue seems to be harder to pull off right than other types of TTRPG campaigns, but that is largely due to the need for player buy-in into the world, the game, and the characters as well as making sure your players have agency in their action. In this episode, we will explain everything so you can create the best political intrigue game and avoid all Pitfalls. See these Timestamps for more Information:

14:45 What is Political Intrigue

20:00 What Issues do you want in Political Intrigue

24:30 Player Buy-In

30:30 Players as active Participants

34:00 Action and Combat

41:00 PvP Intrigue

44:00 How to create a Political Intrigue Game a Step by Step

Tavernaut/RPG-A-Thon Information:

This week we talk about Feedback for Dungeon Masters / Game Masters. As Game Mastering a Tabletop Roleplaying Game is no one size fits all you rely heavily on feedback from your players to understand what to do better for them and how to improve your skills. We want to encourage people with this Episode to either ask for Feedback in a better way or to give their GMs better feedback with a clear goal of improvement. 

In this Episode:

-We discuss how you can get the Feedback you want and how you can incorporate it best into your games to enhance the experience of playing. We give guidance in helping you spot the good feedback from the bad feedback so you focus on the feedback that will help you improve instead of the feedback that is just trying to tear you down.

-We talk about when you can and should ask for feedback for your game, as well as who you should ask for the feedback. While this may seem obvious that it's your players, it isn't that easy to get good feedback out of players sometimes, so using guided discussions to get the feedback you want is a great way we advise you to use to get the feedback you want.

-Lastly, we also discuss how to deal with "impossible" feedback, either feedback that isn't particularly good or feedback that is downright not feedback for you.

You can find the Show on Social Media and the Web to stay up to date with latest content, schedules and more:

This week we talk about Home Bases in Tabletop Roleplaying Games and what they do, how they work, why we like them if they are necessary, and a whole lot more. Today we give guidance on how to use Home Bases to allow for better Roleplay, Character Development, and more Player Creativity, Freedom, and Agency.

We talk about why and how Home Bases promote Player Freedom, Agency, and Creativity through Downtime. We talk a lot about how Home Bases allow your players to work in small creative details around their character while using a Home Base as the Catalyst to create and discover a deeper context about characters. This all comes through the central Term for the Episode "Home" and how that affects Characters and the Game you are playing. How having a home changes a Characters behavior and how it will allow players to create something of their own in the World of the Game as well as how DMs can use Home Bases to their advantage in the story to create a more personalized and engaging story for your players to enjoy.

Our Links:

This week we are joined by Tyler from Magic Missile RPG, Tyler is a great friend of the show and has his own Podcast with his friends called Magic Missile but they get up to a lot more than Podcasting. Tyler has released 2 Games using Caltrops Core, Whispering City, a Noir Heist Game, and The Final Rose, a cheesy parody game of the Reality TV Show The Bachelor.

In this episode:

-Tyler is here to talk to us about Imposter Syndrome as a Content Creator, especially in the TTRPG Space. We talk a lot about how our Imposter Syndrome manifests and how we deal with it. Imposter Syndrome can come up in almost everything you do, be it DMing and Podcasting or more general content creation are just 2 examples we speak of.

-We discuss the influence of numbers and metrics and how you should stop obsessing over them. For us, it was very important to find a group of like-minded supportive creators in helping us silence imposter syndrome. We talk about the leap of faith you will have to do and that doing so is scary but necessary and try to encourage you to not be scared of not postponing the leap of faith. 

-We try to give encouraging words we truly believe in but in the end, we can only say, the only one that can beat your imposter syndrome is you, and yes you can beat it!

Magic Missile RPG: 

in this week's Episode of DoubleDM we discuss the value of Cloak and Dagger. Cloak and Dagger as a Term is defined here as a Stealth Adventure with a lot of Uncertainty but a Clear Goal in mind. 

We use this to work our way through a handful of interesting talking points on how to work out a great Stealth Session for your next DnD or TTRPG Game.

In this episode, we will discuss how to fix Group Stealth Checks or more generally Group Checks to make them feel like those with higher values get to use their skills while those with low skills don't drag the group down. 

We discuss the importance of level design for your session, how to build intricate levels that will intrigue your players to explore the hidden secrets of the place while still focusing on the objectives put in front of them, with a big look into video game level design and what you can learn from it. 

The topic of failing is especially important for a cloak and dagger session since your primary objective just failed and we discuss what to do when that happens so you are prepared to run an awesome, engaging, and fun cloak and dagger session at your table.

Sponsor Links:

This Episode is the 1-year Anniversary Episode of DoubleDM, Emil and Nils talk about their first year as Podcasters and what they learned and saw over this whole year.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT SUPPORTED US IN THIS FIRST YEAR

We talk about what we learned, how we started out, thank a whole bunch of people for their help, support, guidance and so much more and look into the future of what is is the Stars for DoubleDM. We try to give advice we learned on how to do a Podcast, especially a Tabletop Roleplaying Games Podcast in this year.

Our Links:

In this week's episode, we talk about Campaign Themes with Charley from Negative Modifiers, a TTRPG Podcast that has picked up a horror spin to it with a lot of content. Charley has a Theatre Background and uses this to create awesome stories for his players and audience. In that time of making the podcast and also before that he learned a lot about Themes for TTRPGs and how Campaign Themes give an overarching Structure or Backbone to your Campaigns.

We discuss what a Theme is and how to find them, what and how it will help you understand the deeper meaning of your Game, and how finding a good theme will help you and your players manage expectations, roleplay, and a lot more. We also discuss a few other things around sending messages to your players through your theme and the actions you take.

Thank you so much everyone for 3000 Listens!!!

In this week's episode, we discuss the topic of Rewards in Dungeons & Dragons and other Tabletop Roleplaying Games, especially how they work and why you need them at your Table/in your Games.

We delve into the many types of Rewards you can use to reward your Players and their Characters and especially how important it is to fit the rewards you hand out to your Players and their Characters. Rewards are a necessary part of the games, as Rewards secure the fun of the Game and make Players feel the Advancement in their Characters, the Story, and the World.

You should know when and how to hand out rewards and be aware of the influence rewards will have over your game, which means the rewards should be felt in the game and not be worked against by you, the GM. We also discuss the topic of Generosity with Rewards and how you can balance how many rewards you hand out at times and also how to handle power creep.

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Please excuse any irregularities and problems with the Editing of this Episode as we are trying a lot of new Techniques and Software.

In this episode we talk about DM Tools and what they do, DMs and GMs use a lot of tools to help us run, prep, and enjoy our Games, and in this episode Nils and I highlight the Tools we use, how we use them, for what reason we use them and how they help us improve the Quality of our Games.

We talk about the process of finding the right tools for the job you do. Your DM Style will be different from ours and you might therefore use different Tools than us, it is about the effect the Tools hold for us, how they help to create immersion, make preparing a game more easily, organize your notes or simply support you in the way you work.

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In today's episode, we discuss Story/Adventure Hooks and especially what they are used for, how they help, and why they help.

This episode discusses a wide range of topics connected to Hooks meant to reel your players into a story but that often depicts the Image of a DM forcing their Players to play a certain Narrative or Game instead of letting them decide which Story work for the game. We discuss what a Story Hook actually is for us and why everything is a Story Hook and why they actually aren't there to force your Players to adhere to your Narrative.

There are many reasons why players want to go in certain directions of play but all of them can be summed up as: Players want to do something and a Story Hook that presents them with an Interesting and Engaging Opportunity to do something will reel them in. Often your Players will present you with enough Story and Adventure Opportunities in the Game and you should follow these directions as well cause they often open up to engaging and intriguing adventures.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

In this episode, we talk about Puzzles in Tabletop Roleplaying and what Puzzles mean for us. After our Trap Episode, we felt the need to talk about Puzzles since both get put into the same boxes for TTRPGs which is totally justified. They check mostly the same boxes as the other and fulfill the same purpose at the table. However, there are some differences you should be mindful of.

Puzzles sometimes get a bad rep for their Problem of challenging Players more than their Characters and while that can be true it is far from strictly true and we try to help you understand how to bridge the Player - Character Gap to mitigate the disconnect when it comes to puzzles. We also talk about what types of puzzles there are, how they work, how puzzles are their own reward, and a lot of things from Episode 46 get revisited here too.

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Merry Christmas dear Listener.

This is the long-promised DoubleDM Q&A, where Nils and Emil discuss themselves and their Opinions on different Subjects. This was part of our 2000 Twitter Follower Celebration and now it's finally out... when we have reached 3500... it takes time okay??

Next week you will once again have a regular scheduled DDM Episode as usual but this week because of Holiday Preparations we did not have the time to edit a full episode of DoubleDM

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In this week's episode, we talk about Traps in Dungeons & Dragons and Tabletop Roleplaying Games and how to use them.

Traps are unique challenges for your Players to deal with but can sometimes become "Gotcha" Moments since they are meant to surprise Players. We talk about how to keep that Surprise Element without making Traps boring and pure Ressource Drains. One word is key in this Instance and that is "Engagement". We talk about the actual engagement Traps can yield via Disarming, Avoiding, Rebuilding, and Detecting.

We talk about how to build an engaging and fun trap using unique Triggers and Effects to create different Challenges while still keeping the Core Purpose of Traps alive. We discuss the Importance of Reason behind a trap, where it is placed, how it works, and who built it. We give advice on how to make the trap more engaging and intriguing for your players and how you can use them not only as a Trap but also as a Test of Ingenuity and a Worldbuilding Tool.

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In this episode, we talk about Pitching with Nathan from the Reckless Attack Actual Play Podcast. A Good Pitch is a short synopsis of your Product that gets new people interested in your Product.

We talk about what makes a good Pitch, what you should never do when pitching, how to make a good pitch, and a lot more. We talk about how important it is to know your audience, to know your product and all its facets, and how important it is to be genuine and truthful. Nathan has expertise on the subject of drawing what is interesting from a Story and condensing it into the interesting and relevant bits that people need to hear for them to become interested in a certain topic.

Nathan/Reckless Attack Links:

In this episode, we are joined by Derek from DMDM Studios to talk about Player Influence on your Setting. 

People sometimes treat their setting as sacred grounds for their stories while it should be a Playground for your Players to run around in. We talk about how to make sure you accommodate for your players while also making sure you get to have your ideas and stories in that same world. We talk about how to make it easier to let their Actions and Ideas Influence the Setting. We throw advice around on how to deal with change to your setting and having to throw away some of your content. TTRPGs are a collaborative experience and we tell you how to make sure you all have fun together!

Derek:

In this episode, we talk about Murder Mysteries in TTRPGs. How they work, What is integral to them, What makes them good, How to play them from both sides, and a lot more.

We talk about our preparation process, what we think works well, and a lot more so you can have a better understanding of what makes Murder Mysteries so compelling and fun to many. We talk about Problems the standard Murder Mystery has in TTRPG and how to work around that too.

All in all Murder Mysteries are fun and when you understand how they work you can create a great Adventure for your friends.

In this week's episode, we talk about Failing in TTRPGs. 

We talk about what Failure actually means and how it is different from Mistakes. We talk about the Fear of Failing and how to eliminate it so you don't have to fear playing the games we play for fun, we talk about the 3 different groups that can fail, the GM, the Players, the Characters, and what Failure means for all of them.

We talk about Single Point of Failures and why they are bad for your game and one little secret discussion at the end of the episode.

We give advice on how to eliminate the Fear of Failing and how to use Character Failure to level up your own enjoyment of the Games we play.

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In this Halloween Episode of DoubleDM we talk to Sergio from Mayday Roleplay about Horror, Tension, and Suspense. Sergio is the Handler for MaydayRoleplays Doomed 2 Repeat Delta Green Campaign a Campaign dealing with Horror and Tension and Sergio is an expert at making his Players and his Audience feel shivers run down their spines.

In this episode, we talk about how to gamemaster horror elements in your games, what practices are best for it and what preparations you need to make. We talk about that you can't constantly try to scare your players but also have to hit different notes in this play of emotions to elevate the horror itself. We talk about levity in Horror Games and we also talk about how important it is to know your players and their characters. Sergio gives you advice on how to write Horror and combine all the different tools into one big pot of great storytelling. 

Mayday Roleplay:

In this episode, we talk about Expectation Management and why we think it's such an important topic to talk about. Expectations are the fuel TTRPG Tables run on if they are not met people might feel disappointed and unsatisfied, if they are met however people will feel happy and will come back happily. This is why it's so important to talk about Expectations before you even dive into playing and this is exactly what we will be focusing on today.

We talk about how to manage expectations, how to talk about them in Session 0, why it is important to always keep an open line of communication to players and DMs, and what to do when expectations change. We give you practical advice on how to manage that discussion, how to navigate it and make sure everyone gets a say in it (that includes DMs), we tell you what to do if you feel like Expectations are not met or missed and how all this can help your table become better for everyone involved.

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In this episode, we talk about Progression and everything around it.

Progression is used to showcase to your Players that they are actually moving in a Story, they uncover Clues, they reach stronger Enemies, their Names become known to People are all ways of Progression and especially Showcasing Progression. You need to Showcase Progression to your Players and in this Episode, we will give you an overview of how to do that. 

We talk about Threat Level, Class Or Experience Point Progression, Story Progression and Pacing, Character Development and the Difference between Hidden and Obvious Progression.

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Ecopunk 2044:

This week we talk about taking Notes for TTRPGs. Notes help people remember Information and paint Mental Images for themselves, They are pretty useful in a lot of Aspects for TTRPGs, but there is one Major caveat there: Note Taking shouldn't be a barrier to play TTRPGs for us.

Note Taking is not necessarily for everyone but this Episode talks at length about what we use our Notes for as DMs and as Players, how we take them and how to get better at taking notes, while always remembering that Notes are a tool to help you not a barrier to hinder you from having fun or even playing. 

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In this episode, Sam and Phil join us to talk with us about the Everyone Games Charity Event and Accessibility in Gaming. The event is meant to highlight that every one games, we are all One Community, everyone here games while raising money for Charities that help further the Accessibility in Gaming. Sam and Phil also talk about what we as People, Shows, and Publishers can do to help make our Tables, Games and Documents accessible to more people.

Check out the Everyone Games Event using these Links:

Everyone Games Website: https://everyone-games.com/schedule/

Everyone Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/EveryoneGames2

Today we talk to Andrew and Thomas of Lords of Gallipae Games LLC about Trail of Heroes the Game they are developing. They grant us insight into how the Game came to be, what makes it unique and what it provides to players and Game Masters. They also give great insight into the TTRPG Theory behind the Design Choices of the Game.

Their Twitter: https://twitter.com/LordsLlc

Their Website: www.gallipae.com 

Their upcoming Patreon: www.patreon.com/gallipae

This week we got another incredible guest with us FG, the Server Owner of DnD World. Which is the biggest West Marches Text-based Discord server of the World 

This Episode we talk with FG about the Experiences of running such a Big DnD Community, what Challenges she and her team faced, and what happens behind the scenes. We also talk alot about the West Marches Playstyle of DnD and its Key Differences to "Traditional" DnD. What can one adapt from the West marches Style for their own Playstyle? What makes West Marches what it is? We also talk about Text-based Play and how its Advantages and Disadvantages Shape the World and Feel of Play. 

Our Social Medias:

Twitter/Insta: @doubledmpod

DnD Social Medias:

Twitter: @dndworldtweets