New DM? Here's What You Need


In this episode, Jason Portizo, Jim Crocker, and Joe McCall dive into all the essential information for aspiring Dungeon Masters in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. They provide valuable advice on crucial DM resources, emphasizing the necessity of...
In this episode, Jason Portizo, Jim Crocker, and Joe McCall dive into all the essential information for aspiring Dungeon Masters in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. They provide valuable advice on crucial DM resources, emphasizing the necessity of owning physical copies of the core books – the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide.
They also discuss the necessary equipment every DM should have, such as character sheets, dice, pens, pencils, and index cards. Additionally, they advocate for the use of pre-made adventures for beginners and touch on helpful tools like battle mats and token sets.
In terms of additional resources, they mention the supplemental trio – Tasha's, Xanathar's, and Monsters of the Multiverse – and suggest tailoring campaigns to fit the interests of players. The conversation also includes tips on finding one-shot ideas, exploring third-party books, and more.
To purchase any of the products we mentioned on today’s episode check out https://kit.co/jtpaudio/new-dm-essentials
Jason’s 3d printed Dice Tower: https://www.printables.com/model/291921-print-in-place-dice-tower
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Hello Advent, Welcome to the next
episode. I'm Jason Bertizo from Jim Crocker.
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I'm Joe McCall, and we talked
about DANDIE topics, near and dear
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role players. Hearts today's episode.
We are talking about new DM resources.
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If it's your first time dming or
if you're a new DM, if you've
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got a few games under your belt, what do you need? What's what's
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going to get you from never dming
before into being the next great And nobody
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is more uniquely qualified to chime in
on this topic than Jim Crocker. Yeah,
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I've been dming for a long time
and one of the principal things that
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we did at the store was trying
to get new players interest in the game,
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and you know, after they'd been
playing for a while, get them
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to DM because we needed we needed
other dms into the store certainly, and
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that's also just you know, it's
the natural progression, and we want to
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make sure everybody was well prepared and
going to have a good time when they
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did it. So I see a
lot of scribbled notes here that so I
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want to know, what what do
you think new dms need to know,
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need to have what's your round level? Advice for getting started. One of
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the things that you talked about when
we talked about when we did our first
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episode was that one of the reasons
you like to run the games that you
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like to be a host. And
so that's one of the things to keep
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in mind is that as the DM, you're essentially the host of that social
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activity that's that's going on. And
so one of the things that I'll see
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people will sometimes kind of complain about, and like the Reddit threads and stuff
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like that, is, you know, why players expect me to do this
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for them, expect me to do
that for them, And there's actually a
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certain amount of stuff that it is
very hole for the players to expect you
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to do for them, especially if
they're new and they don't know what's going
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on with the game. And so
there's some things that made We're going to
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say some things here that may seem
real basic, but because we may be
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talking to people that have literally never
run a game of D and D before,
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or even if you have, you
might not have thought of this.
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We're just going to go kind of
go down the whole list, and I
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think the first thing that we want
to start with is if you are running
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D and D, you should own
the three core books, the Players Handbook,
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the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon
Master's Guide. You should have actual
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physical copies of those that you can
reference at the table and that you can
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hand around as you need to,
that you can flip through as you need
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to. Ebooks are great having those
in PDF. That's fantastic for you know,
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reading in between games. But I
am a firm believer that it's not
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a great way to run the game
at the table, especially if you're all
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I mean, it's one thing,
and I guess the other thing we should
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say here is that we're talking about
sitting around a table, face to face,
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physically playing a game in the same
space, as opposed to being online
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where you can have you know,
you can form a lot of that out
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to World twenty or whatever platform it
is that you're using. To you very
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very fair distinction. Yes, yeah, if I could please, I would
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just say that the one advantage of
the ebook or if you're using D and
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D beyond, is that it's searchable. So if you have ineffable yeah,
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and so control affable for your Windows
people out and also even on the app
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and search any of the books that
you own. So that's the one advantage
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that didn't have. But I agree
you should have the physical books as well.
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Yeah, you, and you can
leave bookmarks on a PDF also,
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But there's something having something about having
a physical hardcover with a bunch of post
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end note flags flapping off the side
of it, color coded to whatever class
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you need or whatever being giving you
the problems the most. But also because
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things happen with technology, right,
how many times have I been like my
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computer's about to die and had to
plug it? So every game, yes,
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every single one, I mean,
And I think the single biggest advantage
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is, especially if you're the DM, there's a lot of stuff you're going
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to be referring to regularly that players
aren't necessarily going to. If you know
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that that one player like has three
spells that they always use but they never
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remember what they are, you can
mark those in your book. And one
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of the things you can do with
the physical book is you can hand it
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across the table to someone. You
can say, Okay, while they're taking
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the turn, I'm going to have
you read about this class feature and here
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it is. It's the book is
open to you, and you know like
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I'm not saying, you know,
don't have those resources available, but I
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do think that I mean, and
the other problem of course with those devices
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is yeah, searchable, but then
you have the whole rest of the Internet
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on that as well. Just just
incredibly difficult, even for the most strong
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wild players when it it's not their
turn right to pay attention to what's going
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on in the game. And that's
the most important thing that you can do,
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especially with new players, is to
get them used to the idea that
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there's going to be times when it's
not their turn, but that doesn't mean
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that they don't have to stay focused
on the game, be attentive to the
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other players. Like one of the
basics is teaching good gaming habits and knowing
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what those gaming habits are and you
know, trying to kind of get those
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across. And I feel like having
those paper copies of the game, not
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everybody needs to have them, you
know, everybody at the table doesn't need
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to have the player stand book and
stuff like that. But being able to,
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like I said, being able to
hand it around that that's like,
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I feel like that's really important.
That's a really good point. Yeah,
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yeah, I've known at least one
or two the m's I think two that
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I know personally that in their travel
bag have like five or six copies of
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players handbooks. You can totally do
that. And they're they're like, if
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you don't mind getting like a used
copy somewhere there, you can get them
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dirt cheap. Uh. Yeah,
so they had them in paperback though,
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you know that. I will say
something that is that is something that Pathfinder
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did really right is having like the
pocket versions of it Essentials or whatever they
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were that they did. Yeah,
like the twenty five dollars, like like
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the slightly yeah sorry, I mean
but but they called it something like that.
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But yeah, it was like it
was like the smaller trim size,
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like yeah, yeah, Cobal Press
is good about that too. But there's
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Home of Beasts. They'll do the
pocket version. That's all same information as
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a small paperback group. But just
again, just hey, you know,
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while it's these three other people's turns, why don't you read a little bit
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more about that thing that you're trying
to Yeah? Uh, and you know,
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and and if you're going to run
the game, and I know,
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and I understand that people have different
economic situations and stuff like this, but
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like I said, you can find
them used. You can find them,
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you know, you know, you
can find somebody that's getting rid of theirs
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and you know, and and get
it from them. But you really should
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have if you're going to run the
game, the phis copies of what you're
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going to have, you know,
of those books to have at the table
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for a game. That is like
when you can start comparing this to like
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video, it's like, you know, I was, I was looking at
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buying a PlayStation last night. It's
like five hundred dollars for the PlayStation,
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sixty bucks for the game. Let's
let's forget the console for a second,
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but sixty bucks for the game.
You know, a book that you can
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get used for like twenty thirty bucks
or even less is a pretty low bar
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for entry. You amortize that over
the total number of D and D games
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you run. That's it's an incredibly
good value for your entertainment price per game.
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And that's something that's something we we
harp on in the board game world
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the other thing. So so let's
kind of keep going down the list.
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A few other few things I recommend
is, especially if you've got new players,
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have a couple of sets of dice
for yourself and make sure that when
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you show up at the table,
you have a set of dice for every
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layer. Some of them are gonna, you know, some of them are
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going to get super into it and
have eight or nine sets of their own,
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like right from the jump. Some
people are eight or nine. Those
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are rookie numbers. Yes, yeah, those numbers up son, Yeah,
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but uh, but some people are
going to forget them. Some people are
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gonna, you know, be coming
into the game straight from work and they're
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like, I didn't have time to
get last last night. Last night forgot
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I will say now as somebody who
is providing the game for everyone else,
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specially with new players who aren't sure
they want to do it. You know
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what's really cheap to buy dice?
Yes, so I keep with me.
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I keep both of these things,
and they're in my backpack right next to
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me. Like these are one hundred
percent true things I keep in my bag.
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I not only have a huge bag. I forget who makes this bag.
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It's awesome. It's like it's divided
into sections. I have them sectioned
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out by dice. There are forty
full sets of dice in this bag.
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Yeah, and whoever needs them,
grab it. If you're casting a fireball,
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got to get a handful. If
if you're sneak attacking, grab a
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handful. Sometimes you just have the
one set that you were, that you
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that you got, and you need
a whole bunch. And I don't want
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to watch somebody roll the six in
front of me eight times. Plus there's
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nothing more satisfied than that that that
chuck alaka of eight dice in your and
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as a DM, terrifying your player
bad amount of dice. Another thing that
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I got side note, I was
able to I had a level three one
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shot that I was running and I
quit on the inflict wounds against one of
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my players, and I had that
handful of sixty ten. It was to
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the point where my other player took
a video of me just making the little
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dull chuck a lucka sounds and yeah, I killed him. So but also
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so that's one thing I keep on
me is that those were communal dice.
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Anyone can borrow them, they go
back. I also are very cheap.
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Bought a lot of maybe eight or
ten complete sets with pouches, and I
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keep those in my bag and they
didn't cost me much. I think,
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I think I spent maybe ten twelve
dollars on these, and it's just just
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they sit aside. These are not
my dice, These are not communal dice.
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I don't have a player who's playing
for the first time and they had
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a good time. That's my gift
to them. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
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And we talked on the first episode
about creating that experience for new players
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and like, if I created experience
for you, here's your souvenir. If
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you want to like get into the
hobby, please let me gift you the
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most important part of that of that
first hurdle and you are now at die
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Scotland and I'm sorry for ruining your
life, but I love gifting people.
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Sure, that's great, yea,
yeah, yeah, two bucks. So
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one of the other things that you
can do is make sure that you've got
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a big stack of preprinted character sheets
ready to go for everybody. There may
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be like if somebody gets killed in
the middle of adventure and you need to
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you know, and they need to
do a new character having those handy ready
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critical perhaps if they took forty eight
points from a inflict critical wounds, yes,
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but just to have like like and
it's one of those things that you
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don't necessarily realize that you need until
you need it, and just having those
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handy ready to go all the time. You know, I'm a believer in
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for new players to think about holding
their character sheets for them at the end
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of the game, have them give
the character sheets back to you, and
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you give them out with every game, because that prevents that problem of like
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I said, I just came from
work, I forgot my character sheet.
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I didn't. You know, it
doesn't mean that like they can't work on
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them between games or something like that. Like if you trust them and we've
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kind of established that what's going on, you can do that. But but
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I really think that you know,
taking those sheets, putting them in some
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sheet protectors have a little notebook,
well, you know, where you keep
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all those characters in between games.
For new players, that's a smart thing
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to do because then then you're going
to make sure everybody's got their character and
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you don't run into that, oh
we need to take a half hour while
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somebody recreates their character or they're like
furiously scribbling in between other people's turns and
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stuff like that, which is,
by the way, yes, and that
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was one of them. So my
first game was a part of the starter
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set. We kept everything in the
box, and we need to level up
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our characters at the end of the
session or at the beginning of the next
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one. That time was always built
in. Yeah, and and like,
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and that absolutely does not prevent people
from doing that lonely fun thing of like
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pouring through the player sandbook determine what
their next is going to be and stuff
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again, and they can jot stuff
down and if they want to have their
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own second copy of that character sheet, that's great, totally do that.
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A little bit of redundancy never a
bad thing. But to hang on to
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those and to make sure you've got
those extra blanks, that's just you know,
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that's kind of basic supplies of the
game. And I mean this is
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super basic, but make sure you
got enough pens and pencils for everybody at
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the table. Jim, you are
now holding one of the pens that I
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keep aside just for d and d
yes. That is add pen. And
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this is a Pilot G two,
which is like one of the best only
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00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:37.519
correct that anyone should ever buy.
This podcast brought to you by Pilot.
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I wish I love these, Yeah
that I bought a I bought a twelve
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pack of that exact pan. They're
my favorite. Yeah, you get it
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on Amazon for like five bucks.
Is the medium the medium size for the
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bold myself, but this is the
medium bould or medium and then though it
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just needs to get this we can
agree. I prefer both myself, but
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this is the medium. I bought
the extra ten pack just to keep my
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bad pack just for D and D. Also, there were all the same.
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I know their mind. I'll just
grab them at the end. Blue
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ink not black is if we do
a black and white photocopy, I want
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to know what is the original one? What is what has been written?
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Yeah, yes, that is.
That's been my move for for years and
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years now, with all sorts of
things pre dating D and D for my
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life, all always blue always,
and then I keep a red pen for
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myself in the case I need to
correct somebody's characters. Big ass stack of
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index cards. That's the other thing
that I believe in that that comes from
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the to some extent, that comes
from the indie gaming thing where where we
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do a lot of we lot to
write a lot of stuff down on index
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cards, brought down on the table. If you've got you know, but
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you can use that for anything NPCs, You jot their name down, a
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couple of character traits, you throw
it down in the middle of the table.
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Anytimes somebody says I need scratch paper
or you're keeping track of you know,
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hit points for your monsters and stuff
like that. I do initiative on
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the index cards. I just write
the initiative number like everybody's I keep a
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stack of index cards that has that
I keep kind of permanently that has a
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character the character's name on it,
and then I just jot down the initiative
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number. I put them in order
shuffle them around. If somebody decides that
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they're going to go later, I
just move to the back of the stack
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and just you can use them for
just about everything. I like to get
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the kind that are lined on one
side and blank on the other. Oh
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yeah, And you can also get
those in a pack where you get like
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five different colors, and then you
can use those for you know, yellow
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for monsters, red, you know, blue for players, however you want
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to do that. But just having
a stack of those in that bag along
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with those pens and pencils, and
that's pretty much everything you need to kind
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of just like run the game at
a basic level. The index cards is
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actually the first thing you mentioned so
far that I don't have in my bag.
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Yeah, I consider that dreessential.
Yeah, I'm gonna by them like
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I'm a as soon as you guys
see my house. I know a lot
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of people use them for initiative and
even like if you if you use the
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screen right, I think like fold
them in the put them in order,
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stuff like that, all that kind
of thing. One of the things I
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like to do is to make sure
that everybody has either a little like half
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full of index card as a table
tent in front of them that has their
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character name on it, so that
when you look around the table and a
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cute little drawing. Of course,
you can put a cute little drawing if
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that's what you want, you know, but it might say, you know,
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whatever, what's your what's your barbarian? There? Corn Gar? You
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got corn Gar the blameless you know, human barbarian on your little table tent.
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Or to literally get those hello my
name is stickers and have people just
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slap them right on their teeth.
Oh my god, that would really coming
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fantastic because I definitely stumble and these
are people I play with all the time
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we used to do that. We
would do so when we did big events
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at the store. It was a
little different when we were doing the ongoing
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games and kind of people got to
know who everybody's character was. But even
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then I made sure I did the
table tents. But yeah, we did
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a big event where like it was
a you know, like a book release,
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or we were doing one of our
like you know, eight hour kind
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of mega games, we would just
get to just get a stack of the
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those stickers and just hello, my
name is you know that's going on my
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shopping list right now? Brilliant.
Yeah, Well, we play on zooms.
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It's so easy. Okay, everybody, just update your your zoom names
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to their character names. Because I
am not memorizing your character names. I'm
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never going to call you by your
real name. So get those updated please,
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to the point where it became my
bult name for a while. So
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like I'm getting on like actual calls
with clients, you're having a job interview.
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Who's Cobo? Yeah, And I've
got that thing where because I play
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the multiple indie games online. I
jumped into my Star Trek game the other
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day, but I had a you
know, an Aliens Nostromo background. So
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I got crossing the streams. They
kicked you out. I had the one
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where I was I was a d
M and then get on a call with
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the client like why did I say
dungeon daddy? I tell my players,
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think players, I am no longer
dungeon daddy. I am your tabletop.
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Yeah there you go, you go. Wow. I guess the only other
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thing that I would say for like
like basic, basic, if you're not
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messing around with with miniatures, with
maps, with any of that kind of
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you know that stuff that kind of
bumps to, you know, your investment
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up to the next level. Something
to roll dice in. It can be
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a fancy like like feltline dice tray, it can just be you know,
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a little cardboard box. What's something
that the players can toss the dice in
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that will keep them from rolling off
the table. And I guarantee you that
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will save you ten to fifteen minutes
of game time catching Yeah exactly, and
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you know and oh man, it
was twenty when it hit the ground,
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Like yeah, no counts on the
table. Sorry that. But but to
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have a little something that people can
roll dice into. I know you said
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you use one of those little dice
dice drop towers. I have a large
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dice tower that I three D printed
that looks awesome. Yeah, and if
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I can find the STL file for
it, and maybe we'll linked in the
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show notes. I also have a
much smaller dice tower that folds up pretty
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small. Yeah, and I like
this one. It's magnetic, It puts
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itself together, it folds. You
could fit a whole set of dice in
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it while it's closed, which I
like. I would recommend a rubber band
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on if you're doing that. But
I got this one because it's small.
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Not only does it travel nicely,
but when we play online, I could
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put a camera on it. And
and because it's a small space, the
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dice really filled the screen. It
looks great on camera because I had a
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larger dice tray for a while and
the dice were so small in the frame
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that I wanted something smaller. And
also the you mentioned the felt lines dice
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prays. I have the heck sagonal
ones yeah together yeah, yeah, they
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are totally flat, all six of
them stacked up takes a less than an
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00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:42.480
interest space in my bag. Inexpense
I bought. I bought a six pack
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I don't remember how much I spent
on it, but it was not a
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lot. In fact, I've bought
several six packs. We were playing the
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game once a couple of years ago, Joe. It was one of the
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first times you and I played together, and I bought a four pack and
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I just they were cheap enough.
I'm like, hey, I'm going to
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give them to all the players,
and this is just my my little hello
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on looking before we're playing with you
guys, little gift. But it solves
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a number of problems because, like
it keeps dice from rolling off the table.
304
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It means dice get rolled in a
place where everybody can see what the
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results of the role are. And
one of the things that we found at
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the store, especially for those those
dice towers that we're talking about, was
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anybody that's neurotypical that has trouble with
you know, just kind of tossing the
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de to have it land in front
of them where they wanted to for whatever
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reason, just powers make it a
lot easier. We had a couple of
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kids that were on the autism spectrum
that like that was the best thing that
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they could just drop the die in
there. It would tumble down and they'd
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get a result, and like we
didn't have to worry about anybody getting upset
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because they were throwing their dice off
the table or anything like that. And
314
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:48.680
so it's very very satisfying rattling sense. Even with one die. My brother's
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on a spectrum, it has a
very bad sha hands shocking from that would
316
00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:56.559
be great for him. Just a
quick search. Those are like between sixteen
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00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.920
and twenty dollars for a six pack
of those hexagonal I keep the six pack
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in my bag and when I run
store games, they are snapped together,
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sitting at all the places with pens
and paper and the communal dice dice bag
320
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in the middle, and by the
time a single player walks in the table,
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looks like we are already The same
thing also happens at our home games
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that you host. I'm a host, all right, So I guess if
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we start talking about the next level
of investment, if you're going to be
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running games, and you're going to
be regularly running games, don't be afraid.
325
00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.079
And this is a little kind of
more general DM advice, don't be
326
00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:40.200
afraid to run pre published adventures,
especially if it's your first campaign or series
327
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of games. Totally. You do
not have to come up with some epic
328
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thing where you make it all up
yourself. You can just do a little
329
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bit of connective tissue that help those
pre published adventures run together. So get
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yourself a printed copy of it,
even if you're running it off of a
331
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PDF or something like that, printed
out so that you've got the monster stats
332
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there you and then grab that piner
pencil market right the heck up. Don't
333
00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:07.440
worry about just like writing in it, cross things out, put your notes
334
00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:08.640
right in the margins, all that
kind of stuff. Have that paper right
335
00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.759
in front of you. I think
if you have the right kind of players,
336
00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:17.240
then you're running the game openly and
everybody's collaborating. You don't need to
337
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:21.559
have a DM screen. You can
if you want to, but I think
338
00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.720
like if you if you want it, it should be because it's got information
339
00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:27.720
on it that you're going to refer
to regularly. It's fairly easy if you
340
00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:32.160
want to, you know, conceal
information to have a little We talked about
341
00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:34.359
having a little trade table off to
the side or something like that. But
342
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.720
for the most part, you know, if you're just kind of running and
343
00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.480
keeping the game going, you don't
have to worry too too much about things
344
00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:45.960
being secret because that that screen can
also I mean it's also a barrier and
345
00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:48.839
it takes up a lot of space
on the tape. It does, it
346
00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.720
does, you totally can do it. But I just want to make sure
347
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everybody knows it's not like essential to
running the game. It's not a thing
348
00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.160
you have. Yeah, it is
nice for the information I use it,
349
00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:02.759
yeah, constantly, for the amount
of branded screen that comes with the set
350
00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.440
of three Core books. Has a
lot of excellent information on the on the
351
00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:08.000
back of it that saves me from
looking up a lot of things. There's
352
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.920
a couple of things that I still
have to look up that comes up pretty
353
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.039
often, and I'm surprised not on
there. I think I can't think of
354
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.160
any of these post It's on there
as well. Yeah, of course,
355
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and especially for things like past perception, I'll have the characters listed passive perceptions
356
00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:22.519
so I can have that at a
glance. Yeah, that's character stuff.
357
00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.720
Yeah, I'm being mechanics stuff.
Yeah. Yeah. I have a wooden
358
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.279
DM screen that I had made.
The back of it is totally blank,
359
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.039
but it does have magnets on it. Yeah, so I can I can
360
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.359
get I can print those specifically what
I need, pin the magnet to it,
361
00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.960
sly flourish I think. Actually,
yeah, offers those online. Yeah,
362
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.480
and you can get the ones that's
like three panels that you can slide
363
00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.119
and it half by eleven piece of
paper into and stuff like that, and
364
00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.640
all of that is great, and
if you're going to use the screen,
365
00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:51.599
then post it's become one of those
essential office supplies that you want to.
366
00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:53.720
Like, if you're using the screen, absolutely you should have your export de
367
00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:59.720
cards with tape and magnets, yeah, or some way to attach those index
368
00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:02.119
cards. The other thing that you
can that are pretty great if you're going
369
00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:07.680
to be using stuff like that is
colored paper clips. Color coded paper clips,
370
00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:11.880
either like little whatever, like little
banana clips or like actual paper clips,
371
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:14.440
because then you can you can make
a little thing where you can make
372
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an initiative slider or you can have
you know, use those to indicate conditions
373
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and things like that. If you're
flipping through your index cards, you know,
374
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anybody that's got a green paper clip, that means they're paralyzed or you
375
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:30.160
know, like yeah, that kind
of stuff. Colored binder clips is good
376
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:30.880
for that too. You can just
go right to the top of your a
377
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:34.720
DM screen if you're using one,
or if you are printing out your PDF
378
00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.160
for that day's adventure, you can
use them to make a binder out of
379
00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.400
it, a color coding them for
the same reason. So you have your
380
00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:47.240
the index card with each character's ac
passive perception on it and their name because
381
00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.680
I'm going to forget it. And
then you can use the color codes for
382
00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.319
ever poison and its usion, etc. Or whatever else. And while we're
383
00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.799
talking about printing out PDFs, A
big fan of spending a couple extra bucks
384
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:02.000
to buy a few reams of free
three whole punch paper that you can put
385
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:04.440
into your printer. Which, again
some of this stuff may sound very basic,
386
00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:07.200
but if you're not used to it
or not familiar with it, you
387
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:10.759
print out that PDF, you can
throw it right into a three ring binder.
388
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.640
Then it's easy to flip through.
You can take out the bits that
389
00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:15.359
you need, put in the bits
that you need as you go. I
390
00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:18.279
instid, I just spent a couple
of dollars on the three whole punch and
391
00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:21.519
you know, get it when I
need it instead of having changed paper over.
392
00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:22.839
You can do that too, But
either either one whereas or actually for
393
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:29.720
the one shot of ventures, I
just use the the plastic with the three
394
00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:33.880
rings on them by the paper,
the paper sleeves. Oh yeah, yeah,
395
00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:37.079
Like page protectors do that too,
Yeah, if you don't mind the
396
00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:40.039
work of sliding them in there,
because the great thing about putting them in
397
00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:44.000
page protectors is then when they're in
the page protectors, you can take notes
398
00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:47.359
using dry erase markers. Yes,
and you know, and and and then
399
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.000
you're not marking up that that document
use again. Yeah, yeah, especially
400
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:52.920
if you're running the same scenario over
and over again. And this is kind
401
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.640
of a lot you're gonna you're gonna
find a lot of my advice is for
402
00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:00.839
like store level dos that are running
the same thing over and over. Yeah,
403
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.759
because I get I get a lot
of mileage yet out of the one
404
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:06.759
shots that I find. And if
you don't mind spending a couple extra bucks
405
00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:08.839
on your index cards, you can
go to Amazon or Staples or any of
406
00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:17.359
your office supply places and get laminated
dry erase index cards which will have and
407
00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:19.640
the ones that I have are blank
on one side with a grid on the
408
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.839
other. Wow, which is real
nice because then you can find the lap
409
00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:26.880
exactly. Yes, if that's what
you want to do. But they're great
410
00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:29.519
because then you can, you know, you just like like I said,
411
00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.599
you throw them out on the table, you write down the name of that
412
00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:36.400
NPC, they leave the shop,
you just wipe it off of there and
413
00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.279
you can reuse them as you do. That's great, that's cool. I
414
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:42.240
didn't consider. Yeah, comes a
little plastic case with a little you know,
415
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:49.440
dry race marker in there. Hello
Adventurers, thank you so much for
416
00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:52.839
listening. If you enjoy the show, the absolute best thing you can do
417
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:57.119
to support us is to subscribe so
you'll be notified when new episodes are released.
418
00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:00.319
You can also leave us a review
five stars. Of course, that
419
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:04.039
will help us get seen by more
D and D players and more than anything
420
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.680
else, just tell your friends about
us. If you like what we're doing
421
00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:10.720
here that there's a good chance that
your DM or your players will enjoy it
422
00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:11.960
too. And you don't need to
loop gold to do any of that.
423
00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:18.680
We appreciate your listening. Now back
to the show. So if you're going
424
00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:22.759
to take it to the next level, and do you know maps minis that
425
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:27.119
kind of stuff. It is very
easy to spend an infinite amount of money,
426
00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:33.400
extremely easy and that's like just incredibly. I don't think infinite even begins
427
00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:34.680
to describe how much money you could
drop on this. Yeah, you start
428
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.960
buying like the blind box sets of
minis and things like that, and they're
429
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.640
amazing. It's fantastic and you have
a lot of fun with it. Agree,
430
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.279
But if you just want to have
enough of the basics to run kind
431
00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:51.160
of whatever you want to run,
what I recommend folks do is you get
432
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:56.480
a single large battle map, like
something you kind of unfold on your table.
433
00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:00.960
Chessix makes them. There's a whole
lot of generic companies that make them
434
00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:03.839
on the chessis one I see all
the time, Amazon and stuff like that.
435
00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:07.920
And typically those are going to be
like, if it's a vinyl rollout
436
00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:11.680
mat, it's going to be wet
for race markers that you use on that.
437
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:15.079
If it's something that is like laminated
paper, you can use wet ord
438
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.640
dryer race markers on that. But
you get yourself a big mat that is
439
00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:23.279
kind of the basic thing that you
can use all the time, or you
440
00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:26.799
can get I mean, if you've
got room and you're hosting at your house,
441
00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:33.000
you can get kind of easel pad
sized one by one inch square like
442
00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:38.599
big pads that will either tear off
or I mean some of them actually come
443
00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:45.279
with the like the post it sticky
across the top, which means you can
444
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.720
draw your map out in advance and
then slap it up on the wall so
445
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.559
that people can see what's going on
with it, whether and then whether you're
446
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:55.680
going to add to it, you
know, you know, right on it
447
00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:57.559
as you go or not. That's
the thing you can do. But you
448
00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:00.640
can also just lay that down on
the draw on it as you go.
449
00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.960
And then I recommend you know,
you've got your set of pens that you
450
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.480
can use, get it in you
know, like four or five colors,
451
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:11.359
so we can have you know,
blue as the water and red as the
452
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.319
lava, and you know green is
where the forest is, stuff like that.
453
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:22.119
And then I really recommend just from
Watsa. Watsa does three dungeon pile
454
00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:26.920
sets and you can find those fairly
cheap. But yeah, I have a
455
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:32.480
few things like that. There's the
oaks from books from Lake battle Mats that
456
00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:33.680
have like all the battle mass built
into them. There's a dry erase,
457
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.279
they're all dry erasable. There is
a plank white grid on there that you
458
00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.359
can use for really anything and draw
it out as you need. But that's
459
00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:44.240
that's kind of getting a little more. Yeah. I have other battle mats
460
00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:48.759
though, they'll sometimes they'll be blank, or they'll be like forest on one
461
00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:52.240
side, yeah, like ice on
the other or something like that. So
462
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:53.880
they'll give you a yeah, two
different things. The other thing too was
463
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.880
it doesn't have the one by one
grid, but I've seen it used.
464
00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:02.920
It's just a dry erase or that. You can totally do that with just
465
00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:07.440
kind of draw to show you in
relation kind of where you are and if
466
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.960
you're not as worried about the specifics
of it. Yeah, the life fact
467
00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:15.640
that I heard go to the dollar
store, get yourself from wrapping paper and
468
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:18.640
a lot of wrapping paper has the
one grid on the back. Flip it
469
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:22.039
over. Sure, Yeah, that
totally works. The butt to draw,
470
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:25.519
I guess not with a mark Yeah, you have to be with a marker.
471
00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:27.799
But this is like if you're like
experimenting with minis and you're not really
472
00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:30.359
sure there's a direction you want to
go if you want if you're not sure,
473
00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:33.000
if you want to stick with theater
the mind or not. This is
474
00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.960
a very cheap way to try it. And this is where if you're lucky
475
00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.559
enough to have a fancy dining room
table that has a glass top, you
476
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:47.440
can lift the glass top, put
the grid underneath it, and then and
477
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:49.559
then move the minis around and stuff
like that. Just remember Jim Crocker,
478
00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:55.559
do that with your parents house.
You don't you don't want to actually draw
479
00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:57.640
on the glass tabletop. This is
your map is already ready to go.
480
00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.759
If you're going to do that piece
of christ make sure that they're dry erase
481
00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:07.799
markers. Yeah, but you start
getting emails about people with their sharpiets.
482
00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:11.119
No, no, that coup parents. But you can also do that with
483
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:15.359
a like a cheap piece of Plexi
on your regular table as well. I
484
00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.359
mean, and this is this is
like advanced level stuff. But I'm a
485
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:25.559
big fan of those tiles because the
tiles are a big set of like dungeon
486
00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:30.920
features, like dungeon corridors and you
know, town squares and wilderness settings and
487
00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:34.920
stuff like that. They're modular,
so you got like a little cup hoops
488
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:40.519
of trees or something like that.
Those battle matt books are okay, but
489
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:41.599
a lot of times you're going to
look at that map and you're going to
490
00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:45.279
go, that's super cool. I'm
going to use it twice in the entire
491
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:48.519
campaign. But those modular tile sets
you can kind of do whatever you want
492
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.160
with them, arrange them however you
want. And like when I ran in
493
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:57.960
the store, I ran for ten
years on a basic battle mat and the
494
00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:02.839
three tile sets, the wilderness set, the city set, and the dungeon
495
00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:06.759
set, and that was all I
needed because you know, and then you
496
00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:08.079
supplement it with a little you know, if you have a really weird ship,
497
00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:11.559
Pa've just draw it in and you
mix and match and and that is
498
00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:17.039
all the terrain that you will ever
need, you know, I mean,
499
00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:21.240
And of course again if you want
to start getting into like you know,
500
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:29.920
actual molded three D resins set,
you know, like you said, aunt,
501
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:33.680
yeah, but like like you can
do a battle map, you can
502
00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:37.000
do a battle map and find those
three tile sets for you know, maybe
503
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.839
fifty sixty bucks if you're lucky,
certainly under one hundred all three of them
504
00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:42.400
together. Yes, oh yeah,
yeah, they're they're about twenty dollars.
505
00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:47.319
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so
like twenty bucks a throw. But that
506
00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:49.559
is all you will ever, that's
all you will ever need, yes,
507
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:52.519
yeah, yeah, if you've got
you've got a map and some If you've
508
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:56.440
got a basic battle map and and
something right with, that's fine, that's
509
00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:59.680
all you need, and your players
are going to fill in everything else in
510
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:05.599
the end with you know, with
their imaginations. So for minis, that
511
00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:08.160
is another place where if you want
to, like that can turn into a
512
00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.759
whole separate hobby, if you want
to do that, if you want to
513
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:15.759
get them and paint them and all
that kind of thing. But just for
514
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.759
the basics of playing the game.
Every now and then, we're going to
515
00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.880
talk a little bit about Pathfinder.
One of the things that PISO does really
516
00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:30.359
really well is providing supplemental materials for
playing, you know, for playing Pathfinder
517
00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:37.160
with and for Pathfinder you can get
humongous sets of for Pathfinder, you can
518
00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:40.799
get these token sets and you can
get hundreds and hundreds of tokens, and
519
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:45.480
what they are is it's going to
be a little cardboard standee about the size
520
00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:49.039
of mini to slap a little plastic
base on the bottom of it, and
521
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:52.839
if you get there, you know, their best cherry set, get like
522
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:55.319
a thousand tokens in there, and
it's going to have characters. It's going
523
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.519
to have all kinds of monsters,
and they're going to look like the proprietary
524
00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:01.720
Pizo version of it. But you
know, like a big token of a
525
00:33:01.799 --> 00:33:05.720
dragon is a big token of a
dragon, or and a token you know,
526
00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:09.319
half a dozen little goblin tokens are
are recognizably goblins. And that's a
527
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:15.599
great way to get a full set
of everything you need to start doing maps
528
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:19.720
and minis in a basic kind of
way, and you can probably score those
529
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:24.480
pretty cheaply online you know, secondary
market and you know, and just you
530
00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:28.759
know, through Amazon and stuff like
this in a way that's going to get
531
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:35.160
you what amounts to a complete minis
collection for what you know, like through
532
00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:37.799
three four of those blind boxes that
you would get from WATSI the have the
533
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:42.519
pre painted minis that you know that
come in there. You don't need Joe
534
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:45.559
Manjanello's basement, Like if you've ever
seen this miniature collection, it's insane and
535
00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:50.119
I'm sure it's worth a million dollars, Like, yeah, it's all And
536
00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:52.279
if you do decide you want to
get into that stuff, then you should
537
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:59.119
not feel shame about playing with unpainted
minis and eBay, you know, like
538
00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:04.640
like online market places. Because of
the way those blind boxes work, people
539
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.000
will open lots of them to get
the rares well as a magic player,
540
00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:10.639
you know, if all you want
is a bunch of orcs and goblins and
541
00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:15.639
basic you know characters and stuff like
rogues and whatever, you can find very
542
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:22.039
cheap sets of the big bags of
those common minis. And then if you
543
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:25.280
want to have one special dragon for
that big fight, you can get that
544
00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:29.920
one special dragon for that big fight
and have that be a thing that you
545
00:34:29.960 --> 00:34:32.000
know, you plunk it down on
the table, everybody oos an os,
546
00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:36.519
they fight the dragon, and maybe
you don't use it again, you know,
547
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:38.880
anytime soon. But that's a cool
thing you can put on your shelf
548
00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:42.440
with your gaming books and have it
be a fun thing that you own.
549
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:46.440
But you don't have to have,
you know, a mini for every thing
550
00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:51.760
that the characters are are coming up
against in that game. And those the
551
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:54.639
tokens are great. They look fantastic. You know, if you really want
552
00:34:54.679 --> 00:35:00.800
to, you can just print that
out, you know, rapital around a
553
00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:02.199
little piece of hardboard, or do
a little thing where you make a little
554
00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:05.760
tent out of it. But we
used to do, i mean what we
555
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:07.679
used to do back in college when
we were playing our superhero game and they
556
00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:13.280
didn't have any Superhero minis was we
would print them in the right size and
557
00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:15.320
then fold them, put a little
penny in the bottom to give it a
558
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:17.880
weight, so that we had like
a little triangle with you know, with
559
00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:21.360
that weight on the bottom. And
that is what we used for our minis
560
00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:23.559
mom around and stuff like that.
There's all kinds of creative solutions you can
561
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:28.159
come up with for very cheap.
I found that one inch wooden coins in
562
00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:31.519
a bag of like two hundred,
Yeah, and to bind that with a
563
00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:37.400
printable one inch round label sheet.
Sure, and just throw my work on
564
00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:40.719
it in the photoshop or whatever and
print them all up and then just stick
565
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:44.760
them all there. Yeah, that's
great because you can get you can certainly
566
00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:46.960
get pads of stickers one inch stickers
where you can you know, run those
567
00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:50.639
through your printer and print those out
on And that's another way to do it
568
00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:53.079
if you don't mind those like those
flat tokens. But those pizo tokens are
569
00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:58.519
actually they actually stand up to the
hype of a regular mini and I think
570
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:02.400
they work great. I mean beyond
that, just you know, listen to
571
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:07.360
podcasts like this one maybe uh,
you know, like I hesitate to recommend
572
00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:12.800
a lot of aps because you want
to make sure that you are listening to
573
00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:15.880
things that are helping you learn how
to run the game. And some of
574
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:22.639
those aps are more kind of performance
oriented, that may not be the thing
575
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:25.639
that you need. So I think
listening to those knowing that, yeah,
576
00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:30.599
I think it is still helpfulk I
learned a ton and got the confidence to
577
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:32.679
run my first couple of games from
listening to those shows. And also,
578
00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:36.519
you know, I know that they
cut out a lot of the a lot
579
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.440
of the math, and like you
don't really know what all their modifiers are,
580
00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:42.239
and like, because that's because that's
boring radio. Meanwhile, I is
581
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:44.239
aspiring DM. I'd be like,
but I won't know how he got that,
582
00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:49.400
Like how do you roll thirty two? I mean it's it's it's boring
583
00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:52.360
radio for some people. But if
what you want is to learn the game,
584
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:57.599
yeah, then then that Actually,
you know, some interesting shows are
585
00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:01.159
better than others about cutting out or
were more so leaving in their die rolls
586
00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:05.519
and stuff like that. So find
when that works for you if that's your
587
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:07.159
list. Jim, I've got a
couple of my own. I think I
588
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:09.760
think that's that's the basics, that's
the stuff. Yeah, like those things
589
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:13.719
that I listed were the things I
always had with me when I ran at
590
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.559
the store, and when kids would
say what do I need? I don't
591
00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:19.840
have a fortune to spend, I'd
go this, this, and this,
592
00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:22.960
and it's pretty much those things that
I'd listed that I would use to get
593
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:24.360
them started. What would you say
based on exactly you just said? What
594
00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:29.719
would you say would be like the
first let's say four or five things in
595
00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:34.960
in what even say in order that
a new DM should be looking for?
596
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:38.599
I mean, like I think in
the order that we went, you want
597
00:37:38.599 --> 00:37:42.639
the three core books. You want
the character sheets for everybody. You want
598
00:37:42.679 --> 00:37:45.280
everybody to have dice, pens,
pencils, index cards. If you've got
599
00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:50.599
those you can play. Yeah,
that's totally fair. So I made a
600
00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.599
list too, It's not it goes
in a slightly different directions, so I'll
601
00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:55.440
just I'll just go through it quickly
for things that we've already talked about.
602
00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:59.719
Number one is your official sources.
Start with your Core trio. That's your
603
00:37:59.719 --> 00:38:02.280
players Handbook, your Dunge Master's Guide, and your Monster Manual. I also
604
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:07.320
added the supplemental Trio, which Wizards
has as Atasha's Squadron of Everything Santa Thar's
605
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:10.880
guides everything and either and they kind
of way one kind of replaced the other.
606
00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:19.519
You got more than conans and monsters
in the multiverse. Monsters multi use
607
00:38:19.639 --> 00:38:22.320
kind of replaced more than conans,
which replaced the Volos guds, which replaced
608
00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:27.480
Volos. Yeah, so Atasha's and
Santa Tars do add a lot of excellent
609
00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:30.159
information to supplement the core trio.
But like that's that's later. But if
610
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:32.880
you're going to get those are the
first things the players are going to harass
611
00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:38.840
you about wanting to take things exactly. Tasha's adds a lot of subclasses and
612
00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:44.280
some like some some alternate rules and
the optional rules, the class features like
613
00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:47.880
optional class features and and background and
stuff, would just to say stuff that
614
00:38:49.159 --> 00:38:52.400
beginning dms don't necessarily need. Yeah, and if you're a new DM and
615
00:38:52.440 --> 00:38:53.599
all you have is the Court Trio
and a player says, hey, I
616
00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:55.880
want to do this thing at Tasha's, you say, hey, I'm not
617
00:38:55.920 --> 00:39:00.480
there yet. I gotta we gotta
stick to players handbook stuff. And if
618
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:01.480
they raise us, think about it, they can go find another DM.
619
00:39:01.880 --> 00:39:05.480
It's not worth your time. So
that's I would say, get the Court
620
00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:07.360
trio first. Learn them, know
them, love them, and then start.
621
00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:14.360
I would get the supplemental books after
that as your first for outside of
622
00:39:14.360 --> 00:39:16.039
the court, and then you can
do your campaign books. So really whenever
623
00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:19.880
you're ready to run that campaign,
if you want to run the book campaign.
624
00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.760
Strata is A is a fantastic one
everon is Jim Sandasy was his favorite.
625
00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:29.480
I love the ones that are like
the connected one shot types. I
626
00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:35.000
think they're fantastic for new dms.
Campo Keep Mysteries is a book of connected
627
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.280
one shots, so you run them
as part of a larger campaign, depending
628
00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:42.079
what level you're at. You just
pick the one that's already and you know,
629
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:44.679
and you can just run one right
after the other and just go through
630
00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:47.159
the Cambic Keep books. There's a
few books like that. I believe Strick
631
00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:52.000
Shaven is also like that. I
don't know that for sure. There's a
632
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:55.719
Strixaban has that thing where players that
are new to D and D who are
633
00:39:55.800 --> 00:40:04.079
Harry Potters how those stories work,
and it's a real good way to kind
634
00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.760
of then get them into gaming because
you can run the sort of story because
635
00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:13.320
not everybody who starts playing D and
D has read the Tolkien and the other
636
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:15.840
you know whatever in the Fritz liber
that's kind of the original source material for
637
00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:20.039
D and D or whatever, you
know, or played Dragon Age or something
638
00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:22.519
like that. I'm one of those
people Game of Thrones. But yeah,
639
00:40:22.519 --> 00:40:27.039
but if you start with strict saban
then like you know, kids that like
640
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:30.119
they know that Harry Potter structure and
the kinds of stories to expect, and
641
00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:34.480
it's a great way to kind of
you know, ease them into that other
642
00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:36.920
kind of storytelling them. And that's
to say that there's that there's going to
643
00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:39.800
be a book in a in a
setting, in a style that should hook
644
00:40:39.880 --> 00:40:44.599
really any fantasy. Yeah. So
if their Hiper Potter kids get run stricks
645
00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:47.159
Saving, if they are into horror, run strad. I mean you can
646
00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:51.280
go down the list like this.
So those they're magic players, you can
647
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:53.599
run rafn cut. Yeah. Yeah, that almost got me. So that's
648
00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:58.000
for official sources. I have some
third party books that I think new dms
649
00:40:58.239 --> 00:41:02.280
should absolutely own that any of the
Tooma Beast books from Cobol Press. I
650
00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:06.679
those are just really expansions on a
monster manual. If you want to throw
651
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:08.880
some monsters in there that the players
might not expect or have just been like
652
00:41:08.960 --> 00:41:13.760
kind of really tailored to be interesting. That's just I think that is the
653
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:16.559
next supplemental series to get. There's
three of them out at the time of
654
00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:22.239
this recording, and I will never
stop championing this book for new dms,
655
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:25.400
get the Keith of Mont series.
The monsters know what they're doing, knowing
656
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:29.639
what a monster is capable of doing, versus how a monster would fight if
657
00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:32.199
you were that monster. This is
this is like one oh one on how
658
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:37.960
to DM that particular monster type.
And I like new DMS running a Monster
659
00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:42.679
of the Week style campaign where you
just like pick a monster or pick a
660
00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:45.840
type of monster, and your whole
little one shot is based on those things.
661
00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:50.280
They come across. The players come
across a little one, and then
662
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:52.800
a couple of them, and then
like a couple more, and then a
663
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.880
big version of it at the end, and they almost write themselves. And
664
00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:59.079
all you got to do is just
read Monsters know what they're doing for a
665
00:41:59.079 --> 00:42:02.159
one monster fifteen minutes to learn to
have it learning, and it's super easy
666
00:42:02.199 --> 00:42:07.880
to get started, like the Perfect
Bathroom book. Honestly, yeah, they're
667
00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:10.800
great. I have some further reading
if you want to improve your dming skills.
668
00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:14.480
I have had to be a great
DM by Guys Glanders. How to
669
00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:17.360
write Adventure modules that don't suck by
Goodman Games, Great excellent buckget him.
670
00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:21.880
You got me hooked on that book. And also it looks awesome. Yeah,
671
00:42:21.960 --> 00:42:24.199
it's got the classic like composition,
like like black and white splatter cover
672
00:42:24.519 --> 00:42:28.119
with his gold foiling on. It
is such a cool book that even if
673
00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:30.440
you just even just buy keep on
your shelf and just leave it there,
674
00:42:30.599 --> 00:42:31.480
you should read it. But I
mean, like if for different enough to
675
00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:35.559
else, it looks awesome. And
yes, I'm absolutely judging your book by
676
00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:37.360
its cover. The Low Adventures podcast
at gmail dot com tell me how that's
677
00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:40.519
a bad thing. So and I'm
a lazy DM guy by slife flourish once
678
00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:44.480
you get a couple of games under
your belt. Lazy DM Guide is not
679
00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:49.719
necessarily for new dms, but it
is it will get you from your first
680
00:42:49.719 --> 00:42:57.480
couple of games into preparing better.
I see a looking give me. I
681
00:42:57.519 --> 00:42:59.880
think I have a hot take on
that. Mike himself in the book says
682
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:02.599
this is not this is not for
your first time I can I can disagree
683
00:43:02.599 --> 00:43:07.360
with that, please, and here's
why for your first time you obviously should
684
00:43:07.559 --> 00:43:09.639
you know you have to be comfortable
with the core material, with the rules.
685
00:43:10.119 --> 00:43:15.360
However, I think that prep can
be really intimidating to a new DM,
686
00:43:15.639 --> 00:43:19.960
and this really kind of dumbs it
down, for lack of a better
687
00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:22.280
term, like, hey, you
don't have to be so intimidated by this,
688
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:29.440
streamlines it, and he has changed
his tune between the first printing of
689
00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:35.840
Lazy DMTN, subsequent ones of like
and even now like on his podcast where
690
00:43:35.960 --> 00:43:38.159
he says like, well, Okay, maybe maybe fifteen minutes to thirty minutes
691
00:43:38.199 --> 00:43:43.840
isn't enough prep, And I probably
tend to agree with that, but he
692
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.159
really kind of streamlines that process and
gets you thinking about, okay, like
693
00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:52.000
what are the really important parts of
what I do? As I think I
694
00:43:52.079 --> 00:43:59.719
mentioned in one of our previous episodes
was that I like the improv aspect that
695
00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:02.199
that kind of leads leaves it open. So for me, I did read
696
00:44:02.239 --> 00:44:07.800
that kind of early on and it
helped me relax in my prep and like,
697
00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:09.440
Okay, I don't need to prep
for every Sure, I kind of
698
00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:14.440
have some big ideas and some some
story beats that I know I want to
699
00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:19.119
hit and how we get there doesn't
really matter, because you guys don't know
700
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:22.599
what's in the next town over.
Yeah, And I would say I got
701
00:44:22.639 --> 00:44:24.119
that book very early on as one
of the first third party books that I
702
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:28.480
owned that I might have even been
based on your suggestion, and a lot
703
00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:31.039
of it didn't make sense to me
as a new DM because I didn't know
704
00:44:31.079 --> 00:44:35.000
what I was streamlining and what I
was shortcutting. Right, So I think
705
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:38.159
I think it's also worth making the
distinction here between if you are a new
706
00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:45.880
DM who has played some and then
you're going to DM as opposed to let's
707
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:47.519
all play D and D we've never
played it before. I guess I'm the
708
00:44:47.559 --> 00:44:52.880
dungeon master. Yeah, you're right, different kinds of advice, that's yeah.
709
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:55.320
So I'll say that that is that
is very good further reading, but
710
00:44:55.440 --> 00:45:01.320
I wouldn't start with it. Yeah. The last thing I have here is
711
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:05.760
I have a title campaign Ideas,
and it's a less campaigns, a little
712
00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:08.440
bit more towards I kind of lean
towards one shots for new dms at least
713
00:45:08.440 --> 00:45:12.400
that you get your feet wet until
you start doing something longer. So the
714
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.119
the resources I have here, there
is a document called one page one shots
715
00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:22.199
that I found on dms Guild for
very cheap, and it's a page full
716
00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.679
of I'm not gonna say fully fleshed
out, but mostly fleshed out one shots
717
00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:30.280
that all fits on one page uses
a canography to to kind of get the
718
00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:32.599
idea of it. What kind of
campaign is this? What levels and what
719
00:45:32.639 --> 00:45:36.559
type of player should you be?
Is this going to be a loop thinger?
720
00:45:36.599 --> 00:45:38.320
Is this going to be like a
story thing? And stuff like that.
721
00:45:38.639 --> 00:45:43.000
And then there's another document on how
to write your own one page one
722
00:45:43.039 --> 00:45:46.159
shot that I've been using a lot
recently. And also along with that one
723
00:45:46.159 --> 00:45:50.599
page one shots also pulls from this
other book that I also got on DM's
724
00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:52.199
guild. They kind of like,
I don't know if it's the same authors.
725
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:54.400
I don't have them in front of
me. I apologize, but they
726
00:45:55.480 --> 00:46:00.679
one page one shots uses tactics from
this book called the Five Room Dungeon.
727
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:05.840
Five Room Dungeon is a great design
excel Yeah, excellent both Yeah, and
728
00:46:05.880 --> 00:46:07.599
it's just a quick, cool light
like two page. Oh no, I
729
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:09.760
actually know this one. This one, it's a very long book because the
730
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:13.519
parts where it teaches you how to
build them is like ten twelve pages,
731
00:46:13.840 --> 00:46:15.840
and then it's hundreds of pages of
ones that they built for you, so
732
00:46:16.039 --> 00:46:20.840
totally worth dollars. Absolutely go get
the five Room Dungeon one page one shots
733
00:46:20.840 --> 00:46:23.800
will do either five room dungeons or
a play in three acts. Is how
734
00:46:23.800 --> 00:46:28.280
they is how they frame all their
one shots. And I think there's actually
735
00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:30.079
two of these books and there's like
a well a dozen in each one.
736
00:46:30.280 --> 00:46:34.960
Super worth it. I would start
here. But there's also some creators that
737
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:38.079
will do nothing but just pumped out
one shots. And I'm not gonna do
738
00:46:38.159 --> 00:46:42.800
nothing, but they make a lot
of one shot material. My favorite is
739
00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:45.320
DM Dave. I'm a follower on
his patreon. A lot of the games
740
00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:49.440
that I run at the store have
come from his. He does a lot
741
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:52.280
of like free Monster the Week type
of stuff. He even put out a
742
00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:54.679
poll to his patrons to see,
you know, which are these monsters you
743
00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:59.199
want to see next? And of
course I vote Mimic every time, and
744
00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:01.440
that's how I ran the Mimic Museum, which is still my fa Actually got
745
00:47:01.480 --> 00:47:06.760
the Unicorn Islands was my favorite ones
that was just awesome. Excellent creator and
746
00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:10.360
that he works with. A map
maker would be a fantasy cartographer would be
747
00:47:10.360 --> 00:47:15.079
it'll be the job title who makes
excellent maps that get put in these bs
748
00:47:15.079 --> 00:47:19.000
also, which I then put into
I'll print out and use it on a
749
00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:22.800
table. And if you're a DM
looking for your first one shot and you've
750
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:28.159
never done it before and you want
something easy and fun, I cannot recommend
751
00:47:28.440 --> 00:47:32.559
enough the Wild Sheep Chase. I
have run this one shot no less than
752
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:36.920
ten times at this point with all
new players every time, even players who
753
00:47:36.920 --> 00:47:39.519
have played it before, like a
player that's new to me and they've played
754
00:47:39.559 --> 00:47:43.480
it with other people before. Everyone
just got their own little flavor on it.
755
00:47:43.920 --> 00:47:46.079
And it's not uncommon for a player
to have come across this before.
756
00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:51.880
It's fun. There's a very just
creative twist in the last act. And
757
00:47:52.079 --> 00:47:55.599
this was my first time ever dming
anything. Oh wow, that's was the
758
00:47:55.599 --> 00:47:59.559
first thing I ever ran. Joe
is unavailable one night and we want to
759
00:47:59.559 --> 00:48:02.599
play any So I ran this game
for everyone while we were still locked up
760
00:48:02.639 --> 00:48:07.719
from covid D. I've been dming
ever since because this was just it was
761
00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:12.920
just put out just so accessible for
someone who's never Yeah, and that's a
762
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:16.760
thing that especially for new dms like
this is a thing that I learned was
763
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:22.440
that have that go to adventure so
that if you find yourself in a situation
764
00:48:23.159 --> 00:48:28.800
where just for whatever reason, people
like like you've got a group of people
765
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:31.639
they want to play D and D
and you know, have that adventure ready
766
00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:36.320
to go, have five pre printed
character sheets and just hand to them,
767
00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:37.880
you know. I mean, if
you're serious about it and you really want
768
00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:42.280
to be, you know, ready
to run at any time. That that's
769
00:48:42.280 --> 00:48:45.320
another thing you can carry around with
you as a stack of pre printed character
770
00:48:45.360 --> 00:48:46.760
sheets ready to go. So just
hand them out the people, run it
771
00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:51.880
and go. So Wizards of the
Coast has officially made yeah, premier characters,
772
00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:55.119
like for every levels. It's at
least one of every class and levels
773
00:48:55.159 --> 00:49:00.000
one through ten. Yeah. Wow, Yeah, they're available out there.
774
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:04.000
Yeah, print them out and I
have all the pdf saved so anytime I
775
00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.199
can spect. Okay, here here
they are, send it to. If
776
00:49:06.199 --> 00:49:07.599
we're just hanging around, just send
it to a friend's printer. I have
777
00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:10.679
a tiny set of dice that I
keep on my keys. Yeah, and
778
00:49:10.719 --> 00:49:14.960
I know there's I'm just ready to
go. And I also want to make
779
00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:17.039
the case for no kidding, if
you are new to the game, then
780
00:49:17.039 --> 00:49:22.320
you are running for the first time, you absolutely can do much worse.
781
00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:24.239
I mean like, like all of
these third party things are great, but
782
00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:30.000
you can get a really good,
full, complete campaign out of any of
783
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:35.599
the pre published mega adventures. You
know, you can just throw down Cursustrade
784
00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:37.559
and you've got a couple of years
of gaming, if you know, kidding,
785
00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:40.199
go all the way through that thing. You know, Dragons of Ice,
786
00:49:40.280 --> 00:49:45.360
Dragons of Ice, fire peet,
any of those and they'll work right,
787
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:50.599
you know, the the Eborn book, the strict Saban book, They're
788
00:49:50.679 --> 00:49:53.280
like that material is all there.
You don't have to go searching for this
789
00:49:53.320 --> 00:49:55.360
stuff. No, if you just
want to run it right out of the
790
00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:59.280
book, there's plenty there to do
that way. And the starter sets too,
791
00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:04.360
you know as somebody that the first
my first time playing D and D
792
00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:07.559
was one of the starter sets.
Like they're they're great. They give you
793
00:50:07.599 --> 00:50:12.920
a great kind of overview of the
game and things that you're going to need
794
00:50:12.960 --> 00:50:16.360
and upgraating your character and everything else. So and from a DM perspective,
795
00:50:16.360 --> 00:50:20.320
they give you a lot of good
tips. And I guess this is this
796
00:50:20.440 --> 00:50:22.280
is another place to say where if
you're new kidding listening to this for the
797
00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:27.079
first time with like no idea about
what's going on with D and D.
798
00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:32.280
That twenty twenty five dollars basic set
is an amazing introduction to D and D.
799
00:50:32.440 --> 00:50:37.119
It is a great place to start
just to see if you like it
800
00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:39.719
because it's got everything you need to
you know, to run like a couple
801
00:50:39.760 --> 00:50:43.440
of three levels worth. And if
you decide you love it, yeah,
802
00:50:43.480 --> 00:50:45.599
then you can invest the money in
a but boy as a as a sampler.
803
00:50:45.719 --> 00:50:51.159
It's less than taking a friend to
the movies to get that basic set
804
00:50:51.199 --> 00:50:53.280
and just you know, get only
other thing to need this dice. Yep.
805
00:50:55.400 --> 00:50:58.639
So I think this is a great
place to end it here. We've
806
00:50:58.639 --> 00:51:01.199
got a ton of information out there, so let's just like real quick just
807
00:51:01.199 --> 00:51:05.480
to recap all the recommendations we made. So if you are a brand new
808
00:51:05.559 --> 00:51:08.079
DM, never DN before, Jim, just quickly have things that you recommended,
809
00:51:08.159 --> 00:51:13.360
physical copies of the three core books, blank character sheets enough for everybody
810
00:51:13.400 --> 00:51:15.440
at the table, set a dice
for you and everyone else at the table,
811
00:51:15.880 --> 00:51:20.599
pens and pencils for everybody that might
be their big stack index cards.
812
00:51:20.599 --> 00:51:23.000
That's everything you need to run D
and D without any of the extra bells
813
00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:27.679
and whistles. If you want to
keep going out from there, the supplemental
814
00:51:27.719 --> 00:51:31.440
trio. Tasha's Aatars and of the
Multiverse is great to go from there the
815
00:51:31.519 --> 00:51:36.559
Keitha mon Books and the Tomophoes you're
looking for more interesting monsters. How to
816
00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:38.400
Be Agree with the MP by Guys
Clanders as far. Also how to Write
817
00:51:38.400 --> 00:51:43.039
Adventure Modules that Don't Suck by Goodman
Games and the Lazy dms got by slid
818
00:51:43.079 --> 00:51:45.400
Flourish are all excellent third party books
to think about better DM once you get
819
00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:51.519
started. If you're looking for quick
one shot ideas just to get people playing
820
00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:55.360
one page one shots Patreon creators such
as DM Dave and of course The Wild
821
00:51:55.400 --> 00:51:58.639
Sheep Chase. If you run the
Wild Sheep Chase, or if you run
822
00:51:58.679 --> 00:52:00.559
it because you heard of it here. I want to know how that game
823
00:52:00.599 --> 00:52:04.480
went. Shoot us an email,
Hello Adventurers Podcast at email dot com.
824
00:52:04.599 --> 00:52:07.239
Let me know how it ended up. There's a tough decision the players have
825
00:52:07.280 --> 00:52:09.840
to make right at the end.
I want to know what your players did.
826
00:52:10.239 --> 00:52:14.400
I've run this game, I think
ten times now, and I've had
827
00:52:14.400 --> 00:52:17.920
players successfully complete the task and I
don't want to spoil anything, and I've
828
00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:22.920
had players set fire to the room
and walk away and everything in between.
829
00:52:22.280 --> 00:52:24.679
It's just such a cool one.
I want to know how your a wild
830
00:52:24.679 --> 00:52:30.079
sheet chase game went. Please tell
me this against Hello Adventurers Podcast at gmail
831
00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:32.480
dot com or leave us a voicemail
about it. Do that too, that's
832
00:52:32.480 --> 00:52:37.320
a helloadventures podcast dot com slash voice. Send us a voicemail let us know
833
00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:40.119
how your first one shot went.
Any party words, guys, no,
834
00:52:40.320 --> 00:52:45.440
good luck. Like, the more
dms the better because more DMS means more
835
00:52:45.480 --> 00:52:47.800
players, which means more people that
might listen to this show. So get
836
00:52:47.840 --> 00:52:51.880
out there and run some games and
have fun. Yeah, oh yeah yeah.
837
00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:54.639
My final gift to new DMS is
I'm going to give you this phrase.
838
00:52:54.760 --> 00:52:58.559
Write it down, learn it,
know it tattooed on your forehead.
839
00:52:58.599 --> 00:53:04.440
Do whatever you got to do,
certainly try Are you sure? Are you
840
00:53:04.519 --> 00:53:07.639
sure? Start learning? You're scary
for I had a game the other day
841
00:53:07.639 --> 00:53:09.360
where they're like, Okay, we're
gonna go through the Door'm like, oh,
842
00:53:09.519 --> 00:53:14.320
you're touching the door, Like yes, okay, nothing, go through
843
00:53:14.320 --> 00:53:19.159
door. Okay. Guys, thanks
so much for listening to Hello Adventurers.
844
00:53:19.239 --> 00:53:22.079
We are your host Jason Portizo,
Jim Crocker and Throw McCall. Producer,
845
00:53:22.199 --> 00:53:27.199
editor Antonineer Jason Portiso. Our music
is by Nick Spurrier, artwork by Kristin
846
00:53:27.280 --> 00:53:31.000
Roderick, and H listener is by
you, whoever's listening to us right now.
847
00:53:31.320 --> 00:53:35.519
Good on you, and with nothing
else to say, goodbye,

















