Tag: Game Talk

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D gives us puppy dog eyes from our bookshelves if we don’t pick it up and play it once in a while. 

In the past we’ve looked at the history of D&D and how it has interacted with diversity and representation, as well as why its important to be mindful of this topic. This time, we’re revisiting the topic, but from a slightly different angle. We want to talk about why its not just the right thing to do, its the smart thing to do when it comes to running a better game. We’re going to look at the benefits of good representation in your fantasy campaigns.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is the game always stocked in our pantry at home.

Whether its at a convention, when you want a change of pace from your regular campaign, or you want to introduce new players to a fantasy RPG, compelling one shots can be an important tool for you to have at your disposal. We’re revisiting the topic of one shot games, put them in context of the history of RPGs, and give you some tools for making them work for you at your table.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D changes over time when we’re not looking.

When your NPCs has personalities and goals, it can make your world feel more dynamic. But what happens when that NPC depth remains static over a campaign that spans years? How can we advance our NPCs so that they’re not just two-dimensional, but they actually travel through the fourth dimension. Today on the show we’re going to look at how and why to change your campaign NPCs over time.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D has the lucky number that keeps coming up.

Have you ever heard someone explain to a new player that the great thing about RPGs is that you can do anything you want? Have you ever thought about what that really means, and if it’s actually true? How do you create a space where everyone can share their imaginative choices, where everyone’s imaginations live in the same space? We’re going to look at the limits of player agency in today’s episode.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D convinced us that if we get high enough level, we’ll start attracting followers

Sometimes your worried that any wrong move will get your character killed. Sometimes you feel like you’re so powerful, only the big bad is going to be a challenge. But there’s a magical spot in the middle, where you feel challenged, but also badass. We’re going to look at why those middle levels of D&D feel like the sweet spot, and maybe if we look hard enough, we can figure out how to bring some of that tier 2 magic to either side of that sweet spot.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D grants us XP for doing the show.

When should your players level up their characters? Beyond gold and magic items, advancing a character can be the greatest reward in fantasy gaming. Traditionally that meant tracking and awarding XP, but increasingly, RPGs, including D&D, are embracing the concept of tracking advancement in other ways. Is there still a place for XP, and why might it still be a good system for your table? We’ll explore that in today’s episode.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, we’re still processing our game notes

It’s natural for a GM to wonder if what they presented in the last game session is what their players wanted. Did that section that you spent hours outlining provide the response you were hoping? Is the secret mastermind going to be rewarding for the PCs to uncover? What if I asked for too many ability checks? What if I forgot to ask for the ability checks that one player just put all of their effort into increasing? In today’s episode, we’re going to look at gathering feedback and putting that feedback into action in our games.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D can still be unpredictable.

We all know the fantasy archetypes that spring from fantasy RPGs. The naïve but steadfast paladin, the stoic ranger who relates better to animals than people, the arrogant wizard that looks down on anyone less intelligent than they are. But we also know people that intentionally play against those archetypes. The hard drinking hedonistic paladin of the goddess of love, the ranger that has friends in every tavern in every city along the Sword Coast, the wizard that loves teaching and explaining new things to others. Today we’re going to look at playing against type, why you may want to do it, and how sometimes it can be very similar to playing a rigid archetype.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D still isn’t on its last breath.

Only two things in life are certain. Death and Taxes. Or in D&D, Death Saves and Upkeep rules. In this episode, we’re going to look at character death. How should you handle it? Can you run a game without it? How does it affect the stakes of your game? What does it mean to have a meaningful death in the game? We’re going to teeter on the boundary between life and death today in this episode of THAC0 w/ Advantage.

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is a spawn point for new players.

On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about zero level humans. But in this case, we me people that haven’t played D&D before. We’ve talked about new players before, but what about specific techniques? How do you introduce concepts in bit sized chunks that will go down easy? We’re going to talk about setting up your D&D sessions with new players by looking at video game tutorials in today’s episode.