The Dm's Deep Dive With Mike Shea

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com?utm_source=sf_podcast_talkshow&utm_medium=sf_podcast_description_link Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:06 D&D & RPG News: Flee Mortals For Sale 06:59 Kickstarter Spotlight: Where Evil Lives Crowdfunding Campaign 11:41 D&D & RPG News: Free Giants of the Star Forge Adventure on D&D Beyond 12:47 D&D & RPG News: Shadow of the Weird Wizard Preview 19:28 D&D & RPG News: 2023 Award Winning RPG Products 22:57 D&D & RPG News: New Starfinder 2 in 2025 23:40 D&D & RPG News: AI Art Used in Bigby's Glory of the Giants 42:28 Commentary: Don't Forget Why We Love RPGs 45:33 Patreon Question: Concerns with Planescape and other WOTC Sourcebooks 50:20 Patreon Question: Prep During Long Breaks with Different Players 52:40 Patreon Question: Being Overwhelmed by Huge Sourcebooks 55:35 Patreon Question: Where Do You Get Puzzles? 57:46 Patreon Question: Engaging Players Between Sessions Links Subscribe to

Mike prepares for his weekly Scarlet Citadel game! Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books The 5e Artisanal Monster Database Buy Scarlet Citadel (affiliate link) Kobold Press Monster Database Scarlet Citadel Notion Notebook

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:58 D&D & RPG News: 5.1 SRD Released in Four Languages 10:23 D&D & RPG News: Shadowdark RPG Game Jam Results 12:46 D&D & RPG News: Pathfinder 2 Remaster Preview 21:47 D&D & RPG News: Map Crow Uses Forge of Foes and Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master 22:24 DM Tip: Moving Things Forward 43:22 Patreon Question: Balancing Spotlight and Player Creativity 48:11 Patreon Question: Recommends for Nautical Seafaring Adventuress 50:12 Patreon Question: Tips for Sci-Fi 5e games 51:39 Patreon Question: RPGs that Ephasize Theater of the Mind 54:26 Patreon Question: Handling In-World Dead Time 57:19 Patreon Question: Running Consecutive Campaigns in the Same Setting Links 5.1 System Reference Document in French 5.1 System Reference Document in German 5.1 System Reference Document in Spanish 5.1 System Reference Document in Italian Shadowdark RPG Game Jam Results Tragic Curse of Grimhill For

Links Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Cursed Scroll 3 Shadowdarklings Show Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:41 What Is a Shadowdark Gauntlet? 03:46 Running Hoard of the Sea Wolf King 07:17 Prep the Session -- an In-World Session Zero 12:29 Add Some Secrets and Clues 15:01 Add a Dash of Cultists

Mike dives deep into the dungeon crawler RPG Shadowdark RPG Links Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowdark RPG Show Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:38 One of Three Videos 01:29 What Is Shadowdark RPG? 03:54 Key Features of Shadowdark RPG 04:04 Torches and Lighting 05:38 Always On Initiative 06:56 Really Flat Math 10:04 Slot-Based Encumbrance 11:44 Treasure-Based Experience 13:47 Differences with 5e 13:56 Very Different Style and Focus than 5e 15:39 Other 5e Differences 18:55 Convincing Your Group to Play Shadowdark RPG 19:58 Running the Gauntlet 20:56 An Opinionated RPG 24:25 Abstract Distances and Double-Near?? 26:08 Awesome Monster Design 30:41 I'm Excited to Try It!

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:43 Kickstarter Spotlight: Shadows of the Weird Wizard Coming Soon 02:05 Kickstarter Spotlight: 500 Year Old Vampire 03:59 D&D & RPG News: Fantasy Age 2 Released 05:47 D&D & RPG News: Hydra Co-op OSR Bundle of Holding 08:13 D&D & RPG News: Owlbear Rodeo 2.0 Fully Released 12:09 Commentary: What is the Easiest RPG for GMs to Run? 24:32 Patreon Question: Linear vs Railroad vs Sandbox Adventure Design 31:11 Patreon Question: Using Forge of Foes for Rival Adventuring Parties 33:48 Patreon Question: Customizing Downtime for the Characters 35:53 Patreon Question: What Issues as a GM Did I Have and Change? 39:52 Patreon Question: Standing Firm on Cliffhanger Endings 43:12 Patreon Question: Handling Tag-Along NPCs in Light of Xaryxis Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Shadow of the Weird Wizard Kickstarter Five Hundred Year

Mike dives deep into Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands for 5e, a short campaign adventure written by Raging Swan Press. 00:00 Show Start 01:01 Returning to the Joy of a Core D&D Experience 04:25 A Deep Dive of Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands 05:01 Tested for More than a Decade 06:56 An Expandible 1st to 4th Level Adventure / Campaign 09:27 Both Readable and Usable at the Table 10:31 Single Page References Throughout 15:22 The Duchy of Ashlar 17:02 The Shadowed Keep 20:39 A Juxtaposition from Spelljammer 21:38 My Mistake -- Tying it to Greyhawk 28:39 Homebrewing Almost Immediately 31:33 The Masks of Orcus 33:48 Filling Out the World with Dyson Maps 36:38 Usable with Many Fantasy RPG Systems 38:13 Which Parts of Published Adventures Are Most Scrapable? 42:47 Do You Have to Read the Whole Thing? Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands for 5e

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:06 Product Spotlight: Free A5e Monster Tokens 03:03 D&D & RPG News: 2023 Ennie Nominations 12:05 Product Spotlight: Swords of the Serpentine 23:50 DM Tip: Running Cities 45:26 Patreon Question: Running Cozier Fantasty Games 50:28 Patreon Question: Running Tier 3 and 4 campaigns 53:27 Patreon Question: The Differences between Grim and Heroic D&D 57:28 Patreon Question: Building Fantastic Locations Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: A5e Monster Tokens at DriveThruRPG (affiliate link) Ennie Nominations - 2023 Swords of the Serpentine Swords of the Serpentine Quickstart Rules Waterdeep City Encounters Campaign Builder Cities and Towns

Mike prepares for his weekly Scarlet Citadel game! Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books The 5e Artisanal Monster Database Buy Scarlet Citadel (affiliate link) Kobold Press Monster Database Scarlet Citadel Notion Notebook

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:20 D&D & RPG News: Guest Host on Mastering Dungeons 03:07 Commentary: The RPG Fediverse and dndblogs.com 10:29 Commentary: Find Players for Non-5e RPGs 20:29 DM Tip: Project Deadly Threats 30:27 Patreon Question: Adjusting Spells with the Monster Dials 33:55 Patreon Question: Challenging High AC Characters 38:25 Patreon Question: Running Cozier Heroci 5e Games Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Mastering Dungeons Podcast Mastering Dungeons YouTube Channel RPG Blog Reader TTRPG Lemmy (Reddit Replacement) Dice.camp (Mastodon server) Chirp.enworld.org (Mastodon server) Comments from Youtube on Finding Players for Other RPGs

Mike prepares for his weekly Scarlet Citadel game! Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books The 5e Artisanal Monster Database Buy Scarlet Citadel (affiliate link) Kobold Press Monster Database Scarlet Citadel Notion Notebook

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:57 DM Tip: Build a Vampire Knight with Forge of Foes 09:11 Product Spotlight: Shard Tabletop 18:31 D&D & RPG News: New 2024 D&D Playtest Packet 32:56 D&D & RPG News: Two Tales of the Valiant Playtests 42:26 Patreon Question: Using PbtA Mechanics in 5e Games 47:36 Patreon Question: Giving Bonus Info for High Ability Rolls 50:48 Patreon Question: Improving Evocative Location Descriptions 54:44 Patreon Question: Telling Players about Changes You Made in Published Adventures Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Forge of Foes Preorder Shard Tabletop D&D 2024 Playtest 6 Tales of the Valiant Smallfolk Playtest 1d20 Shades of Gray

Mike prepares for his weekly Scarlet Citadel game! Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books The 5e Artisanal Monster Database Buy Scarlet Citadel (affiliate link) Kobold Press Monster Database Scarlet Citadel Notion Notebook

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:14 Product Spotlight: Tome of Beasts 1 2023 Revision by Kobold Press 10:07 D&D & RPG News: Tales of the Valiant Finishes at 10k Backers and 1.1M Dollars. 11:12 Kickstarter Spotlight: Gloomhaven RPG 14:44 Product Spotlight: Crucible for Foundry 16:51 D&D & RPG News: D&D VTT Hands-On Experiences 18:35 Commentary: The Digital Future of RPGs 25:16 Commentary: Where to Engage with the RPG Community 37:22 Patreon Question: Which Will Be the Most Popular RPG? It Doesn't Matter. 41:06 Patreon Question: Will the D&D 3D VTT Eat the World of RPGs? No. 43:43 Patreon Question: The Difference Between Old School Grim Characters and New Heroic Characters 49:24 Patreon Question: Sample Encounters for Monsters Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Tome of Beasts 1 2023 Revision Gloomhaven RPG Crowdfunding Campaign D&D VTT Hands-On

Mike talks about how we can fix the 2014 D&D Players Handbook to preserve the value of the millions of copies that exist throughout the world and those in our own gaming room. Podcast Contents 00:00 How Would You Fix the 2014 D&D Player's Handbook? 02:09 What Parts of the 2014 Player's Handbook Disrupt the Game? 04:10 House Rules in My Own Game 05:26 House Rules Take 1: Nerf Nerf Nerf 05:54 Ability Score Generation 07:31 Class and Subclass Nerfs 08:31 Ispiration 08:48 Exhaustion 09:03 Spell Changes 13:33 Feedback I got: Too Many Nerfs 14:31 A Different Approach: Let's All Make the Game Better 15:20 Where Do You get These House Rules? 16:01 A Focus on Intention 16:31 Boss Monsters are Special 19:40 Requests for a Smooth Game 19:49 Please don't Run More than One or Two Sidekick NPCs 20:23 Please don't multiclass dip for Shield 21:33 Be Mindful of Arcane Eye's Disruption 21:53 Let's Avoid the Counterspell Arms Race 22:25 Familiars are either In or Out of Combat 22:59 Goodberries Are No Substitute for Rea

Mike talks about the recent Reddit collapse, Cory Doctorow's "Enshittification" model for this type of collapse, and how DMs and GMs can protect themselves from the collapse of other enshittified platforms. Video Contents 00:00 Show Start 02:41 Main Points -- How GMs can Protect Themselves from Enshittified Platforms 05:08 The Enshittification Model 09:23 Why Does This Matter for DMs, GMs, and RPGs? 11:52 The Enshittification of Reddit and the RPG Subreddits 14:44 What GMs Are Really Losing -- The DM Academy 15:21 Where Will New DMs Go to Get Questions Answered? 17:18 Is D&D Itself Enshittified? 20:41 Enshittification Risks to GMs 24:21 What Are the Risks for Sly Flourish? 27:48 Know Enshittification, Have Backup Plans, Own Your Stuff 28:20 Returning to Blogs, Newsletters, Podcasts Additional Links Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Cory Doctorow's "Tiktok's enshittification"

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:22 Sly Flourish News: The Lazy GM's Resource Document in Japanese 04:05 D&D & RPG News: Bob World Builder's Four D&D Combat House Rules 07:12 Kickstarter Spotlight: Aetherial Expanse Setting Guide by Ghostfire Gaming 09:59 Commentary: Chat GPT for RPG Prep 33:05 Patreon Question: Making a Location Feel Dangerous 35:46 Patreon Question: Dealing With Emotional Drain After Intense Roleplay Scenes 38:14 Patreon Question: Running Campaigns Built from Multiple Published Adventuresb 40:17 Patreon Question: What Are GMs Not Thinking About Enough? 43:59 Patreon Question: Let Campaign Themes Come Out Naturally 46:16 Patreon Question: Combining 5e Subclasses with A5e Classes Links Lazy GM's Resource Document Lazy GM's Resource Document in Japanese Lazy GM's Resource Document on Github Bob World Builder's Top Four Combat House Rules Aetherial Expanse Kickstarter by Ghostfire Gaming RPG Safety Toolkit Subs

Mike prepares for his weekly Scarlet Citadel game! Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books The 5e Artisanal Monster Database Buy Scarlet Citadel (affiliate link) Kobold Press Monster Database Scarlet Citadel Notion Notebook

Mike offers a review and tips for running the Spelljammer adventure, Light of Xaryxis, with experiences from his own campaign. Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books Show Contents 00:00 Video Start 00:28 Reviewing Adventures I've Actually Run 00:49 Top Tips for Running Light of Xaryxis 00:52 Tip 1: Use Stars Over Stormwreck to Connect the Characters to Light of Xaryxis 01:26 Tip 2: Stay with the Moondancer 02:22 Tip 3: Embrace Flash Gordon 03:03 Tip 4: Run Ship Combat in the Narrative 04:11 Tip 5: Give Players Agency Over the Ending 04:58 A Review of the Spelljammer Boxed Set 06:55 Breaking Down the Adventure 08:22 Tips for Part 1 11:36 Tips for Part 2 15:37 Tips for Part 3 18:11 Tips for Part 4 19:03 Missions of the FInal Battle 21:26 Who Lives and Who Dies? Let the Dice Decide! 23:26 Add a Touch of Mind Flayer... 24:06 Princess Xedali's Choice 26:04 Run a One Year Later Montage 27:12 Final Thoughts

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:13 Sly Flourish News: Dwarven Forge VTT 07:46 D&D & RPG News: Wizards on One D&D and 2024 Core Book Messaging 14:57 Commentary: 5e Isn't D&D 25:38 Commentary: High Trust Trad Concepts and Situation-Based RPGs 40:34 Patreon Question: Can the Eight Steps work for Dungeon World? 43:22 Patreon Question: Dealing with Missing Players and Absenteeism 47:49 Patreon Question: Why Are Hags Allowed to Persist? Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: D&D Community Update: Clarifying Language: One D&D, 2024 Core Rulebooks What are the 2024 Fifth Edition Core Rulebooks? D&D YouTube Video What is high-trust trad adventure design? How to Handle Missing Players