The Dm's Deep Dive With Mike Shea

WOTC's new president, Lazy DM's Companion PDF for sale, Tal'Dorei Reborn product spotlight, more on Monsters of the Multiverse monster difficulty, and February Patreon Q&A in this week's Lazy D&D Talk Show! Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:35 New President of Wizards of the Coast and the Unpredictability of the Future of D&D 07:20 Lazy DM's Companion PDF Now for General Sale! 08:36 Tal'Dorei Reborn Product Spotlight 25:17 Videos and Articles about Monster Difficulty in Monsters of the Multiverse 37:57 Patreon Question: Running with One Remote Player and Three Physical Players 41:55 Patreon Question: Running a Predator-style Adventure that Doesn't Suck 45:55 Patreon Question: Any Further Tips on Campaign Development? Not really! 47:51 Patreon Question: Getting Players to Use More Character Features 50:31 Patreon Question: Getting Players to Understand Old-School Style Adventures in 5e 53:29 Patreon Question: Building Legacy Weapons that Scale Up in Power Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish

Mike discusses his Blades in the Dark finale and thoughts about the game. Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Cheat Sheet by Justin Alexander Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike prepares to run his session zero of his first Numenera campaign! Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Buy the Lazy DM's Companion Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Numenera Lazy DM Campaign Notebook Numenera Discovery Injecting the Weird Jade Colossus

Mike goes through the final 33 Patreon questions of January 2022! Contents 00:00:00 Show Intro 00:01:01 Cliche Bad Guy Expositions 00:02:49 Managing Treasure Distribution 00:05:08 Describing Three of Five Keys In Fiction 00:07:30 Building Quick Monsters from Scratch 00:09:39 Incorporating Character Backstories - Not for Everyone 00:13:46 Lazy Tips for Character Retreats 00:17:41 Sly Flourish DM Screen? 00:21:05 Creating Interesting Combat Encounters 00:25:12 Adding New Characters to Descent into Avernus 00:27:06 Making a CR 3 Vampire 00:28:56 More Sly Flourish Streamed D&D Games? Nope, Sorry. 00:30:29 Running One-Hour D&D Games 00:33:33 Tracking Factions in Notion 00:35:26 One-Page Campaign Guide for Homebrew Worlds 00:38:49 Setup for Running Games Online 00:41:08 Experience with Devesting Critical Hits 00:42:05 Using Extra Encounters for WOTC Hardcover Campaigns 00:43:33 Fog of War for Tabletop Maps 00:46:01 Secrets and Clues for West Marches Games 00:48:16 Managing Monsters with

Mike talks about all things D&D! Contents 00:29 My friend Bryan and the Importance of D&D 08:07 Quick Thoughts on Blades in the Dark 09:23 Further Thoughts on D&D Beyond and Monsters of the Multiverse 12:28 Kickstarter Spotlight: Tome of Beasts 3 by Kobold Press (Sponsored) 17:04 Product Spotlight: Level Up 5e Monstrous Menagerie 42:58 Patreon Q&A 43:23 Patreon Question: 5e's Time Sinks 48:22 Patreon Question: Do Monster Dials Prevent Character Death? 50:27 Patreon Question: Digital 3rd Party Products Outside of PDFs? 53:09 Patreon Question: Tips for Monster Morale 55:18 Patreon Question: 4e Modules of Note for 5e Conversion? 56:59 Patreon Question: Secrets, Clues, and Discoveries for Numenera Links Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Buy the Lazy DM's Companion Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Playing D&D Can Save Your Life Tome of Beasts 3 Kickstarter (Sponsored) Level Up Advanced 5e Monstrous Menagerie Madness at Gardmore A

Mike prepares for his Blades in the Dark game. Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Cheat Sheet by Justin Alexander Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike talks about all things D&D! Contents 00:38 Lazy DM's Companion PDF Delivered! 09:29 Monsters of the Multiverse on D&D Beyond on May 17th 13:25 MotM Not Updating Previous Content on D&D Beyond 23:26 A Look at Monsters of the Multiverse Stat Blocks 47:56 Patreon Question: Transitions Between Scenes and Encounters 50:47 Patreon Question: Running "World Without Heroes" Campaign 53:35 Patreon: Using Callbacks 56:08 Patreon Question: Problems and Benefits of D&D Canon 59:36 Patreon Question: Bite-sized Lore and Inspiration Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Preorder the Lazy DM's Companion Monsters of the Multiverse on D&D Beyond on 17 May 2022 Enworld on Monsters of the Multiverse not replacing existing monsters Reddit transcript of D&D Beyond Twitch show on Monsters of the Multiverse DDB Taking Queues from WOTC on MotM integration Brandes Soddard's Twitter Preview of MotM See Brandes

Mike talks about his first full session of Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Contents 00:00 Show Start 02:10 Seven D&D Tips from Last Night's Game 12:31 The Theme of Witchlight and the Dreadful Incursions 16:42 The Characters in my Witchlight Campaign 21:22 First Witchlight Session Retrospective 45:11 Prep for my Next Session 59:49 Listing the Cool Dreadful Domains for Dreadful Incursions Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy the Lazy DM's Companion Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Buy Wild Beyond the Witchlight on Amazon (affiliate link) Wild Beyond the Witchlight Notion Template Wild Beyond the Witchlight One-Page Campaign Guide Eventyr's Complete DM's Bundle for Wild Beyond the Witchlight (affiliate link) Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning

Mike prepares for his Blades in the Dark game. Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Cheat Sheet by Justin Alexander Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike talks about all things D&D! Sorry about the plosives in the recording, I was speaking too much into the mic (no need to comment =)) Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:41 Lazy DMs Companion Update - All is Great! 05:02 Thoughts about Wild Beyond the Witchlight Sesson Zero 15:42 More on D&D Not Being Like World of Warcraft 33:05 Patreon Questions 33:28 Patreon Question: Revisiting Old Eliminated Prep Areas 36:04 Patreon Question: Preparing Multiple Sessions in Advance 38:35 Patreon Question: Handling Unexpected Character Deaths 41:25 Patreon Question: Publishing Homebrew Campaigns 45:14 Patreon Question: Favorite and Least Favorite Parts of 5e Seven Years In 51:07 Patreon Question: Evaluating Published Adventures 55:30 Patreon Question: DCs Higher than 30 and Choosing DCs based on the Characters Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Preorder the Lazy DM's Companion

Mike's special mic-check episode of the Lazy D&D Talk show. Just general chatter about lots of random stuff. Contents 00:00:00 Show Intro 00:01:16 What Did I Do Today? 00:03:33 Cobra Kai 00:05:15 Reddit on Character Race Changes 00:13:12 Checking my Mic 00:16:58 Predictions on the Next D&D 00:18:47 Jim Collins's "Good to Great" and Wizards of the Coast 00:28:07 Lots of Monster Books Coming 00:28:50 Dangerous Destinations by Nord Games 00:32:32 Potential Numenera Campaign Adventures 00:45:17 Alphastream's New Patreon 00:49:23 My Dream: An RPG Industry Talk Show 00:52:45 Mike's Next Thing... (Join Patreon to find out!) 00:55:35 Latest Lazy DM's Companion Preview 01:06:54 How do you Grow Your Patreon Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Preorder the Lazy DM's Companion Good to Great Five Stages of Decline Dangerous Destinations Preorder Page Alphastream's New Patreon

Mike prepares for his full Blades in the Dark game. Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike prepares for his session zero of Wizards of the Coast hardcover adventure Wild Beyond the Witchlight! Video contents 00:00 Show Intro 01:09 How I feel about Wild Beyond the Witchlight 07:41 Running a Session Zero 12:15 Witchlight Campaign One-Pager 39:26 Reading and Absorbing Wild Beyond the Witchlight 44:04 Adding Dreadful Incursions for Combat Options in Witchlight 57:13 Prepping the First Session at the Witchlight Carnival Links Buy Wild Beyond the Witchlight on Amazon (affiliate link) Wild Beyond the Witchlight Notion Template Eventyr's Complete DM's Bundle for Wild Beyond the Witchlight (affiliate link) Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike talks about all things D&D! Contents 00:00 Show Intro 01:24 WOTC CEO Chris Cocks Promoted to Hasbro CEO 10:03 Kickstarter Spotlight: Limitless Heroics 14:53 Kickstarter Spotlight: Adventurer's Guide to the Bible 18:47 Kickstarter Spotlight: Nerdarchy's Mage Forge 20:33 Kickstarter Preview Spotlight: Tome of Beasts 3 by Kobold Press 22:31 Product Spotlight: What Crooked Roots 28:04 4e Skill Challenges vs. Blades Progress Clocks 34:52 Patreon Questions 35:27 Patreon Question: Keeping High Levels Challenging 41:00 Patreon Question: Sly Flourish Books on Roll 20? 44:44 Patreon Question: When Do You Give Out the One-Page Campaign Guide? 46:19 Patreon Question: Pre- and Post-Game Rituals 48:34 Patreon Question: Running Complicated Political Intrigue 51:12 This Isn't Gospel. I'm Just Sharing My Experiences 52:05 Patreon Question: Good 5-Page Product Types? 56:11 Patreon Question: Running RPGs for Kids? 57:55 Patreon Question: Good Downward Beats from Hamlet's Hit Points 59:25 Patreon Ques

Mike prepares for his first full Blades in the Dark game. Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Notable 3rd party D&D products of 2021 and Patreon Questions! Contents 00:00 Show Intro 00:12 Mastering Dungeons for D&D News 01:14 Lazy DM Companion Art Previews 04:44 Notable 5e Third-Party Products in 2021 06:02 Arcadia by MCDM 08:54 The Book of Fiends by Robert Schwalb and Green Ronin 10:11 Complete Kobold's Guide to Monsters by Kobold Press 11:43 Iskandar by MT Black 12:32 Level Up Advanced 5e by EnWorld Publishing 14:08 Ptolus 5e by Monte Cook Games 16:12 Scarlet Citadel by Kobold Press 18:16 Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands by Raging Swan Press 19:22 Southlands by Kobold Press 20:19 Vault of Magic by Kobold Press 21:49 Where the Machines Wait by Monte Cook Games 24:56 Patreon Questions 25:22 Patreon Question: Epic and Meaningful Deaths 28:58 Patreon Question: Handling Petrification and Flight 30:40 Chamber of Secrets - Worst Harry Potter Movie 33:19 Patreon Question: Rolling Secret Rolls for Characters 35:29 Patreon Question: Organizing Digital Products 40:18 Patreon Quest

Mike prepares for his session zero of Blades in the Dark! Blades in the Dark Blades in the Dark Notion Campaign Notebook Using Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign Planning Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike talks about all things D&D! 00:00 Show Intro 00:23 DM Tip: Lightning Rods in Boss Fights 09:04 Player Campaign Survey Results 17:16 1,100 Pages of Awesome 5e Third-Party Books in One Day 27:21 Patreon Questions 28:18 Patreon Question: What Lazy DM Material Do I No Longer Agree With? 34:14 Patreon Question: Help Struggling Players Explore 39:26 Patreon Question: Organizing Campaigns in Notion, OneNote, and Other Tools 45:35 Patreon Question: Character Options in One-Page Campaign Guides 48:41 Patreon Question: Game Intro Rituals 51:01 Patreon Question: Concluding a Campaign with Limited Time Left 52:47 Patreon Question: Point Crawls with Geographic Maps Links Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Preoder the Lazy DM's Companion Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Player Campaign Survey Results Grim Hollow Monster Grimoire Grim Hollow Monster Grimoire Lairs Dungeons of Drakkenheim Remarkable Inns Remarkable Shops Remarkable Cults

After finishing his Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign, Mike offers his thoughts and advice for the adventure and describes the epic conclusion to his campaign. Contents 00:00 Show Intro 01:14 Experiences and Tips for Running Rime of the Frostmaiden 02:07 Be ready to modify a lot of this adventure 04:01 Cut quests liberally from chapter 1. It's far too big. 05:46 Add quests, adventure paths, and keys to tie chapter 2 to the rest of the adventure 07:38 Modify the timing of the Chardalyn dragon's attack to suit your story 09:47 Add trials of Auril based on the characters' backgrounds and drives 11:23 Tie Grimskalle and Ythryn together as requirements to end the Endless Night 13:03 The Conclusion to Mike's Frostmaiden Campaign 18:49 The Final Battle - Waves of Nasty Monsters and Lightning Rods! 28:21 The Final Sacrifice 32:03 One Year Later... 41:06 The End of my 18th campaign in seven years 44:45 Preview of the Witchlight campaign: Dreadful Incursions! Links Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden N

Mike prepares for his final session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Frostmaiden YouTube Video Playlist Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master