The Dm's Deep Dive With Mike Shea

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

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

Mike describes a robust D&D adventure or campaign quest model that offers a lot of flexibility and prevents quests from being thwarted with the capture or removal of a single key. Read the Show Notes Watch the Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike offers tips and tricks to maintain a good pace in your D&D game; one of the most important traits a DM can practice. Show Notes Books and Articles Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Chapter 24 Hamlet’s Hit Points by Robin Laws Your Best Game Ever by Monte Cook Games Kobold Guide to Plots and Campaigns by Kobold Press Timing and Pacing Adventures on Sly Flourish Improving Pacing on Sly Flourish

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Rime of the Frostmaiden One-Page Campaign Guide Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike talks about the importance of being on the players' side when we run our D&D games. Youtube video version Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master  Core principles - Working *with* the players, not against them. - You're not a competitor. - The DM is an antenna to another world. We're the vehicle for storytelling. - We're not the baddies. We're not our villains. We're not on the opposite side of the chess board. - We're *fans* of the characters (Thanks Dungeon World!) - The players understand about half of what's going on. - The characters understand far more than the players do. - The characters are smart and skilled in their roles. They have knowledge the characters do not. - Fun doesn't mean just upward beats, it means risk and reward, upward and downward beats. Hard situations and hard meaningful decisions. The DM's Job - Build the situation around the story, not around the characters. - Clarify that situation to the p

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Rime of the Frostmaiden One-Page Campaign Guide Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike discusses tips for running awesome D&D combat. Original Youtube Video Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Podcast Contents 00:00 Intro 00:18 Run with four players. 00:57 Run lower level games. Level 3 is the sweet spot. 01:38 Use static monster damage. 02:15 Run theater of the mind combat for small battles. 03:02 Inject the story and fiction into large battles. 04:49 Draw characters in off-turn with skill checks and info. 05:36 Use abstract maps – break out of the grid. 08:04 Ask for intent. 09:13 Have alternative goals - Add a Combat Out. 11:04 Don't say "Let's Call it Right Here". 11:53 Adjusting the dials (HP, Damage, Number of Monsters, Number of Attacks). 13:11 Offer Cinematic Advantage 15:10 Randomly select targets 16:06 Make boss fights interesting Relevant articles Guide to Theater of the Mind Combat The Abstract Battlemap Replacing Flanking with Cinematic Advantage Collected Experiences Running Boss Fights  

Mike talks with Ryan Servis of 2C Gaming about the role of the DM and debating objectivity versus a bias towards the characters in our D&D games. Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master 

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Rime of the Frostmaiden One-Page Campaign Guide Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

This week Mike prepares for his session zero of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! Original Youtube Video Notion Frostmaiden Campaign Notebook Rime of the Frostmaiden One-Page Campaign Guide Support Sly Flourish on Patreon  

Mike's final thoughts on his homebrew Eberron campaign. This is a rebroadcast of Mike’s Lazy DM Prep show broadcast live on Twitch and reposted to YouTube and here in podcast form. Original Youtube Video Eberron Campaign Notebook This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter

Mike talks about safety tools in D&D including the X-card, lines and veils, script change, and others. Youtube version of this discussion Resources Safety tool reference by Tomer Gurantz Campaign Safety & Consent Checklist Consent in Gaming Digital RPG Consent Checklist Optional Rule Safety Consent RPG Checklist Script Change Script Change Printable Spelltheory on Safety Tools The X card TTRPG Safety Toolkit Resources TTRPG Safety Toolkit Video Contents 00:00 What are safety tools? 01:05 Why use safety tools? 03:01 The X-Card 03:39 Lines and Veils 08:11 Script Change 09:13 The Door is Open 10:20 Why do I suddenly care? 13:48 A Safety Tool Stack (rating, lines & veils, "pause") 16:27 Recognizing full-consent decisions versus majority rule 17:49 DMs using "Pause for a Second" 19:18 More on why we want safety tools 23:08 The Awesome Value of free tools

Mike talks with Dave Chalker about the various combat styles we can bring to D&D including gridded combat, abstract maps, and theater of the mind. This is a rebroadcast of the show broadcast live on Twitch and reposted to YouTube and here in podcast form. Original Youtube Video This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter  

Mike's latest episode of Sly Flourish's Lazy DM Prep for his homebrew Eberron game. This is a rebroadcast of Mike’s Lazy DM Prep show broadcast live on Twitch and reposted to YouTube and here in podcast form. Original Youtube Video This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter

In this somewhat-raw discussion with Mike Shea (@slyflourish) and Enrique Bertran (@NewbieDM) we talk about our experiences with the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons! Youtube Version of the Chat This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter

Mike's latest episode of Sly Flourish's Lazy DM Prep for his homebrew Eberron game. This is a rebroadcast of Mike’s Lazy DM Prep show broadcast live on Twitch and reposted to YouTube and here in podcast form. Original Youtube Video This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter

Mike covers tips and tricks for running chapter 3 from Descent into Avernus.  Original Youtube Video This episode is brought to you ad-free by the patrons of Sly Flourish. Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Video Contents 00:00​ Intro 00:25​ Mike's Top Tips for Descent into Avernus 08:14​ Chapter 4 Discussion 18:50​ Chapter 5 Discussion 27:52​ Overall Thoughts on Descent into Avernus 33:18​ Do I recommend it? Maybe? 36:08​ Useful Descent into Avernus Supplements