The Dm's Deep Dive With Mike Shea

A recording of the "Beautiful Mess of 5e" Gamehole Con seminar recorded on 15 October 2025 with Teos Abadia, Shawn Merwin, Mike Mearls, and Mike Shea. Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books  

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:45 Sly Flourish News: Tab Your Books, Ravenloft with Shadowdark, Gamehole Con 04:01 Patreon Spotlight: 5e Artisanal Database Combat Tracker 10:43 Kickstarter Spotlight: Allies and Enemies for Shadowdark 12:26 Kickstarter Spotlight: Hall of Horrors for Daggerheart, Candela Obscura, and 5e 14:49 Sly Flourish News: Partnering with Let's Quest 16:49 Commentary: Back Up Your Digital RPG Stuff 34:25 DM Tip: The Value of Adventure Types 43:14 Patreon Question: Advanced Traps in 5e 48:18 Patreon Question: Keeping Multiple RPG Rulesets In Our Heads 53:10 Patreon Question: Homebrewing Adventures As Good As Published Adventures Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Tab Your Books Running Ravenloft with Shadowdark Allies and Enemies for Shadowdark Kickstarter Hall of Horrors: Bestiary for Daggerheart, D&D 5E, and CO Let's Quest Adventure Types: Du

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:58 Sly Flourish News: Take it Easy, Tab Your Books, Gamehole Con, PAGE 3 04:55 Kickstarter Spotlight: Hexploration Decks by Inkwell Ideas 06:51 D&D & RPG News: Better Accessibiliy for PDFs 11:15 D&D & RPG News: How to Make an RPG Book 12:34 Product Spotlight: The Land of Eem 33:10 Commentary: Great 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Products 48:23 DM Tip: The Simplest Quest Model 55:03 Patreon Question: Preparing to Improvise 58:40 Patreon Question: Handling Monsters who Give Up or Run Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Last Week's Article: Go Easy On Yourself Next Week's Article: Tab Your Books Going to be at Gamehole Con Going to be at PAGE3 Hexploration Decks Expanded How to make an RPG book Part 1 How to make an RPG book Part 2 Land of Eem Quickstart Land of Eem Core Rule Book Land of Eem Boxed Set Forgotten Realms 3rd Edi

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00:00 Show Start 00:00:50 Sly Flourish News: Use Agnostic Tools, Go Easy On Yourself, Vathrex Unchained 00:03:16 D&D & RPG News: Shadow of the Weird Wizard Bundle of Holding 00:07:05 Product Spotlight: Mythic Game Master Emulator for Solo RPGs 00:12:49 D&D & RPG News: How Many D&D Products Are There? 00:16:28 D&D & RPG News: Critical Role Interview on Dungeon Craft 00:37:47 DM Tip: What's Your Villain's Backup Plan? 00:52:34 Patreon Question: Share DCs and ACs? 00:57:09 Patreon Question: Worth Running Other RPGs? 01:04:13 Patreon Question: Starter Sets for Experienced Groups? Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Use Agnostic Tools Go Easy On Yourself Shadow of the Weird Wizard How to Find and Read Blogs Mythic Game Master Emulator Free guidelines Mythic Game Master Emulator One Pager Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition H

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:59 Sly Flourish News: Published Adventures, Use Agnostic Tools, Vathrix Unchained 04:28 Sly Flourish News: Lazy DM's Workbook in NY Magazine 05:42 D&D & RPG News: Justice Arman on Mastering Dungeons 07:35 D&D & RPG News: D&D Starter Set Ad and Liveplay 11:25 Commentary: Is WOTC Being a Good Steward of the RPG Hobby? 38:59 Commentary: Dragonbane Feedback 52:08 Patreon Question: Running Paper Character Sheets 55:44 Patreon Question: Magic Item Attunement Criteria Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Lazy DM's Workbook in New York Magazine Justice Arman on Mastering Dungeons D&D Starter Set Ad D&D Starter Set Liveplay with Stinky Dragon Podcast folks New URL for D&D School Program pages Sly Flourish Sponsorship page D&D Beyond Isn't a Fair Platform for Customers or Publishers

Mike offers his first look at the new D&D Starter Set – Heroes of the Borderlands. Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon  

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:39 Sly Flourish News: Lazy Map Annotations, Are Published Adventures Easier?, the Beautiful Mess of 5e 05:35 Sly Flourish News: Attention Retailers 07:08 D&D & RPG News: Starter Set Spotlights 09:13 Product Spotlight: Dragonbane Core Boxed Set 40:18 DM Tip: The Value of Solo Play 46:12 Patreon Question: Preparing Dungeons 51:28 Patreon Question: Colonialism and Looting Treasure 01:00:49 Patreon Question: Running 90 Minute Games Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Lazy Map Annotation Are Published Adventures Easier to Run? Gamehole Con Alphastream Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set - Components and Characters Review Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set - What Adventures are Like Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions Dragonbane Boxed Set Ironsworn RPG Solodark for Shadowdark Thousand Year Old Vam

Mike dives into the three core books of four different 5e systems and offers his opinions on the best of the bunch! 00:00 - I love 5e 01:48 - What is 5e? 06:51 - Focusing on Four Versions -- D&D 2014, D&D 2024, Level Up Advanced 5e, and Tales of the Valiant 08:51 - Focusing on the Core Books 09:26 - What is the Best 5e? 11:36 - Best Player's Handbook 24:27 - Best Game Master Guide 36:57 - Best Monster Book 46:06 - Recapping the Ranking 47:02 - Mix and Match Links Visit the Sly Flourish Blog Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Black Flag System Reference Document D&D 2014 5.1 System Reference Document D&D 2024 5.2 System Reference Document Level Up Advanced 5e System Reference Document

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:36 Sly Flourish News: Secret of the Eight Steps and Lazy Map Annotations 01:43 Sly Flourish News: New Hat, Coffee Cup, and Calendar on the Store 04:29 Sly Flourish News: Key of Worlds 15 Releasing This week! 07:32 Sly Flourish News: Upcoming Conventions 09:16 Sly Flourish News: 5e, OSR, and Shadowdark on Dungeon Master Diaries 09:54 Kickstarter Spotlight: Scorched Basin by Homie and the Dude 12:50 Kickstarter Spotlight: Northlands by Kobold Press 30:15 Commentary: Daggerheart Initiative Feedback 37:36 Commentary: Lots Of You Play Lots of Different RPGs 44:59 DM Tip: Lazy 5e Crafting Guidelines 59:06 Patreon Question: Create a New or Use an Existing Location for Homebrew Adventures in Published Campaign Worlds 01:03:47 Patreon Question: Where to Spend time on Campaign Building 01:09:29 Patreon Question: Prepping Dungeons When you Don't Know Their Path Links The Secret of the Eight Steps of Lazy Game Prep

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:44 Sly Flourish News: Track Turns the Shadowdark Way, The Secret of the Eight Steps of Lazy GM Prep 02:16 Sly Flourish News: 300 Room Descriptions 09:06 D&D & RPG News: DMs Guild Humble Bundle 12:26 D&D & RPG News: Dungeon Master Diaries on Playing Games Online 14:07 Commentary: Daggerheart Initial Thoughts 50:17 DM Tip: Roll for Monster Targets 56:57 Patreon Question: Dealing with the Mid-Campaign Blues 01:02:12 Patreon Question: Getting Players to Spend Treasure Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Track Turns the Shadowdark Way The Secret of the Eight Steps of Lazy Game Prep Room descriptions in the Lazy GM Resource Doc DMs Guild Humble Bundle Dungeon Master Diaries – Playing Online Daggerheart

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:11 Sly Flourish News: Lazy 5e Magic Item Prices, Track Turns the Shadowdark Way, 14th Key of Worlds Scenario 05:48 Sly Flourish News: 5e Artisanal Database Treasure Generators 10:11 D&D & RPG News: Ironsworn Bundle of Holding 12:39 Kickstarter Spotlight: Aethereal Expanse Dreams of the Drowned God by Ghostfire Gaming 15:09 D&D & RPG News: Critical Role Season 4 Uses D&D 2024 33:40 D&D & RPG News: Dark Sun Subclasses in Playtesting 37:26 D&D & RPG News: Cypher System 2e Preview from Monte Cook Games 41:01 Product Spotlight: Nimble Boxed Set 51:39 DM Tip: Fixing Counterspell and Spell-Like Attacks 01:02:03 Patreon Question: How to Reveal Character Secrets Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Sly Flourish Books: Ironsworn Bundle of Holding Aethereal Expanse Dreams of the Drowned God Kickstarter Critical Role Season 4 Uses D&a

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs

D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com Contents 00:00 Show Start 01:12 Sly Flourish News: NPC Betrayal, 5e Magic Item Prices 03:03 Sly Flourish News: 20% Sly Flourish Books and Free US Shipping 04:04 Patreon Spotlight: Readings and Reflections 05:34 Patreon Spotlight: 5eADB Dice Roller and Point Buy Calculator 09:56 Product Spotlight: Tales of the Valiant Starter Set 21:52 Commentary: D&D Versus Magic the Gathering 49:23 DM Tip: Lazy Map Annotation 54:47 Patreon Question: Best Tools for Digital D&D? 59:18 Patreon Question: Shadowdark Feeling with 5e Links Sly Flourish Sale – 20% off and Free US Shipping until 20 August Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Avoid NPC Betrayal Lazy 5e Magic Item Prices Tales of the Valiant Starter Set Hasbro Earnings Call Transcript Ben Rigg's Gencon Panel: Solving the Mysteries of the D&D Business

Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign. 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 Midgard Worldbook Tales of the Valiant Obsidian for TTRPGs