The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish

Mike discusses the importance of understanding how to facilitate decisions in D&D. Original YouTube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike talks about all things D&D! Click Show More for notes and links. Table of Contents 00:00 Intro 02:13 Wild Beyond the Witchlight 04:16 Fizban's Treasury of Dragons 08:44 Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos 13:53 Running D&D In Person Again 18:39 Dread Metrol: Into the Mists by Keith Baker 34:18 The Dogs of War Adventure Generator with Dread Metrol 36:59 Iskandar City Sourcebook by MT Black 45:29 Miniatures, too expensive for new DMs? 54:14 Sad WOTC didn't make Planescape? Buy the Old One Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Nerdarchy on Wild Beyond the Witchlight Nerdarchy on Fizban's Treasury of Dragons Nerdarchy on Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos Dread Metrol: Into the Mists Iskandar City Sourcebook Wizkids Witchlight Miniature Collectors Pack Spelljammer on the DM's Guild

Mike talks about the value of running small battles in the Theater of the Mind. YouTube Video Sly Flourish's Guide to to Narrative "Theater of the Mind" Combat in the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Buy the Lazy DM's Workbook

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! 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 offers options and tips for handling rests in D&D. Click "Show More" for notes and links. Original YouTube Video Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike chats about all things D&D! 00:00 Show Start 00:44 D&D and Magic the Gathering 08:07 Playing MtG again 16:37 Reviewing Patreons Next Week 18:54 Knife to Know You by Doryen Chin 24:25 Mork Borg 36:46 Downtime in D&D 48:07 Getting back to playing in person Links Original YouTube video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master In Scarlet Flames D&D MtG Adventure The Hidden Page D&D MtG Adventure Knife to Know You by Doryen Chin Mork Borg Running Downtime in D&D

Mike talks about the best, and cheapest, ways to improve your D&D game. The best tools to improve your D&D game are free. Original YouTube video Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! 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 how to use Lu Quade's "Stars and Wishes" to get great feedback from your players on your D&D game. Original YouTube Video Stars and Wishes by Lu Quade Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike talks about all things D&D! 00:00 Video Intro 00:13 TSR (3) and the Ernie Gygax Situation 05:46 Gender Identity Thoughts from an Old Cis White Dude 12:14 How Important is D&D Voicework Poll 16:41 Why I Review Third Party Products 18:27 Empire of the Ghouls by Kobold press 27:56 Where the Machines Wait 34:17 MtG D&D Adventures and Pregen Characters 38:05 Making Cheap D&D Tokens from MtG Cards 40:44 Rolling for Monster Horde Damage 46:37 Matt Colville making his own RPG? Level up 5e RPG 49:21 Dungeons of Drakkenheim Links YouTube Video Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Enworld on TSR (3) and Ernie Gygax Morrus's Unofficial Podcast on Ernie Gygax How Important is DM Voicework poll on Twitter Empire of the Ghouls PDF Empire of the Ghouls Hardcover Where the Machines Wait PDF Where the Machines Wait softcover In Scarlet Flames free D&D MtG Crossover Adventure D&D MtG Planeswalker Character Sheets Lazy Monster Tokens Level Up, Advanced 5e Dungeons of Drakkenheim Kickstarter

Mike uses the Adventure Generators from the Sly Flourish Patreon to build an adventure from scratch for his Saturday D&D game. Part 2 of 2. Zoho Annotator Dysonlogos Maps Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike offers a tip for thinking up secrets and clues by considering the types of secrets the characters may discover and how they might discover them. Types of secrets Character secrets NPC secrets Story secrets Villainous secrets Location secrets Historical secrets Theological secrets Ways to discover them Character background NPCs (friendly or hostile) Books, journals, notes, and scolls Items Frescos and mosaics dreams and portents sentient magic items Links Original YouTube video Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike prepares for his latest session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden! 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 offers a tip to get players to think more about monsters in the story of your D&D game by asking them to define interesting physical characteristics of monsters. Original YouTube Video A Troll Named Handbag: Player-Driven Monster Identification Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Another episode of the Lazy D&D Talk show. Topics include how to steer damage away from the boss, the Mercer effect, yam-shaped adventures design, and reviews of Grymmworld and the Oath of the Frozen King. Contents 00:00 Intro 00:36 Finding a D&D group 05:07 How did my Keep of the Black Gate game go? 07:05 Player tip: Always have a ranged attack 08:36 DM Tip: Redirect damage away from the boss 13:30 The Mercer Effect 24:21 Grymmworld by Grant Ellis and Ryan Servis 33:40 Oath of the Frozen King by Absolute Tabletop 40:32 Too many quests in chapter 1 of Frostmaiden 43:49 Yam-shaped adventure design Links Original YouTube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Finding and Maintaining a D&D Group Dungeoncraft on the Mercer Effect Grymmworld Oath of the Frozen King

Mike uses the Adventure Generators from the Sly Flourish Patreon to build an adventure from scratch for his Saturday D&D game. Part 1 of 2. Zoho Annotator Dysonlogos Maps Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

What makes a good D&D map and where can a lazy DM easily find them? Original Youtube version Dyson Logos Maps The Alexandrian: Jaquaying the Dungeon Lazy DM's Workbook 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 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 talks about the value of heralds who announce villains far and wide. Original YouTube video How to Create Pay-Per-View Worthy Adventures or "How to Stop Worrying and Start DMing Like Vince McMahon" Building Villains like Pro-Wrestlers Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike chats about all things D&D! Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Show Contents 00:00 Intro 00:17 Tricks for the D&D Encounter Builder 12:35 Mork Borg 17:41 Old School Essentials 24:40 Runehammer Games's 5e Hardcore Mode 32:14 2C Gamings Total Party Kill Bestiary 2 37:42 Nord's Dreaded Accursed 40:19 Increasing the Deadly Encounter Benchmark at level 11+ 46:09 Returning to our one-on-one D&D game Links D&D Beyond Initiative Parser to Discord Text Mork Borg Old School Essentials 5e Hardcore Mode Total Party Kill Bestiary 2 Dreaded Accursed

Mike discusses how to prepare for your game in about 15 minutes. 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike offers two tools for better D&D 5e encounter building. Original YouTube Video Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

The lost recording of the Worldbuilding for the Lazy Dungeon Master panel at Pax Unplugged, December 2019, hosted by James Haeck with Makenzie De Armas, Mike Shea, Morrigan Robbins, and Renee Rhodes. James Haeck @jamesjhaeck Makenzie De Armas makenzielaneda Mike Shea @slyflourish Morrigan Robbins @MorriLoremother Renee Rhodes @raedeanner Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike chats about D&D! Show Contents 00:00 Show Start 00:52 Translations Pushing Back 6e Predictions 5:00 Reviews of Third Party Books 07:22 Arcana of the Ancients 12:07 Ptolus 15:07 Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands 18:04 Ironsworn 20:56 Adventures of the Potbellied Kobold' 23:51 Mike's Appendix N (what's yours??) 37:25 Mike's Take on Stress Effects 58:15 Player vs. Player and Player vs. DM Consent 1:10:20 Rant about Adventurer's League Links Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Arcana of the Ancients Ptolus Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Ironsworn Adventures of the Potbellied Kobold

Mike talks about the importance of being nice to 1st level characters and offers three tips to make their lives a little easier. Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike discusses the importance of managing time in your D&D game. Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Recently recovered from the deepest depths of the ancient Sly Flourish libraries, I bring you my interview with Paige Leitman in which we discuss D&D Adventurer's League, our favorite conventions, and all sorts of fun topics. Video Contents 00:00 We love Winter Fantasy! What We've enjoyed. 03:07 Who's Paige Leitman? 06:07 Paige's there new tips for current DMs 07:15 Use an X Card (see the link below) 08:44 Cater to your audience and ask them what they want 09:01 Read your published adventures 11:00 What's changed in 2 years? AL moving towards story. 16:56 How are the changes being accepted? 19:20 What people think of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist 21:17 Other trends from the 5e Facebook: greater diversity and inclusion. 22:30 Interesting homebrew is popping up. 23:20 The impact of D&D Beyond 26:30 Navigating the curve between tactical and story 31:58 Play a different game X Card Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon

Mike chats about all things D&D including the new D&D book leaks and other stuff! Video Contents 00:00 Show Start 03:15 New D&D Books Leaked 03:49 Wild Beyond the Witchlight 04:50 Curriculum of Chaos 05:50 How to Enjoy D&D + MtG Books More 12:51 The Problem Challenging Players 38:16 Critical Role and the 20th Level Complexity D&D Game Links EnWorld on the new D&D books: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Curriculum of Chaos Using Ravnica in Eberron Alphastream on the Trouble Challenging Players Choose Monsters Based on the Story Lazy Encounter Benchmark The Dials of Monster Difficulty Paths for DM Expertise

Mike offers three simple quest models you can keep in your toolkit when preparing your D&D games. 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike does an in-depth review of Van Richten's Guide to Everything. In short, it's awesome. Original YouTube Video Buy Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Video Contents 00:00 Video start 00:58 I Highly Recommend This Book 03:09 Are "Ravenloft" and "Domains of Dread" the same thing? (Yes) 04:25 Great Player Guidance I Wish Was in the PHB 06:14 Lineages (they're awesome) 10:09 Building Domains of Dread (Meh) 14:27 Genres of Horror (I loved this section) 17:53 Domains of Dread (110+ pages of awesome) 24:47 Travelers in the Mist (didn't dig in too much) 30:04 Haunted Traps (What the hell is a haunt bonus?) 30:39 Survivors (0 level characters???) 34:47 The House of Lament Adventure (Awesome) 36:01 Monster Traits and What-Not 38:12 Monster Stat Blocks 46:49 Concluding thoughts

Mike talks about the value in understanding that secrets and clues serve you. 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike discusses and ranks nearly all the hardcover WOTC-published D&D adventures. Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Guide to Published D&D Adventures Video Contents 00:00 Beginning 03:52 Lost Mine of Phandelver 06:17 Dragon of Icespire Peak 08:47 Curse of Strahd 12:10 Ghosts of Saltmarsh 16:05 Tomb of Annihilation 22:23 Storm King's Thunder 26:15 Tyranny of Dragons (Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat) 29:52 Waterdeep Dragon Heist 33:32 Out of the Abyss 36:07 Rime of the Frostmaiden 42:01 Princes of the Apocalypse 44:13 I've enjoyed ALL of these adventures 45:25 Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus 48:04 Even rough adventures can be great fun Amazon Associate Links for these adventures... D&D Starter Set: Lost Mine of Phandelver D&D Essentials Kit: Dragon of Icespire Peak Curse of Strahd Ghosts of Saltmarsh Tomb of Annihilation Cellar of Death for Tomb of Annihilation Storm King's Thunder Tyranny of Dragons Waterdeep Dragon Heist Out of the Abyss Rime of the Frostmaiden Princes of the Apocalypse Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus Fall of Elturel

Mike talks about the value of running simple D&D adventures. Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike argues for the value of published RPG material even when running our own homebrew adventures and campaigns. Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike chat's about D&D! Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Video Contents 00:00 Intro 01:21 Scaling Adventures & Dials of Monster Difficulty 03:54 All the ways to subscribe to Sly Flourish! 06:01 Beefing up an ogre 11:10 "Roles" in 4e and 5e 13:05 Why Minions, Normal, Elite, and Solo roles don't work for 5e 17:32 Monsters Know What They're Doing is awesome 21:03 Initial thoughts on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft 42:59 Thoughts on 6e from a indie publisher's point of view Links Dials of Monster Difficulty Monster's Know What They're Doing DM Deep Dive with Keith Amman Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e Raging Swan Press Patreon Raging Swan Press DriveThruRPG Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands

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 discusses the value of running more easy battles in our D&D games to maintain the oscillation of upward and downward beats. Original Youtube Video Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike chats about general D&D topics and ponders how to handle chapters 2 and beyond in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Support Sly Flourish on Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Ptolus by Monte Cook Frostmaiden Chapters 2+ Thoughts Notion Notebook Video Contents 00:00 Beginning 00:30 Become a Patreon: https://patreon.com/slyflourish 02:34 Ptolus by Monte Cook Games 11:27 Van Richten's Guide and overly positive early reviews 16:50 New Adventures c Can we see more optimistic adventures? 24:39 Are WOTC hardback adventures all about marketing? 34:50 How do we steal from published adventures for our own game? 44:05 Embrace third-party D&D publishers 51:34 New Sly Flourish three-minute tip videos 56:52 Mire's End – A Patreon-exclusive adventure location coming soon 58:54 Increasing Patreon subscription for new patrons? 1:05:13 Frostmaiden: Auril's Endless Night 1:13:21 Auril as a "Front" 1:16:40 Frostmaiden as a Three-Act Story 1:21:00 Sub-quests and hooks for Chapter 2

Another short episode in which Mike talks about the importance of focusing on your next D&D game. 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike offers three tips to draw players into the fiction of your D&D game in three minutes. 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Mike offers three quick tips for getting started running Rime of the Frostmaiden. Original Youtube Video Sam Dillon's Creed of Auril Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Podcast Contents 00:00 Intro 00:27 Tip 1: Apply the Right Character Motivation 01:33 Tip 2: Start in Bryn Shander 02:42 Tip 3: Add the Cult of Auril

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 talks with Celeste Conowitch of 2C Gaming about her upcoming Venture Maidens campaign sourcebook currently live on Kickstarter! Venture Maidens Kickstarter 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 Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter Join Sly Flourish's Patreon Buy Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master