D&d Story Building Podcast

How to Train Your Dragon is an incredible movie by Dreamworks and one of Carl's all time favorites. It's chock-full of amazing story beats and moments that Dungeon Masters everywhere could use in their games. Carl does a D&D story analysis and shares with you some awesome encounters inspired by this amazing movie!

Metagaming can take a lot of forms in D&D and RPGs in general. But how do we as Dungeon Masters deal with it if it becomes a problem? Carl shares the three pieces of advice from his experience with talking with players about metagaming. He also throws in some examples of when metagaming can be a good thing....Let's get into it!

In this episode of D&D Story Building we look at Stranger Things for D&D story tips. Stranger Things is an amazing TV show that has brought a lot of attention to Dungeons & Dragons as a whole. There are a lot of hidden gems for storytelling throughout Stranger Things that could help bring some mystery and horror to your games. Let's get into it!

Roll20 is a browser based platform that provides play groups with a virtual tabletop. It's a resource that Carl has been using for about 2 years (from the release of this episode). He shares with you the things you need to know about Roll20 and why it's a service you should use in your D&D games.

To celebrate the Fourth of July, we wanted to do it the D&D Story Building way. So Carl shares his thoughts on why you should add celebrations in your D&D games.

Starting out as a Dungeon Master seems like a lot of work and a tremendous amount of pressure. But that is far from the truth and you really don't need that much to get started. In this episode of D&D Story Building, Carl shares the 3 things you need in order to be a DM and start running your very own D&D games. Basic D&D Rules DnD Story Building  Carl's Twitter 

Pokemon is an incredible game that millions around the world love. It just so happens to have a BUNCH of awesome story tips and lessons we can use in Dungeons & Dragons!  Rachel, our very own Pokemon Queen, is here to walk us through these awesome story lessons from Pokemon and how we, as DMs, can bring them into our games.  Where to find Rachel:  Twitter: @ragnerrok Instagram: ragnerrok.art

Players in Dungeons & Dragons want a lot of things....Money, treasure, magic items, and PETS! But what does this mean for Dungeon Masters? Is it more work? Or could we use this to our advantage... Find out in this episode of D&D Story Building where Carl brings on his first guest, Rachel (his longtime player and also his sister) onto the show.  Where to find Rachel?  Twitter: @ragnerrok Instagram: ragnerrok.art

The Wheel of Time book series, by Robert Jordan, is simply a fantasy staple of the genre. Which is why we are going to do a D&D Story Analysis on his first book, The Eye of the World. Carl is going to lay out three "encounters" for you to use in your Dungeons and Dragons sessions. These are based on events in The Eye of the World, so spoiler alert!

Dungeons and Dragons can get off the rails very easily...we've all been there. However, we can bring some order to the chaos and make memories we'll never forget. Tina Fey, in her book Bossypants, outlines her four rules of improv. These four rules are applicable for acting, business, but more importantly, for dungeon masters. Let's get into it!

Today Carl walks you through a D&D Story Analysis of HBOs drama miniseries Chernobyl. Chernobyl was a tragic disaster in our world's history and HBO was able to produce an amazing drama full of lessons we all should learn. Some of these lessons can be used by Dungeon Masters to bring a very interesting dramatic premise inspired by this miniseries to your games. Let's get into it!

There are so POWERFUL monsters in D&D...sometimes too powerful. Which is why as Dungeon Masters we can give certain monsters "video game weaknesses." By doing this, you'll be able to bring in the strong and iconic monsters that D&D are known for, no matter the level of your players.

Darth Vader is one of the most iconic characters of all time. He's a villain we love to hate and has an incredible story. Which is why having a character like this in your D&D game could lead to some awesome encounters! How you ask? Listen to this episode and find out.

Being a dungeon master is more than just running a Dungeons & Dragons adventure. To celebrate our 20th episode, we discover what it takes to be behind the screen and run this awesome game.  

In this episode, Carl looks at a few battles in Game of Thrones to see what story tips we can learn to make encounters much more epic. Battle scenes in TV shows, like Game of Thrones, are impressive feats of cinematography but there are a lot of little details you may have miss. It's these little details that we'll be discussing and that you can bring into your games! 

Finding your party to go on adventures with isn't always that easy. Carl's here to share his story on how he found his fellow nerds to play D&D with and how you can find your very own party of heroes to adventure with. 

This is a D&D story analysis on Daenerys Targaryen and the kinds of things YOU can do to bring an amazing NPC like her into your games.  Game of Thrones is an amazing story for dungeon masters to pull ideas from and introducing a character like Daenerys into your game could really breathe some fire in it.  In this episode we look at the character arch of Daenerys Targaryen and how we, as Dungeon Masters, can use a similar character to interact with our players.  Let's get into it! 

Outlines are a great tool for storytellers to use and Dungeon Masters are no exception! Carl gives you his three tips on what you need to consider before making your campaign outline. Preparing a campaign can seem really daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Dungeons & Dragons is a game where you and your friends get to go on adventures and forge amazing stories. Keeping that in mind, preparing/making a campaign for your friends should be fun and easy! 

D&D Story Building presents a D&D story analysis of the Hobbit! This classic fantasy novel has a lot to teach us Dungeon Masters. Carl picks his three favorite "lessons" that he discovered while analyzing the hobbit for D&D tips.

Today we talk about the different ways you can prepare for the beginning of your campaign. Are you an intense world builder? An off the cuff improviser? Or do you like to be just prepared enough? Starting a campaign can seem a little daunting but there is not just one right way. And the best way for you to get started...is the way you want!