3 Wise DMs

Birthday games are 3WDs specialty… and it has now begun to grow. New DMs are joining in on the fun and running new, unique, and exciting games in all types of systems and taking on the challenge of one-upping the Wise DMs.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with returning guests, Bonnie and Elizabeth, to review, unpack, and discuss the steps they took to take a one-off Call of Cthulhu investigation from last year and transform it into a massive 9-player adventure that spanned both Call of Cthulhu and D&D!

For an...

Recently, Matt Colville of the Running the Game YouTube series and author of the new Draw Steel TTRPG, discussed the concept of “DM Style.” With someone who has been involved in all things tabletop for over 40 years, you would think that he would believe in developing a DM Style. However, his hot take was that he wasn’t sure there even was such a thing.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss DM Style: Is it a thing and, if so, what are the things that make it up. Along the way, we discus...

Maybe you’ve run some one-shots or even multi-night campaigns. But now you’ve made the decision to run a long-term campaign for many levels – maybe all the way to 20th. How do you make the jump? What do you need to know that will make the transition seamless? What are the differences between running a single session and many sessions that tell an epic, massive story?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with our recurring special guest and player – the Monster Wrangler himself, Matt! Along the way, we discuss the tips, tricks, and pitfalls...

Over the course of twelve episodes, we have enlisted the help of all our listeners to create the first-ever crowdsourced and collaborative campaign setting – what we call Boomtown!

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to reveal the end of this very successful experiment… well, maybe not the end, but a very solid foundation from which to launch Boomtown.

For anyone who is new to the podcast, as well as for all the listeners that have helped us craft it, this episode puts it all into perspective and wraps it with a nice bow...

You’ve seen the trailer. You saw the #MinisMonday post… Tony’s birthday game where Chris and Dave teamed up to run our group through a tabletop wargame in our own custom Marvel Universe of 6-1-SHIT, where the heroes were brought to Battleplanet to fight the SECRET WARS!

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of our custom, simplified, Heroclix system that allowed for a game that reflected the scope of the Secret Wars: The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Heroes of Hells Kitche...

One of the easiest ways to make your campaign and your setting feel real, immersive, and unique is by taking away the certitude that magic is always going to act the same way. This mysterious, world-altering energy should not ever be completely understood by your characters, as the discovery of it is a big part of the fun.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to respond to a listener question about their homebrewed idea of making magic work differently in different areas of their world. They ask how we might approach it in our...

We continue to build upon Boomtown - our real-time worldbuilding experiment - armed with the comments of our listeners.

Having been playing through the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, we’ve experienced firsthand how alterations to the classes available for players really helps to lend a unique and immersive quality to the campaign setting – setting it apart from all others.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss the class that is most effected by the inciting incident of Boomtown – namely, that arcane magic is derived from ancient technology being recovered in the...

We continue to build upon Boomtown - our real-time worldbuilding experiment - armed with the comments of our listeners.

Having been playing through the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, we’ve experienced firsthand how alterations to the classes available for players really helps to lend a unique and immersive quality to the campaign setting – setting it apart from all others.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss Clerics in a world where all the magic that is known seems to be technologically-based. We take them from 1st to 3rd level and...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

Having been playing through the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, we’ve experienced firsthand how alterations to the classes available for players really helps to lend a unique and immersive quality to the campaign setting – setting it apart from all others.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss what a Rogue would look like in our Boomtown campaign setting.  We take him from 1st to 3rd level and, along the way, discuss the c...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

Having been playing through the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, we’ve experienced firsthand how alterations to the classes available for players really helps to lend a unique and immersive quality to the campaign setting – setting it apart from all others.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to build the most classic D&D class, the Fighter, in our Boomtown campaign setting.  We take him from 1st to 3rd level and, along the way...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

One of the best things you can build for your campaign to feel real and immersive is by creating factions. Groups and organizations that have their own motives and goals that are distinct from the players. This creates inciting incidents, backstory fodder, and moving parts that conflict with the characters and create impetus for adventure.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave finally begin discussing the biggest faction, and the inciting incident for the Boomtown setting, the...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

Science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke formulated three adages known as Clarke’s Laws that he expounded on in his writings. The third of these is the most famous, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave begin to unpack this idea of ancient technology being what makes magic in the ever-evolving, crowdsourced Boomtown Campaign Setting.  Make sure to Join the Conversation!

0:24 DM Dave’s audio homage to the famou...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave return to the conversation started in Episode 174 and begin to build out the town that will be the start of most adventures in our Boomtown Campaign Setting.  Make sure to Join the Conversation!

1:55 Where are we now? We asked, you answered! Boomtown #1 is known as Gallow Springs!

3:40 What’s in our border town?

6:05 What’s NOT in the t...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave finish out the discussion of how magic will work in our crowdsourced “Boomtown” campaign setting by asking “Where does divine magic come from?” Make sure to Join the Conversation!

1:40 “Where Are We Now”: the Boomtown campaign setting, as it currently stands.

5:20 Discovering the Lost Gods?

6:00 Will this be monotheistic or polytheistic? What about the Cleric Domains?

10:00 Coul...

We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave begin to ask the most basic question when building a town: why is the town there? In our D&D Tombstone idea, we realize the short answer is money. And what drives that money? Magic. Make sure to join the conversation as we build a Wonderful World with our 3WD community!

2:25 The “Elevator Pitch” for our new campaign setting.

4:05 Review our discussion of magic.

Following on the heels of our last episode, we drive down deeper into our continued exploration of real-time worldbuilding armed with the comments of our listeners.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss how magic might work in this new world, how the environment helps to create the setting, and stumble into an idea for a setting that has us really excited. Make sure to join the conversation as we build a Wonderful World with our 3WD community!

2:20 We asked and you answered: A Brand New World!

6:40 A little...

Worldbuilding. It’s one of the most talked about aspects of running TTRPGs, as it is the sandbox into which you will throw your party to adventure in. We’ve talked about tips and tricks in past episodes and articles, and have come down on both sides of the debate surrounding how much to do with a focus totally on your specific table and party.

However, in this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave have decided to become a bit more involved with a new experiment that we cooked up.

Something that has never been done on 3...

Movies. TV series. Books. Other DMs running games. There are a multitude of sources that provide fodder for our imagination in developing cool ideas that we want to play with in our own games. But how many ideas are TOO MANY ideas? Can you have too many ideas?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to answer a listener question from our “Co-DM” Dr. DM (Jason) where he asks the question “If faced with an abundance of ideas, how would each of you decide which things to insert and which to hold onto for later?”

4:0...

Our last episode was the preamble. Last week’s article discussed some of what we learned from playing with new people. But, in this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with the newest addition to our gaming group, Elizabeth, to delve deep into what went into running the Call of Cthulhu one-shot, playing with brand new people, and how to build a serious level of immersion into any game you’re running… especially horror!

0:25 Eben Brooks’ “Hey There, Cthulhu.”

2:33 The Keeper of Arcane Lore Herself, Elizabeth!

3:40 Hot take: This was the firs...

Backstory. Character development. It’s one of the most discussed topics in the TTRPG space. And the 3 Wise DMs were faced with the question when a friend offered to run a Call of Cthulhu one-shot for our group. This was followed by a Google Doc with twenty in-depth questions as to the character’s background, motivations, loves, and fears. For a one-shot.

If you’ve ever asked yourself the question, “is there such a thing as too much character backstory?”, then this is the episode for you!

3:25 DM-Player communication: how much is the DM looking for and ho...

You’ve been the DM for a long time (maybe even Forever!) and one of your players has finally said those magic words: “I think I wanna run a game.”

So, with all your wisdom, all your experience, all your skills – how do you help the new DM along in the game so that they have a good

time and the table has a good time? So that they want to get back into the DM chair?

For all you Forever DMs, and all you Prospective DMs, this is the episode for you!

Possession. Dominate. Alignment shifts. There are a multitude of times where the rules make the DM take control of one of the player characters in the game. But, is that a good thing?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss an issue that came up in DM Chris' Tales of the Yawning Portal campaign that he's running for 2 new players to the hobby and a run-in with a dwarven ghost.

1:45 DM Chris’ question that arose with Possession.

3:35 DM Tony’s initial thoughts.

4:35 The first time DM Dave make...

Top Secret: New World Order. That’s right, for DM Dave’s Birthday Game (of which we are quickly becoming well-versed), DM Chris ran our gaming group through the update to the TSR classic espionage RPG, Top Secret from TSR, Inc. by Merle Rasmussen.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to review the system, and discuss what they liked and didn’t about playing as Agents of ICON. For anyone wanting to dip their toes into playing in worlds like James Bond and Mission: Impossible, this is the episode for you.

2:06 DM Tony’s...

Artificial Intelligence is a polarizing topic these days. From Skynet-style flights of fancy to the very real implications for content creators, it’s an evolving technology that isn’t going away anytime soon. But free from worrying about profiting off of others’ work, using AI at the game table can help provide you with a set of tools and a pair of hands that can help lift the sometimes heavy and time-consuming duties of a DM.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss how they’ve started implementing AI into their toolbox, mainly through...

Terrain. Maps. Minis. Music. Handouts. TTRPGs aren’t movies and television and we can’t rely on moving pictures to help immerse our players, so what are some ways that you can help the imagination Build This City in your players’ minds?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to revisit our discussion with The Wizard Washburn from Paper Terrain in Episode 112 about using and building terrain and minis but then also all the other ways to help you build the most immersive experience in your D&D game.

3:50 Scenery and terrain should be use...

Cobbler’s tools. Weaver’s tools. Glassblowing. There are a host of proficiencies that are part of building a character in D&D that seem strange at first for someone who is going out on adventures. For a lot of players, it just becomes something that you picked during character creation. We’ve come to call these the “orphan” proficiencies.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss how they utilize these proficiencies in games, and even if you should, or if you just pass over these proficiencies and get to killing orcs.

3:00 The...

Multiple times a week. Once a week. Every other week. Once a month. Once every several months. We’ve referenced how frequency of play can really alter how you run the game, how the story flows, etc. But, our longtime listener, Dr. DM, has brought up how real life has really gotten in the way of scheduling their usually weekly games and how it has affected his confidence with running the game.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to really delve deep into how frequency of play affects how you run the game, and ev...

It’s apropos that our first-ever players review of a campaign was for DM Tony’s Storm King’s Thunder campaign, as our newest iteration has us returning to the frozen world of the original giants in Mana Project Studios Journey to Ragnarok! We bring on return guests Scott (the Terrain Wrangler), Bonnie (the Chaos Engine) and our newest player to join the group, Jen (the Girlfriend!)

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with the other three players to review a campaign that had several adjustments made over the course of it – refining it from a c...

After a little over 2 years and 20+ sessions, we have finally concluded our adventure through the Norse Kingdoms in Midgard and the remaining 8 worlds of Yggdrasill, the World Tree, where the Auspicious Signs were successful in stopping Ragnarok: the Twilight of the Gods. Journey to Ragnarok was in the campaign queue for quite a while (with DM Thorin originally wanting to run it) and DM Tony finally took the reins and led us through an epic adventure and campaign.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to review and wrap-up our Journey to Ragnarok campaign. Along...

D&D does combat well. It can slow down time and can be more or less crunchy than you like, but it definitely creates aa play area that a new DM can handle during a session. Unfortunately, while the books talk about the other two pillars of roleplay, there isn’t a lot for the new DM to latch onto to understand the best way to run a seamless session.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to answer a listener question about the best ways to create and run all the non-combat encounters that th...

“What elements would this game need to include to feel complete for a fan of the setting and the story?” That was the question from Forever DM Larry about running a Dragonlance campaign for players that had read the books… which he hasn’t.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave reveal the best tips they have for running a setting that you’re unfamiliar with while the players are steeped in it, whether it’s Krynn, Middle-Earth, or a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

1:45 Shout out to The Epic Beatles Tribute Band on DM Dave’s recent Norwe...

Following the footsteps of our Storm King’s Thunder and Curse of Strahd campaigns, we gather all five players from our Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen players wrap-up!

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave welcome The Wizard Washburn, Monster Wrangler Matt, and our own Chaos Engine, Bonnie, to sit down and discuss the epic entirety of our Dragonlance campaign: what we enjoyed and what we didn’t in this campaign that clocked in at just under 2 years! For anyone wanting to run or play in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, this episode is for you...

Happy New Year! As promised, we’re kicking off our 5th Season with one of our favorite episode varieties: the 3 Wise DMs Campaign Reviews! Following the footsteps of our Storm King’s Thunder, Curse of Strahd, and Woodstock Wanderers campaigns, we delve deep into the High Tale of the Dragonlance with our DM Review of Shadow of the Dragon Queen.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave review how we experienced running and playing it; what we enjoyed and what we didn’t in this campaign that clocked in at just under 2 years! For anyone wanting to run Dr...

Metagaming. It’s one of the many topics that will spark controversy among those in the hobby. A listener wrote in explaining that they love making terrain and minis and have offered their services to their DM. Unfortunately, the DMs are reluctant, as they don’t want the player to have metaknowledge or spoil the reveals of the campaign.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave bring on our return special Wise DM, the Wizard Washburn, from our Terrain and Minis episode, to discuss how we have leaned into the inevitability of metagaming to enhance our campaigns by l...

Several listener questions came in that were spiraling around the same general idea, and one that DMs have fielded since the very beginning of the game: how, and when, to exert the unlimited level of power that you possess as the DM.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave, take part in a grab bag of listener questions that deal with players constantly interrupting, as well as how to best approach using, or not using, the newest 2024 version of the Player’s Handbook. For any DM who has wrestled with how and when to exert their God-level po...

Low Magic. We’ve discussed it before and, in last weeks article, DM Chris delved into ideas of how to make magic rare and special in your D&D campaigns. In our discussion online regarding the article, there was a debate over what low magic means. The issue seemed to revolve around confusing Low Magic with Low Fantasy. Middle-Earth, while being a High Fantasy setting, is, in terms of D&D, a Low Magic setting for the simple fact that there are no spellcasting classes.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the preparations for the up...

We’re getting geared up for some new campaigns to begin. Both our Dragonlance and Journey to Ragnarok campaigns are coming near their finale, so we’ve begun thinking about what’s next up. Just in time, DM Chris sent out his Player’s Guides for the upcoming Lord of the Rings campaign that he’s going to be running in the new year.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss what makes a good Player’s Guide, what to include, what to leave out, and how they can help to start your campaign off on the right fo...

Play through an adventure and you’ll realize how strangely time can move in your D&D campaign. Longtime friend of the show, Dr. DM (Jason) returns with a question about his ocean-based campaign that we discussed in Episode 148. His question revolves around how quickly leveling can affect the passage of time in the adventure.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss the strange way time can move in your campaign and how to best handle that. Is your game a non-stop march towards the inevitability of the BBEG or is it more a classic-type of ca...

Bad sessions. We’ve all dealt with them and we’ll continue to have them periodically. It’s all part of running TTRPGs. But how to you deal with them when they happen? What do you do to salvage the game at the next session? DM Dave offers a question to his fellow Wise DMs regarding a recent session that he felt he could have run better, smoother, better improv. But he got stuck. Hey, it happens.

In this episode, Tony and Chris help Dave talk it out and, in the process, reveal what we all deal with…...

Running the adventure outside of the game session? Yes, that’s right. Starting back in DM Dave’s Curse of Strahd campaign, we began to develop characters and backstories with narrative side quests via text, email, and online documents (like Google Docs). In our Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign, we have utilized them from the very beginning for each character individually, as well as the whole party, to further flesh out the characters, world, and story.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their strategies for running narrative side quests outside the game as well...