Shows
Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 232 – Christopher’s Dungeons and Dragons Haul Number 2: Electric Boogaloo
Another week of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters. Apparently this podcast is turning into the “What Did Christopher Find This Week Podcast”. He’s had incredible luck lately of getting ahold of some really old an memorable RPG books. The guys talk about what was in the stash and certain pieces of note.
Kristian takes a look at a few RPG pieces himself that he got. His pieces are new though and firmly in the OSR camp. These include the White Horse of Lowvale, Ave Nox, and The Vast in the Dark Expanded. Each of these are rules light...2025-05-061h 21Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 230 – The Crocaroach Invades Dungeons & Dragons
GDM Dan’s Niece gave him an idea for an absolutely terrifying monster. The Crocaroach! It will bite you, maul you, drown you, and also flee in terror when the lights come on. Dan put together stats for this beastie for both D&D and Pirate Borg!
Christopher recently got a large haul of old school goodies. He and the guys go through the horde seeing whats in it and which books Christopher should start with.
Kristian recently had a bit of nostalgia and looked at a game he ran more than a decade ago ca...2025-04-221h 23Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 228 – Christopher Meets Ed Greenwood
Last week Jay, Kristian, and Dan talked about their time at Gary Con. All the games they played, people they met, and things they picked up. This week it’s GDM Christopher’s turn to talk about Gary Con and talk he does.
There is also news from Wotc in that Chris Perkins has left the company. For GDM Christopher it is a major change as Perkins has always been the face of D&D since he began during 4E. Who knows which person will take over that role.
GDM Kristian talks about Free5E. A ki...2025-04-081h 18Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 227 – Gary Con Vs Hasbro
The guys have returned from Gary Con and have many stories to tell. Before that happens though, we had to let GDM Christopher Rant about WotC some more and the killing of Sigil. Christopher also has changed his mind on whether or not the market is flooded with to many games at the moment. Apparently the gaming market is strong like an ox.
Everybody else details out their favorite moments from Gary Con, which included a little bit of PVP, a game of Mothership and the terror involved in that, rolling dice in an Oriental Adventures game...2025-04-011h 16Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 224 – Dungeons & Dragons Sigil Releases To No Fanfare
Grumpy Dungeon Master Christopher here. Jay is out sick due to an issue with a failed Con save. So, the rest of the guys chat about how decent Eve of Ruin has been as a campaign for Christopher’s Adventure League games. The group also talks about the “fanfare” for Sigils release. You know the 3D VTT Wizards was working on? Yeah, that came out I the middle of the night last Wednesday. Woo, I guess. Last the guys talk about the Eberron UA and the new Artificer Subclass, the Cartographer! Now with 200% less cartography skills.
...2025-03-041h 14Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 209 – Dungeon Masters Guide 2024 Round Three
Grumpy Dungeon Masters Christopher, Kristian, and Jay take a look at the sections of cosmology, items, and bastions this week.
The GDM guys generally like the section on cosmology, but don’t expect to run a planar campaign on it alone. As for the items section it’s a mix. Some good and some bad. Also GDM Christopher loses it when he finds out that Vecna’s hand and Eye are in the magic item section.
Lastly is bastions. They don’t dive to deep into it, but agree it will most likely go under used. Mi...2024-11-191h 13Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 197 – D&D 2024 Recap & Why Christopher Keeps Drowning Characters
This week it’s just GDM Christopher and GDM Jay taking a bit of a look at the 2024 changes to Dungeons and Dragons. It’s been a busy month and the official release is very soon so the guys will finally have the book in hand. Until then it’s more grumpiness. They pose the question of is it possible to have to many RPG systems and will it dilute the pool. With D&D 5.5, MCDM, Tales of the Valiant and so many more out there it may be hard to choose which one to play. At least with G...2024-08-271h 09Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 190 – Kobolds: Dogs Or Lizards?
GDM Christopher is back from his hiatus with some more new toys to talk about. He recently got some old Ral Partha miniatures from the 80’s along with the 2nd edition of Shadowrun from 1992. He and GDM Jay talk a bit about the setting and the things within, especially the section on critters (aka monsters). To his surprise they didn’t all have cybernetic eyes and limbs.
The guys also have a back and forth on kobolds and how they have changed over the years. GDM Jay still insists they are dog creatures while the current version is m...2024-06-181h 00Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 188 – D&D 5.5 The Return of Vengar & Warduke
GDM Christopher has an epiphany and realizes he has never created a monster of his own for D&D. The guys go over some of the monsters that GDM Jay has created and many of the modifications they use for altering monsters. In the process GDM Christopher unknowingly created a monster all his own. Now for him to just bring it to the table.
The guys take a look-see at some cover art for the upcoming DMG and another book, which touches heavily on the 80’s nostalgia for D&D. Bringing back Vengar and Warduke might be a...2024-06-041h 07Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 187 – 16 Rules For Dungeons & Dragons
The Grumpy Dungeon Masters came across a post about 44 rules for Dungeons & Dragons, which turned out to only be 16 rules. Since the original DM who posted these rules was incredibly Grumpy it just made sense for the guys to cover it.
GDM Jay walks GDM Christopher through how he chooses topics to talk about on the podcast and it is as wild as you might believe. Down a rabbit hole which somehow leads to summoning Demons and talking about Octopus people.
GDM Christopher talks about a new book. Everything I Need to Know I Learned...2024-05-281h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 183 – An Expert Opinion
The guys are just getting started taking a look at some of the old books GDM Christopher managed to pick up recently. This time they dive into the BECMI Expert book (Aka, Basic Dungeons and Dragons Expert Set) (AKA The Blue Box). It’s as if GDM Christopher has won the golden ticket and is getting a tour of Willy Wonka’s factory.
Since the guys are looking at the history of RPG’s they take a look at Zines. These were fan made magazines from the 70’s all the way into the 2000’s. GDM Jay does a little d...2024-04-301h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 177 – Matt Mercers Name In Every Single Episode
GDM Christopher and GDM Jay are once again joined by their friend Bruce the Beer Bandit. This week they are chatting about a number of things. Apparently the Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks is making his pitch to start using AI for D&D. Naturally the Grumpy Dungeon Masters have their own takes on this.
GDM Christopher talks about the new tabletop game he got which combines Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony under the Essence 20 rules system. Who doesn’t want to watch Zords go at it with Megatron? Also another week of Ad...2024-03-191h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 174 – Death By Disintegration
GDM Jay has a few games on his mind at the moment. Adventures on the Purple Planet, the soon to be released on Kickstarter Tomb of Gyzaengaxx, and his game of the year for 2024 Brindlewood Bay, which he can now buy. The real questions are can he get them all and even more importantly find time to play them. Signs point to no.
Him and GDM Christopher both recently got a PDF for the Skymasters Guidebook for the Skyraiders of Abarax. While they haven’t gone through it fully they still peak inside and take a look. So...2024-02-271h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 173 – The Unchecked Power Of Chicken Hypnotism
With GDM Christopher being back the guys are up to their usual topics. For GDM Christopher that revolves around miniatures. Wotc recently released a complete miniature set for Tomb of Annihilation and the guys check it out. GDM Jay discovers that Wizkids also sells Pathfinder minis, which peaks his interest.
GDM Jay talks about what happens when you polymorph a large creature inside a smaller creature. This leads to an interesting conversation about hypnotizing chickens and how to handle it. Also Humblewood is now on D&D Beyond and GDM Christopher couldn’t be happier.
Vi...2024-02-201h 11Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 172 – The Champ Returns
GDM Christopher finally returns from his extended trip behind the wood shed. He’s got a black eye and missing some teeth, but is none the worse for wear. Now that he’s returned he’s got tons of things on his mind, such as can a Paladin remove strep throat?
With the 50th anniversary of D&D this year Wotc finally releases their book release schedule. Players Handbook isn’t until September. This isn’t going to end well for Adventures League according to GDM Christopher. GDM Jay is fine with it because now he won’t have to sp...2024-02-131h 13Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 171 – Hide And Seek Champion 2024 GDM Christopher
GDM Christopher is still missing so GDM Jay had his friend Mike step in for him. We think GDM Christopher is probably hiding in the woods somewhere living on nuts and berries, but we’re not sure. Either way the show must go on.
This week has been wild with speculation of Wotc selling D&D, which apparently isn’t true, or is it? GDM Jay has thoughts of his own and speculates what happens if they do sell. The guys also spend a bit of time checking out a board game Mike got called War of the...2024-02-061h 22Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 168 – Beware of Toilet Mimics
We all know mimics can copy just about anything, but this seems a bit absurd. Or does it? GDM Christopher came across a few monsters that are a bit….uncouth. The least offensive of them is a mimic that can take on the shape of a toilet. Well, at least he now has a use for his outhouse mimic miniature.
GDM Jay decided he should weigh in online whether or not the rules matter and naturally it turned into a troll festival. Before things went sideways however there was actual discussion on what makes RPG’s a game...2024-01-161h 14Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 167 – Dungeon 23 and Me and Dracula
The Grumpy Dungeon Masters decided the new year was a good time to drop bombs on each other. GDM Waples came in swinging hooks by reminding GDM Jay that he had failed miserably at the Dungeon23 challenge. For those not familiar it was the idea of creating a single dungeon room every day for a year. In so doing you’d have a full dungeon by the end of the year.
GDM Jay countered with an overhand of letting GDM Christopher know that he’d actually created his own RPG and couldn’t help him with Dungeon 24. While...2024-01-091h 08Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 166 – Magic Schooled
It’s still around the holidays so the guys are taking it easy. Rather than find actual topics to talk about they invite a couple of GDM Christopher’s friends to hang out and chat gaming. Dungeon Lord Jay returns along with Bill, whom was on the podcast just last week.
GDM Christopher wants to know what neat stuff pertaining to RPG’s that everybody got for the holidays. He himself got a really neat book they talk about for a bit on how to use monsters properly. If you ask GDM Christopher how to use monsters it’s g...2024-01-021h 24Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 165 – Grumpy Year in Review
It’s Christmas week for the guys and they are joined by fellow game master Bill, who helps keep things going for Adventures League with GDM Christopher. He’s an old school gamer with a different take on things from GDM Christopher.
So was this a good or bad year for role playing games? Listen to what the guys think was the best thing of the year in RPG’s and what really kind of stunk. They also spend a little bit of time chatting about some of the most broken things in D&D over the years...2023-12-261h 23Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 164 – Christmas Time With MCDM
This week the Grumpy guys are getting prepped for Christmas next week and have decided to unwrap their presents of talking about the MCDM RPG that’s currently in backerkit. While there is many unknowns with the game currently the fellas talk about what Matt Coville, the creator of it, has said publicly about the game. Some of what they hear they like and other parts not so much. Listen in to catch up on what the guys think about it.
Also in not surprising news Hasbro lays off 1,100 employees right before Christmas time. GDM Christopher dives in...2023-12-191h 24Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 162 – D&D 50th Anniversary Leaks
Tons of D&D news this week with Pax having just taken place and Wotc dropping all sorts of hot info for the Dungeons and Dragons 50th Anniversary year. That’s not all however as Ollie’s, the overstock chain has apparently ended up with a ton of D&D campaign cases and the Warriors of Krynn board game that caused the GDM guys to go on a hunt to find things.
The guys chat for a bit about the releases for next year with D&D 5.5, Vecna: Eve (Eye) of Ruin, and Quest From the Infinite Stai...2023-12-051h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 160 – Matt Mercer Neck Tattoo And The People Who Love Them
The Grumpy Dungeon Masters are spending a bit of time doing some speculating on the future of Dungeons and Dragons and what comes next. With the deadline for D&D 5.5 fast approaching they are wondering when it will actually be released. There is also the long tail debate of D&D going to online VTT mostly and what happens then. Could Critical Role take it’s place as the top RPG?
GDM Christopher wonders if D&D still used the Vancian magic system that it’s always been known for or if that’s a dinosaur of the pa...2023-11-211h 17Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 155 – Time To Stop Dragon Your Feet
This week we found out that GDM Christopher thinks that Drow and Ettercap’s are best buddies. He’d probably be surprised to find out that Duergar and Sverfneblin don’t really get along either.
Fortunately GDM Christopher did manage to get his hands on a physical copy of the new Planescape setting so the guys talk some about it. More specifically they dive into the Ancient Time Dragon and it’s lack of Time abilities.
With the release of a new setting though, the guys have to do their usual summary of what’s wrong with...2023-10-171h 20Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 154 – Be Careful Taking Gifts From Strange Game Masters
Both the GDM guys actually got to run some tabletop games this week so naturally they have stuff to talk about. GDM Christopher’s D&D game is back to streaming on Twitch and he presented his wife’s character with a gift. Don’t ever accept presents from fae, random game masters, or GDM Christopher. Now shes a warlock.
GDM Jay on the other hand ran a Pathfinder game without a single ounce of combat, despite writing the scenario for it. Although he naturally forgot to require persuasion and deception checks his players did such a good j...2023-10-031h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 153 – Two Ettins Enter, 1 Ettin Leaves
GDM Jay had the pleasure of playing Dungeons & Dragons Trivial Pursuit again and talks about a question nobody should know the answer to, until now. It involves the mating habits of Ettins. Nuff said.
He also got his first look at the Skyraiders of Abarax, the upcoming RPG setting by Dragonlance creators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. He takes a precursory look at the good and bad from what he has seen. The setting looks amazing, but still has a long way to go before being completed.
GDM Christopher was able to run a module...2023-09-261h 18Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 152 – I Want Candy!
GDM Jay was out of town the past few days LARPing so he didn’t really have much to talk about. Fortunately GDM Christopher had plenty of topics, such as Candy, Death, and the new playtest for D&D 5.5 edition. Oddly enough there doesn’t really seem to be any candy in Dungeons and Dragons. The GDM guys feels this is a travesty so naturally GDM Jay finds a list on Reddit of 100 candys for D&D.
While death is a part of any campaign GDM Christopher finds ways to circumvent that forever thanks to spells like revi...2023-09-191h 12Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 151 – So God And Godzilla Walk Into A Bar
This week Grumpy Dungeon Masters start the pod off with a sad message. Our friend Reverend Panda has passed unfortunately. He was a good friend and a big part of the podcast and the stream. He shall be missed and the guys will honor him as best they know how, by continuing gaming. The thing we all love.
This week it’s a lot of talk about Forgotten Realms deities. So many gods and so many pantheons leads GDM Jay to wonder if they are all necessary. Sure, the writers occasionally kill off a god here and th...2023-09-121h 08Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 150 – Thaladred’s Tacos And Dice
This week Grumpy Dungeon Master Jay and Bruce the Beer Bandit welcome their guest, Grumpy Dungeon Master Christopher Waples, who was supposed to be on vacation. Since he was supposed to be gone the guys decided to talk about Pathfinder a lot.
With Paizo dropping some info about the War of the Immortals and some play test materials the guys spend a while digging through that. They also discuss how storylines can change settings and worlds within Pathfinder and D&D. They also chat about re-using NPC’s for further storylines and whether it’s ok. Also with...2023-09-051h 03Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 148 – What’s Good For the Goose Is Good For The Gandalf
If you haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 yet you’re missing out. The guys are absorbed by the game at the moment, but won’t give any spoilers when talking about it. This week they focus on the rules of BG3, how similar, and dissimilar to actual D&D it is. Some people apparently are taking some of the changes in the video game and importing them into their own table top game.
GDM Christopher talks about magic items and certain attacks that sort of break the rules causing DM’s problems.
On a similar no...2023-08-221h 02Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 147 – 10 Minutes to Closing
This week the guys talk a few different topics besides just AI in art. GDM Jay grumps heavily about adding steampunk elements to Forgotten Realms and Avernus more specifically. He’s not a fan of running over gnomes with tanks. Obviously there is something wrong with him. He also chats about Rolemaster and how their Game Master guides actually teach you about game mastering.GDM Waples drops another incredible story about another new player rogue and also tells of how he got accidentally bamboozled by on of his players. Leomund’s Secret Chest just became the best spell in D...2023-08-151h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 146 – AI’s Back on the Menu Boys!
Another fun filled week with the Grumpy Dungeon Masters. This time GDM Jay is all upon some Baldur’s Gate 3 and was barely able to be pulled away to record the podcast. Apparently it’s good, but GDM Christopher isn’t so sure.
GDM Christopher had himself a fun encounter running back to back to back D&D games this weekend. More Ice Devil mischief was had by all. Also the guys dive into the use of AI art by one of the artists for the latest WotC product and all the trouble it stirred up. Naturally the gu...2023-08-081h 14Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 145 – Roll on the Table
With the guys talking so much about Planescape last week they went back and looked at one of the Unearthed Arcana they had talked about before. Much of the information in there was related to the upcoming Bigby’s Book of Giants and the forthcoming Planescape setting. While they didn’t really learn a whole lot GDM Jay was happy to see a number of feats that could be in the final product.
GDM Jay also got himself a nice new shiny book titled The Gamemasters Book of Astonishing Random Tables. Since it’s full of random tables...2023-08-011h 12Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 143 – The Grumpy Council Convenes: Dragonix’s Deadly Denizens
This week is a bit out of the ordinary here at Grumpy Headquarters. The GDM guys get Reverand Panda and Jeffrey Ludwig to join them and talk about a product the guys got access to, Dragonix’s Deadly Denizens! It’s a fully realized D&D 5E Monster book that would add some flare to your own games. The guys talk shop about the art, the lore, and the different creatures contained within.
GDM Waples also tells everybody about his most recent adventures league and finally joins the 10+ players club. Not surprisingly things don’t go as smooth...2023-07-181h 22
Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 140 – Revenge of the RPG Day
The yearly event of RPG day is upon us once again and the GDM guys spent the day role playing and trying to acquire free swag. Naturally GDM Christopher who lives in civilization managed to obtain goodies while GDM Jay, who lives in the haunted woods managed to snag some lumps of coal. It wasn’t all for naught however as GDM Jay did get an opportunity to finally play and run Dungeon Crawl Classics and have an awesome time. He fills in GDM Christopher on the shenanigans and compares the 2 different modules and quality of writing. Al...2023-06-271h 03Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 130 – One Part Hurricane, Two Parts Firestorm, and Mix!
Natural disasters are a part of life. When you add magic into the mix the term “natural disaster” takes on a slightly different meaning. The Grumpy Dungeon Masters take a stab at what constitutes a natural disaster and how to even try and utilize something like that in your game. Oh, and of course Tsunaming the Underdark gets mentioned again.
GDM Jay is enamored with some of the new books that he’s obtained recently and dives into the Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader game some. On top of an incredible setting of grim dark sci-fi in the far fu...2023-03-211h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 129 – Presto And The Gangs Adventures In The Maze
New video for the D&D movie Honor Among Thieves has dropped and it’s straight fire. Several minutes of running through a magical maze along with the original characters from the D&D cartoon have got the GDM guys abuzz. GDM Christopher has changed his tune and is really hyped for the movie again. Just a few more weeks to go.GDM Jay stumbled into a huge collection of table top games and has a quandary of what system to run next. Should it be Werewolf The Apocalypse, Dune, Call of Cthulhu, Rogue Trader, or Legend of th...2023-03-1458 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 128 – How Much Is Your Soul Worth?
Paizo decided to release a statement about the use of AI generated text and art in their products and GDM Christopher is unsure of how to take the statement. GDM Jay helps to try and make some sense of it and also take some shots at WotC. GDM Jay also had the opportunity to finally play the Dark Souls table top game and gives a full run down of how it works and how many times he died. Not surprisingly the number is greater than 0. GDM Christopher has a hot take on how the game should be played.2023-03-071h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 124 – Back To Business As Usual
So the war is over and WotC has lost. They decided to back off completely with the OGL and even went as far to make the rules for 5E creative commons. We’ll continue to keep an eye on them, but for now it’s over so we’re back to our normal shenanigans on the podcast. This means Waples can tell more stories about how he messed up in his game or killed more PC’s.
GDM Jay managed to find the Tarrasque of Pathfinder and find out some history about the great beast. Speaking of Paizo th...2023-01-311h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 123 – Christopher Drops The Mic
It’s been another week and another WotC OGL. The guys are joined again by the Beer Bandit who along with GDM Jay decided to take a back seat and let GDM Christopher have a go. With the OGL focusing heavily on the VTT (Virtual Table Top) industry GDM Christopher had a lot to say.
GDM Jay finally got to sit down and make some characters for Pathfinder 2e and quickly decided he was in love. Can he convince GDM Christopher that it’s good and easy? They also spend some time talking strategic vs narr...2023-01-241h 32Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 119 – I Aint Got Time To Bleed
It’s another week and the guys are back at it again. It’s the post Christmas episode so the guys get to talk about the goodies each of them obtained from Santa’s bag of goodies. GDM Christopher got the god of all Gelatinous Cubes and GDM Jay got himself a handy dandy new book to help with his campaigns.
This week WotC released info on the upcoming changes to their open gaming license, so naturally the GDM crew have to toss in their 2 electrum pieces on it. Good or bad they certainly have opinio...2022-12-271h 11Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 118 – Is Pathfinder Not Good Enough For You?
So we invited our good buddy and Grumpy Dungeon Master in arms Bruce Burkart to join in and talk gaming this week. GDM Jay finally got a look at some of the 5E Dragonlance stuff and lets his opinion be known, specifically about the Kender and Lunar Sorcerors. The outcome isn’t surprising in the least and it’s a Grumpy good time.
GDM Christopher decided to purchase himself as an early Christmas present a cat size Tiamat miniature. When I say cat sized I don’t mean miniature cat sized. I mean actual cat sized...2022-12-201h 07Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 117 – Try The Priest
The boys have a nice long chat this week about the Cleric Unearthed Arcana that’s being used for the playtest for 6th edition. Some of it’s good, some of it’s bad, some of it’s pointless, and some of it just makes GDM Christopher grumpier.
GDM Christopher points out to GDM Jay a Baldur’s Gate 3 Collectors Edition that is being released when the game releases next year. Needless to say the guys have some fun taking this thing apart and seeing if it’s actually worth the hefty price tag.
There is a...2022-12-131h 25Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 113 – Finding Your Focus
The GDM guys are all over the place this week with the latest podcast. The guys dive into some tips on how to find your zen place when you decided to work on ideas for your latest game. GDM Jay and GDM Christopher both have some good ideas on it. Me personally, I like to chase after a greased up pig. Helps me think
GDM Christopher has a wonderful new selection of miniatures he’s after and even GDM Jay wants some of them. Something about the first edition monsters to get the old man in...2022-11-1559 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 111 – What’s Got Wing’s and Rolls?
The boys are back again with many more shenanigans. The Grumpy Dungeon Masters dive into some books that WotC could release for more profit and benefit the DM’s out there. GDM Christopher was of the mindset that they can’t release a lore book on Waterdeep while GDM Jay was adamant they could. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.
The guys have also been digging around online and come across a few fun things. Transformer D&D toys being released for the upcoming movie. Also they chat about the Spiderdragon and if it’s...2022-11-011h 03Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 103 – Where’s Chris?
GDM Christopher decided to not show up for work today. Something about a vacation or maybe he was raiding villages again. I don’t really know. So I reached out to one of my local DM’s and he was happy to oblige filling in for the episode. Everybody welcome to new GDM Christopher….GDM Mike.
We decided to go into a rather grumpy mode for this one and complain about the upcoming Virtual Table Top for 6th edition. While much of it is still an unknown there is plenty that can be determined just from k...2022-09-061h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersGrumpy Guest – Dungeon Lord Jay
It’s been a bit, but we had a new Grumpy Guest on this week in the guise of Dungeon Lord Jay. He is a fellow DM who also happens to have a Youtube channel and was kind enough to help GDM Christopher run his recent D&D tournament by running one of the tables. He has also had the pleasure of being one of the very few DM’s to actually get to role play as Cr’aig. The guys welcome him to the pod and talk about a whole host of topics and even get interv...2022-08-092h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 97 – Cr’aig Made an Appearance
It was a busy week for GDM Christopher. He managed to pull together and run a rather successful D&D tournament. With a number of teams competing for top prize several DM’s showed up and ran some great games. This episode is all about the tournament, how it came together, and how things would be changed going forward. GDM Jay managed to find an article in an old Dragon magazine relating to tournament D&D and goes through it with GDM Christopher a day late as usual. Also it wouldn’t be a Grumpy Dungeon Master podc...2022-07-121h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 95 – Free RPG Day Shenanigans
Apparently Free RPG day was this past weekend and GDM Jay was unaware of it. Fortunately GDM Christopher keeps close tabs on all the free things he can get. This includes free magic cards, free RPG’s, free sundaes, and free Chipotle. If you want to know what’s free just ask him. The guys talk about everything that GDM Christopher was able to snag during the free RPG day. Some of it’s simple, some of it’s mysterious, and all of it is things you want. The guys also talk about the upcoming event GDM Christop...2022-06-281h 19Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 93 – Forging For War
Welcome back to another episode of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters. This week the guys discuss how awesome Warforged really are. Not a discussion of stats, but how they fit into certain campaign settings. Not all Warforged may be right for you. Ask your DM if you are interested in the Warforged or have any side effects from playing them, such as a case of the Bleeps, the Sweeps, or the Creeps. GDM Jay found him a new book he’s super excited about on NPC’s and how to make them Awesome. Maybe now Steve, Dave, and Bob...2022-06-1457 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 91 – The Legend of Brapp Zanigan
Have you ever had an encounter that you thought would be incredibly dangerous for the players and in the end it’s trivial? GDM Christopher tells a story of how this happened to him with the new adventure he’s currently working on. As usual for a Dungeon Master things don’t go as planned. The guys also find another stupid rule to harp about and GDM Jay challenges people to fist fight a baboon. For the record, don’t do that. GDM talks about the latest one shot he got to play in and his character Brapp Za...2022-05-311h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 88 – Tangling With the Tarrasque
With little news on the WotC front the GDM guys talk a bit about the games they partake in. GDM Jay was lucky enough to have a go at the Tarrasque this past week. Unfortunately his party was not even remotely up to the task. GDM Christopher is looking for an ending to a campaign he’s currently writing, but as endings go it’s never an easy task. There are also a ton of great Spelljammer miniatures coming out the guys take a look at. There is also talk of the Witcher season 2, since GDM Christopher fina...2022-05-1058 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 85 – GDM Christopher Strikes Again Part III
Hey guys! Craig here. He’s done it again! Once again GDM Christopher manages to slay an entire party of those foul adventurers. Those poor mephits were minding their own business until a group of ne’er-do-well adventurers decided to cause a ruckus. Well this time the tables were turned. Also the Grumpy guys take a gander at some random encounter tables and figure out what works and what doesn’t. GDM Jay also finds himself befuddled by his players actions. All this and more in the latest Grumpy Dungeon Masters.
Visit Zenergy Gamers for all of...2022-04-191h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 84 – Elephants Can Fly!
Hey guys! Craig here. The guys are going super deep dive this week into rules that nobody knows the answers to. These are so deep I’m fairly sure I saw a Kraken down there somewhere. To keep things a bit lighter though, GDM Christopher killed some more characters and GDM Jay brings us back to one of his favorite topics of all time! Stupid things in D&D. No, not stupid like the two hosts of the podcast. Stupid as in they make no sense. Ok…, maybe it is similar to the two hosts.
Visi...2022-04-121h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 83 – Dice For All And All For Dice!
This week it’s back to normal. No special guests! GDM’s Jay and Christopher discuss some absolutely insane dice that are out there. If you’ve ever been interested in the bling of dice this is the episode for you. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to wear a set of platinum dice around my neck. The guys also have a couple of stories from their campaigns which includes replacement undead and the legend of Seabeard the Pirate. GDM Christopher also gets GDM Jay to agree with something Jeremy Crawford said for once. List...2022-04-051h 09Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 82 – Divinity Original Beer Panda
The guys are back at it and grumpy as ever. GDM Christopher starts off talking about the removal of Xanathar’s and Volo’s guide from print in the near future. As usual this leads to a discussion about possible reasons why WotC would do this. The guys are also joined by other Grumpy Dungeon Masters The Beer Bandit Bruce Burkart and the ever grumpy ReverendPanda. Lastly the guys do a deep dive into a video game this time. Divinity Original Sin 2, which they have been playing on stream and it’s similar feel to actually playing a tabl...2022-03-291h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 81 – Technical Writing?
Technical Writing? That sounds incredibly boring. Oh, right. It is boring. That’s why so many people don’t actually do it when they should. That’s why the GDM guys decided to have a conversation about it! Learn to write better supplements or something. Also it’s that time for speculation again! The guys got wind of a post that harkens towards Spelljammer coming out in the near future. Or does it? Maybe we’re all wrong and it’s just another dream GDM Christopher had about bagels and cream cheese.
Link to the supposed Spe...2022-03-2253 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 80 – Heard You Like Dragonlance
This week we are once again joined by our friend ReverendPanda. The guys invited him on specifically because of his love for the Dragonlance setting. The guys spend a lot of time diving down the well of the new Unearthed Arcana that has a new archtype, race, feats, and backgrounds directly from the world of Krynn. Although it may still be a while until a Dragonlance book drops, the guys couldn’t help but dive into this info and tell you the good and the bad about it. Also GDM Christopher ran his adventure league game and managed to no...2022-03-151h 47Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 79 – GDM Christopher Strikes Again
The guys are back at it again! Shenanigans that is. GDM Christopher decided it would be a good idea to teach a new family how to play D&D. As usual however things don’t go exactly as planned. GDM Jay got a bit of a break from running D&D and got to play a high level one shot instead. It turned into a spectacle of silvery barbs, battle chickens, and fireballs for everybody. The guys also lament their lack of time to learn other gaming systems and talk about the Broom of Flying.
Visit Zenergy Ga...2022-03-081h 11Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 78 – Et Tu, Panda?
Our buddy Reverend Panda joined us for some shenanigans this week. Turns out it was just GDM Jay and him spending an episode putting GDM Christopher in his place. From bad character design to not following the rules they had plenty of stuff to beat him over the head with. GDM Jay spends some time regaling the guys with a story of using a bugbear as a sock puppet. Surprised the other guys didn’t beat him over the head for that one. They also spend some time gushing over how much time GDM Panda actually spends on his ca...2022-03-011h 16Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 77 – Stupid Ooze Mini
This podcast turned out to be a rather long one. GDM Christopher just had so many things he had to talk about and couldn’t wait until next week. I guess that’s what he gets for not wanting to talk about things last week. Oh well! The guys discuss a strange occurrence of failures through falling damage, do spell attacks count as spells under the new changes to monsters, GDM Jay disagree with Jeremy Crawford again, and the Grand Emperor Ooze Lord Almighty Jubilex makes another unscheduled appearance on the podcast once again. The guys just can’t seem t...2022-02-221h 42Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 76 – Negatives Good Buddy
So GDM Christopher finally finished off the Owl campaign after all this time. Unfortunately he didn’t want to talk about it, so the guys had to wing it like usual. He’ll have that discussion another time, or so he says. I’m curious how many of his PC’s survived! GDM Jay does his best to convince the world that it’s necessary to have negative attributes in D&D. The guys also dive a little bit more into things new DM’s need to do to start being a DM. Hint. Just do it. All this and a discus...2022-02-151h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 72 – A Little Bit of Chaos in Your Character is Good
This episode is a banger. Apparently that’s British for sausages or American for something awesome. You decide which one to use. GDM Christopher got to take a little adventure and run his Dread of the Ice Devil at Scarab Con in Columbia SC. He regales us with the adventure and teaches some people new to it to guard their ankles. Then they discuss some of the more amazing table set ups they have seen when miniatures are involved. There is also a great discussion on creating characters completely at random and playing them. This could be pure chaos!...2022-01-181h 14Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 71 – How to Become a Dungeon Master
This episode goes out to those who have been reaching out and asking how to become a Dungeon Master. The guys have spent 70+ episodes talking about how to be a better DM, but had neglected the most basic question of how to start. Well no longer! The guys go into detail about how they began and how you too can become a DM. These secrets can be yours for the low price of 4 payments of 99.99….or you can just listen to this episode and get it for free! There is also talk about GDM Christopher killing his party again an...2022-01-1159 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 69 – Santa’s Been Naughty This Year
It’s that Holiday time of year again where the GDM guys get into some Christmas Tomfoolery! GDM Christopher regales us with tales from his Christmas one-shot “Everyone’s Been Naughty” where his players decided to play classic characters such as John Mclane and Kevin McCallister. Listen in to see how it played out this time around. The fellas also talk about some of the recent errata in D&D 5E and how people should deal with it in their own Grumpy way. GDM Christopher also took a short jaunt back into Icewind Dale for some of his players. How many...2021-12-2157 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 68 – Ghost of Christmas Grumpy
It’s the ghost of Christmas grumpy episode! Or should it be winter festival? I suppose it could be a whole lot of different things in your campaigns. But, this week it’s the grumpy kind where the GDM guys complain about things. Mostly it’s GDM Jay grumping about the newest broken spell in Strixhaven. GDM Christopher however has a more mild tone about it. Two GDM’s enter, one GDM leaves! You decide! GDM Christopher is not to be left out of the grumpiness however. He is pretty upset at how the Owlin (Owlkin) are treated in the Stri...2021-12-141h 03
Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 67 – Somebody Play us Attune
Cr’aig here. I’m back at work this week and I did a good job! So good indeed that the guys didn’t even call me out during the intro! It’s another episode of the guys being all over the place with discussions. It’s like herding field mice. They ended up having a really good discussion about attuning to items, other ideas on how to use it, and the all pervasive idea of should it exist. They also talked about intentionally nerfing your character, because it’s what they would do. This seems like a bad idea when a...2021-12-071h 10Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 66 – Duel of the Magic Items
GDM Jay here. Craig decided to be useless this week so I’m filling in. Myself and GDM Christopher had a bit of fun today talking about things we love. Unfortunately Craig decided he couldn’t be bothered to record it, so you get less fun topics. These included boring things such as bringing back a good bad guy after they died, raising monsters and fortresses, and a new best common magic item. We also discuss our ability to think of everything in terms of D&D and how some guy manages to run a tabletop game for 16 people with...2021-11-301h 03Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 65 – In Strange Lands of Lounge Chairs and Kangaroo Pouches
The boyos are all over the map on this one. GDM Jay seems to really have a strange infatuation with infantile magic items and the ridiculousness of them. I guess that’s good for the podcast, but probably bad for his campaign. Oh well. At least I’m not going to be the one being given a Pole of Monster Fishing or a Hat of Hairlessness. (Look these up. They are real items). On the side of the more balanced GDM we have GDM Christopher….who only almost wiped another party on stream again. Sometimes I fear for my safety...2021-11-231h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 64 – Of Unicorns and Frostmaidens (ft Jeffrey Ludwig)
Hey all, GDM Christopher here. GDM Jay is on vacation, so we brought in a previous guest to fill in for him. Everyone welcome back Jeffrey Ludwig! This episode we talk about Christopher’s latest outing DMing Adventures League. Jeffrey talks about his Frostmaiden campaign and how he has been setting up the stories ending. So beware there are some spoilers for Frostmaiden. After that we discuss Jeffrey’s work on Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. We learn about how he created some of the dragons in the book and how he works them into his campaigns.
So be...2021-11-161h 28Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 62 – A Story of Vampires and Ghosts
This week the guys decided to catch up on the things they have done over the past couple of weeks. These amazing tales include stories about brand new players performing brand new player things. We all know how this goes….and since it was GDM Christopher running it we know exactly how it ends. GDM Jay had a story to tell about a ruckus in a Graveyard, but it quickly spiraled into the guys talking about how stunning strike is stupid. Lastly GDM Christopher tells the amazing tell of how Strahd must die. So did the PC triumph over th...2021-11-021h 31Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 61 – Jay Doesn’t Read Good
Greetings fellow adventurers. GDM Jay here. I gave Craig the day off since he’s been doing a good job lately. Hopefully he finds his way back. So anyways, it’s more grumpy stories with the guys. GDM Christopher managed to kill another player. Pretty sure that’s about to be a running gag around here. It’s fine. I’m sure the character will “bounce” back from it. On the other side of things I realize that I don’t read details that aren’t important. I’d rather embellish and tell a better story. Decided to go down a rabbit hole o...2021-10-191h 08Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 60 – Don’t Spider Open Inside
Hey guys! Craig here. This week we have tales of spiders, angels and devils, and a Star Wars game gone awry! GDM Jay stands his ground on alignments, specifically when it refers to angels and devils, but more specifically when it comes to wasting text. GDM Christopher regales us with tales of a near party wipe caused by players not doing what the DM expected. Always expect the unexpected!! Especially when players are involved! All this plus some video game talk of running into unbeatable encounters or beating those unbeatable encounters.
Be sure to buy the newest...2021-10-121h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 59 – Witchlight: The Reckoning
Hey guys! Craig here. I’m currently not locked in the basement. The guys decided to let me out for a bit to bring you an update for this weeks podcast. In this episode we have talk of Spectators, not just the kind that watch you, but the kind that can kill you or wear red hats. Also did you know that werewolves have to starve to death if they fall out of a plane since the landing won’t kill them? The guys also go over some issues with the upcoming D&D 5E changes, who wins in a we...2021-10-051h 09Grumpy Dungeon MastersGrumpy Guest – Bruce 2: The Brucening
This week we take a walk back to 2020, since apparently Craig can’t find the correct guests for the episode. We decided to talk to our good buddy the Beer Bandit, Bruce Burkart, the host of the Drunk with Buds podcast. The guys chat about some of the best/worst traps they have ever encountered or used. They also dive into misspent characters, GDM Christopher plays a Gunslinger, and Bruce tells the boys how they are doing XP incorrectly, and the best monster of all time made by a 5 year old.
Link here to purchase the next of...2021-09-211h 14Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 56 – The Chris Episode Spectacular
Alright GDM Christopher here! So GDM Jay went missing. We checked in his cave and he wasn’t there. We checked under the bridge where he steals Billy Goats and he wasn’t there either. He is just gone. Don’t worry though, we will find him.
So in the meantime I brought in GDM ReverendPanda to pinch hit and do the Podcast with. IRL he is also a Chris, so this is the Chris Episode Spectacular! We spared no expense. No intro, outro, or ads this week. In fact I’ll be amazed if I can even get...2021-09-071h 03Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 55 – Christophers First Edition Bound!
Sorry about the Podcast going wonky a bit. Craig was playing with the sound board and decided GDM Jay needed to sound like a demon frog at one point. In this episode the guys have a rather in depth discussion about the possibility of 6th edition coming in 2024 and if it should happen. GDM Christopher also decided to finally delve into vintage DnD and got ahold of some 1st and 2nd edition books. Look out world! Here comes THAC0! They also talk about puppy dogs and duels…..not to be confused with dueling puppies.
Follow the Grumpy Du...2021-08-311h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 54 – Resurrection and You: A DMs Guide
In today’s episode we have tales of multiple players that met their unfortunate end! But somehow, through acts of caring viewers and unique in game mechanics, the players stayed alive and did not have to roll new PCs. Did this cheapen the PC deaths? Should they have stayed dead? Also GDM Christopher and Jay get into a heated debate on which is better, a Kolbold or a Warforged!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite social media platform, links below! Be sure to join us every Saturday at 8pm EST on Twitc...2021-08-241h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 53 – Time to Nerf Dungeons and Dragons
It happened again! GDM Christopher swears off Dungeons and Dragons again! This time DnD has jumped the shark again and decided to team up an create an unexpected product that kids around the world enjoy. It’s almost as if DnD is popular or something. The guys also get into a discussion on whether or not DM’s should hold onto players character sheets and how often should you look over them? Also is it possible to have a happy ending for everybody when a campaign ends? Listen in to find out. All this and more!https://www.t...2021-08-171h 02Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 52 – Welcome to the Pixie Brigade
Be wary of the pixies. We all know about Peter Pan and his little sidekick Tinker Bell. Well did you know that a swarm of Pixie’s is enough to kill the Tarrasque? You learn something new every time you listen to this podcast! The guys also go over aging rules in DnD 5E, or the lack there of, the removal of the long sword from 5E, and GDM Jay details out his battle with childhood heroes. So enjoy the pixie dust we’re going to sprinkle you with and listen in!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on y...2021-08-101h 16Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 51 – What’s a Monster Without Some Class?
Have you ever wanted your monsters to be awesome? Do you feel that your bugbears need a little pizzaz to spice things up? What about your Duergar? Are they just boring and bland? Well now you can learn from the masters how to make them amazing! Before you know it your Duergar will have fire beards that shoot spikes! Ok….that might be a bit too far, but you get the idea. In this tutorial the guys also talk a bit about building a new class from scratch and why it’s usually a bad idea. Just keep it betw...2021-08-031h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 50 – Gnoll Mercy!!
In the latest escapades of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters the guys get into deep water and talk a whole lot about nostalgia. Not there own nostalgia, but about how it can taint the waters of things that are good. It’s important to be the good fan….and that’s coming from a couple of really grumpy guys who hate most things. The discussions continue onto their own campaigns, how to beat PC’s who can fly, and why DM’s shouldn’t roll death saves.
Follow this link to read what the guys are talking about. https://comi...2021-07-271h 04Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 49 – Fizbang’s Glorious Nerd Adventure!
The day has finally come! GDM Christopher swears off DnD forever. Good thing he had a tub of peach cobbler ice cream to help bring him back into the fold. After he decides to stick around the guys talk about Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons and if the book will be useful. The fellas also talk about their campaigns going awry, awful rolls, and GDM Jay finally finds the hill he is willing to die on…..which surprisingly involves owl people.
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite social media platform, links below! Be sure to join...2021-07-201h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 48 – Were Did My Clothes Go?
Welcome back everybody! Do you know what happens to your clothing when a lycanthrope transforms? Neither do the GDM guys. This leads to discussions about what actually happens with items when druids shapeshift. My money is on they are temporarily held for ransom by a lightning fast goblin, but what do I know? The guys also talk about natural disasters, the beginning of GDM Christopher’s Fey campaign, and Eve online. Who knows how they go from Fey to Eve online. Guess you’ll have to listen to find out!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favo...2021-07-1356 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 47 – Guess WHO is Coming to Dinner?
Welcome back to the Grumpy Dungeon Masters. In this latest journey GDM Christopher finally gets to run the introduction to his upcoming Feywild campaign, which begins in an Owlkin village of all places. Needless to say, things go awry. I’m sure it will be quite a hoot though going forward. On the other side of things GDM Jay talks about the Dark Alliance video game and how it compares with the lore from the original novels. Needless to say he’s less than thrilled.
Click on the image to the right or this link for the Lega...2021-06-2955 min
Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 47 – Guess WHO is Coming to Dinner?Episode 47 of Grumpy Dungeon Masters is a dive into GDM Christopher's Feywild campaign, a Holiday game in Summer time, and video game shenanigans. Enjoy!2021-06-2955 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 46 – It’s Trappin Time!
Hiya Folks! Cr’aig here with another fancy tale from the GDM guys. This week GDM Chris discusses his maniacally fiendish trap that he put together for a competition. Here’s hoping he wins and doesn’t test it on me! GDM Jay talks about a mirror that is never fashionably late and about how to protect your library. They also talk about the gravity wizard…..again…for the last time….we hope.
Behold! Scent of Gold editing gone wrong.
Also behold! Gravity Fish!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite social media platform, links below! Be sure to j...2021-06-221h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersGrumpy Special Speculation
In this special unplanned episode GDM Chris, GDM Jay, and GDM Reverend Panda talk about the info drop from WoTC about their planned books for 2022. This leads them down the rabbit hole into what could be, what should be, and what they would like to see. There might have been a discussion about the licensing of other products WoTC might have access to and if G.I. Joe should be a table top game. Listen in true believers and enjoy!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite social media platform, links below! Be sure to join...2021-06-171h 05Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 45 – GDM Chris Leaves the House
Hello GDM fans! In this episode the guys discuss Christopher’s sojourn into the outside world, where he visited a number of magically enchanted gaming stores to get into different shenanigans. Along the way he found life, laughter, love, and a gumball machine filled with miniatures. Oh what a tale! The guys also regale us with tales of Beholder animatronics, gravity wizards, and even try to figure out why Booming Blade is good.
GDM Christopher also found a few really cool products that he would recommend to all aspiring DMs. The Tome of Beast Pawns and Tome of...2021-06-151h 02Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 44 – The Wizarding World of Faerun
Oh look! New Books! The GDM guys discuss/speculate on the new DnD5e books that were recently announced which are The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, a Feywild adventure and Strixhaven, which is a new Magic the Gathering book. Let’s say it’s mixed reviews. Also more Magic the Gathering talk about the new DnD set coming soon, more gravity wizard shenanigans, and a whole host of other topics. It’s so difficult to keep these guys on track!
You can view a few of the DnD spoiled cards at https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/05/20/drizzt-dourden-comes-to-magic-the-gathering
Foll...2021-06-0858 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 43 – Super Heroes or Loser Zeroes?
Hey listeners, GDM Jay here. I had to step in and do Craig’s job, so my apologies for any issues with the episode. He decided to wander off and burn down a village or something instead of doing his job. Anyways, in this episode me and GDM Christopher discuss different methods of assigning stats for PC’s and talk about some new Dragonborn changes in Unearthed Arcana. We also discuss the variant types of kobold’s. Enjoy, I’m gonna go find Craig and take him behind the wood shed.
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your fav...2021-06-0153 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 39 – Hag! How Much You Lift Bro?
Welcome back to the Grumpy Dungeon Masters! I’m Craig, the bard. In this latest foray by the GDM guys GDM Christopher discusses his recent running of a live in person game of D&D 5E, with all new players. It sounded like a blast and went about as expected. They also talk a good bit about really weird rules in 5E, why Hags are awesome (GDM Jay will punish me if I disagree), and do players get experience if they didn’t really do anything? Listen in to find out the answer!
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Mast...2021-04-271h 01Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 38 – To Crit or Not to Crit
Craig here! I have to make sure to use lots of flowery language in these posts. Apparently adjectives are important according to GDM Jay. I’m not sure what an adjective is, but GDM Christopher doesn’t really seem to care. The guys also talk about whether or not to pull a critical hit or to stick with it. Also, do random encounters matter or not and how to make them not suck. Food for thought, or something of that nature.
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite social media platform, links below! Be sure to join...2021-04-2055 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 37 – Seasons Don’t Fear the Gatekeeper
Hey guys. It’s Craig. You know? The lovable scoundrel that the guys always complain about. Sure is hard working for these guys. You know what else is rough? Gatekeeping. The guys dive into the issues of gatekeeping hobbies. Also GDM Jay rips into some guy who has no sense of humor. They also discuss an idea on how to make all or nothing spells a little less…..nothing and they introduce a new weekly segment for the show. Teaching GDM Christopher Magic and Other DM’s who can’t Spell Good.
We also wanted to share the DMs...2021-04-131h 06Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 35 – Good Players Are Essential
In the latest episode of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters Christopher is back! We talk about getting people to understand that being a good Dungeon Master means being a good part of the play group. Being a good player is just as essential as having a good DM. There is also a discussion on optional methods to hand out benefits to players and whether or not you should change written encounters from what is actually written. Beyond that, GDM Jay is seeking a new catch phrase to annoy Christopher with.
Follow the Grumpy Dungeon Masters on your favorite...2021-03-3047 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 34 – Christopher Fails a Con Save
This week on Grumpy Dungeon Masters, GDM Christopher dies a horrible death. Don’t worry he gets better. So GDM Jay had guest co-hosts Bruce Burkhart and Johnathan Jones. Both are long time DM’s who are have had their fair share of grumpy moments. They discuss thoughts on city building for campaigns, using props and sound effects, and giving players carrots. Not the nasty orange ones, but the good kind to lead players where they need to be. Can two long time DMs take place of GDM Christopher? Tune in to find out!
Follow the Grumpy Dung...2021-03-2356 min
Grumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 25 – Jay’s Naughty DM Session
In this episode we talk about Jay DMing Christopher’s Christmas one-shot “Everyone’s Been Naughty.” This was huge for Christopher and he loves to hear how the sessions go when people run his one-shots. Especially how players do things that was never written in or talked about in the one-shot. We may also talk about that topic a bit more relating to the Icewind Dale stream. “Fun” conversations to be had!Link to Everyone’s Been Naughty – https://www.dmsguild.com/product/338682/Everyones-Been-Naughty?affiliate_id=2386112Follow us on Twitch at https://Twitch.tv/GrumpyDungeonMasters and join us every Sa...2021-01-0551 minGrumpy Dungeon MastersEpisode 23 – What are we talking about?
On the back of last weeks episode Grumpy DM Christopher recounts an event that occurred in his last Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign in which he had to improv a situation that completely altered the fate of Icewind Dale. (So, there are some spoilers concerning that campaign in the first 5 minutes) This led to Grumpy DM Jay to talk about the types of actions/players he dislikes. Campaign de-railing decisions being one of them. But every DM is different. Some strive to have things progress a certain way. While others foster an environment where any type of action is...2020-12-2253 min
Grumpy Dungeon MastersGrumpy Special – Dread of the Ice Devil Playtest P2
We are excited to release part 2 of this extra special episode of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters. Join us as we run a few good friends through the end of Dread of the Ice Devil. Don’t worry nothing terrible will happen…Also sorry for getting this out a bit late, things happened. IE I forgot to post this.
Here is a list of who was who:
Christopher WaplesGrumpy DMWriter of Dread of the Ice DevilJay JohnsonFarvyn LingenhallLvl 5 | Gnome | Wizard / School of EvocationAlex WinslowCover ArtistsOvealda WhitjawLvl 5 | Dwarf | Paladin / Oath of DevotionGalen PischkeMikhail ColdbrookLvl 5 | Human | Sorcerer / Shad...2020-08-201h 59