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Curmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story Speed Run! w/ Mike Cortese [RPG Horror Story][#113] Our final special LIVE episode recorded in the spacious gaming area of The Keep in Brick, NJ. This week, Jason, Josey, and Jim welcome another local NJ gamer, Mike Cortese, who brings us an epic horror story that stops at all the Bad Game Stations of the Cross. You can visit The Keep whenever you’re in Central NJ.Jason met Mike (and Jim!) on the NJ Dungeons & Dragons Facebook Group.The campaign Mike talked about used a Base 8 monetary systemThe Forgotten Realms calendar used 10-day weeks, I guess.Jim and Jason hate shopping sessions, but not everyone do...2023-06-0931 minCurmudgeons And DragonsFrom BBEG to BFF with Mike Perrone [RPG Horror Story][#112] Another special LIVE episode recorded in the spacious gaming area of The Keep in Brick, NJ. This week, Jason, Josey, and Jim welcome NJ-local DM Mike Perrone. You can visit The Keep whenever you’re in Central NJ.Jason met Mike (and Jim!) on the NJ Dungeons & Dragons Facebook Group.Jason’s condolences notwithstanding, a whole lot of people play D&D via Roll20.“I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the CW show Supernatural?”Jim invoked weird fantasy author China Meilville as inspiration for one of his campaigns.Everything we love can be found at curmudgeo...2023-06-0227 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDM Tony's Heartwarming Story [RPG Wholesome Stories][#111] Another LIVE episode recorded in the spacious gaming area of The Keep in Brick, NJ. This week, Jason and Jim welcome Tony Ingracia - or DMTony on the DND404 podcast - live and in person, as Josey joins us remotely.You can visit The Keep whenever you’re in Central NJ.Tony’s podcast is about 3 brand new players exploring D&D for the first time.Jason’s relentless stanning for NADDPOD continues.Crawfish head, lobster claws, boobs out. Must be Bilbdoolpoolp.The classic AD&D adventure Jim referenced is D2, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa.Everything we love can be...2023-05-2622 minCurmudgeons And DragonsStrongest Heroes On The Planet? Time For Aliens![#110] In the second part of Jim and Jason’s LIVE conversation with Tony Bogan of The Keep Hobby Shop in Brick, NJ, we’re joined by Josey!You can visit The Keep whenever you’re in Central NJ.Tony’s day job is running fishing and party charter boats on the Jersey shore.Tony invoked the classic Deities & Demigods AD&D Hardcover.Do you still have your favorite classic AD&D character’s sheet? Tony does!Tony designed The Keep’s logo before he signed the lease.You only wish your PC had a Castle like Zandar’sTony kept tha...2023-05-1932 minCurmudgeons And DragonsFrom Player To Shop Owner with Tony Bogan[#109] In our first C&D LIVE episode, Jim and Jason meet in person at Jason's FLGS The Keep in Brick, NJ to chat with owner Tony Bogan.You can visit The Keep whenever you’re in Central NJ.Tony’s day job is running fishing and party charter boats on the Jersey shore.Tony got his start with the Classic White Box of basic D&D.Role-playing and TCGs are widely popular in the military.If you were born after Y2K, modems are just history to you.Jason bragged about having a Funko Gelatinous Cube.Jason, was...2023-05-121h 01Curmudgeons And DragonsNPCs Lie, Rekindling the Spark, and You're Not Eddie Brock [DMAcademy Advice][#108] In this DMAdvice episode, Jason and Jim offer advice on how to get your players to trust your NPCs a little less, how to recapture the spark of role-play in a long-running campaign, and what to do about that guy who wants to be Venom in your first campaign.Read the original posts on gullible(?) PCs, static PCs, and overcooked PCs.Jim invoked the Quest Giver trope.Jason was lamenting he needed to learn to do a Scottish accentJason reminded us he’s a superfan of Not Another D&D Podcast.If you want to play Venom, do it...2023-05-0533 minCurmudgeons And DragonsWOTC Sics Pinktertons On Youtuber!?[#107] In this special episode, Jason, Josey, and Jim discuss the deeply disturbing implications of D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast hiring the Pinkerton Agency, notorious extra-judicial corporate mercenaries, to enforce street dates for Magic cards.This Gizmodo article should fill you in on the basics of the original story.‘The Pinkertons’ started as private bounty hunters on behalf of banks and railroads. They weren’t very good at it. They soon graduated from killing the family members of outlaws to killing the family members of Union organizers.That includes women and children.They are credibly believed to have d...2023-04-2843 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDMPC Brickwalls Game So Bad Even the BBEG Gets Tired Of Waiting [RPG Horror Story][#106] Another Horror Story episode with Jason and Josey. This week, the tale of a petulant DM for whom it was her way or the highway.Read the original post and comments.Josey mentioned Jim’s aversion to home-brewed Fantasy Heartbreakers.No one likes Daylight Savings Time.Seriously, steer clear of DMPCs.Jason pointed out that adversity is unpleasant.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subreddit.New episodes every Friday now with video!Check out our other episodes!And the youtube, too!Hosted by Jason Portizo and Josey Diaz2023-04-2114 minCurmudgeons And DragonsParty Misses The Clues, Commits War Crime [RPG Horror Story][#105] In this Horror Story episode Jason and Josey bring us a tale of Sci-Fi miscommunication. CW: Violence against children is discussed in this episode.Read the original post and comments.Jason mentioned that Joey would soon be returning to Study Hell.The game in question was the classic SF RPG Traveller, which has gone through as many versions as D&D since its original release.Jason is right, War IS Hell.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subreddit.New episodes every Friday now with video!Check out our other episodes!2023-04-1413 minCurmudgeons And DragonsJason's 8 Favorite Web Apps[#104] This month, we’re doing a series of DM Tips in list form. This week, Jason steps up with a handful of web apps to help you manage your games. DNDBeyond is the gold standard for managing characters online, it’s official, and there’s a very robust FREE tier for players in your campaign. This is the Chrome extension that Jason recommends to add additional bells and whistles.Improved Initiative is an app for browser and mobile to track exactly what you think.For character models you can turn into portraits and even custom miniatures, there’s HeroFo...2023-04-0735 minCurmudgeons And DragonsFive Tips For Preparing Your DnD Session[#103] This month, we’re doing a series of DM Tips in list form. This week, Jim offers his take on the five things you can do in advance to improve your 5e sessions, in order of importance.There’s a lot of ways to take session notes, here’s a nice simple template from Sly Flourish.If you have the right fancy gaming table, you can actually leave it set up!A deluxe, high-end miniatures case can help keep everything neat.We never miss a chance to endorse The Monsters Know What They’re Doing.Everything we love can be found...2023-03-3127 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDueling Patrons and Everyone Trying To Open A Door [DMAcademy Advice X] [#102] In this DM Advice segment, Jason and Jim offer their thoughts on dueling patrons, checking over and over, and our favorite "reverse metagaming"You can read the original posts on juggling warlock patrons, repeating skill checks, and reverse meta-gaming. Some patrons are better than others, at least according to our pals at CBR.We couldn’t tell you what to do if you had to open a safe in real life, but this guy can.PLase try to remember the bass player’s name.Join the conversation at the DMAcademy subreddit.Check out other DMAcademy episodesAnd the...2023-03-2427 minCurmudgeons And DragonsBoard Game Bait And Switch! [RPG Horror Story][#101] In this edition of Horror Stories, Jim, Jason, and Josey share the tale of the Board Game Night that would not be denied! Read the original story and commentsIn case you don’t know what Catan is.Josey was talking Bullshit.Roll20 is notoriously difficult to program in. Here’s the API.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subreddit.New episodes every Friday now with video!Check out our other episodes!And the youtube, too!Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, and Jim CrockerProduced and Edited by J...2023-03-1716 minCurmudgeons And DragonsEpisode 100 Spectacular![#100] It’s our 100th episode SPECTACULAR! THANK YOU, ADVENTURERS! We’re taking a moment to look back and follow up with some of our favorite episodes, talk about where we’ve been, and a little about where we’re going.Episodes we look back at and get updates on:OG C&D host Jack O’Connell came on to share an exclusive Wholesome Story with us!#01: Our very first Horror Stories Commentary#85: Wholesome Stories VI#87: DM Academy VII#95: Soul Coins and Safety ToolsEverything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.comH...2023-03-1046 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRogue Plotted Their Demise All Along! [RPG Horror Story][#99] Josey returns from academia to grace us with her presence! Today’s horror story is about what happens when you don’t think through letting your PCs play chaotic evil and the Main Characters that can result.AUDIOPHILE NOTE: Jason was so excited about the new microphone he bought just for this recording session that he didn’t notice it was pretty badly damaged and didn’t sound right. He fixed it with the best technology available but it’s not up to our standards. Sorry!Read along with us at the original reddit linkIt’s easy to pl...2023-03-0331 minCurmudgeons And DragonsSecret Resistance, Hooray Local Libraries, and Anti-Metagaming Tricks [DMAcademy Advice IX] [#98] Jason and Jim look to the Reddit mailbag to offer their advice to DMs in a variety of situations. This week: monster stat transparency, DMing for kids, and how to handle skill check pile-ons.Do you tell players about legendary resistance?Here’s a great primer on how Legendary Resistance works from Halfling Hobbies.Running a game for kids. How?The Magic School Bus started with a book series that was made into an animated TV show.WotC has a ready-made selection of ready-to-play characters.Jim suggested Strixhaven as an ideal open-table beginner game.How I discourage me...2023-02-2436 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDM Giveth Too Much, DM Tooketh Away Everything [RPG Horror Story][#97] We welcome back special guest Melissa Mayhew for a Horror Story that asks whether becoming a cannibal who tortures and murders another PC makes you an asshole. Josey is off this week.Check out the original post and comments.Check out Melissa’s musical endeavors, Action Rabbit and Sour Candy Project.The idea of DM Fiat goes back decades. Here’s a good rundown on Stack ExchangeJason invoked the classic Dreamcast RPG Shenmue.The 3.5 edition had a Hatred Domain for clerics, not imported into 5e.Gaslighting definitely means something different than what you think it does.For more...2023-02-1727 minCurmudgeons And DragonsAbsolute Legends Show Up On Time [RPG Horror Story][#96] This week, we welcome back special guest Melissa Mayhew, a local musician and D&D player. Jason, Jim, and Melissa a Horror Story of playing an online game from grandma’s bathroom. Josey is off this week.AUDIOPHILE NOTE: We did our best to clean up the little bit of echo we had during recording, but you may notice a bit of it here and there. Apologies in advance.Check out the original post and comments.Check out Melissa’s musical endeavors, Action Rabbit and Sour Candy Project.You can find a wide range of paid...2023-02-1011 minCurmudgeons And DragonsSoul Coins and Safety Tools: A Horror Story with a Happy Ending [RPG Horror Story][#95] Jason and Jim delve into the horror stories that can come up in Dungeons and Dragons, from the tales of players tasked with retrieving soul coins to the challenges of being a relationship with your DM. With their special guest, Melissa Mayhew, they discuss how to properly address and avoid these uncomfortable scenarios and the importance of setting ground rules, while also reminding us that horror stories can sometimes still have a happy ending.Check out Melissa’s musical endeavors, Action Rabbit and Sour Candy Project.We referred back to Jim’s immortal tale of F...2023-02-0319 minCurmudgeons And DragonsCivil War, Unexpected Guests, and Where's All The Chariots? [DMAcademy Advice VIII][#94] Jim and Jason offer advice to DMs about civil wars, chariots, and a hybrid advice/horror story!Read the original Civil War post.Read the unexpected guests postRead the chariots postThere’s a long, rich history of killing your dad in dramatic fiction.Vecna is, technically, a God in 5th Edition, and as such has no official stat block.Join the conversation at the DMAcademy subreddit.Check out other DMAcademy episodesAnd the youtube, too!Hosted by Jason Portizo, and Jim CrockerProduced and Edited by Jason Portizo2023-01-2735 minCurmudgeons And DragonsWe Liked It Our Way Better! [RPG Horror Story][#93] This week, Jim, with a horror story about how to ruin an otherwise-great game just by not shutting up when it’s over. You can read the original post and comments here.In case you need a primer on derivation.If there’s any way to bring Grigory Rasputin into your game, please do so.Here’s a walkthrough of the Assassin’s Creed Vatican Mission we kept talking about.If you’d like to become a demon hunter yourself, the Vatican offers a course.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subreddit...2023-01-2015 minCurmudgeons And DragonsGary Had A Pizza, Now Has Nothing [RPG Horror Story][#92] This week, Josey brings us a terrifying tale of a player who snapped for getting exactly what he deserved. CW: Brief, veiled description of in-game sexual assault.Check out the original post and comments.Monks still aren’t at all necessarily religious in the same way clerics are, but it’s still complicated.We all agree on the greatness of Costco pizza.The connection between piracy and slavery is, of course, quite complicated.We talk a lot about Safety Tools, and how they will help prevent your game from ending up on this subreddit.For more stories of t...2023-01-1315 minCurmudgeons And DragonsStuck At the Kids' Table [RPG Horror Story][#91] Jason relates the tale of a grown-ass man unknowingly being invited to a game for teens.Check out the original post and comments.Monks aren’t at all necessarily religious in the same way clerics are, but it’s complicated.The only thing worse than opening The Door in the Woods is not opening it.There are a lot of much better D&D Birthday Party ideas.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit.Check out our other episodes!Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, and...2023-01-0622 min
Curmudgeons And Dragons"We don't think you're going to stick around" [RPG Horror Story][#90] In this Horror Story, Jim delivers a tale of a store game that doesn't go so well. Josey is off this week. Read the original post and comments.For the business wonks, a report on commercial rents on Long Island. (Spoiler: They're really high!)There's a long-running debate, amplified by the pandemic, about the ethics and best practices of charging for play space in stores. Check out more terrible RPG Horror Stories.We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Cu...2022-10-2112 minCurmudgeons And DragonsTop 15 WORST DM Advice Ever [Part 2: 9-15][#89] We tackle the back half of the 15 WORST DM tips ever uttered. Spoiler: they pretty much earn that distinction honestly. Greg's computer is sadly toasted this week. Read the original list of Bad Advice. We tackled the front half of the list in Episode 77.Find out everything you could possibly want about the classic 90s RPG Dark Conspiracy.Jim reminsiced about learning to play D&D with the classic Holmes Basic Set. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, and Jim Crocker Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a...2022-10-0342 minCurmudgeons And DragonsI Thought A Mile Was 1000 Feet! [RPG Horror Story][#88] Jim delivers a charming Horror Short Story about some Imperial Entanglements. Read the original post.Speaking of delightful, chek out this list of obsolete unites of measurement. Check here if you need more accurate conversions than those offered in our show .For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production2022-09-3010 minCurmudgeons And DragonsObjection! [r/DMAcademy Advice VII][#87] It's a DM Advice Episode! We offer our takes on questions from the DMAcademy subreddit . Submit your own burning RPG questions to us for a future DM Advice segment. Everyone is here this week! Some people think that playing the exact plot of a classic film is a great idea, but that's just your opinion, man. Jim mentioned an Agon playset based on Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? We offer advice on how to handle the World's Worst Scout.The actual designers are pretty clear on when you can use Passive skills.There's a lot of leeway in how much in...2022-09-281h 07Curmudgeons And DragonsA Deck Of A Few Stuff [RPG Horror Story][#86] Josey reminds us that introducing the Deck of Many Things is literally the worst thing that anyone can do to thier game. Yes, even a nerfed version of it. That only destroys up your campaign more slowly. Greg is off this week. Read the original post and comments here .Seriously, The Deck of Many Things will break your game.Jason mentioned OctaneRender as a keyword for AI art.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, an...2022-09-2315 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories VI: Great Newbies, Supportive Partners, and Elves Speak Spanish![#85] In this semi-regular feature, we take a break from horro to remember that RPGs are supposed to be fun, and that players and GMs are supposed to be awesome. Jim's brings a tale of the bullet-journalisng newbie. Here's a picture of thier amazing character journal! Josey tells a story about a partner who brought a player back to gaming. Jason's heartwarming tale is about a DM who went above and beyond to accomodate an ESL speaker at their table. Because you could learn to speak fluent Elvish, but why? Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com Hosted by Jas...2022-09-2130 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDo Players Really NEED To Learn Their Class Features? [RPG Horror Story][#84] Jason brings us the story of a DM frustrated by a player not interested in learning much about the cool class features of her PC. Jim is maybe-sorta-kinda on her side and it makes for an interesting back-and-forth! Josey is off this week. Read the original post and comments .Here's a guide to exploiting the heck out of those class features. Jim mistakenly heard one of the class features as whale from the grave.We all discussed the merits of cheat sheets for new players.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell hor...2022-09-1624 minCurmudgeons And DragonsAdventurer Classes In Pop Culture - Fairy Tale Edition[#83] The entire crew gathers to go over how we'd stat out a bunch of fairy tale/Disney characters! There's some confusion over which versions we're working with but it gets sorted eventually. Check out the orginal article we used as our inspiration. Here's Rolling Stone on the much-loathed 'Disney Adult' .This is the Tangled trailer that confused Jim with its lack of actual Rapunzel.The Three Rules of Genie Wishes are a best practice for any D&D game. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crun...2022-09-1555 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDoes this...look humanoid...to you? (spoiler: yes it does) [RPG Horror Story][#82] This week, Greg brings a tale of the DM who didn't know how creature types worked. Jim is stil travelling this week. You can read the original post and comments.The campaign in question was set in the Warhammer Fantasy World (Note from Jim: Not 40k like Jason said). Here's a pretty good overview of how creature types work in 5e.There is apparently a Pokemon called Grapploct .For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompe...2022-09-0911 minCurmudgeons And DragonsLittle Bro Derails Campaign To "Win" [RPG Horror Story][#81] This week, Jason shares the tale of a young player who didn't really get how D&D works. Or maybe understood it too well. Jim is on the road this week. Read the original post and comments.Josey mentioned the stages of cognitive development.Jason mentioned No Thank You, Evil! For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https...2022-09-0225 minCurmudgeons And DragonsOld Man Henderson [RPG Classic Story][#80] The party gathers 'round as Jason tells the tale of the player who "won" Call of Cthulu: Old Man Henderson. You can read the original post and comments. Catch up on the Call of Ctulhu RPG.For stories of currently terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Hosted by Jason P...2022-08-3136 minCurmudgeons And DragonsAre You SURE???? [r/DMAcademy Advice VI][#79] We dive into the DMAcademy SubReddit to offer our takes on a handful of D&D-related conundrums. How do you feel about Saying NO? (Spolier: We're mostly fine wth it!)Recruiting and the challenges of playing with strangers .How to make things easier for your DM. Murder Hobos: Threat or menace? Keeping the peace when handing out magic items . A question that goes much better than we expected it to. How clear about the consequences of your party's actions is clear enough?Join the conversation at the DMAcademy subreddit. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk K...2022-08-2441 minCurmudgeons And DragonsThe Cleric is NOT a Catholic Priest and That Joke Wasn't Funny [RPG Horror Story][#78] In this episode, Jim brngs a horror story about the difference between problematic jokes in private games with your friends and making strangers uncomfortable in public settings. CW: Veiled discussion of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. You can read the original post and comments here.The BBC has a good overview of the history and scope of the scandal the post refers to.There's lots of good, actionable advice ut there for dealing with creeps like the one in this story.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every...2022-08-2016 minCurmudgeons And DragonsTop 15 WORST DM Advice Ever [Part 1: 1-8][#77] It's an anti-advice espiode, as we delve into the Top 15 WORST Pieces of DM Advice, (possibly) Ever. Follow along as we cover the first half of the list. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo2022-08-1834 minCurmudgeons And DragonsThose WERE The Bandits! [RPG Horror Story][#76] In this Horror Story, Josey is our host (at least for the into)! Jason brings us the tale of miscommunication between the DM and the party. Jim is off this week. You can read the original post and comments here.Josey invoked Skyrim's Golden Claw Quest .For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4...2022-08-1213 minCurmudgeons And DragonsThe Monsters Know What They're Doing [Third Party Book Club #1][#75] In this NEW segment Jason, Josey, and a very laggy Greg (sorry! I tried fixing it!) talk about their favorite books published by anyone other than WotC, Jim is off this week. THis week, we're talking about the pretty brilliantThe Monsters Know What They're Doing.There's MORE The Monsters Know What They're Doing! These books spin out of the long-running blog of the same name. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License...2022-08-1120 minCurmudgeons And DragonsSavage Super Session Zero Screwup [RPG Horror Story][#74] This week's Horror Story comes from Josey. Jim and Greg are off this week. You can read the original post and comments here.This story is about a superheroic game using the Savage Worlds system.We talk a lot about Session Zero.Josey mentioned a book about the Stamford Prison Experiment. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod...2022-08-0514 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDnD Movie Date Night With Jason and Josey![#73] Jason and Josey discuss the trailer for the forthcming D&D movie Honor Among Thieves. Greg and Jim are off this week. Josey admits she's never seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (I Know, right?)The very first D&D media property was... not exactly big-budget.The Y2K D&D Movie was universa lly panned by just about everyone. THIS IS NO GAME!We're all cautiously optimistic about the Easter Egg-rich trailer for the new blockbuster. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Trans...2022-08-0441 minCurmudgeons And DragonsThe Drama Started WAY Earlier Than The PVP [RPG Horror Story][#72] This Horror Story of a player overstepping another PC's boundaries in a pretty problematic way comes to us via Greg. Josey is off this week. You can read the original post and comments here.We talked about The Mandalorian, who's never supposed to take his mask off (with others around).For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https...2022-07-2914 minCurmudgeons And Dragonsr/DMAcademy Advice V: Did I Forget My Pants?[#71] In this week's DM Advice segment, we cover questions we wanted to weigh in on from the DMAcademy advice subreddit. We covered a lot of ground on this episode! It's OK to be sad even when a campaign ends, no matter how nice the players are about it.Seasoned professional monster hunters will not forget to reclaim thier swords.How to reward your players for not being jerks to a djinn .Jim has some thoughts on the best way to handle librairies in your campaign.Riddle me this, pineapple edition .How to handle players who constantly try to retcon thier...2022-07-2734 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: No, Using a Character Sheet Is NOT "Rules Lawyering"[#70] In this Horror Story, Josey regales us with an extremely dubious accusation of meta-gaming. You can read the original post and comments here.Josey mentioned the Boston Tea Party chain of UK cafes.We invoked the sublime sport of Calvinball.Josey also name-checked the Dead by Daylight co-op video game franchise. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod...2022-07-2217 minCurmudgeons And Dragons50 Tips For Dungeon Masters [Part 5: 41-50][#69] It's a nice episode as we complete our review of the Top 50 Tips for DMs. This week, it's #41-50. Our Top 50 Tips list come courtesy of MT Black Games.Halfling Hobbies has this great overview on building great backgrounds with PCs AND NCs.Josey calld out Ghosts of Saltmarsh for the cool dueling pirate factions.And, of course, we regularly praise The Monsters Know What They're Doing. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/44...2022-07-2151 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Um Actually It's FEER-bolg[#68] In this episode, Jim brings a tale of pedantry and the bad kind of axe-grinding. Check out the original post and comments .No matter how you pronounce them, firbolgs are pretty cool and have been around for a while in D&D. For what it's worth, this is not a new debate. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin Mac...2022-07-1515 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories V: VR Friends, Hot Wives, Grandmas, and Gooey Goodness[#67] It's time for another round of RPG Wholesome Stories! We've got the whole crew this week, and each of us came with a tale of gaming done right. Jason talked about a fun new game that started in a VR chat. Greg had a great tale of specialization and letting the dice help tell the storyJosey brought us a heartwarming tale of a septugenarian gnome druid.Jim brought the tale of a tamed ochre jelly that looks ot have since been taken down, so no link.If you're VR-curious, you can get the rig here. We tell wholesome stories once a mo...2022-07-1338 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: I'm A Baby And I Hate It[#66] In this horror story, Jason brings the tale of a very weird and uncomfortable transformation. Jim is off at Origins for this episode. You can read the original post and comments here .This was apparently all kicked off by a portrait like this . For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License...2022-07-0913 minCurmudgeons And DragonsWhat's In Jason's Backpack?[#65] In this discussion episode, Jim and Josey ooh and ahh as Jason shows off his next-level gaming backpack setup. Greg is off this week. The backpack itself is available here .He also totes a small Bluetooth speaker for ambient music and sound effects.A portable knockdown dice tower keeps the mah rocks neat.For e-book reference and VTT stuff, he's also got a Tablet Stand .And of course if you have devices, it's always good to have a back-up power source. You can go as fancy as you want with pens, but some plain old reliable gel pens are what he...2022-07-0829 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Classic Story: The Ballad Of Edgardo[#64] This week, Jason shres one of his favorite RPG Recap stories an epic tale of forum RG madness and triumph. You can find the original Ballad of Edgardo here. This was the kind of thing that could only happen on a Play-by-Post game .In addition to the epic story, Jason just really likes the name Edgardo .There's also an epic heel-face turn in this. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https...2022-06-2943 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Players Don't Understand 'Serious Campaign'[#63] In this horror story, Greg shares the story of a serious campaign that provied to be anything but. Jim is off this week at Origins. You can read the original post and comments here .The crew discussed non-traditional names for white kids. Jason mentioned The Trinyvale Campaign as a 'Loony Tunes' game.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin Ma...2022-06-2518 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Paladin Doesn't Care[#62] Today, Josey tells us a story: Check out the original post and comments. Seven years is a long time to hold someone's interest.You probably shouldn't play an Oath of Devotion Paladin if you enjoy being an asshole.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ H...2022-06-2420 minCurmudgeons And Dragons50 Tips For Dungeons Masters [Part 4: 31-40][#61] We continue our delve into the Top 50 Tips for DMs. This week, it's #31-40. Our Top 50 Tips list come courtesy of MT Black Games.You always round down for damage. Josey explained why the barkeep was so interesting.We all discussed Rule Zero. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeo...2022-06-2228 minCurmudgeons And DragonsEnough Taverns! Other Places To Start Your Campaign[#60] "Um, OK, so the camera opens on a boisterous tavern in the middle of town, what are each of your characters doing there?" is a perfectly OK way to start a D&D campaign, but there's a host of other possibilities, and in this episode, we get into a few of our favorites. This episode was Jason's suggestion, spinning off this blog post he noticed. Jim floated his theory that the ubiquity of taverns comes from the hobbit's Prancing Pony meet-cute with Aragorn in Fellowship of the Ring.Jim also invoked the classic Bard's Tale computer game as an iconic f...2022-06-0125 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Level 20 Party Loses To A Troll[#59] In this short but sweet horror story, Jason brings a horror story about a Vecna-inspired practical joke. Jason mentioned a Practical Guide to Wishes. The 5e rules are actually pretty specific about what a Wish can do. If you were unfamilar, Vecna is pretty badass. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-h...2022-05-2710 minCurmudgeons And Dragonsr/DMAcademy Advice IV: Self-Spoiling, 'Useless' Items, Big Good Nice Guys, and More[#58] This week, Josey, Jim, Jason, and Greg have a six-pack of DM queries to consider: Should you spoil a campaign that died? What do you do about that stupid magic item you made up?How do you nudge a reluctant hero?Who do you line up against a party of sinister PCs?Can you scratch-build your very first campaign ?How much disaster-proofing are you bligated to provide?Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusi...2022-05-2528 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: 'Fearless' Adventurers Defy the DM[#57] In this horror story, Greg tells us about a struggle of wills between a DM and their badass PCs. This story comes to us from Reddit user u/Available_RegretSandstorms are legitimately terrifying.Superman is not the only DC character who has teamed up with Santa Claus.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/son...2022-05-2013 minCurmudgeons And Dragons50 Tips For Dungeons Masters [Part 3: 21-30][#56] We continue our delve into the Top 50 Tips for DMs. This week, it's #21-30, and we're getting a little more into YMMV territory. Our Top 50 Tips list come courtesy of MT Black Games. Josey mentioned bespoke initative trackersWe talked about Legendary Actions and Lair Actions and how you can use them to spice up a fight.We talked about inexpensive costuming to spruce up in-person games, and the new Zoom Avatars for playing online. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin...2022-05-1830 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: DM Out-Metagames The Metagamer[#55] In this horror story, Josey brings us a story of metagaming one-upsmanship.There is some disagreement about what exactly constitutes metagaming. Sorry, but Psychic Scream is just messed up.We discussed what happens when matter and anti-matter collide. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Hosted by...2022-05-1319 minCurmudgeons And DragonsLet's Build A Character: Bob Belcher[#54] Jim and Greg are off this week, so Josey and Jason take the opportunity to stat up their favorite burger-flipping patriarch. Jason was inspired by the fact that there's a Bob's Burger movie out soon. Once you know where to look, it's super-easy to blow $300 on a chef's knife. Just for Jim, there are vegan versions of Bob's classic burgers. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by...2022-05-1138 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Hazing The New Guy[#53] Jim brings us a tale of outrageous hazing that ultimately backfires. Jason mentioned places to put bad dice. While this did not technically fall afoul of any current hazing laws, it should have.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, J...2022-05-0617 minCurmudgeons And DragonsBackstories: From Concept to Character[#52] In this discussion episode, we talk tips and tricks for biulding compelling PC backgrounds, as a player and DM. Jason is a fan of The Ultimate RPG Backstory Guide. Jim is partial to Backstory Cards.Jim talked about using a Character Funnel to create a shared backstory. Halfling Hobbies offers a pretty great cheat sheet for connecting backstories. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Port...2022-05-0425 minCurmudgeons And Dragonsr/DMAcademy Advice III: Petty Rich Guys, *OUR* Backstory, and a sad story[#50] In our Golden Anniversary Episode, we out n our Sage hats to offer advice to aspiring DMs, including what to do about vindictive oligarchs , how much backstory is the right amount , and how to go on when a player (NOT a character) dies. The rich are not like you and me .Get help with grief when you lose a friend.Join the conversation at the DMAcademy subreddit. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusi...2022-04-2728 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: The Worst History Check in History[#49] In this horror story, Jim brings us a tale of a DM who isn't clear on how the History skill actually works. This story comes to us via Redditor u/Kursed_Valeth .CBR has good tips for interesting ways you should use the History skill. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Indore by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4988-indore License: http://cr...2022-04-2417 minCurmudgeons And Dragons50 Tips for Dungeon Masters [Part 2: 11-20][#48] In an extension of our regular DM Advice episodes, we conitnue our look at a list of 50 DM tips and discuss which oesn make our personal cut, how we'd revise them, and why Jason still hates shopping. Our list comes courtesy of MT Black Games.Step one for creating compelling NPCs is to give them a name. We consider the difference between Deus Ex Machina and The Cavalry . Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: ºCrunk Knightby Kevin MacLeod • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim...2022-04-2033 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: DM Doesn't Give Wizard New Spells[#47] In this horror story, Jason shares an infuriating tale of a wizard-hating DM. If you want your own custom spell book, etsy has options. That's not how Contingency works. Even if it was, Disintegrate is a 6th level spell, so it's not a valid target.For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-h...2022-04-1512 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories IV: Home Base, Drinking For Fun, and Why Children Are the Future[#46] In these wholesome stories of RPGs done right, Greg tells us about a place where evryone knows your PC's name, Jason tell us about tying one on in the best way, and Josey and Jim both marvel at the uncanny wisdom of kids new to the game. Greg somehow found a wholesome story on Reddit. Josey found her amazing story of Australian teens on Kotaku . Jason also located his story on Reddit! We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard...2022-04-1332 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: The Well-Earned Slap[#44] In this horror story, Josey relates a sordid tale of a frat bully at the table. TW: Sexual harassment in and out of character, physical violence at the table. They were playing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist , an official WotC adventure campaign.For a visualzation of The Slap, sub in one of these WWE Epic Superstar Slaps. For more stories of terrible games, check out the RPG Horror Stories subReddit. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Ind...2022-04-0816 minCurmudgeons And Dragons50 Tips for Dungeon Masters (Part 1: 1-10)[#43] In an extension of our regular DM Advice episodes, we take a look at a list of 50 DM tips and discuss which ones make our personal cut, how we'd revise them, and why Jason hates shopping. Our list comes courtesy of MT Black Games. We mentioned The Monsters Know What They're Doing.There's a host of internet rescources, and not just bleprints, dedicated to castles. Josey name-dropped Fallout: Nuka-World. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: ºCrunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jo...2022-04-0632 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: DM Doesn't Grant Player IRL Disability In-game[#41] In this horror story, Greg tell us how a real-world disability collides with the clumsily ablist way many RPGs handle character creation multiplied by some deeply insensitive GMing. The Dark Eye is a fantasy heartbreaker that originated in Germany.D&D 5e has its own well-discussed problems with disability representation.The Gauntlet Forums hosted an engaging short discussion about playing RPGs with a speech disorder. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin Ma...2022-04-0112 minCurmudgeons And DragonsQuizzes Redux Part 1 - Which D&D 5e Race Are You?[#40] We get together to take a Buzzfeed-style D&D race quiz and see what happens. Essentialism aside, it's a fun exercise in exploring the assumptions the game makes about its core cultures, and we learned a little more about each other along the way. There's a million such quizzes, but we used this one.We didn't get around to the D&D Class Quiz, but we had one picked out. As with D&D characters, there are levels of passive aggression.Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e from Arcanist Press is widely regarded as an excellent corrective to s...2022-03-3040 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Quasimodo Is OP[#38] In Greg's personal horror story, a Pathfinder (shudder) campaign goes off the rails thanks to, among other things, a militant pacifist, a BBEG with plot immmunity, and a bell that can't be unrung. The hunchback has a long and storied history as a genre trope.You will definitely want Tome of Beasts 3 when it drops.Check out a few cool ideas for a pacifist cleric. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin Ma...2022-03-2515 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDM Advice II: Means Girls vs The Mad Decapitators[#37] It's our first DM Advice episode with the new crew! We try not to lose our heads as we talk about players made paranoid by the Feign Death spell, dumb magic items, excessive sassiness and tippling at the table. There's an entire magazine devoted to sassiness if you need information on it.Enjoy a D&D-themed beer if you allow that sort of thing at your table.Join the conversation at the DMAcademy subreddit. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villager...2022-03-2341 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: Flapjack Is Dead[#35] You'd think Planescape is a setting so cool you couldn't screw it up, but in this RPG Horror story from GenCon 1998, Jim (via his friend The Ferrett) impales that expectation on a wall full of razorvine. Jason, Josey, and Greg share in the horror. GenCon is still going strong, fortunately.Many veteran D&D players consider Planescape the finest setting ever released for D&D.Jim's pal Ferrett Steinmetz went on to become a published SF author.There's no official bariaur for 5e yet, which is a shame because they were the GOAT. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out o...2022-03-1820 minCurmudgeons And DragonsAlternate Stat Generation Methods[#34] Hello, adventurers! This week Jason, Josey, Jim, and Greg dive down the rabbit hole of generating player character ability scores in D&D 5e. For some reason, some folks get pretty salty about the Standard ArrayThere are roughly as many ways to generate stats as there are DMs. Jason cites the Tic Tac Toe method. Jim is partial to the ability score draft. Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: htt...2022-03-1648 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: My DM Killed Me Off Screen![#32] Jason tells the story about a group who killed a player off screen just because he got a girlfriend. Jason pines for high school, Josey and Greg agree, and Jim tries to remember high school. Read the story here.The classic Killed Offscreen Trope. We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes. • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production2022-03-1116 minCurmudgeons And DragonsLet's Build A Character: Batman[#31] Hello, adventurers! This week Jason, Josey, Jim and Greg settle into the Character Creation Corner to build The Darknight Detective in D&D 5e. That's this guy, in case you were unfamiliar.This is the Revised Ranger Jim was pining over. It was never made official.Remember that time DC made Batman a Knight of the Round Table? Download the character sheet HERE Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: h...2022-03-0956 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Story: The Tragedy of Tristian[#29] Josey tells the tale of Jason (not that Jason), a Game Master (yes they were playing Pathfinder) who created an impossible scenario for our hero Tristian. Read along with us HERE We tell horror stories every Friday! Check out our other episodes! • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genovas Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is...2022-03-0424 minCurmudgeons And DragonsMetagaming: Good or Bad?[#28] Hello adventurers! We’re back! Jason and Josey along with new hosts Greg and Jim got into metagaming. Surprisingly no one got hurt... What exactly is "meta gaming"?How does metagming hurt your game?How can we use metagaming to help our games?Why does Strahd be kinda sexy tho? Everything we love can be found at curmudgeonsanddragons.com • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, Jim Crocker, and Greg Genova...2022-03-0230 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories IX: In-Character In-Fighting, Was it Reznir or Rezmir?, And the Super-Rare Self-Aware Problem Player[#26] Jason and Josey chatted from an entire continent away to tell some stories they heard this past month: How 2 players over-roleplayed into ruining a new DM’s first one-shotThe DMPC who wouldn’t go awayThe player who learned she was the problem We have new shirts! Check out http://www.curmudgeonsanddragons.com/store Hosted by Jason Portizo and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech...2021-12-0334 minCurmudgeons And DragonsDM Advice: Hidden Death Saves, IRL Timers, and Please Stop Torturing Everyone[#25] Jack and Jason browse the top posts from r/DMAcademy and start handing out advice. Users asked: How to deal with players hiding their death savesIs this DM’s “IRL Timer” an ok thing to do?How to stop players from torturing every npc Check out the all new www.curmudgeonsanddragons.com and leave us a review and voicemail! Shirts are now available at www.curmudgeonsanddragons.com/store Hosted by Jason Portizo and Jack O’Connell Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk...2021-11-1924 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories III: Cupid Quests, Love Lutes, and Huggin' For Peace[#24] The round table was getting all worked up over those Horror Stories so we thought it was time to get wholesome! We tell the tales of: The party who staged a burglary to play cupidThe flirty Orc and his lovely luteA story that started out not-so-wholesome Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, and Jack O’Connell Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons...2021-11-1217 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories VIII: Garbage Races, Murderhobo Dice, and The Player Who Forgot To Have Fun[#23] THE PARTY REUNITES! After a month of wingin’ it solo we rejoin with Jason, Josey and Jack to tell some RPG horror stories! Is a LOTR “ripoff” boring or is it just you?Are the dice the actual BBEG?Is an amnesiac just an excuse to not write a backstory? Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Josey Diaz, and Jack O’Connell Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo...2021-11-0624 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories VII: Yeet The Child[#22] The last (very short) entry in our solo-’sodes month (also we kinda forgot there were 5 Fridays this month and had to hastily record one more). Jason visits a Halloween-themed RPG horror story about a possessed child. Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmm...2021-10-3004 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories VI: Oops! All Assholes[#20] Continuing our run of solo adventures, Jason is back with an RPG horror story that left him asking “is anyone here the good guy?”. Take a listen because this story gets wild. Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmm...2021-10-1514 minCurmudgeons And DragonsWhy Jack Prefers to DM[#19] Jack took the reins today to give Jason a much needed week off - and while Josey is still learning how to drive on the left side of the road in her new home. With a beer in hand he goes into detail about all the things there are to love about being a DM. Did he inspire you to finally give it a try? Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free...2021-10-0827 minCurmudgeons And Dragons7 Things You Can Do When Your Session Gets Canceled[#18] Jason's all alone this week with no cohosts to podcast with and no players to play dnd with. Here's a few ways you can make good use of your downtime and be a good player even when there's no roleplaying to be had. Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JT...2021-10-0107 minCurmudgeons And DragonsIs THIS Chaotic Neutral?[#17] Hidden in the comments section of a horror story post, the party discusses some pop culture characters a redditor claims to be Chaotic Neutral. Of course a *very civil* discussion ensues Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons and Dragons is a JTP Audio production • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incomp...2021-09-2432 minCurmudgeons And DragonsBaby's First DM Session[#16] Jason had his first session as a DM! The round table discusses the joys of DMing and how it call comes together in this more personal episode A Wild Sheep Chase: https://winghornpress.com/adventures/a-wild-sheep-chase/ Horror Collection Bundle: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/369721/Horror-Collection-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=2836000 Follow us on your favorite social media! All the links can be found at http://curmudgeonsanddragons.com Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo Curmudgeons an...2021-09-1727 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories II: Bake Sales, Healthy Coping Mechanisms, and Following Your Dreams[#15] Too many horror stories makes us all sad. Today we're back with RPG Wholesome Stories! Ever have an NPC that was so great you held a bake sale for them?Using TTRPGs to learn to cope with death and lossHelping a LBEG (little bad evil guy) overcome his abusive father with the power of friendship It feels good to feel good. Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced an...2021-09-1017 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories V: Stream Sniping, Revenge Kills, and the Eunuch Flex[#14] Does a player have a right to make your game public? Is killing a PC in PvP ever ok? Should you require a 69 page backstory from your players then not read it? Listen to this month's RPG Horror Stories to get our takes on these poor poor games Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incomp...2021-09-0321 minCurmudgeons And DragonsAdventurer Classes In Pop Culture[#13] Even people who don’t play D&D probably have a favorite barbarian or wizard. They just don’t know it! On today’s episode the gang discusses (and argues) adventurer class examples in pop culture. Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knightLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license2021-08-2744 minCurmudgeons And DragonsHow did we get here?: A personal episode[#12] Jack takes over to talk about our personal histories with DnD and how we got to the point where we record ourselves talking about it every week Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license2021-08-2045 minCurmudgeons And DragonsLet's Make a Character III: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[#11] COWABUNGA! We absolutely abused the Tortle race in DnD 5E to make our favorite TMNT characters! Do you agree with our picks? Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and Edited by Jason Portizo • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic...2021-08-131h 06Curmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories IV: Dump Stats, Know-it-alls, and Nazis![#10] We took a nice long break but we’re back and ready to tell you some RPG Horror Stories! Through these stories we got to discuss: • How we handle dump stats • Why “Master-of-all-trades” players ruin games • And why you really really shouldn’t be a nazi Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Leave us a review, and send the screen shot to curmudgeonsanddragonspod@gmail.com to get yourself some free swag! Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, and Josey Diaz Produced and edited by Jason Portizo • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/35...2021-08-0628 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories III: WOW one good DM![#9] New month means new horror stories! We accidentally found both the best and the best DMs. Hope you enjoy! Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, Justin Franco, and Josey Diaz • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Energizing by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5709-energizing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license º Thunderbird by Kevin MacLeod Link: https...2021-06-0438 minCurmudgeons And DragonsVoice Acting Exercises[#8] Roleplaying is a major pillar of the game so we took the day to work on our voice acting chops! check out https://perchance.org/charactervoicegenerator Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, Justin Franco, and Josey Diaz • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Story Music: º Crusade Heavy Industry by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4678-crusade-heavy-industry License: http...2021-05-2834 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Wholesome Stories: Frogs, Trinkets, and a Dumb-Dumb[#7] Horror stories were making us sad. So we found some RPG Wholesome Stories! Take a listen and feel good about D&D with us for once! Check out http://www.dotsrpg.porg for info about braille dice and accessibility in tabletop gaming Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragons Hosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, Justin Franco, and Josey Diaz • Theme Music: º Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knight License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license • Transition Music: º Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagers License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-l...2021-05-2136 minCurmudgeons And DragonsLet's Make a Character #2: Scooby Doo Mystery Gang[#6] ZOINKS! Like we totally made the Mystery Gang into DnD 5e characters, guys! Like how’d we do and do you agree?Follow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragonsHosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, Justin Franco, and Josey DiazTheme Music: Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knightLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseTransition Music: Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagersLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseProduced and edited by Jason Portizo2021-05-1453 minCurmudgeons And DragonsRPG Horror Stories II: Wishes, Edgelords, and Unicorns[#5] Today we read and react to more RPG Horror Stories!• Does a Wish spell *always* have to go poorly?• What to do when your entire campaign gets derailed by a single spell• Edgelords being edgelords• A fun mini game that turned into PvPFollow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragonsHosted by Jason Portizo, Jack O’Connell, Justin Franco, and Josey DiazTheme Music: Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566-crunk-knightLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseTransition Music: Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4481-thatched-villagersLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseProduced and edited by Jason Portizo2021-05-0739 min