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The Lazy RPG Talk Show and the Lazy GM Prep show. D&D news, commentary, spotlights, Q&A, and lazy GM prep with Mike Shea of Sly Flourish.
Episodes
32 minutes ago
32 minutes ago
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:21 D&D & RPG News: Blades in the Dark Deep Cuts
- 03:37 Commentary: What Do You Need to Prep Your Session?
- 36:52 Commentary: Encounter Building in the D&D 2024 DMG and the Lazy Encounter Benchmark
Links
4 days ago
4 days ago
Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign.
Monday Nov 04, 2024
Monday Nov 04, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:15 Kickstarter Spotlight: Draconics the Peaceful Way to Play 5e
- 03:21 Kickstarter Spotlight: Wondrous Worlds by Nord Games
- 05:16 D&D & RPG News: D&D 2024 Free Rules Givith and then Taketh Away
- 09:28 Commentary: D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Thoughts and the Four Gamemaster's Guides
- 34:07 DM Tip: Avoid NPC Betrayals
- 44:59 Patreon Question: Favorite Short Adventure Books
- 47:52 Patreon Question: Expanding a GM's Reading List
- 49:18 Patreon Question: Focusing on Prep for the Next Session
- 51:09 Patreon Question: Needing to Improvise with Shadowdark
- 54:01 Patreon Question: Top House Rules for Shadowdark
- 57:03 Patreon Question: The Urgency of Multiple Quest Hooks # [01:00:50 Patreon Question: Where to End Shadowdark Sessions
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Draconis: The Peaceful Way to Play DND 5E
- Wondrous Worlds by Nord Games
- Updated D&D 2024 Free Rules
- Oops, that was a mistake
- Level Up Advanced 5e Trials and Treasure
- Tales of the Valiant Gamemaster's Guide
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Mike prepares the next session of his Tales of the Valiant Dragon Empire campaign.
Monday Oct 28, 2024
Monday Oct 28, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:16 Product Spotlight: Defiler of Moonsilk Keep
- 03:44 Product Spotlight: Horizons Magazine Issue 1
- 06:25 Product Spotlight: Frontiers of Eberron
- 12:35 Kickstarter Spotlight: Adventures in Teaching and Learning with TTRPGs
- 14:27 Kickstarter Spotlight: Dwarven Forge Dungeons Reforged
- 24:25 Commentary: Experiences at Gamehole Con
- 34:20 DM Tip: Pool Table Game Mastering
- 45:43 Patreon Question: What Makes a Great Monster Book
- 51:44 Patreon Question: Running Big Timed Events in Scenes
Links
Monday Oct 21, 2024
Monday Oct 21, 2024
Mike discusses his experiences running the Shadowdark RPG for a year
Friday Oct 18, 2024
Friday Oct 18, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Monday Oct 14, 2024
Monday Oct 14, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 02:17 D&D & RPG News: Call of Cthulhu Humbled Bundle
- 04:40 Sly Flourish News: City of Arches Key of Worlds Scenarios for Hero-Tier Subscribers
- 12:28 Product Spotlight: Dread Thingonomicon Markdown for Obsidian
- 16:19 Sly Flourish News: Lazy GM Reference Guides in Markdown for Obsidian
- 20:23 Sly Flourish News: Sly Flourish 2025 Calendar!
- 22:00 Commentary: The Trouble with Crafting Systems in 5e
- 36:37 DM Tip: Advanced Random Encounter Tricks
- 49:46 Patreon Question: Adding Subquests and Managing Levels with Campaign Arcs
- 54:04 Patreon Question: Keeping Combat Descriptions Flavorful
- 57:17 Patreon Question: Designing a Heroic Shadowdark-Style Game
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Call of Cthulhu Humbled Bundle
- Dread Thingonomicon
- Dread Laironomicon
- Lazy GM Resource Docs likewise have Obsidian versions
- Lazy GM's Resource Document
- Lazy GM's 5e Monster Builder Resource Document
- Crit-Tech's Lazy GM Documents on Github (including Obsidian Markdown versions)
- Sly Flourish 2025 calendar
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Prep for the finale of Mike's Shadowdark Gloaming campaign!
Visit the Sly Flourish Blog
https://slyflourish.com/
Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
https://slyflourish.com/subscribe/
Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast
https://slyflourish.podbean.com/
Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/slyflourish
Buy Sly Flourish Books:
https://shop.slyflourish.com/
Shadowdark RPG
https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark
Cursed Scroll 1
https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/products/cursed-scroll-zine-vol-1-diablerie-print
Using Notion for RPG Prep
https://slyflourish.com/lazy_dnd_with_notion.html
Monday Oct 07, 2024
Monday Oct 07, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:20 Sly Flourish News: Sly Flourish After-School RPG Club Sponsorship
- 07:44 D&D & RPG News: Free Kobold Press Encounter Builder
- 11:11 D&D & RPG News: Dread Thingonomicon Bundle of Holding for $8
- 13:52 D&D & RPG News: Goodman Games Humble Bundle
- 16:04 Kickstarter Spotlight: Grim Hollow Transformed Kickstarter
- 19:15 D&D & RPG News: Ars Magica in a Creative Commons License
- 26:33 DM Tip: Two Bandits Talking About the Characters
- 31:28 Patreon Question: Single Best Tip for New GMs
- 38:24 Patreon Question: What If Characters Don't Strike Lighting Rods?
- 44:12 Patreon Question: D&D 2024 Tool DCs and DM Agency
- 50:18 Patreon Question: Can You Mix TOV, A5e, D&D 2024, and D&D 2014?
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Sly Flourish After-School RPG Sponsorship
- Kobold Press Encounter Builder
- Dread Thingonomicon
- Goodman Games humble bundle
- Grim Hollow Transformed Kickstarter
- Ars Magica Rules and Setting under CC BY SA
- Top Tips for RPG Game Masters
- Lightning Rods
Friday Oct 04, 2024
Friday Oct 04, 2024
Mike begins his campaign prep for his Dragon Empire Midgard-based Tales of the Valiant campaign!
Monday Sep 30, 2024
Monday Sep 30, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:30 Kickstarter Spotlight: Enter the Labyrinth by Kobold Press
- 05:15 Kickstarter Spotlight: Dragontown and the Darkness Below
- 11:03 D&D & RPG News: Horizons Magazine by Wildmage Press
- 12:16 D&D & RPG News: Beadle and Grimm 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Map Pack
- 14:04 D&D & RPG News: 2024 Player's Handbook is D&D's Fastest Selling Book Ever
- 18:22 Commentary: You Don't Own Your D&D Beyond Books
- 21:24 D&D & RPG News: Hidden Subclass Compatibility in D&D 2024
- 27:32 Commentary: The Current State of Generative AI and TTRPGs
- 46:23 Patreon Question: Industry Standards for Releasing RPG Material Under Open Licenses
- 52:03 Patreon Question: Coming Up with Villains or Fronts in Strange Campaign Settings
- 54:36 Patreon Question: Excluding a Player from a Game
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Kobold Press’s Labyrinth Kickstarter
- Dragontown and the Darkness Below Kickstarter
- Wildmage Press Horizons Magazine
- Beadle and a Grymm Greyhawk map pack
- D&D 2024 Player’s Handbook Fastest Selling D&D Book of All Time
- New California law means digital stores can’t imply you’re buying a game when you’re merely licensing it
- Where do your Steam games go when you die?
- The Best LLM for Generating RPG Stuff – Your Brain
Friday Sep 27, 2024
Friday Sep 27, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:16 D&D & RPG News: Roll20 Packages for Doctors Without Borders
- 03:04 Kickstarter Spotlight: Pirate Borg
- 09:06 DM Tip: Run I6 Ravenloft with Shadowdark on Halloween
- 10:45 D&D & RPG News: Free D&D 2024 Rules with All Twelve Classes
- 13:20 D&D & RPG News: D&D Adventurer's League Moves to D&D 2024
- 26:13 D&D & RPG News: D&D 2024 PHB Available Physically and on Four VTTs
- 33:55 DM Tip: D&D 2024's Handling of Tools and DCs
- 41:02 DM Tip: Two Words for Increasing Combat Challenge
- 51:06 Patreon Question: What's My Next Campaign?
- 53:26 Patreon Question: Upward and Downward Beats in a Campaign
- 57:46 Patreon Question: Why Switch to Obsidian?
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Pirate Borg Down Among the Dead
- Ravenloft with Shadowdark Video
- Ravenloft with Shadowdark Article
- D&D Beyond D&D 2024 Free Rules Includes All Twelve Classes
- D&D Adventures League Updates
- D&D PHB 2024 on Foundry
- D&D PHB 2024 on Fantasy Grounds
- D&D PHB 2024 on Roll20
- Roll20 Characters
- Midgard Dragon Empire Campaign Video
Friday Sep 20, 2024
Friday Sep 20, 2024
Mike begins his campaign prep for his Dragon Empire Midgard-based Tales of the Valiant campaign!
Monday Sep 16, 2024
Monday Sep 16, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00:00 Show Start
- 00:01:16 Kickstarter Spotlight: Worldographer 2025 by Inkwell Ideas
- 00:03:36 Kickstarter Spotlight: Shadow City Mysteries
- 00:04:53 Product Spotlight: Level Up Advanced 5e on Bundle of Holding
- 00:10:46 D&D & RPG News: MCDM's License for Draw Steel
- 00:17:33 Product Spotlight: Shadowdark Guide to Monster Statistics by Matt Dietrich
- 00:22:14 Commentary: Four Sources of D&D History
- 00:44:16 DM Tip: Instant Monsters for 5e
- 00:59:02 Patreon Question: Handling Back Seat Driving Veteran Players
- 01:03:17 Patreon Question: Running the City of Arches with Shadowdark
- 01:05:40 Patreon Question: Managing Secrets with Multiple Paths Ahead
- 01:08:09 Patreon Question: Building Single-Session Episodic Adventures
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Worldographer Kickstarter
- Shadow City Mysteries Crowdfunding campaign
- Level Up A5e Bundles of Holding – Core
- Level Up A5e Bundles of Holding – Adventures
- Draw Steel creators license
- Shadowdark Quick Monster Stats by Matt Dietrich
- D&D 50 Year Panel
- D&D 50 Celebration Games
- When We Were Wizards
- The Making of Original D&D: 1970 - 1977
Friday Sep 13, 2024
Friday Sep 13, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Monday Sep 09, 2024
Monday Sep 09, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:13 Sly Flourish News: Mike Loses a Bet
- 02:59 D&D & RPG News: D&D 2024 and Free D&D on D&D Beyond
- 14:06 D&D & RPG News: Rich Lescoulflair Talking Phantasy Star RPG on Morrus's Podcast
- 15:42 D&D & RPG News: Matt Coleville on Eldritch Lorecast Talking About Project Sigil
- 19:35 D&D & RPG News: Free Hex Crawl Rules from Cursed Scroll 4
- 23:26 Product Spotlight: Broken Weave for 5e by Cubicle 7
- 36:24 DM Tip: Distance, Activity, and Attitude for Random Encounters
- 48:18 Patreon Question: Rewriting Published Adventures for Table Use
- 52:09 Patreon Question: Building Your Own Pantheon
- 55:38 Patreon Question: Using the Eight Steps for Published Adventures
Links
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- 2024 D&D Free Rules on D&D Beyond
- Rich Lescouflair on Phantasy Star RPG on Morrus's Podcast
- Matt Coleville on Eldritch Lorecast
- Free Hex Crawl Rules from Arcane Library
- Broken Weave for 5e
- Reaction Tables Across the Years
- Choosing the Right Steps from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
Friday Sep 06, 2024
Friday Sep 06, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Monday Sep 02, 2024
Monday Sep 02, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 00:01:49 D&D & RPG News: Follow Up on D&D 2014 Material in D&D Beyond
- 00:05:59 D&D & RPG News: Lost Worlds of Gygax Humble Bundle
- 00:10:46 D&D & RPG News: D&D Direct Announcements
- 00:19:48 Product Spotlight: Knave 2 by Ben Milton
- 00:41:12 DM Tip: Twelve Types of Medieval Artwork and Architecture for Dungeon Delving
- 00:53:50 Patreon Question: Convincing New Players to Try a New System
- 00:57:09 Patreon Question: 18 Months Since Other Publishers Published on D&D Beyond
- 01:05:04 Patreon Question: Using City of Arches with Theros
- 01:06:38 Patreon Question: Empire of the Ghouls Out of Print
- 01:08:41 Patreon Question: Favorite Sourcebook and Setting
Links
Friday Aug 30, 2024
Friday Aug 30, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Wednesday Aug 28, 2024
Wednesday Aug 28, 2024
Mike builds a 1st level character in the Shadowdark RPG.
Monday Aug 26, 2024
Monday Aug 26, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 02:30 D&D & RPG News: D&D Designers of All Editions Talk About and Play D&D
- 06:05 D&D & RPG News: Kelsey Dionne of Shadowdark on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop RPG Podcast
- 07:04 Commentary: WOTC Removes 2014 Spells, Items, and Rules from the D&D Beyond Character Builder
- 28:06 DM Tip: Track the Characters
- 42:07 Patreon Question: Running Short Games for Large Groups
- 46:14 Patreon Question: Favorite D&D 2024 Rule?
- 48:47 Patreon Question: Running Mastermind and Dark Nemesis Bosses
- 51:49 Patreon Question: Releasing the Forge of Foes Generic Monster Stats into the CC
- 57:47 Patreon Question: What's In your DM - GM Kit?
Links
- City of Arches Kickstarter!
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- D&D Designers of All Editions Talk About and Play D&D - Celebrating 50 Years of Dungeons & Dragons
- Kelsey Dionne on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletalk Podcast
- D&D Beyond Removes 2014 Spells, Items, Magic Items, and Rules from the Character Builder
- Further "Clarification"
- EN World Thread – How D&D Beyond Will Handle Access To 2014 Rules
- D&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast, 5e, and You
- Lazy GM's 5e Monster Builder Resource Document
Friday Aug 23, 2024
Friday Aug 23, 2024
Mike builds a 1st level character with Tales of the Valiant!
Monday Aug 19, 2024
Monday Aug 19, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:35 Kickstarter Spotlight: Horror at Devil's Run on Foundry
- 03:34 D&D & RPG News: Rob Heinsoo on Gnomecast
- 05:09 D&D & RPG News: Free League Publishing Pulls PDFs from the Alchemy VTT
- 19:34 Product Spotlight: Thrones and Bones Player's Guide by Lazy Wolf Studios
- 25:36 D&D & RPG News: Letters to Washington Post About D&D
- 28:14 DM Tip: Running an Infiltration in Summervine Villa
- 49:54 Patreon Question: Do We Need to Change Forge of Foes and the Lazy Encounter Benchmark for D&D 2024?
- 59:59 Patreon Question: Can a Paid DM Run Your Books?
Links
- Horror at Devil's Run Foundry Kickstarter
- Rob Heinsoo on Gnomecast
- Free League Removes PDFs from Foundry
- Alchemy's Stance on PDFs
- Thrones & Bones Player's Guide
- Thrones & Bones Campaign Guide
- These dungeons are home. These dragons forged friends – Washington Post
- Running Infiltrations and Heists
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
Friday Aug 16, 2024
Friday Aug 16, 2024
Mike builds a 1st level character with Level Up Advanced 5e!
- Join the City of Arches Kickstarter!
- Visit the Sly Flourish Blog
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Podcast
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books
- Level Up Advanced 5e
- A5e Tools
- Form Fillable Character Sheets
Video Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 02:13 What Is Level Up Advanced 5e?
- 06:00 The Step to Build a Character
- 07:02 Building a Character's Origin
- 09:52 Heritage Details
- 14:08 Culture Details
- 16:15 Background Details
- 18:46 Choosing a Destiny
- 21:22 Choosing an Adventure Class
- 30:31 Skill Specializations
- 32:34 Choosing Ability Scores
- 34:12 Equipping Weapons and Armor
Monday Aug 12, 2024
Monday Aug 12, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 02:04 Kickstarter Spotlight: Amazing Encounters and Dungeons
- 05:15 Kickstarter Spotlight: The Perilous Void
- 06:23 Commentary: Follow-Up on Blurring 2024 D&D PHB Videos
- 13:11 Sly Flourish News: Mike on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop Podcast on Blurgate and Project Sigil - the D&D 3D VTT
- 13:55 Sly Flourish News: More Character Builds with Tales of the Valiant and Shadowdark
- 14:30 D&D & RPG News: WOTC Designers on Eldritch Lorecast
- 15:55 D&D & RPG News: Tales of the Valiant on Herolab and Shard
- 20:54 Sly Flourish News: Biomes of the City of Arches
- 29:03 Patreon Question: Bifurcation of the Hobby Between 3d Online and Tabletop Play
- 35:51 Patreon Question: Handling Simultanous Events
- 38:54 Patreon Question: Is a D&D Beyond Content Subscription Service Acceptable?
- 43:13 Patreon Question: D&D 2024 PHB or Shadowdark?
Links
- Join the City of Arches Kickstarter!
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books:
- Amazing Encounters and Dungeons Kickstarter
- The Perilous Void Kickstarter
- A real lawyer talks about the blurring situation and fair use
- Mike on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop Podcast
- WOTC Designers on Eldritch Lorecast
- Tales of the Valiant on Herolab
- Tales of the Valiant on Shard
- Black Flag on Shard
Friday Aug 09, 2024
Friday Aug 09, 2024
Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
Wednesday Aug 07, 2024
Wednesday Aug 07, 2024
Mike builds a character with the new D&D 2024 Player's Handbook
- City of Arches Kickstarter!
- Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
- Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
- Buy Sly Flourish Books
Show Start
- 00:00 Video Start
- 01:17 Disclaimers
- 01:44 Making a Character Sheet
- 03:15 Creating a Character First Steps
- 04:08 Choosing a Class
- 07:51 Most Important Character Building Tip
- 09:44 Spells
- 19:56 Choosing a Background
- 26:09 Equipment
- 32:25 Species
- 36:41 Character Backstory Stuff
- 37:27 Languages
- 38:45 Determine Ability Scores
- 42:09 Appearances
- 44:41 Passive Perception
- 47:37 Calculating Weapon Attacks and Damage
- 51:03 Other Details
- 53:34 Final Thoughts
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Monday Aug 05, 2024
D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
Contents
- 00:00 Show Start
- 01:07 Sly Flourish News: City of Arches Kickstarter!
- 02:18 Kickstarter Spotlight: Victoriana 5e by Cubicle 7
- 05:12 Commentary: WOTC Made Me Blur My D&D 2024 Videos
- 25:09 D&D & RPG News: Shadowdark Wins Four ENNIES!
- 26:34 Commentary: Survive a Future Digital D&D
- 43:21 Sly Flourish News: City of Arches Campaign Outlines
- 51:31 Patreon Question: Maps and Mapping At the Table
- 54:23 Patreon Question: What Makes the City of Arches Unique?
- 58:29 Patreon Question: Awarding Treasure to Specific Characters