Dungeons & Tangents

Dungeons & Tangents

We are Erik & Robert. Two guys from Portland Oregon who play and run Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Tangents is our Podcast where we discuss a myriad of topics surrounding D&D. The culture, the mechanics, new product releases, common mistakes. We cover the full breadth of the D&D world. And sometimes we get caught in rabbit holes... Also; we can be persuaded to talk about anything with bribes of dice and miniatures.

Episodes

Fright Fight 2018 - Episode 2 - Challenge Rating 1/2

November 6, 2018 • 38 mins
This Episode we continue our Halloween Special: A D&D 5th edition monster vs monster tournament. Robert and I will run through all the monsters in the 5th edition Monster Manual that fit a Halloween theme and seeing how they fair against each other. For Challenge Rating 1/2 we pit Worg, Shadow, Sahuagin, and Barovian Witch against each other.
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Fright Fight 2018 - Episode 1 - Intro & Challenge Rating 1/4

October 29, 2018 • 32 mins
This Episode we start our Halloween Special: A D&D 5th edition monster vs monster tournament. Robert and I will run through all the monsters in the 5th edition Monster Manual that fit a Halloween theme and seeing how they fair against each other. It's a helpful review of the monster manual, and a good way to see your favorite Halloween themed monsters in action.
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Episode 42: Backstories (Part 2) - The Backening

June 19, 2018 • 42 mins
In Episode 16 of of this podcast we talked about the process of creating a Character's Backstory. But once you have that backstory, what do you do with it? This episode we talk about how backstories are integrated into game play. We discuss the differences between writing an elaborate backstory or creating a simple character concept. Halfway though this episode we inadvertently develop a new backstory generation technique. We d...
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Episode 41: Massive Tangents #4 - The Pokemon Universe is a DARK place

June 12, 2018 • 19 mins
Sometimes, when the mics are on, we start talking about some odd things. And sometimes those odd things are worth sharing with our listeners. This episode started as a couple of off hand comments from Ben. What resulted was a very dark conversation about the horrors of Universe that Surrounds Pokemon. Follow us down a Massive Tangent, this week on Dungeons & Tangents
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Episode 40: Religion & Role-playing

June 5, 2018 • 45 mins
Role-playing games have had a difficult time getting along with religion, and specifically American Christians. From the start, there was a disconnect between them. Sadly, misunderstandings in the early 80's started a feud that continues to this day. It's a difficult and sensitive subject, but we will discuss that and more, this week on Dungeons & Tangents.
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Episode 39: How Players Become Murder Hobos

May 22, 2018 • 35 mins
The term "Murder Hobo" is a recently popularized term. It is, however, a surprisingly accurate description of the tendency for some D&D players to use killing as their primary problem solving tool. Is it a result of video game culture? Antagonistic DMs? Or maybe it's just the nature of playing D&D? We'll discuss how players become Murder Hobos, this week on Dungeons & Tangents.
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Episode 38: Munchkin Mechanics

May 15, 2018 • 30 mins
There have been loopholes in nearly every editions of D&D. Those loopholes are often the target of "Munchkins", or players who will exploit any and every advantage in a rule-set. Obviously, the DM has the ultimate authority to allow such exploitation, but these cracks in the rules can still cause headaches. We'll walk through a series of examples and discuss the implications of Munchkin Mechanics, this week on Dunge...
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Episode 37: Every Edition of D&D

May 8, 2018 • 69 mins
Dungeons & Dragons was first published in 1974. But the game has changed a lot in the last 4 decades. There have been 8 official versions released in that time. Some with small, incremental changes. Some that fundamentally transformed the feel and mechanics of the game. We discuss what we know about each version, what makes them different, and how and why the game changed this week on Dungeons & Tangents.
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Episode 36: Introducing new players to D&D

March 27, 2018 • 34 mins
We all have friends, family and coworkers who've never played a role-playing game. Plenty of them just aren't interested. And that's okay. But when you have the opportunity to introduce new players, how do you do so in a way that has them coming back for more? We discuss this and more, this week on Dungeons & Tangents.
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Episode 35: Players Contributing to the Gaming World

March 20, 2018 • 34 mins
If a player wants to write the back-story for their character's home village. That's cool, right? If, during session 0, they suggest that the world you're about to play in should have no magic at all. Is that cool? What if they recommend that the villain of your campaign should be seeking revenge on another Player's Character? Players and DMs are always working together to tell a collaborative story, but it CAN be u...
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Knowledge History D&D - Episode 5: The Start Up (1974-1975)

March 6, 2018 • 12 mins
This episode is all about the first two years of the existence of TSR, the company that Gary and Don created to publish D&D.
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Episode 34: GCPWest 2018 - An Interview with April Westervelt

February 13, 2018 • 30 mins
This week we have our first official interview. Robert and I talk with April Westervelt; the organizer of the Portland based GCPWest TableTop gathering. What is GCPWest? How did it start and what makes it unique? We talk to April about these subjects and more, this week on Dungeons & Tangents Special Guests: .
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Episode 33: Session 0: the planning session

February 6, 2018 • 48 mins
When you build a house, you need a blueprint. But When you play D&D, you may run a module that gives you a plot, but there's no blueprints for how your players interact with each other or the world around them. A planning session, sometimes called "session 0" can help make sure Player and DM expectations are in sync. We discuss makes a good session 0, this week on Dungeons & Tangents
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Episode 32: Failing Forward & Awareness of Risks

January 30, 2018 • 45 mins
A rogue tries to pick a lock. "Roll a sleight of hand Check" that DM says. The roll is low. So What happens next? Does the DM say "you failed to pick the lock"? Is this a dead end in the game? It doesn't have to be. If a player is rolling the dice, failure must always an option, but success or failure, the game must go on. We consider the relationship between risks, successes, and failures this week on Dungeo...
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Knowledge History D&D - Episode 4: The Making of Dungeons & Dragons (1972-1974)

January 16, 2018 • 15 mins
This episode is all about the first edition of D&D. How it was written and the struggles of publishing a innovative game without any money. Resources for this episode included the following: * Chainmail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainmail(game) http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17010/Chainmail-Rules-for-Medieval-Miniatures-0e?it=1 * TRS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LakeGenevaTacticalStudies_Association * Ga...
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Episode 31: At The Movies (part 1)

January 9, 2018 • 27 mins
A Cartoon in 1983, A live action Feature in 2000, An Animated Feature in 2008, There have been a lot of attempts to take D&D into the world movies and TV, but many have fallen far short of fan expectations. In late 2017, a new D&D movie was announced and is set for release in October of 2021. we'll discuss that and more, this week on Dungeons & Tangents
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Episode 30: Party Dynamics

January 2, 2018 • 31 mins
What would the A-Team be without Hannibal? The Fellowship of the Rings be without Gandalf? Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Giles? Are there character archetypes that are necessary for a party to gel? Are there character pairings that make parties fall apart? We'll ask these questions and discuss general party dynamics today on Dungeons & Tangents.
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Episode 29: Alignment (the inevitable episode)

December 19, 2017 • 33 mins
Most of you have seen your favorite fictional characters pigeon holed into a chart of the 9 Alignments. Obiwan is "Lawful Good", Treebeard is True Neutral, The Joker is "Chaotic Evil". Obviously that grid was popularized by D&D, but you may not know that it was not originally part of D&D. We'll discuss that as well as how it fits into game play today on "Dungeons & Tangents"
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Episode 28: Sports vs eSports vs Tabletop Streams

December 12, 2017 • 29 mins
Sports is a Trillion Dollar industry in the United States alone. And while Sports has been a part of our cultural landscape for more than a hundred years, eSports and tabletop streaming are very new industries that are vying for a very different audience. Can these new forms of entertainment satisfy the Nerd world's need for an alternative to Football, Basketball, and Baseball? We'll discuss that and more, today on Dungeons...
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Episode 27: Running a "Theater of the Mind" Game

November 28, 2017 • 38 mins
We're planning on running an Actually Play in the future, but that means changing the way we play D&D. The main change is the removal of all visual aids from the game. Making the game purely audible. This episode we discuss how to run a "Theater of the Mind" style game and how it's different than running a game with Maps, miniatures, and other physical props.
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