Episode 163: Wait, What?

Hello, everyone! This is week three of hoping you all out there are staying safe and healthy. We're going to keep on making episodes, because it's the only thing we know that might help! This week we talk about a few different topics that share some basic issues: jealousy over an NPC, inappropriate behavior at a public venue, and a difference of expectation between you and the DM. This episodes goes in some bizarre directions, but hopefully you can make sense of it all!

This week's winner of our Unearthed Tips & Tricks drawing is Danny C! Congratulations, Danny! You should get your copy within the next few days. Whenever you have a chance to read it over, be sure to leave Crit Academy a review! They're a great group and would love to use your feedback to improve their products.

Would you like to enter the drawing? It's easy- just e-mail us at InterPartyConflict@gmail.com with "Unearthed Tips & Tricks" in the subject line! It's that easy! And remember- this is a new product, so if you won one of our earlier drawings, you can enter again!

And remember, Crit Academy is just one of the great podcasts in the Critnation Fellowship! For more podcasts, visit our friends at Brute Force and Ignorance, and the (unfortunately ended) D&D Character Lab! And for books, adventures, and videos, check out Goblin Stone, Loresmyth, Aurican's Lair, Jeff Stevens, and The Kind GM!

See you next week! (Or was it last week?)

Episode 163: How Does That Make You Feel?

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Question(s) answered this episode:

1. Am I the jerk for being upset my boyfriend flirted with an NPC?

2. A game run by a new DM at my local game store quickly became inappropriate for young audiences. What is the best way to address this without alienating good people?

3. Our DM never kills his players, even in situations where they rightfully should have died. Our party is at a point in the campaign where we feel there will be no consequences for our actions. Is there a good way to address this issue?

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Noteworthy Links:

Episode 84: You Want This, I Want That- the episode where we discuss magical tattoos (along with Jessica from Incoming Game!)

Pandemonium Games & Hobbies, our local gaming store

Episode 162: Quarantine Edition

Hello, everyone! Once again we hope that you're staying safe out there. In service of Social Distancing, Jeff and I recorded remotely this week, so if something sounds just a bit different this time around, that's probably it! But don't worry- we still have a fun episode for you. In this episode we talk about Saving Throws in D&D- how they work as well as how to interpret them- and we discuss roleplaying as one of our favorite races, the Kenku! We also give general tips for playing any kind of nonverbal character as well.

This week's winner of our Unearthed Tips & Tricks drawing is Bill G! Congratulations, Bill! You should get your copy within the next few days. Whenever you have a chance to read it over, be sure to leave Crit Academy a review! They're a great group and would love to use your feedback to improve their products.

Would you like to enter the drawing? It's easy- just e-mail us at InterPartyConflict@gmail.com with "Unearthed Tips & Tricks" in the subject line! It's that easy! And remember- this is a new product, so if you won one of our earlier drawings, you can enter again!

And remember, Crit Academy is just one of the great podcasts in the Critnation Fellowship! For more podcasts, visit our friends at Brute Force and Ignorance, and the (unfortunately ended) D&D Character Lab! And for books, adventures, and videos, check out Goblin Stone, Loresmyth, Aurican's Lair, Jeff Stevens, and The Kind GM!

Keep your distance for now, and we'll get through this pandemic in the end!

Episode 162: Easy & Safe

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Question(s) answered this episode:

1. How do you interpret the various saving throws in D&D? Physical ones are easy to understand, but how do you describe a mental saving throw like Intelligence or Charisma?

2. Any advice on how to best Roleplay a Kenku?

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Noteworthy Links:

The Tick

Saving Throws numbers by Ability Score

No Ticket, a scene from the movie Dogma

Batteries Not Included

Zee Bashew: The Cold Road

Bang-Ended Scoot, a magical creature from the Harry Potter series

Spawn of Kyuss

Episode 161: The Meatballcast

Welcome back, everyone! Hopefully you're all staying safe out there, and hopefully this week's podcast will provide some much-needed entertainment during this unprecedented event we're all going through.

This week, we talk about skills- do you feel some of them don't get enough use? What are some ways to use the lesser-used skills in your game? We've got some ideas for you, so that's what we're talking about on this episode!

This week's winner of our Unearthed Tips & Tricks drawing is Jeff R! Congratulations, Jeff! You should get your copy within the next few days. Whenever you have a chance to read it over, be sure to leave Crit Academy a review! They're a great group and would love to use your feedback to improve their products.

Would you like to enter the drawing? It's easy- just e-mail us at InterPartyConflict@gmail.com with "Unearthed Tips & Tricks" in the subject line! It's that easy! And remember- this is a new product, so if you won one of our earlier drawings, you can enter again!

And remember, Crit Academy is just one of the great podcasts in the Critnation Fellowship! For more podcasts, visit our friends at Brute Force and Ignorance, and the (unfortunately ended) D&D Character Lab! And for books, adventures, and videos, check out Goblin Stone, Loresmyth, Aurican's Lair, Jeff Stevens, and The Kind GM!

See you next week, and remember to stay clean!

Episode 161: Each Skill Has Its Purpose

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Question(s) answered this episode:

1. As a DM, can you give some suggestions on how to create scenarios that use those underused skill checks? I'm looking at you Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Performance and Religion.

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Noteworthy Links:

You've Been Meatballed

Storm King's Thunder

Enigma of Amigara Fault, a bizarre and terrifying short story from Junji Ito

Horizon Zero Dawn

Azure Bonds, an old-school D&D novel that I highly recommend

Celestial Armor

Episode 160: We Got This One Right (I Hope)

Have you ever had a situation where the players misunderstood a detail of a puzzle or plot twist, and you aren't sure whether to correct them or let them keep working in the wrong direction? (Is there even a right answer?) That's our topic this week, and it's a tough one!

This week's winner of our Unearthed Tips & Tricks drawing is Terje M! Congratulations, Terje! You should get your copy within the next few days. Whenever you have a chance to read it over, be sure to leave Crit Academy a review! They're a great group and would love to use your feedback to improve their products.

Would you like to enter the drawing? It's easy- just e-mail us at InterPartyConflict@gmail.com with "Unearthed Tips & Tricks" in the subject line! It's that easy! And remember- this is a new product, so if you won one of our earlier drawings, you can enter again!

And remember, Crit Academy is just one of the great podcasts in the Critnation Fellowship! For more podcasts, visit our friends at Brute Force and Ignorance, and the (unfortunately ended) D&D Character Lab! And for books, adventures, and videos, check out Goblin Stone, Loresmyth, Aurican's Lair, Jeff Stevens, and The Kind GM!

See you next week!

Episode 160: Stop and Clarify

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Question(s) answered this episode:

1. How do you handle it when players get details wrong?

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Noteworthy Links:

Go For the Eyes! by Alex Clippinger

Cherry Bomb by the Runaways

Awesome Mix from Guardians of the Galaxy

Age of Worms

Blink Dog

Otyugh

Episode 159: Ten-Page Edition

Welcome back once again, listeners! A couple weeks ago we had to change up our recording schedule a bit due to some scheduling conflicts but as of this week's recording we should be back on track. (I feel like I can always recognize a difference in our episodes when we have to record two episodes in one day; I wonder if any of our listeners do. Probably not.) This week we're talking about character backstories- how much is too much? Is there a such thing as too little? (I actually don't recall if we covered that. I'm going to answer... yes?) We also talk about some other stuff but you'll hear it in the episode.

This week's winner of our Unearthed Tips & Tricks drawing is Bill G! Congratulations, Bill! You should get your copy within the next few days. Whenever you have a chance to read it over, be sure to leave Crit Academy a review! They're a great group and would love to use your feedback to improve their products.

Would you like to enter the drawing? It's easy- just e-mail us at InterPartyConflict@gmail.com with "Unearthed Tips & Tricks" in the subject line! It's that easy! And remember- this is a new product, so if you won one of our earlier drawings, you can enter again!

And remember, Crit Academy is just one of the great podcasts in the Critnation Fellowship! For more podcasts, visit our friends at Brute Force and Ignorance, and the (unfortunately ended) D&D Character Lab! And for books, adventures, and videos, check out Goblin Stone, Loresmyth, Aurican's Lair, Jeff Stevens, and The Kind GM!

See you next week!

Episode 159: Don't Overdo It

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Question(s) answered this episode:

1. How much backstory would you say is too much?

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Noteworthy Links:

Wendy's, an American fast food chain that sells square burgers for some reason

Dallas (Warning: NSFW)

World of Warcraft Engineering

Cheers

The World's End

At World's End

This Is the End

The Adventure Zone

Typhon's Treasure, a sidequest in Fallout 2 that rewards you with Bottlecaps, which are no longer usable as currency

John Wick, a great action movie starring Keanu Reeves

Ankheg Armor, Jeff's favorite armor from the Baldur's Gate series

Demon Stone, a D&D-themed video game for the PS2 and Xbox