481 episodes

The complete podcast of Sly Flourish, the Lazy Dungeon Master. Building the better D&D dungeon master and RPG game master.

The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish mike@slyflourish.com

    • Leisure
    • 4.8 • 164 Ratings

The complete podcast of Sly Flourish, the Lazy Dungeon Master. Building the better D&D dungeon master and RPG game master.

    There Is No "Default" – Lazy RPG Talk Show

    There Is No "Default" – Lazy RPG Talk Show

    D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
    Contents
    00:00 Show Start
    01:12 Product Spotlight: PJ Coffey's Crafting Heritages and Cultures CC-Released Doc
    04:38 Kickstarter Spotlight: Campaign Builder - Dungeons and Ruins
    07:16 Product Spotlight: 13th Age 2e Preview
    10:18 Patreon Spotlight: Secret of Summervine Villa
    13:58 D&D & RPG News: Cynthia Williams Leaves Hasbro
    16:26 Commentary: Build Your Resilient TTRPG Hobby
    20:00 Commentary: Matt Coleville on Long-form versus Short-Form Adventures
    27:14 Commentary: The MtG Hobby Compared to the D&D Hobby
    36:47 DM Tip: Fantastic Short-Form Adventure Publishers
    50:41 Patreon Question: Villains and NPCs Responding to High Level Characters
    54:28 Patreon Question: Warlords Are in 5e
    56:27 Patreon Question: Repeating Descriptions and Getting Players to Pay Attention
    Links
    Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
    Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
    Buy Sly Flourish Books:
    Sly Flourish Fantastic Bundle
    PJ Coffey’s Crafting Heritages and Cultures SRD
    Kobold Press’s Campaign Builder: Dungeons & Ruins
    The 13th Age 2 Kickstarter Coming May
    Matt Colville on Short versus Long Adventures – There is no “default”
    Merric’s Article on Short-form WOTC Adventures
    Arcane Library
    Jeff Steven's 5e Adventures
    Kobold Press's Lairs books
    MT Black's Adventures
    Raging Swan's 5e adventures

    • 1 hr
    Swamp King Fronk – Lazy RPG Prep

    Swamp King Fronk – Lazy RPG Prep

    Mike prepares for his Shadowdark RPG campaign, the Gloaming!
    Shadowdark RPG Campaign Notebook available to Sly Flourish patrons
    Visit the Sly Flourish Blog
    Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
    Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
    Buy Sly Flourish Books
    Shadowdark RPG
    Cursed Scroll 1
    Dyson Maps

    • 33 min
    Watch Your Wallets! – The Lazy RPG Talk Show

    Watch Your Wallets! – The Lazy RPG Talk Show

    D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
    Contents
    00:00 Show Start
    01:40 D&D & RPG News: Robert Schwalb on La Taberna de Rol
    03:48 D&D & RPG News: DM David Compares MCDM, Daggerheart, and 5e
    05:42 Kickstarter Spotlight: Wandering Tavern by Homie and the Dude
    09:51 Kickstarter Spotlight: Infestation at Devil's Glade by Jeff Stevens
    11:50 Kickstarter Spotlight: Restless Encounters by Inkwell Ideas
    13:51 D&D & RPG News: 13th Age Megabundle on Bundle of Holding
    17:23 Product Spotlight: Dyson Logos Commercial Map Packs
    19:55 D&D & RPG News: Cairn 2 Character Builder Open Sourced
    25:56 Patreon Spotlight: Readings and Reflections with Sly Flourish Podcast
    28:21 D&D & RPG News: JP Coovert's video on Indie RPGs
    29:11 DM Tip: Split Up Your Prep
    39:05 Patreon Question: How Often to Level Characters?
    43:27 Patreon Question: What to Prep When You Have a Long Time
    49:26 Patreon Question: Accounting for High Power Charactesr with the Lazy Encounter Benchmark
    Links
    Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
    Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
    Buy Sly Flourish Books:
    Robert Schwalb on La Taberna de Rol
    Daggerheart vs. the MCDM RPG vs. D&D: A Playtest Comparison – DM David
    The Wandering Tavern Kickstarter
    Infestation at Devil's Glade for 5E Kickstarter
    Restless Encounters Backerkit Campaign
    13th Age Megabundle
    Dyson Logos Commercial Map Packs
    Cairn 2e open source character generator
    Indie RPG Roundup by JP Coovert

    • 55 min
    Run Evil Cities – Examining Vandekhul from Empire of the Ghouls

    Run Evil Cities – Examining Vandekhul from Empire of the Ghouls

    Mike dives into running the evil city of Vandekhul and the freedom it gives heroic characters to be jerks!
    Video Contents
    00:00 Show Start
    01:38 Number One Tip for Running Evil Cities
    04:56 Ghoulish Elizabethian Politics in the Center of the Underworld
    06:08 The Yojimbo / Fistful of Dollars Adventure Model
    20:08 Double Check Your Session Zero Lines and Veils
    22:38 Turning the In-World Safety Dials
    26:26 Dungeons Everywhere
    30:45 Adding Nice Places the Characters (and Players) Can Rest
    35:55 Adding Nice People to Meet and Care About
    37:31 Adding Physical Layers of History
    Show Links
    Visit the Sly Flourish Blog
    Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
    Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
    Buy Sly Flourish Books
    Empire of the Ghouls
    Dyson's Maps
    Dyson's Patreon

    • 40 min
    The Best 5e Challenge Rating – The Lazy RPG Talk Show

    The Best 5e Challenge Rating – The Lazy RPG Talk Show

    D&D and RPG news and commentary by Mike Shea of https://slyflourish.com
    Contents
    00:00 Show Start
    01:03 D&D & RPG News: Dungeoncraft on Getting Cheap Miniatures
    03:58 Kickstarter Spotlight: Monsters of Drakkenheim
    05:52 Kickstarter Spotlight: Cairn 2e Boxed Set
    08:16 Commentary: Tales of the Valiant Wight
    14:26 Commentary: Why CR3 is the best CR
    20:09 Sly Flourish News: New Search Engine for Sly Flourish!
    22:13 DM Tip: The Two Different Games at the Table
    34:29 Patreon Question: Lazy DM Steps in an Online VTT World
    40:55 Patreon Question: Handling Failure at the End of Campaigns
    45:23 Patreon Question: Handling Flying Characters
    48:53 Patreon Question: Feeling Bad After a Big Battle
    54:22 Patreon Question: When to Give Out Magic Items
    Links
    How To Get Minis for D&D For Cheap! Dungeoncraft
    Monsters of Drakkenheim Kickstarter
    Cairn 2e Boxed Set Kickstarter
    Tales of the Valiant Wight
    Sly Flourish Search Engine
    Subscribe to the Sly Flourish Newsletter
    Support Sly Flourish on Patreon
    Buy Sly Flourish Books

    • 58 min
    Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Deep Dive

    Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Deep Dive

    Mike dives deep into Shadowed Keep of the Borderlands by Raging Swan Press.
    00:00 Show Start
    01:39 What Is Shadowed Keep of the Borderlands?
    04:59 Why is it So Good?
    07:07 What Do You Get?
    10:09 Dulwich Overview and Quick References
    18:24 The Duchy of Ashlar
    22:42 The Shadowed Keep
    31:35 Appendices and Player Handouts
    33:35 My Own Shadowed Keep Campaign
    42:22 Final Recommendation: Buy It
    Links
    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: https://shop.slyflourish.com/
    Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands (affiliate link)

    • 43 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
164 Ratings

164 Ratings

LyonPryde13 ,

Best RPG Podcast

Mike Shea offers a variety of amazing content - his published works on DMing, his excellent articles, his terrific YouTube channel, and his podcast series on prepping for games. He is positive, constructive, and mostly objective when reporting on news and other RPG subject matter. I highly recommend consuming all of his products and offerings, including his Patreon. Great value.

iamnotaspy1000 ,

Thank you!

👍

Chumplestilskin ,

Truly a help to present and future GMs

I have listened to many podcasts over the last few years that were focused on helping people become better Dungeon Masters. While I enjoy those as well, the Lazy RPG Podcast is truly a finely tuned GM building machine where one benefits from the vast knowledge and creativity of Mike Shea (host). The podcast gives solid advice and tricks on spending less time prepping for your games and yet also ideas to add to the quality of your presentation to your players. This allows more time for the fun part of coming up with cool ideas or spending more time on other imporant things in life without your RPG game taking any back seats. Not only that, he sounds like he generally enjoys doing it. A show well worth your time to listen to and is my absolute favorite podcast!

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