Grumpy Dungeon Masters
Society & Culture
About
Four guys who have run too many games of Dungeons and Dragons. Here we gripe about foolish players, horrible mechanics, and bad dice rolls. As well as, worldbuilding, rules, and how to deal with the party splitting up for the third time this session.
Episodes
- Grumpy Guests – Erica Lowe: Ragnaborg
The Grumpy Dungeon Masters sit down this week and talk Vikings with Erica Lowe, the creator of Ragnaborg. It's a Mork Borg system based game taking place during Ragnarok, where you get to play vikings and battle for your own survival! List…
- Episode 281 – Dungeons & Dragons: The History Of High Level Play Part 1
The GDM guys talk about all the different editions of Dungeons & Dragons and how they each handle high level play. They also dive into the latest Wizards of the Coast fiasco and their digital downloads. Also a character death in Caverns of…
- Grumpy Guests – Hunter & Heavy: The Secret Of Weepstone
The Grumpy Dungeon Masters get a chance to talk with the creators of the Secret of Weepstone, Hunter & Heavy. It is a PC video game coming out that is based heavily on the old school Dungeons & Dragons systems. The game is atmospheric and…
- Episode 280 – Historica Arcanum: The Coven Of Salem
The guys are joined by Christopher’s better half Shelley to talk about a Kickstarter she backed. Historica Arcarnum: The Coven of Salem . It is a Dungeons & Dragons 5E/5.5 setting based on historical events during the Salem Witch Trials. I…
- Grumpy Guests – Sonja Akright Of The Geneva Lake Museum
The guys have been wanting to do this podcast for quite a while now. As some context, when the Grumpy Dungeon Masters went to Gary Con for their first time in 2025, Sonja was one of the first people they met at the con. She is the director…
- Episode 279 – Rolling True: How Lou Zocchi Shaped Dungeons and Dragons Dice
Dan & Chris carry the heavy load this week. Dan talks about the passing of Lou Zocchi. For those who didn’t know him, Zocchi is the guy who created the D100 and is responsible for the polyhedral dice that we all use and love. His company G…
- Episode 278 – Your Dungeons & Dragons Game Needs More Appendix N
It’s another week and Christopher is still killing characters at Adventurers League. To be generous towards him it is the Temple of Elemental Evil, which is notoriously dangerous for characters. Goes to show that even 5.5E Dungeons & Drago…
- Episode 277 – Ravenloft: The Horrors Within Castle Whiterock
It’s a week of Mega-Dungeons! Goodman Games opened their backerkit for Castle Whiterock, which is a huge 30 level dungeon for Dungeon Crawl Classics and D&D5E. Apparently there are several others open right now including Castle Zagyg, whic…
- Episode 275 – Gary Con 2026 Recap Part Deux
The guys didn’t have enough time last podcast to discuss everything from Gary Con, so they decided to make a part 2. Christopher starts it off with another Adventures League story, which went exactly how you’d expect it to go. Dan & Jay fi…
- Grumpy Guests – Dungeon Damsel & Xane Daniel
The guys were fortunate to sit down and chat with the Dungeon Damsel, aka Bunni and Xane Daniel, the creators of the Druskara setting for Shadowdark. Their Backerkit is currently active and is absolutely killing it. It’s a complete living…
- Episode 275 – Gary Con 2026 Recap
Three of the guys returned from Gary Con and they recap all of their goings on. Dan managed to play games with many famous luminaries within the tabletop RPG sphere. Chris got to run a whole bunch of Keshenar games. Jay ended up not meetin…
- Episode 274 – Blackrazor, The Tarrasque, And Dungeons & Dragons Is Hard
Christopher starts us off with another tale of Adventures League where he killed another character. In the process the guys discuss whether or not D&D is too simple as an introductory RPG or is it the only real way to introduce players to…
- Episode 273 – Dungeons & Dragons Road Map For 2026
The guys take a look at the current road map for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 for 2026. So far this includes a new Ravenloft book coming later in the year, a book for spellcasters, and some other un-named project around the end of the year. The…
- Grumpy Guest – Ahmed Suffety
This week the guys were lucky to sit down and chat with Ahmed Suffety. He runs https://www.suffety.com/ , which designs one of a kind role playing wooden pieces, such as dice trays, quills, and dice. On top of that they create incredible r…
- Episode 272 – Ecology Of The Kobold In Dungeons And Dragons
Dan is on a roll and has another incredible ecology for you guys. This time it’s the kobold. You know, the little dog like creatures that stab you in the ankles. Or maybe they are actually more draconic. We finally get to the bottom of why…
- Episode 271 – Dan’s Dragon Deep Dive 4 And Video Game Dungeons
This week the guys are back to their regular schedule. Kristian takes the guys through a dungeon design competition that was going on based on 8 bit video games. The idea was to take 3 randomly assigned Nintendo Entertainment System games…
- Grumpy Guest – Storytellers Forge: Rick Heinz & Erik Frankhouse
This week the guys had a couple of guests join them. Rick Heinz and Erik Frankhouse from Storytellers Forge. They are the people responsible for The Black Ballad. That is a Dungeons & Dragons 5E setting that begins when your characters die…
- Episode 270 – Another Matt Mercer Top 10 List or Something Like That
This week is the beginning of Zine month. That’s Zine, as in magazine. A Zine for RPG’s is a booklet often times filled with an adventure or useful tools for a game master. Every February is Zine month and you can always find some incredib…
- Episode 269 – It’s Just Another Dungeons & Dragons Unearthed Arcana
Christopher actually got to try something new as a DM. He ran a D&D game for a person he didn’t know as their birthday party. I guess technically this makes him a professional Dungeon Master? He needs to get that resume put together. The g…
- Episode 268 – Black Bears & Scarabs: A Roleplaying Story
Christopher got a chance to go and hang out at Scarab Con in Columbia South Carolina this weekend. He comes back to regale the guys with tales of drunken escapades….or gaming or something. He did meet some interesting people though. Dan &…
- Episode 267 – Dungeons & Dragons 5E and System Conversions
This week the guys take a look at books that were originally designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5E and then re-made for another game system. While it generally works it’s not difficult to tell that the feeling of the book is a bit off. Things…
- Episode 266 – Stranger Things, Action Economy, and You!
First episode of the new year!! The guys are unprepared for another circle around the sun. Jay decided to talk about some variant rules that nobody knows about or uses from 5E D&D. Things such as marking targets, disarm, and massive damage…
- Episode 265 – Year In Review: Best RPG Products 2025
It’s the final episode of the year and you know what that means. The Grumpy Dungeon Masters take a look at their favorite products of the year. Could it be something Dungeons & Dragons? Maybe some new product for Shadowdark or Dungeon Craw…
- Episode 264 – Happy Shadowdark Darkest Day!!
The guys celebrate the Shadowdark holiday of Darkest Day! On the shortest day of the year there is a chance you will encounter the Ten Eyed Oracle and be granted treats. By treats we mean some horrific challenges you must complete or you w…
- Episode 263 – Nimble: The New Dungeons & Dragons!
There is a new Dungeons & Dragons in town and it’s name is Nimble! It is an apt description as the game is still pretty much D&D 5E, but it runs nimbly. Less rolls, less number crunching, and easier to digest. The real question though, is…
- Episode 262 – Is Eberron Forge of the Artificer Any Good?
It’s a fairly straight forward question. Is Eberron Forge of the Artificer Any Good? It has a “new” class for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 edition. Has a brand new sub-class for players to enjoy. Several miniature adventures within the book. Som…
- Episode 261 – Shadowdark: Cursed Scroll 6
This week the podcast is all about the updates to Shadowdark. Specifically the Necromancer class and the Cursed Scroll 6. For those not familiar with the Cursed Scrolls, they are short booklets filled with information used for the Shadowda…
- Episode 260 – Dungeons & Dragons: The Pale Night And The Lady Of Pain
This week Dan is on vacation, so the rest of the crew talk about things he would be interested in. Have to make sure he misses out on the fun. Have you ever heard of an Obyrith? Yeah, most of us hadn’t really heard about them either or if…
- Episode 259 – Astarion’s Lost Book of Maybe We Will See It Someday
Chris walks the guys through his most recent game at Adventurers League. The story involves a small army of skeletons, a few character deaths, and a way to make the worst character of all time. If you have ever wanted to play a character t…
- Episode 258 – Adventures in Faerun And Ooze’s Love Lightning
Jay got to watch Dan play some Dungeons & Dragons and learn exactly how to deal with Black Puddings. Specifically by using lightning magic on them. Works great. Make sure you give it a try next game session. Christopher and Kristian talk a…
- Episode 257 – Strahd Must Die: Street Justice
Christopher managed to run his yearly Halloween game of Strahd Must Die. It’s a game of 5E Dungeons & Dragons where the players have a time limit to run around his castle and defeat the vampire and lock him away for another year. He was jo…
- Episode 256 – Dungeons & Dragons Stories, Lug Con, & Cat Snores
This week Jay opens the podcast with a story from a recent game of D&D where using a magic item completely went the wrong way. Chris follows it up with a story of killing another character and how the new Arch-mage in Dungeons & Dragons 5.…
- Episode 255 – Mail Call For Dungeons & Dragons
This week is an episode that is all over the place. Christopher finally figures out that Vampiric Touch is a concentration spell in D&D 5E. This of course leads to a dive into the history of the spell and all of the different versions of i…
- Episode 254 – The Worst Dungeons & Dragons Modules Of All Time
The guys are back to their normal ways this week. Christopher talks about running the new starter set for Dungeons & Dragons at his Adventurers League games. He’s running the module The Keep on the Borderlands for them, but has already run…
- Episode 253 – Crooked Moon May Be The Best Version Of Dungeons & Dragons 5E
This week Dan is missing, but Christopher’s wife and owner of the podcast joins in to talk about Crooked Moon. For those not familiar it is a folk horror setting for D&D 5E/5.5 which had an incredible Kickstarter last year. Normally the gu…
- Episode 252 – The Best Mega Dungeons Of All Time
Apologies for any skips in the recording. Craig was doing his best to ruin the podcast early on. Have you ever been a part of a Mega Dungeon? This would be a dungeon with over 100 rooms. There have been tales as old as time of dungeons wit…
- Episode 251 – A Look At The Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 Starter Set
This week the guys take a look at the new Dungeons & Dragons starter set to see if it’s any good. It comes with a lot of tokens and some maps along with a decent sized remake of a 1E adventure. Dan and Chris both have copies of it and gene…
- Episode 250 – How To Use Cursed Magic Items In Dungeons & Dragons
There is a right way and a wrong way to use cursed magic items. Using them the right way can provide entertainment and story telling. The wrong way will derail an entire campaign or ruin a players fun. Listen in to the Grumpy Dungeon Maste…
- Episode 249 – Dragons Deep Dive Part 3
Dan’s back at it with his deep dive on Dragons. This time he talks about the Cult of the Dragon and Dragonlance, finally wrapping up all of first edition Dungeons & Dragons. Christopher wonders if WotC will do with D&D like they did with M…
- Episode 248 – No Dungeons Or Dragons Here Today
This week the guys are taking a look at a whole bunch of games on Kickstarter or Backerkit that they are interested in. Shadowrun Anarchy 2.0 is one of the main ones. Shadowrun is a really great game which was always bogged down by the rul…
- Episode 247 – Dark Sun Is Back On The Menu Boys!
Wizards of the Coast released an Unearthed Arcana this week with Apocalyptic sub-classes for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5. The 4 sub-classes are very obviously carryovers from Dark Sun, which along with the Psionics UA that was recently released…
- Episode 246 – Every Dungeons & Dragons Video Game Ever
This week the guys sit around and take a look at every single Dungeons & Dragons licensed video game ever made. Some are well known like the Baldur’s Gate series while others are incredibly obscure. If you had a Turbo Graphix 16 or a Panas…
- Episode 245 – Rime Of The Frostmaiden Finished
It’s a slow news week so the guys talk about some of the games they did this week. Christopher went to a local con in Charleston SC and ran some games of D&D 5E, specifically a Keshanar module. Both games ended up with people doing things…
- Episode 244 – Forgotten Realms Announced
Gen Con happened this weekend and there was a ton of activity, so naturally the guys take a look at some of the announcements coming from the con. First and foremost was the announcement of 2 Forgotten Realms books for Dungeons & Dragons.…
- Episode 243 – Dragons Deep Dive Part 2
Somebody let Dan out of his cage and he came back with more dragon lore than you can shake a stick at. Last time he talked about dragons in episode 238 he talked about Bahamut and Tiamat, but this time he goes hardcore and covers everythin…
- Episode 242 – Daggerheart The D&D Slayer
Finally the guys sit down and take some time to talk about the new kid on the block, Daggerheart! It’s a game created by the Critical Role team which uses a new system, but holds the feel of Dungeons & Dragons 5E. With all the hype surroun…
- Episode 241 – Dungeons & Dragons or D&D BX
This weeks its more of the Grumpy Dungeon Masters grumping about gaming. We all know D&D 5e is built with a board game model, but is it better than board games that are designed with a campaign in mind. With the guys playing Gloomhaven on…
- Episode 240 – Dragonbane The Roleplaying Game
This week Kristian finally gets to talk about Dragonbane. For those who aren’t familiar Dragonbane is an RPG that has been around since the early 80’s that has fairly recently had a new edition which has caught on. While GDM Jay wasn’t sol…
- Episode 239 – Dungeons & Dragons Is Just A Combat Simulator
Free RPG Day has come and gone and the Grumpy Dungeon Masters all managed to get some goodies. They talk about some of the findings including a Dragonbane module, some Dungeon Crawl Classics, and the ability to kick flip horses which Jay f…
- Grumpy Guest – Heidi & Erik Gygax Garland
The guys were lucky enough this week to get to talk with Heidi & Erik Gygax Garland. They are both incredible game designers with their own company Gaxland and Heidi is also the daughter of Gary Gygax. They are also the creators of EGG Con…