389 - Actual Prep with Random Tropes

·50 min·4 clips

Matt and Rob mash up random fantasy tropes to build a unique campaign setting from scratch.

In this episode of Dungeon Master of None, hosts Matt and Rob engage in a creative exercise by mashing up random fantasy tropes to build a campaign setting. They start by discussing their love for 'stupid tables' in tabletop role-playing games and introduce a table of common fantasy tropes. The first roll yields 'the PCs are chosen,' followed by 'giant floating island' and 'man is the greatest monster,' which they synthesize into a setting featuring a floating island inhabited by winged elves oppressed by human griffin riders. The hosts name the island Sky Seer Rock and outline key landmarks like Stone Claw Tower and a tea-picking terrace. Next, they roll additional tropes—'multiverse hopscotch,' 'not Arthur rules a not Camelot,' and 'the gods are just grifters'—to develop an adventure. This involves a floating castle with multiverse doppelgangers of the player characters, who are anti-theist knights aiming to destroy the elven god of prophecy. The hosts suggest complications like a third faction of god-king doppelgangers and potential player character deaths. Finally, they roll tropes for a villain faction: 'ancient magical Rome that is now gone,' 'metal elemental color based powers,' and 'orange blue alignment axis.' This leads to the creation of a secret society of metal knights who value craftsmanship above all else, with inscrutable morals. The episode concludes with the hosts reflecting on the exercise, mentioning unused tropes like 'magic is drugs,' and inviting listeners to submit suggestions for future genre mashups via email or Patreon.

As heard by us

Matt and Rob turn random fantasy-trope rolls into a playable quest by arguing productively with the table.

Dungeon Master of None makes tabletop prep feel like a constraint game, with Matt and Rob rolling fantasy tropes from a table and trying to turn the results into something playable.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play when you want tabletop prep to start with dice rolls and wander toward a usable quest hook.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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