500 episodes listed below
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The complete podcast of Sly Flourish, the Lazy Dungeon Master. Building the better D&D dungeon master and RPG game master.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Mike Shea connects tabletop RPG news and criticism to the practical decisions GMs make before and during play.
Mike Shea turns tabletop roleplaying into a working conversation between current news, game criticism, and the choices made at the table. The talk-show format moves from Wizards of the Coast announcements and licensing questions to crowdfunding campaigns, campaign settings, and…
Mike Shea can question Daggerheart's crunch and help you reuse last session's prep in the same breath.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A conversational GM check-in that links Stranger Things, puzzles, and RPG news to practical table thinking.
Mike Shea starts with a New Year check-in and moves through a tidy run of topics: Tim Kask's passing, James Haik joining Wizards of the Coast, Shannon Appelcline's year-end review, Stranger Things, puzzles, and Patreon Q&A.
Practical GM thinking, with Dragonbane prep, a scene-target experiment, and a caution against idealizing new RPG ideas.
Mike Shea moves through Dragonbane prep, a scene target number experiment, and a warning about expecting fresh RPG ideas to look exactly like the ideal version in your head.
A reflective year-end RPG check-in that stays grounded in what changed and what still matters at the table.
This year-end episode looks back at tabletop RPGs in 2025 and uses that view to frame careful expectations for 2026. It stays rooted in Mike Shea's Sly Flourish perspective, with attention to tabletop role-playing games, session timing, and the licensing discussion around…
A useful look at the friction that keeps new RPGs from reaching the table.
This episode starts with a practical question: what keeps players from picking up a new RPG? Shea moves from the Druscara crowdfunding campaign to Game Master Tools by Jeff Stevens Game, and keeps the focus on the real problem of getting new games into players' hands.
A practical GM episode that turns news, product spotlight, and table-tested ideas into usable advice.
Mike Shea moves from Sly Flourish news to a rebuilt Dwarven Forge virtual tabletop background tool, then into Baldur's Gate TV show talk, a product spotlight on Down Among the Dead for Pirate Borg, and Patreon Q&A with an easy, conversational pace.
A practical take on which campaign settings Wizards of the Coast should prioritize.
Mike Shea starts with Ars Magica's Creative Commons release and the GaryCon press briefing, then turns to a more practical question: which game settings Wizards of the Coast should focus on, and which ones it should leave alone.
Two session zeros become a practical lesson in how campaigns really start.
This episode is a useful tabletop working session, with session zeros doing most of the heavy lifting. Mike Shea keeps pulling the discussion back to what actually happens at the table, whether that is a reroll rule, a donkey carrying a bad Strength score, or what he learned…
A practical GM hangout that turns adventure fixes into usable table judgment.
Mike Shea starts with recent RPG items, then settles into a useful discussion of what happens when a published adventure needs to be reshaped for a real table.
Games, media, tangents, and reality checks.
Nilay Patel presses tech and media CEOs on how they actually run their companies.
Physician Shoshana Ungerleider pairs TED talks with interviews on aging, drug prices, and menopause.
Food52 hosts break down recipes and food-business origin stories, from sourdough to Salty Pimp cones.
The party is coerced into smuggling a dragon lord's half-dragon son out of the empire
Mike Shea prepares his Dragon Empire 5e campaign for the upcoming session after the party defeats the Infernal Machine arc.
Mike Shea uses this Lazy RPG Talk Show episode to cover Page 3, the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo, after a missed show week and a packed return.
Mike Shea uses this Lazy RPG Talk Show to cover a Fanatical Pathfinder 2 bundle, a Stone Shatter Tomb Kickstarter, and a long stretch of Dragonbane and Daggerheart analysis.
Mike Shea uses The Lazy RPG Talk Show to cover a new Sly Flourish article, a Dragonbane campaign update, and a GM tip about treating a whole scene as one target number.
Mike Shea uses The Lazy RPG Talk Show to cover a burst of D&D announcements, including Ravenloft: The Horror Within, Arcana Unleashed, Arcana Unleashed Deadfall, and a new D&D encounters push tied to seasonal play.
Mike Shea opens with recent Sly Flourish articles, a couple of new Bundles of Holding, a PBS documentary from Texas, and a chance to vote on the most anticipated RPG of 2026.
Shea opens with Druscara and Game Master Tools by Jeff Stevens Game.
Mike Shea opens the Lazy RPG Talk Show with a new-year check-in and a pile of Sly Flourish topics.
Mike Shea opens with a packed stretch of RPG news and table prep.
Mike Shea spends the last Lazy RPG Talk Show of 2025 looking back at tabletop RPGs across the year and making a few predictions for 2026.
Mike Shea from Sly Flourish discusses major gaming announcements: Ars Magica's 53-book release under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, and Wizards of the Coast's Greyhawk partnership with Luke Gygax at GaryCon.
One blessing used; two blessings remain—and he's already almost dead.
Mike Shea preps for his Dragon Empire D&D campaign, recapping a session where players smuggled a dragon's son, faced a spymaster, and lost a character.
Mike Shea opens with a pile of new crowdfunding campaigns.
Mike Shea opens with some Sly Flourish news, then shifts into a rebuilt Dwarven Forge virtual tabletop background tool he put together.
Mike Shea starts with news.
Mike Shea preps "Journey to Valera" for a Tales of the Valiant campaign set in Midgard's Dragon Empire, where the party has spent three months smuggling Wyvernir across the Shadow Roads, Sarkland Desert, and Doomspeaker pirates to Suul.
Game master Mike Shea walks through his Sunday campaign preparation and actual session recap for a Tales of the Valiant game in Midgard.
The half-dragon we're protecting has only two combat skills: poetry and interpretive dance.
D&D Beyond's database nearly collapsed tracking which products belonged to which customers—so they killed à la carte.
Mike Shea frames this Lazy GM Prep session around a planned assault on Tower of Horn and Gold in the Dragon Empire region of Midgard, using Tales of the Valiant and Kobold Press material.
Mike Shea maps the last Dragon Empire session around Parsis the Hidden, a Morza spymaster, who revealed himself and asked the party to smuggle his son out of the Dragon Empire because the dragons are likely to start fighting each other.
Mike Shea of Sly Flourish walks through prep for Tales of the Valiant campaign set in Dragon Empire.
Mike Shea from Sly Flourish prepares for his Scourge of the Dragon Empire campaign, detailing an upcoming multi-ship battle with Doom Speaker cultists and demons.
Mike Shea prepares for his Sunday D&D campaign set in Midgard using the Tales of the Valiant system, discussing GM tips and campaign notes.
Mike Shea discusses recent articles, RPG news, and a bad dungeon run, offering GM advice and answering Patreon questions.
Mike Shea prepares for his Sunday RPG session by recapping the previous game's events and discussing the political situation in the Dragon Empire.
Mike Shea discusses RPG news, procedures for games, and prep tips for dungeon masters.
The host reviews the Dragonbane tabletop RPG after running a campaign and promotes a sale on his book Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master.
Mike Shea discusses RPG news, a Beast Kickstarter, a Shadowrun bundle, new map packs, and offers DM tips on starting a campaign.
Mike Shea prepares for his Sunday RPG session by discussing campaign updates and GM tips.
Mike Shea discusses recent RPG news, including a bundle of holding, a campaign funding, and a new game release, plus answers Patreon Q&A.
Mike Shea prepares for his Sunday RPG session by discussing campaign setting, recent events, and player choices.
Mike Shea discusses recent D&D news, resources, and GM tips including Gygax's predictions and class-focused monsters.