Join the Ultimate D&D Experience: Real-Time World Building!

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1. 

   E177 · 23 Nov 2025 · 49 min

   Mystery Train – Making Magic Into Technology in D&D 5e

   We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners. Science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke formulated three adages known as Clarke’s Laws that he expounded on in his writings. The third of these is the most famous, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave begin to unpack this idea of ancient technology being what makes magic in the ever-evolving, crowdsourced Boomtown Campaign Setting. Make sure to Join the Conversation! 0:24 DM Dave’s audio homage to the…

2. 

   E176 · 9 Nov 2025 · 48 min

   This Old Town: Craft A Captivating Starting Town For Your D&D Adventure!

   We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave return to the conversation started in Episode 174 and begin to build out the town that will be the start of most adventures in our Boomtown Campaign Setting. Make sure to Join the Conversation! 1:55 Where are we now? We asked, you answered! Boomtown #1 is known as Gallow Springs! 3:40 What’s in our border town? 6:05 What’s NOT in the town? Religion and Churches, per our last episode. 9:35 Our archetype for Boomtown was Wyatt Earp’s…

3. 

   E175 · 26 Oct 2025 · 48 min

   If I Was the Priest: How Do Clerics Work in Your D&D Campaign?

   We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave finish out the discussion of how magic will work in our crowdsourced “Boomtown” campaign setting by asking “Where does divine magic come from?” Make sure to Join the Conversation! 1:40 “Where Are We Now”: the Boomtown campaign setting, as it currently stands. 5:20 Discovering the Lost Gods? 6:00 Will this be monotheistic or polytheistic? What about the Cleric Domains? 10:00 Could Divine Magic be just advanced forms of technology or…

4. 

   E174 · 12 Oct 2025 · 48 min

   Why D&D Towns Matter: Transform Your Town Design With a Simple Secret

   We continue to drive down deeper into our real-time worldbuilding experiment armed with the comments of our listeners. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave begin to ask the most basic question when building a town: why is the town there? In our D&D Tombstone idea, we realize the short answer is money. And what drives that money? Magic. Make sure to join the conversation as we build a Wonderful World with our 3WD community! 2:25 The “Elevator Pitch” for our new campaign setting. 4:05 Review our discussion of magic. 9:06 Our Sci-Fi, D&D Tombstone. 10:50 Why do towns exist? The short answer:…

5. 

   E173 · 28 Sep 2025 · 42 min

   : Revitalize Your Imagination: 3WD is Back for Real Time D&D World Creation!

   Following on the heels of our last episode , we drive down deeper into our continued exploration of real-time worldbuilding armed with the comments of our listeners. In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss how magic might work in this new world, how the environment helps to create the setting, and stumble into an idea for a setting that has us really excited. Make sure to join the conversation as we build a Wonderful World with our 3WD community! 2:20 We asked and you answered: A Brand New World! 6:40 A little context for this experiment: we really just want to see how we all might…

6. 

   E171 · 24 Aug 2025 · 43 min

   Too Much: Overcome D&D Idea Overload and Unleash Your Creativity

   Movies. TV series. Books. Other DMs running games. There are a multitude of sources that provide fodder for our imagination in developing cool ideas that we want to play with in our own games. But how many ideas are TOO MANY ideas? Can you have too many ideas? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to answer a listener question from our “Co-DM” Dr. DM (Jason) where he asks the question “If faced with an abundance of ideas, how would each of you decide which things to insert and which to hold onto for later?” 4:05 What is your table like and what is your frequency of play? 5:15 Bring…

7. 

   E170 · 10 Aug 2025 · 57 min

   Hey There, Cthulhu! Building The Immersion and The Horror in Your TTRPGs

   Our last episode was the preamble. Last week’s article discussed some of what we learned from playing with new people. But, in this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with the newest addition to our gaming group, Elizabeth, to delve deep into what went into running the Call of Cthulhu one-shot, playing with brand new people, and how to build a serious level of immersion into any game you’re running… especially horror! 0:25 Eben Brooks’ “Hey There, Cthulhu.” 2:33 The Keeper of Arcane Lore Herself, Elizabeth! 3:40 Hot take: This was the first time Elizabeth ran a game! 4:15 The “Seven…

8. 

   E169 · 27 Jul 2025 · 43 min

   People Get Ready: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Character Backstory?

   Backstory. Character development. It’s one of the most discussed topics in the TTRPG space. And the 3 Wise DMs were faced with the question when a friend offered to run a Call of Cthulhu one-shot for our group. This was followed by a Google Doc with twenty in-depth questions as to the character’s background, motivations, loves, and fears. For a one-shot. If you’ve ever asked yourself the question, “is there such a thing as too much character backstory?”, then this is the episode for you! 3:25 DM-Player communication: how much is the DM looking for and how much can you use in-game? 4:40 The…

9. 

   E168 · 13 Jul 2025 · 44 min

   Help! Our Best Tips For When the Forever DM becomes the Player

   You’ve been the DM for a long time (maybe even Forever!) and one of your players has finally said those magic words: “I think I wanna run a game.” So, with all your wisdom, all your experience, all your skills – how do you help the new DM along in the game so that they have a good time and the table has a good time? So that they want to get back into the DM chair? For all you Forever DMs, and all you Prospective DMs, this is the episode for you! 2:05 3WD drops their Birthday Game Challenge! 2:45 The Wizard Washburn gets run through his 70th Birthday Adventure by our own Chaos Engine, Little…

10. 

    E167 · 22 Jun 2025 · 45 min

    Master of Puppets – What To Do When The DM Has To Control A Player Character

    Possession. Dominate. Alignment shifts. There are a multitude of times where the rules make the DM take control of one of the player characters in the game. But, is that a good thing? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss an issue that came up in DM Chris' Tales of the Yawning Portal campaign that he's running for 2 new players to the hobby and a run-in with a dwarven ghost. 1:45 DM Chris’ question that arose with Possession. 3:35 DM Tony’s initial thoughts. 4:35 The first time DM Dave makes the point that 2 players in a game can really change how the game flows. 9:40…