Session 0 Isn’t Step 1: How to Prepare Your D&D Players Before Session Zero
Most DMs treat session zero as step one. It's not — it's where prep pays off. Professional DM Justin Lewis breaks down five conversations to have with your D&D players before session zero ever starts....
17 Sep 19min
Stop Blaming Your Players. Start Coaching Your Table
In this episode, I’m breaking down the three levers every DM has to fix frustrating table behavior without turning into the bad guy: structural changes to your game, direct asks you’re probably avoidi...
3 Sep 20min
How to Quickly Build an Interesting Combat Encounter
Is it possible to build a combat encounter quickly while also making it interesting? After all, most quickly-planned encounters end up just being a bunch of random enemies thrown at the players. But t...
27 Aug 17min
Stuck? How to Keep the Cogs of the World in Motion - C.C. S2E12
Welcome to the Season Finale of Creative Contraband! Today Danny Barrett helps us deal with slow sessions or stuck campaigns.With these 4 different techniques, you will be able to make things move aga...
25 Aug 15min
Mimics and Networking with DM Neal - C.C. S2E11
In the third and last interview of the season, we join the very productive DM Neal, and talk about everything from Mimics and subverting expectation, to IT work and business practices.Grab a pen, open...
18 Aug 55min
The Insecure DM Trope (And How Not to Become It)
You know the trope: the DM who builds an unwinnable encounter, or a puzzle so clever it’s basically unsolvable — not because the story needed it, but because somewhere underneath, they needed to feel ...
13 Aug 13min
Therapy: Your Last Day on Earth - C.C. S2E10
Welcome back to Creative Contraband, dear Dungeon Masters! Today Danny Barrett tells us about Your Last Day on Earth, a free contemplative solo NanoRPG.We then use that as a pivot to discuss the role ...
10 Aug 15min
Is it Better if it's Homebrewed?
Do you ALSO feel the crushing need to homebrew if you want to be a good DM? Well you're not alone! While one of the best aspects of D&D is the capacity to create a world, an adventure, or even classes...
6 Aug 10min
