The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Part 1: Don’t Let Robots Write Your Games: Leveraging AI in Gaming Content Creation | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction 
The internet is abuzz with a variety of different ways to use Large Language Model AIs such as Chat-GPT and Bard. Today our hosts and special guest are going to discuss what the hell "Large Language Model AI" even means, how it's currently used, and how you might use it (ethically!!) to generate content for your at-home TTRPG adventures.
Brandon shares some prompting tips, Tess pontificates on what the near future may hold, and Josh points out why AI will not be running corporate Helpdesk at any point in the near future.
How are you planning to utilize this tool, and what are your thoughts on the morals and ethics of using what is generated to run your own games? Let us know at contact@goblinsandgrowlers.com or on Twitter.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Links!
OpenAI (the folks that develop Chat-GPT)
Guide to Prompting by Cohere
 
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If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.
 

One Dnd Playtesting and Keys from the Golden Vault | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
First things first: We've launched a new monthly newsletter, the Goblins and Growlers Gazette. Here are your key takeaways: It's got some TTRPG news, indie game recommendations, and some hot takes from our podcasts and elsewhere. Also, showing us you're subscribed will get you 10 percent off our booth merchandise at conventions. It's a quick read and a way for all of us to stay connected a little better. Check it out and sign up here.
Now for the episode: We have a couple of things to talk about today. Josh breaks down the new One DnD Druid and Paladin playtest materials, and then Brandon talks about Wizards of the Coast's most recent D&D release, "Keys from the Golden Vault," a most-excellent heist anthology. You can read Josh's playtest breakdown after the jump at the tail end of these show notes -- a reminder that the feedback survey on these opens today, March 20, 2023.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Links!
Goblins and Growlers Gazette newsletter sign-up page
One DnD feedback
Keys from the Golden Vault
 
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If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.
 
Read More for the Druid and Paladin playtest materials breakdown:

Dark Sun is Problematic | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Is the mere depiction of enslavement enough to classify an entire Dungeons & Dragons setting as problematic? Maybe. Recently there was some low-grade Twitter fire about D&D's "Dark Sun" setting, a fan-favorite from the Second Edition era. The setting is known for being D&D on hard mode -- a mostly barren planet ruled by draconic sorcerer kings who revel in oppression, enslavement, and gladiatorial combat; it's a daily struggle to survive on Athas. 
Wizards of the Coast employee and Dungeons & Dragons executive producer Kyle Brink recently did an interview with Bob the Worldbuilder and, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it mention, he talked about how we're unlikely to see a "Dark Sun" rerelease under Fifth Edition or One D&D because of a lot of the issues inherent to the setting.
It was a brief conversation -- less than 30 seconds because mainly they were talking about he recent OGL debacle -- but it got some folks talking about whether it was appropriate to rerelease "Dark Sun" essentially as is in the current climate. Wizards has gotten a ton of flack lately for their seeming inability to get their arms around the lingering racial issues in their content.
In this episode, we go through some of the original "Dark Sun" book to see how deep those elements run throughout the setting and think about whether the setting can stand on its own without them.
Would "Dark Sun" be unrecognizable if those elements were removed, or are some folks just looking to complain and stir up noise on social media? What do you think about Dark Sun as it is now? Would you enjoy the setting if it were tidied up a bit to incorporate some of the cultural lessons we've learned since its publication? Should it have an essentially unchanged re-release? Let us know at contact@goblinsandgrowlers.com or on Twitter.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Links!
Kyle Brink Talks to Bob the Worldbuilder (YouTube)
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

Scratching Our Indie Game Itch(.io) | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Wizards of the Coast, D&D and the 5e SRD have been dominating the news lately. The whole situation has gotten people talking and thinking a lot more about cool indie games that shouldn't be overlooked. To get away from the 800-pound gorilla that is Dungeons and Dragons, Josh and Brandon picked out a few cool indie games from itch.io. One's about ghosts and another is about demons, so there's a definite trend starting, but they also talk about elder gods in a 1979 beach community, so there's that, too.
Let us know your favorite indie games at contact@goblinsandgrowlers.com or on Twitter.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Links!
This Discord Has Ghosts in It
Yokai Hunters Society
Wallet Dungeon
Moonlight on Roseville Beach
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

OGL Counterspell! D&D Published SRD as Creative Commons | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Important stuff happening once again! Thanks to intense community backlash, Wizards of the Coast has changed their mind about creating a new, uber-draconian Open Gaming License designed to take the money of the hard-working third-party publishers who've been popularizing D&D since Fifth Edition came out.
They've gone a step further than a lot of us were expecting by releasing the 5E system reference document into Creative Commons, which makes it, essentially, public domain and irrevocable. Josh and Brandon get together on another Saturday afternoon to discuss this late-breaking news.
Has this been enough for you to stick with Wizards and D&D or are they going to take a while to earn back your trust? Whichever way you're leaning, this is a great time to broaden your horizons by exploring other systems. Hit us up at contact@goblinsandgrowlers.com or on Twitter to tell us where you've landed.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License Fumble w/Attorney Noah Downs | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Well, a lot certainly happened while we were gone. All anyone's talking about is Wizards of the Coast trying to roll out the new Open Gaming License and, presumably, put a lot of third-party publishers out of business with the royalty clauses et al.
We invited attorney Noah Downs (@MyLawyerFriend pretty much everywhere) to talk through all the legal issues here, read between the lines of what Wizards is trying to accomplish, and predict where this will all end. Also, it was yet another opportunity for Noah to plug his podcast, "Forgotten Paths."
The day after we recorded this Wizards put out a statement walking back a ton of the things from the original OGL "leak." The statement was a lot of CYA, but it was worth us updating things. At the beginning of this episode, there's an update segment where Josh and Brandon talk about their release and what it means going forward.
Are you one of the many who canceled their D&D Beyond subscriptions? Are you actively looking at other systems for your games? Let us know at contact@goblinsandgrowlers.com!
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://twitter.com/MyLawyerFriend
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

The First Annual Geepers Awards, Beginning at The End | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Welcome to the first-annual Geepers Awards! With 2022 being our first full-year of The Goblins and Growlers Podcast, we decided to take a spin through the last 12 months and touch on each episode from the year. We blitz down the episode list and discuss our favorite and least-favorite topics, guests, and product reviews. At the end of the episode we vote on our favorites and see who earns the inaugural Geepers Award, representing excellence in the field of gaming excellence.
Thanks, everyone, for listening this year. We have a lot of plans for 2023 and we're excited to see where you can help us go.
Programming note: We're largely taking off the next release day (Jan. 2) because we need a break and we'll be getting ready to head to MAGFest. We'll plan to release a shorty that day -- topic unknown. But come see us at panels or the vendor hall if you're going to be at MAG next month.
 
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

Writing Adventures... on Deadline! | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Goblins and Growlers recently resumed regular gaming events in Richmond after more than two years dealing with fits and starts depending on COVID numbers. We've always written our own, original adventures for these games, so starting up games again meant having to write some more original content. 
Over the years, we learned not only how to write targeted adventures that lasted roughly three hours -- the usual length of our events -- but also how to structure them in such a way to accelerate the writing process AND make them easy to execute for any of our game masters. 
Josh and Brandon, perhaps because it's cathartic to talk about writing on deadline while you're writing on deadline, talk about Goblins and Growlers' writing process and how to be efficient with it. We'll probably come back with another episode soon to talk about structure and how to write a compelling story when you don't actually control the actions of the protagonists.
Join our Discord: bit.ly/goblindiscord
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

You Won’t Believe This Dragon Queen’s Shadow! (Dragonlance 5e D&D) | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Episode Introduction
Catching up on a few news items this episode, but first, we have to say hello to friend-of-the-show Joe Donka. He shot us a quick message saying he enjoyed our Satanic Panic episode. Thanks, Joe! For podcast newcomers, be sure to go back and listen to our "Joe Donka Trilogy" from earlier in the year. We tracked down Joe so we could talk to him about "The End," his Apocalyptic TTRPG. Then Brandon showed his support for Kelsey Grammar's hopeful return to the role of Beast from X-Men, perhaps the most perfect casting decision of all time. 
Then onto more frustrating things: D&D's Chris Perkins wrote a blog post talking about Wizards of the Coast's process for sensitivity reading and editing after a sad series of screw-ups culminating in racist content in the recent Spelljammer release. 
Finally, we try to talk fulsomely about Dragonlance and the new 5e release in that setting, "Shadow of the Dragon Queen." Something something Kender, something something Krynn. As part of this Dec. 6 release, Wizards is also putting out a board game, "Warriors of Krynn," that ties in with the story and combat of "Shadow." So it's basically a miniature-based wargame, which is an interesting example of time being a flat circle and everything coming back around to its origins.
Thanks for joining us this week!
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners.  
Links
"Shadow of the Dragon Queen," "Warriors of Krynn" product page on Wizards.com
Wargamer.com: "Here's a sneak peek at DnD Dragonlance 5e's first chapter"
Polygon: "D&D's Dragonlance board game isn't a spinoff, it's part of the story"
"Leveling Up Our Creative Process: Learnings From Spelljammer"
"Spelljammer" updated errata
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
JOIN OUR DISCORD: bit.ly/goblindiscord
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.

The Satanic Panic: A Responsible Discussion | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners.  
Episode Introduction
We talk about the Satanic Panic and, in the style of responsible journalists, try to contextualize it to both the cultural and economic mores of the time. This is part 2 of our vaguely Halloween-themed conversation about the stigma of tabletop roleplaying games throughout a large part of the 1980s. Much like last week, we do discuss serious issues such as suicide, so just be aware. All in all, it was a good conversation and maybe a little more grounded than some others. Enjoy and let us know what you think.
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
If you like the show, please tell a friend about it. And if you want to tell more people, then please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can find and/or support us at all the places below:
https://twitter.com/WayOfBrandolore 
https://twitter.com/BlackCloakDM
https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers
https://facebook.com/GoblinsAndGrowlers
https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com (and basically any other podcatcher)
https://quidproroll.podbean.com (our sister podcast, the best actual play)
JOIN OUR DISCORD: bit.ly/goblindiscord
The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.