Welcome to the first episode of I cast pod, a podcast about Dungeons and Dragons! Every two weeks I’m going to be talking about various aspects of D&D, with plenty of tips and tricks to add flavour to your own roleplay sessions.

Here’s a rundown of the first episode:

• 1.01: Intro to your host - I DM, but I’m no expert!
• 2.09: News - D&D Video games, Comics, Books, Merch & movie news from around the web.
• 4.43: What is D&D? 
• 6.41: D&D Basics
• 8.54: Three Aspects of Play:
• 9.37: Exploration
• 10.32: Roleplaying
• 13.19: Combat
• 17.51: Getting Started
• 19.20: Don’t I Need to Know a Lot to Play, Like Lore, and Maths?
• 20.10: Rolling Characters
• 21.37: Choose a Race
• 22.26: Choose a Class
• 24.24: Choose Your Alignment
• 25.57: Background
• 26.26: Ability Scores
• 29.38: Playing the Game
• 30.43: Ability Checks
• 33.20: Crits and Failures
• 34:28: Advantage and Disadvantage
• 34.59: Close

Links from the show:

Free basic rules PDF - It even has a blank character sheet template near the end.

https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DnD_BasicRules_2018.pdf

Free, prebuilt character sheets from the starter set

https://media.wizards.com/downloads/dnd/StarterSet_Characters.pdf_

Character sheet for people with Dyslexia

https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/

More character sheet variants for people with Dyslexia

https://www.dyslexic-charactersheets.com

A handy table to work out modifier scores from ability rolls:

[https://dnd5e.info/using-ability-scores/ability-scores-and-modifiers/ - Click on ‘Customisation options on the left, then “Ability Scores and Modifiers”]

SyrinScape Fantasy & Sci-Fi Sounds player: (Used for some awesome sound effects during the show,)

[https://store.syrinscape.com/what-is-syrinscape/?att_icastpod]

I also used Freesounds.org for a few effects:

https://freesound.org

All content is copyrighted respective their original creators unless otherwise stated.

Episode Transcript

Cold Open

Welcome to I Cast Pod, a podcast about D&D. I’m Mike, your host, DM, and guide to all things dungeonesque and dragon-y. In our first episode, I’m going to be talking about what D&D is, and how to get started playing. We’ll cover D&D basics, game etiquette, the three aspects of play: Exploration, Role Playing, and Combat, Character Creation, Hits, Crits and more. 

So if you have just dipped your toe into the deep, deep waters of D&D - perhaps by watching or listening to Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, Acquisitions Incorporated, or any of a number of live play streams or podcasts or seen it on TV shows such as Community, Stranger Things, or Rick and Morty - the latter two of which actually have official D&D modules available now to play - and thought D&D looks like fun; or maybe you played a little in your youth and want to get back into it; or maybe you’ve just always been D&D curious, but have never had the chance to get involved - then this episode is for you.

A Little About Me

So before we go any further, I figured I’d tell you a little bit about myself - in relation to D&D, so don’t worry, this won’t be my entire backstory!

I currently act as DM for a local group in my city that runs out of a cafe after hours. I have both played and DM’d in the past - but I’m no D&D expert. I have no degrees in Lore, my main playtime has been with 5th edition, which is the most recent version. I have a vague...