Episodes

  • Thac0 with Advantage 80. The Best Ways to Ask Players for Feedback in D&D and other RPGs

    Thac0 with Advantage 80. The Best Ways to Ask Players for Feedback in D&D and other RPGs
    Nov 13 2025
    Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, we’re still processing our game notes It's natural for a GM to wonder if what they presented in the last game session is what their players wanted. Did that section that you spent hours outlining provide the response you were hoping? Is the secret mastermind going to be rewarding for the PCs to uncover? What if I asked for too many ability checks? What if I forgot to ask for the ability checks that one player just put all of their effort into increasing? In today’s episode, we’re going to look at gathering feedback and putting that feedback into action in our games.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Thac0 with Advantage 79. Playing Against Type

    Thac0 with Advantage 79. Playing Against Type
    Oct 30 2025
    Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D can still be unpredictable. We all know the fantasy archetypes that spring from fantasy RPGs. The naïve but steadfast paladin, the stoic ranger who relates better to animals than people, the arrogant wizard that looks down on anyone less intelligent than they are. But we also know people that intentionally play against those archetypes. The hard drinking hedonistic paladin of the goddess of love, the ranger that has friends in every tavern in every city along the Sword Coast, the wizard that loves teaching and explaining new things to others. Today we’re going to look at playing against type, why you may want to do it, and how sometimes it can be very similar to playing a rigid archetype.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 19 – Earthen Spike Part 3

    The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 19 – Earthen Spike Part 3
    Oct 23 2025
    The Heroes of Hovel's Way is an epic fantasy story about two young heroes, Odie and Eremon. These heroes have the potential to deal with a dire threat from an ancient time that is poised to return to the world. A titan destroyer, Valhalmorris the Mountain Strangler, stirs. The fate of the Barony of Kastakin may be in their hands. We play the game to find out. We invite you to join us on the journey.
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    25 mins
  • Thac0 with Advantage 78. Player Character Death

    Thac0 with Advantage 78. Player Character Death
    Oct 16 2025
    Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D still isn’t on its last breath. Only two things in life are certain. Death and Taxes. Or in D&D, Death Saves and Upkeep rules. In this episode, we’re going to look at character death. How should you handle it? Can you run a game without it? How does it affect the stakes of your game? What does it mean to have a meaningful death in the game? We’re going to teeter on the boundary between life and death today in this episode of THAC0 w/ Advantage.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 18 – Earthen Spike Part 2

    The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 18 – Earthen Spike Part 2
    Oct 10 2025
    The Heroes of Hovel's Way is an epic fantasy story about two young heroes, Odie and Eremon. These heroes have the potential to deal with a dire threat from an ancient time that is poised to return to the world. A titan destroyer, Valhalmorris the Mountain Strangler, stirs. The fate of the Barony of Kastakin may be in their hands. We play the game to find out. We invite you to join us on the journey.
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    32 mins
  • Thac0 with Advantage 77. Start Player: New Player Tutorial

    Thac0 with Advantage 77. Start Player: New Player Tutorial
    Oct 2 2025
    Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is a spawn point for new players. On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about zero level humans. But in this case, we me people that haven’t played D&D before. We’ve talked about new players before, but what about specific techniques? How do you introduce concepts in bit sized chunks that will go down easy? We’re going to talk about setting up your D&D sessions with new players by looking at video game tutorials in today’s episode.
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    56 mins
  • The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 17 – Earthen Spike Part 1

    The Heroes of Hovel’s Way. Chapter 17 – Earthen Spike Part 1
    Sep 26 2025
    The Heroes of Hovel's Way is an epic fantasy story about two young heroes, Odie and Eremon. These heroes have the potential to deal with a dire threat from an ancient time that is poised to return to the world. A titan destroyer, Valhalmorris the Mountain Strangler, stirs. The fate of the Barony of Kastakin may be in their hands. We play the game to find out. We invite you to join us on the journey.
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    30 mins
  • Thac0 with Advantage 76. What’s the Topic? It’s a Mystery!

    Thac0 with Advantage 76. What’s the Topic? It’s a Mystery!
    Sep 18 2025
    Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends who have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D collects stray fantasy elements the way English accumulates unrelated words. The lore of D&D was pieced together from a ton of fantasy and folklore. But what if you took that approach to the mechanics and procedures of your game? What can you steal from Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games that will help you run your D&D games, or any other fantasy RPG? We’re going to podcast to find out.
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    58 mins