Podcasts about d d

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2026 62:12

Welcome back to Night City, where Tyler has acquired a another cat, Randall has acquired a bedazzled bulletproof vest, and Ash has apparently acquired the Cyberpunk equivalent of Five Nights at Freddy's. This week, Marky Day becomes Marky Knight and walks willingly into something everyone immediately identifies as a murder hallway. Dave gets set on fire by a computer, Marky discovers that cartoon mascots are weak against bullets, and together they spend every remaining resource to adopt a homicidal digital hyena. Somehow, all of this turns out to be the easy part, because at the end of the hallway is a cybernetic nightmare, their kidnapped employer, and a corporate executive offering them double their money to please stop asking questions. Welcome to Cyberpunk RED, chooms. Capitalism has a boss fight. Show Notes Marky Day and Dave Costanzo reach the twentieth floor of Discom and immediately discover that the cheerful corporate mascots are actually armed security drones. While Marky fights Buster Swine and Electric Bunny in meat space, Dave dives into the Net Architecture, battles a Hellhound, catches fire, and eventually hijacks Hyperactive Hyena to turn Discom's own security against itself. After stabilizing a seriously wounded Marky, Dave pushes deeper into the network and uncovers evidence that Discom has been targeting local 3D artists. J-ZK's name has been crossed off the list with the ominous note that she is no longer an issue. Behind the final door, they find J-ZK restrained and wired into machinery. Mr. Frommiter reveals that he is also Gangster 3D and admits that he kidnapped her after she refused to work for Discom. He offers Marky and Dave double their original payment to walk away. Marky chooses violence. Key Takeaways Marky battles Discom's armed mascot drones while Dave Netruns simultaneously. Dave survives a Hellhound attack, gets set on fire, and later loses his Sword program to an Asp. Marky is seriously wounded but stabilized with First Aid. Dave spends all his Luck to hijack Hyperactive Hyena and turn it against Discom. Discom has been pressuring and recruiting 3D artists across Night City. Mr. Frommiter and Gangster 3D are the same person. J-ZK has been kidnapped and forcibly connected to Discom's equipment. Frommiter offers the team double their pay to leave. The episode ends immediately before the boss fight. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia https://ashelydm.com/ https://ashelydm.com/ Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

CYBERPUNK RED: How to Play 4 Actual Play - Capitalism Has a Boss Fight

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2026 62:12

Welcome back to Night City, where Tyler has acquired a another cat, Randall has acquired a bedazzled bulletproof vest, and Ash has apparently acquired the Cyberpunk equivalent of Five Nights at Freddy's. This week, Marky Day becomes Marky Knight and walks willingly into something everyone immediately identifies as a murder hallway. Dave gets set on fire by a computer, Marky discovers that cartoon mascots are weak against bullets, and together they spend every remaining resource to adopt a homicidal digital hyena. Somehow, all of this turns out to be the easy part, because at the end of the hallway is a cybernetic nightmare, their kidnapped employer, and a corporate executive offering them double their money to please stop asking questions. Welcome to Cyberpunk RED, chooms. Capitalism has a boss fight. Show Notes Marky Day and Dave Costanzo reach the twentieth floor of Discom and immediately discover that the cheerful corporate mascots are actually armed security drones. While Marky fights Buster Swine and Electric Bunny in meat space, Dave dives into the Net Architecture, battles a Hellhound, catches fire, and eventually hijacks Hyperactive Hyena to turn Discom's own security against itself. After stabilizing a seriously wounded Marky, Dave pushes deeper into the network and uncovers evidence that Discom has been targeting local 3D artists. J-ZK's name has been crossed off the list with the ominous note that she is no longer an issue. Behind the final door, they find J-ZK restrained and wired into machinery. Mr. Frommiter reveals that he is also Gangster 3D and admits that he kidnapped her after she refused to work for Discom. He offers Marky and Dave double their original payment to walk away. Marky chooses violence. Key Takeaways Marky battles Discom's armed mascot drones while Dave Netruns simultaneously. Dave survives a Hellhound attack, gets set on fire, and later loses his Sword program to an Asp. Marky is seriously wounded but stabilized with First Aid. Dave spends all his Luck to hijack Hyperactive Hyena and turn it against Discom. Discom has been pressuring and recruiting 3D artists across Night City. Mr. Frommiter and Gangster 3D are the same person. J-ZK has been kidnapped and forcibly connected to Discom's equipment. Frommiter offers the team double their pay to leave. The episode ends immediately before the boss fight. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia https://ashelydm.com/ https://ashelydm.com/ Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

Unshakeable Fundraiser Energy: Stop Backing Down in Major Donor Meetings

Nonprofit CourageLab

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2026 43:57

Ever go into a meeting with a major donor with a plan to ask for a gift, and something throws you off?You leave the meeting kicking yourself because you didn't make the ask. You had a purpose for the meeting, but somehow you got off track, and now you feel like you wasted your time with this major donor.This has happened to me what feels like 10,000 times in my career. And after coaching 651 nonprofit CEOs, development directors, and major gifts fundraisers over the last eight years, I've seen the same thing happen again and again.In this episode, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes clip from one of my weekly CourageLab coaching calls. We get into the hidden dynamics behind why we back down in major donor meetings, especially with rich, powerful, assertive donors, and what you can actually do about it.What you'll learn in this episodeHow difference and power dynamics can take you off track in a donor meetingHow to relate to rich, powerful people without giving away your own powerWhy you must reclaim your power when a conversation gets uncomfortableThe dynamics you need to understand when it feels hardest to hold your groundWhat really stops you from making the askWhy asking donors for advice can be a dumb ideaWhere confidence actually comes from, and how to strengthen it in tough circumstancesHow to develop a no-pressure fundraising cultureWhy great partnerships are built on honesty, not just transparencyWhy giving donors more information can actually create more confusionIf you've ever felt like your best-laid plans are hard to stick to when you're sitting across from a powerful, rich, assertive donor, this episode is for you. If I were sitting down with you over coffee and sharing the truths I hope would get into your bones, this is that conversation.Every nonprofit founder, CEO and fundraiser needs this conversation. share this with a colleague or friend. DM me the letters CL on LinkedIn if you'd like to learn more about CourageLab and raise more unrestricted major gifts.Want 15 leads in 5 minutes? DM me "Breakfast burrito" on LinkedIn and I'll send you a pdf and 6-minute training to help you generate 15 leads for your nonprofit in minutes. It's totally free. All you need is an email to sign up. DM me "Breakfast burrito" - I'm from Texas, what can I say? - to get your pdf and mini training.If you're an ED or DD of a $1M+ making a difference in your community and you're ready to make bigger, bolder asks, then DM me “CL” on LinkedIn and I'll share details.

ceo texas energy dm ceos breakfast meetings d d fundraisers backing donor unshakeable culturewhy

The Best Strategy in 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts (+ a PPR Mock Draft)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2026 33:22

The Best Strategy in 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts (+ a PPR Mock Draft)Bush flying solo with the annual #1 strategy video. This video will cover everything you need to dominate your leaguemates - Positional strategy, Targets, how to adjust for your specific league & A PPR Mock draft at the end!2026 Redraft Rankings Manifesto for FREEhttps://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at signup will get you $50 Bonus Funds (Min $10 Deposit & play)2026 Manifesto, Live Draft Assistants for Sleeper/ESPN & Yahoohttps://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" for the Season Pass, $34 for the Entire 2026 Szn!Links to videos that led to this one:League Winning RBs: https://youtu.be/U81Bk8YVoZ8League Winning WRs: https://youtu.be/ab5onnfGLb0League Winning QBs: https://youtu.be/1oeQHMxPUEgLeague Winning TEs: https://youtu.be/RSY7f5GKfJUEarly Round RB Strategy: https://youtu.be/m8dw6LGDng8Early Round WR Strategy: https://youtu.be/3NwDU41fiSMStrategy & Pick Slot Tierlist: https://youtu.be/3HKiyuE4FwQRyan Heath's Article on Fantasy Points: https://www.fantasypoints.com/nfl/articles/2026/anatomy-of-a-league-winnerTimestamps00:00 Intro 00:45 Get Our Draft Guide FREE00:57 Video Structure01:15 Running Back Strategy02:20 Which Top 3 Round RBs to Draft06:00 Hit Rates of Early Round RBs vs WRs07:38 Running Backs in the Mid Rounds08:15 Which Mid Round RBs to Target10:00 Wide Receiver Strategy11:55 Picking the Right WRs12:30 Picking the Right Mid Round WRs 15:45 TE Strategy17:57 QB Strategy20:30 PPR Mock Draft - Rounds 1-524:00 Mid Rounds27:00 Late Round 30:10 Draft Recap30:35 More Mock Draft Examples from Other Picks32:10 Get Our Draft GuideFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Follow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange #fantasyfootballdraft Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,2024 dynasty fantasy football,2024 fantasy football,fantasy football 2024,fantasy flock,fantasy football,fantasy football draft strategy,fantasy football draft advice,fantasy football mock draft,fantasy football strategy,zero rb draft strategy,hero rb draft strategy,double hero rb draft strategy,nick ercolano,fantasypros,fantasy footballers,mock draft,fantasy football rankings,full ppr mock draft,fantasy mock, perfect fantasy football team, draft strategy fantasy football, caleb williams, christian mccaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Full House, Double Hero RB, devon achane, jalen hurts, josh allen, rb hit rates fantasy football, wr hit rates fantasy football, fantasy football draft ppr, fantasy football mock draft, fantasy football draft pick 1, fantasy football strategy

CYBERPUNK RED: How to Play 3 Actual Play - We have Cyberware, but no affordable housing...

Podcast – ProgRock.com PodCasts

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2026 60:14

Welcome to Night City, where housing is a shipping container, breakfast is kibble, and your most reliable neighbor is a rat named Greg. This week, Marky Day and Dave Costanzo accept a perfectly normal freelance job involving stalking, blackmail, corporate espionage, breaking and entering, and possibly assault. Fortunately, Marky has love in his heart, a mandolin in his bag, and the negotiating instincts to voluntarily reduce their payment by half. Dave, meanwhile, is an elite Netrunner capable of defeating corporate security, provided nobody asks him to walk quietly across a lobby without falling directly onto his face. Show Notes Marky Day and Dave Costanzo officially enter Night City for their first Cyberpunk RED adventure, but not before Tyler reveals that peer pressure convinced him to contact Brennan Lee Mulligan and possibly recover DiceGoblin.com. Having exhausted all responsible business decisions, the group finally turns to crime. Marky wakes in his increasingly hot storage container, works out, eats some kibble, and contemplates writing a song about how love could solve society's problems. He is a rockerboy, vigilante, and aggressively compassionate street philosopher who will never judge someone too harshly, though he may beat them up for their own personal growth. Next door, Dave Costanzo lives among cables, computer equipment, and spilled kibble. His breakfast is quickly claimed by Greg, the local rat and apparently the most dependable member of the team. Their morning changes when Marky receives a call from J-ZK, a colorful fashion designer and 3D weapons artist who helped support his music career. A rival artist calling himself Gangster 3D has been stalking her, threatening her, attempting to hack her agent, and using stolen private material to blackmail her. She believes he may also sabotage an important presentation to Sanroo. J-ZK asks Marky and Dave to break into the Discom corporate building, find Gangster 3D's operation, and steal the incriminating information from his computer. She initially offers them 5,000 eddies, but Marky decides that is far too generous and successfully negotiates their pay down to 2,500 each. Somewhere in Night City, a fixer feels a sudden disturbance in the economy. To get inside, Marky uses Charismatic Impact to locate one of his corporate fans at the Afterlife. John John may not work for Discom, but he works for Biotechnica and is willing to escort them to the building and vouch for them at security. Marky supports their cover story with a crumpled folder of sheet music masquerading as confidential briefing documents. Once inside, the pair begins searching for a network access point. Marky moves through the lobby like a seasoned professional. Dave rolls a critical failure on stealth, falls directly onto the floor, and explains to the nearby security guard that his shoe came untied. This works because security in Night City has apparently seen much worse before lunch. While Dave connects to the building's network, Marky provides cover by pretending to conduct an important corporate conversation. Dave bypasses a password, takes control of an employee-only door, and searches the network for information about Gangster 3D. He discovers the appointment calendar of Mr. Fromider, an executive on the twentieth floor. Fromider has met with Gangster 3D five times in the past two weeks and has also been meeting with several minor local artists. The pattern suggests that Gangster 3D may be involved in poaching artists like J-ZK for some larger corporate scheme. Marky and Dave slip into the private elevator, but Marky's incredible perception reveals a hidden sleep-gas system designed to incapacitate unauthorized passengers. Dave disables the device by cutting the correct wire, proving that he is significantly better at defeating electronic security than standing upright in public. The elevator still requires authorization, forcing Dave to jack into the network again. This time he must pass a Wisp Black ICE program to reach the elevator controls. He activates his Armor program, races past the hostile software, and successfully takes control of the elevator. The Wisp catches him before he can escape and attempts to damage his brain while reducing his available Net Actions. Dave's Armor absorbs the damage, allowing him to slide away from the pursuing program and safely jack out. The episode ends as the elevator begins climbing toward the twentieth floor. Marky and Dave are officially inside, Mr. Fromider is waiting somewhere above them, and the part of the mission where everything becomes violent has probably just begun. Key Takeaways The episode demonstrates how Cyberpunk RED combines social interaction, stealth, investigation, physical security, and Netrunning within the same mission. Marky's Charismatic Impact turns his fans into useful contacts. John John helps the team pass the building's first layer of security without violence. Marky and Dave complement each other well. Marky handles persuasion, distractions, and social situations, while Dave manages computers, access points, and electronic security. Critical successes and failures have immediate narrative effects. Marky repeatedly notices hidden dangers, while Dave's critical stealth failure nearly exposes the mission. Netrunners connect through physical access points and enter a layered Net Architecture containing passwords, files, control nodes, and Black ICE. Pathfinder allows a Netrunner to map parts of the architecture before moving deeper, reducing the risk of blindly encountering dangerous programs. Control nodes connect the digital and physical environments. Dave uses them to unlock an employee door and activate the private elevator. Disconnecting from a network resets most changes. A Netrunner must reach the bottom of the architecture and install a virus to create a lasting effect. Black ICE can attack a Netrunner directly, causing brain damage or interfering with their available Net Actions. Dave's Armor program completely absorbs the Wisp's damage, demonstrating the value of choosing and activating defensive programs before engaging hostile architecture. The team learns that Mr. Fromider has met repeatedly with Gangster 3D and several local artists, suggesting a broader scheme beyond J-ZK's personal blackmail problem. The adventure closes on a cliffhanger as Marky and Dave ascend toward the twentieth floor, having successfully completed the portion of the infiltration where nobody has shot them yet. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

Prog & Roll Presents: Guitar Heroes Vol.2 (Feat. Diamond Dave as Co-Host). Show #545 – August 9, 2026

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2026 131:10

Now on air: Prog & Roll Radio Show 0:37 First Dialogue with George and Dave 1:04 STEVE VAI Tender Surrender 5:05 Alien Love Secrets (1995) SCORPIONS The Sails of Charon 4:24 Taken by Force (1977) DD’s Intro for Led Zeppelin 0:53 LED ZEPPELIN Since I’ve Been Loving You 7:23 The Song Remains the Same (1976) (2007 Reissue) Recorded Dialogue #2 2:32 STEVE HACKETT Spectral Mornings 6:37 Spectral Mornings (1979) (2005 Remaster) CAMEL Straight To My Heart 6:24 Rajaz (1999) Now on air – Prog & Roll Radio Show 0:54 Recorded Dialogue #3 2:56 LESLIE WEST House of the Rising Sun 4:35 Got Bloose (2005) ROY BUCHANAN The Messiah Will Come Again 5:55 Roy Buchanan (1972) DD’s Intro for Jeff Healey 0:54 THE JEFF HEALEY BAND As the Years Go Passing by 6:47 Cover to Cover (1995) Recorded Dialogue #4 1:40 BLACKFOOT Highway Song 7:30 Strikes (1979) LYNYRD SKYNYRD Freebird 13:44 One More from the Road (1976) Prog & Roll Radio Show with George and Diamond Dave 0:24 RUSH La Villa Strangiato 9:06 Exit… Stage Left (1981) JUDAS PRIEST Victim of Changes 7:45 Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) OZZY OSBOURNE Mr. Crowley 4:57 Blizzard of Ozz (1980) (2002 Remastered) DD’s Intro to Black Sabbath 0:49 BLACK SABBATH Lonely is the Word 5:49 Heaven and Hell (1980) (2021 Deluxe Edition, Remastered) Final Dialogue with George and Diamond Dave 3:15 RAINBOW Stargazer 8:31 Rising (1976)

hell force d d prog deluxe edition ozz diamond dave stage left guitar heroes host show

Six Minds

The Thieves Guild

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2026 11:25

Six minds outline their thinking and concerns for a world that seems to be unable to converge to anything but chaos.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

magic minds d d coming of age

CYBERPUNK RED: How to Play 3 Actual Play - We have Cyberware, but no affordable housing...

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2026 60:14

Welcome to Night City, where housing is a shipping container, breakfast is kibble, and your most reliable neighbor is a rat named Greg. This week, Marky Day and Dave Costanzo accept a perfectly normal freelance job involving stalking, blackmail, corporate espionage, breaking and entering, and possibly assault. Fortunately, Marky has love in his heart, a mandolin in his bag, and the negotiating instincts to voluntarily reduce their payment by half. Dave, meanwhile, is an elite Netrunner capable of defeating corporate security, provided nobody asks him to walk quietly across a lobby without falling directly onto his face. Show Notes Marky Day and Dave Costanzo officially enter Night City for their first Cyberpunk RED adventure, but not before Tyler reveals that peer pressure convinced him to contact Brennan Lee Mulligan and possibly recover DiceGoblin.com. Having exhausted all responsible business decisions, the group finally turns to crime. Marky wakes in his increasingly hot storage container, works out, eats some kibble, and contemplates writing a song about how love could solve society's problems. He is a rockerboy, vigilante, and aggressively compassionate street philosopher who will never judge someone too harshly, though he may beat them up for their own personal growth. Next door, Dave Costanzo lives among cables, computer equipment, and spilled kibble. His breakfast is quickly claimed by Greg, the local rat and apparently the most dependable member of the team. Their morning changes when Marky receives a call from J-ZK, a colorful fashion designer and 3D weapons artist who helped support his music career. A rival artist calling himself Gangster 3D has been stalking her, threatening her, attempting to hack her agent, and using stolen private material to blackmail her. She believes he may also sabotage an important presentation to Sanroo. J-ZK asks Marky and Dave to break into the Discom corporate building, find Gangster 3D's operation, and steal the incriminating information from his computer. She initially offers them 5,000 eddies, but Marky decides that is far too generous and successfully negotiates their pay down to 2,500 each. Somewhere in Night City, a fixer feels a sudden disturbance in the economy. To get inside, Marky uses Charismatic Impact to locate one of his corporate fans at the Afterlife. John John may not work for Discom, but he works for Biotechnica and is willing to escort them to the building and vouch for them at security. Marky supports their cover story with a crumpled folder of sheet music masquerading as confidential briefing documents. Once inside, the pair begins searching for a network access point. Marky moves through the lobby like a seasoned professional. Dave rolls a critical failure on stealth, falls directly onto the floor, and explains to the nearby security guard that his shoe came untied. This works because security in Night City has apparently seen much worse before lunch. While Dave connects to the building's network, Marky provides cover by pretending to conduct an important corporate conversation. Dave bypasses a password, takes control of an employee-only door, and searches the network for information about Gangster 3D. He discovers the appointment calendar of Mr. Fromider, an executive on the twentieth floor. Fromider has met with Gangster 3D five times in the past two weeks and has also been meeting with several minor local artists. The pattern suggests that Gangster 3D may be involved in poaching artists like J-ZK for some larger corporate scheme. Marky and Dave slip into the private elevator, but Marky's incredible perception reveals a hidden sleep-gas system designed to incapacitate unauthorized passengers. Dave disables the device by cutting the correct wire, proving that he is significantly better at defeating electronic security than standing upright in public. The elevator still requires authorization, forcing Dave to jack into the network again. This time he must pass a Wisp Black ICE program to reach the elevator controls. He activates his Armor program, races past the hostile software, and successfully takes control of the elevator. The Wisp catches him before he can escape and attempts to damage his brain while reducing his available Net Actions. Dave's Armor absorbs the damage, allowing him to slide away from the pursuing program and safely jack out. The episode ends as the elevator begins climbing toward the twentieth floor. Marky and Dave are officially inside, Mr. Fromider is waiting somewhere above them, and the part of the mission where everything becomes violent has probably just begun. Key Takeaways The episode demonstrates how Cyberpunk RED combines social interaction, stealth, investigation, physical security, and Netrunning within the same mission. Marky's Charismatic Impact turns his fans into useful contacts. John John helps the team pass the building's first layer of security without violence. Marky and Dave complement each other well. Marky handles persuasion, distractions, and social situations, while Dave manages computers, access points, and electronic security. Critical successes and failures have immediate narrative effects. Marky repeatedly notices hidden dangers, while Dave's critical stealth failure nearly exposes the mission. Netrunners connect through physical access points and enter a layered Net Architecture containing passwords, files, control nodes, and Black ICE. Pathfinder allows a Netrunner to map parts of the architecture before moving deeper, reducing the risk of blindly encountering dangerous programs. Control nodes connect the digital and physical environments. Dave uses them to unlock an employee door and activate the private elevator. Disconnecting from a network resets most changes. A Netrunner must reach the bottom of the architecture and install a virus to create a lasting effect. Black ICE can attack a Netrunner directly, causing brain damage or interfering with their available Net Actions. Dave's Armor program completely absorbs the Wisp's damage, demonstrating the value of choosing and activating defensive programs before engaging hostile architecture. The team learns that Mr. Fromider has met repeatedly with Gangster 3D and several local artists, suggesting a broader scheme beyond J-ZK's personal blackmail problem. The adventure closes on a cliffhanger as Marky and Dave ascend toward the twentieth floor, having successfully completed the portion of the infiltration where nobody has shot them yet. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

2014 Ranger Part 2 (Remastered) - Yeah, I'm not going to be using Hunter's Mark either...

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2026 53:38

The ranger's journey from level 5 to 20 is a majestic tale of growth, survival, and discovering that Hunter's Mark may not actually deserve permanent custody of your concentration. Randall's Gloom Stalker becomes an invisible crossbow machine, Ash's Drakewarden takes to the skies aboard a fire-breathing murder lizard, and Tyler spends sixteen levels converting every available feat, spell slot, and medical supply into increasingly desperate attempts to keep one flying snake alive. By level 20, two of these characters are legendary hunters. The third is still shouting, "Don't worry, buddy, I have Cure Wounds!" while filling out another pet insurance claim. Show Notes In this episode, we continue building our 2014 DnD 5e rangers, taking Randall's Gloom Stalker, Ash's Drakewarden, and Tyler's original Player's Handbook Beast Master from level 5 all the way to level 20. Extra Attack immediately improves everyone's combat potential, although Tyler is mostly excited because he can finally attack without ordering his flying snake to do it for him. From there, we examine the spells, feats, subclass features, and questionable design decisions that define the ranger's later levels. We also commit ranger heresy by asking whether Hunter's Mark is actually worth using. Magic Weapon offers better accuracy, reliable damage, an hour-long duration, and none of the constant bonus-action reassignment that interferes with Crossbow Expert, companion commands, and other important ranger abilities. As the builds gain more attacks and begin using Sharpshooter, improving the chance to hit becomes increasingly valuable, leaving Hunter's Mark standing in the wilderness wondering why nobody invited it to combat. The three subclasses develop very differently. Randall's Gloom Stalker continues doing Gloom Stalker things, including attacking repeatedly, disappearing into darkness, gaining Greater Invisibility, and generally becoming Batman with a crossbow. Ash's Drakewarden gains elemental damage, a flying companion, and a breath weapon that can turn a battlefield into an aerial geometry problem. Meanwhile, Tyler's Beast Master slowly crawls toward competence, eventually allowing his snake to attack twice and share spells, assuming it survives long enough to enjoy either feature. At the highest levels, the ranger's progression becomes much less exciting. Fifth-level spells offer a few useful options, Feral Senses arrives with awkward limitations, and the class gives players several excellent reasons to multiclass after level 15. The journey concludes with Foe Slayer, a capstone so underwhelming that the group proposes replacing it with a legendary death arrow capable of instantly killing enemies, because a level-20 ranger should receive something more exciting than occasionally adding Wisdom to one attack. Finally, the Question of the Week examines why players reacted differently to the DnD 2024 rules and the Pathfinder 2e Remaster. The discussion explores community expectations, the circumstances behind each revision, compatibility concerns, and the uncomfortable space occupied by an update that changes too much to feel like ordinary 5e but not enough to feel like a genuinely new edition. Key Takeaways Hunter's Mark is not mandatory. Rangers have several competing uses for concentration and bonus actions. Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon, Guardian of Nature, and subclass abilities may provide more value depending on the build. Accuracy becomes increasingly important. Extra Attack, Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, and subclass features reward effects that improve the chance of landing multiple attacks rather than adding modest damage to only one target. The original Beast Master demands too much maintenance. Tyler considers healing feats, defensive buffs, and other resources simply to keep his low-CR companion alive, although the subclass eventually gains respectable features such as Bestial Fury and Share Spells. Gloom Stalker remains extremely powerful. Additional attacks, darkness-based invisibility, Stalker's Flurry, Greater Invisibility, and strong action economy allow the subclass to remain dangerous throughout the ranger's progression. Drakewarden delivers the strongest companion fantasy. Its drake gains mobility, elemental abilities, flight, and a flexible breath weapon without requiring the ranger to build an entire emergency medical system around it. Ranger spells are useful, but spell slots are scarce. Pass Without Trace, Spike Growth, Lightning Arrow, Elemental Weapon, Guardian of Nature, and other options can be excellent, but rangers need to make each limited spell slot count. The late-level class features are underwhelming. Feral Senses has frustrating restrictions, and Foe Slayer offers too little for a level-20 capstone, especially for rangers making numerous attacks every round. Subclass choice dramatically changes the ranger experience. One ranger becomes Batman, another gets an airborne dragon flamethrower, and the third spends sixteen levels inventing increasingly elaborate snake-based healthcare. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

I Found the Next League Winning RB (+ RB Strategy!)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2026 37:54

I Found the Next League Winning RB (+ RB Strategy!)Busch is flying solo to break down the final video of the league winners series, who is the next league winning RB in 2026 fantasy football drafts?Other vidsQBs: https://youtu.be/1oeQHMxPUEgWRs: https://youtu.be/ab5onnfGLb0TEs: https://youtu.be/RSY7f5GKfJUOur Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSETimestamps00:00 Intro00:25 Last Years League Winners01:30 League Winner Rate for RB02:55 RBs 1-6 in ADP06:30 RBs 7-12 in ADP11:15 RBs 13-18 in ADP16:40 RBs 19-24 in ADP22:00 RBs 25-30 in ADP24:45 RBs 31-36 in ADP26:15 Finding the Next 20+ PPG RB27:10 Last Years Results27:25 Scoring the Rounds 1-4 RBs31:20 Finding the Next Javonte/Etienne/Swift32:35 Who is the Next League Winning RB35:00 RB Draft Strategy35:45 Dominate Your LeagueGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Follow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,league winner fantasy football,league winners,fantasy football running backs,fantasy football running back rankings,Omarion Hampton,Bucky Irving,James Cook,Chase Brown,Saquon Barkley,Bijan Robinson,Jahmyr Gibbs,CMC

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2014 Ranger Part 2 (Remastered) - Yeah, I'm not going to be using Hunter's Mark either...

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2026 53:38

The ranger's journey from level 5 to 20 is a majestic tale of growth, survival, and discovering that Hunter's Mark may not actually deserve permanent custody of your concentration. Randall's Gloom Stalker becomes an invisible crossbow machine, Ash's Drakewarden takes to the skies aboard a fire-breathing murder lizard, and Tyler spends sixteen levels converting every available feat, spell slot, and medical supply into increasingly desperate attempts to keep one flying snake alive. By level 20, two of these characters are legendary hunters. The third is still shouting, "Don't worry, buddy, I have Cure Wounds!" while filling out another pet insurance claim. Show Notes In this episode, we continue building our 2014 DnD 5e rangers, taking Randall's Gloom Stalker, Ash's Drakewarden, and Tyler's original Player's Handbook Beast Master from level 5 all the way to level 20. Extra Attack immediately improves everyone's combat potential, although Tyler is mostly excited because he can finally attack without ordering his flying snake to do it for him. From there, we examine the spells, feats, subclass features, and questionable design decisions that define the ranger's later levels. We also commit ranger heresy by asking whether Hunter's Mark is actually worth using. Magic Weapon offers better accuracy, reliable damage, an hour-long duration, and none of the constant bonus-action reassignment that interferes with Crossbow Expert, companion commands, and other important ranger abilities. As the builds gain more attacks and begin using Sharpshooter, improving the chance to hit becomes increasingly valuable, leaving Hunter's Mark standing in the wilderness wondering why nobody invited it to combat. The three subclasses develop very differently. Randall's Gloom Stalker continues doing Gloom Stalker things, including attacking repeatedly, disappearing into darkness, gaining Greater Invisibility, and generally becoming Batman with a crossbow. Ash's Drakewarden gains elemental damage, a flying companion, and a breath weapon that can turn a battlefield into an aerial geometry problem. Meanwhile, Tyler's Beast Master slowly crawls toward competence, eventually allowing his snake to attack twice and share spells, assuming it survives long enough to enjoy either feature. At the highest levels, the ranger's progression becomes much less exciting. Fifth-level spells offer a few useful options, Feral Senses arrives with awkward limitations, and the class gives players several excellent reasons to multiclass after level 15. The journey concludes with Foe Slayer, a capstone so underwhelming that the group proposes replacing it with a legendary death arrow capable of instantly killing enemies, because a level-20 ranger should receive something more exciting than occasionally adding Wisdom to one attack. Finally, the Question of the Week examines why players reacted differently to the DnD 2024 rules and the Pathfinder 2e Remaster. The discussion explores community expectations, the circumstances behind each revision, compatibility concerns, and the uncomfortable space occupied by an update that changes too much to feel like ordinary 5e but not enough to feel like a genuinely new edition. Key Takeaways Hunter's Mark is not mandatory. Rangers have several competing uses for concentration and bonus actions. Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon, Guardian of Nature, and subclass abilities may provide more value depending on the build. Accuracy becomes increasingly important. Extra Attack, Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, and subclass features reward effects that improve the chance of landing multiple attacks rather than adding modest damage to only one target. The original Beast Master demands too much maintenance. Tyler considers healing feats, defensive buffs, and other resources simply to keep his low-CR companion alive, although the subclass eventually gains respectable features such as Bestial Fury and Share Spells. Gloom Stalker remains extremely powerful. Additional attacks, darkness-based invisibility, Stalker's Flurry, Greater Invisibility, and strong action economy allow the subclass to remain dangerous throughout the ranger's progression. Drakewarden delivers the strongest companion fantasy. Its drake gains mobility, elemental abilities, flight, and a flexible breath weapon without requiring the ranger to build an entire emergency medical system around it. Ranger spells are useful, but spell slots are scarce. Pass Without Trace, Spike Growth, Lightning Arrow, Elemental Weapon, Guardian of Nature, and other options can be excellent, but rangers need to make each limited spell slot count. The late-level class features are underwhelming. Feral Senses has frustrating restrictions, and Foe Slayer offers too little for a level-20 capstone, especially for rangers making numerous attacks every round. Subclass choice dramatically changes the ranger experience. One ranger becomes Batman, another gets an airborne dragon flamethrower, and the third spends sixteen levels inventing increasingly elaborate snake-based healthcare. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

The BEST Superflex Strategy in 2026 Fantasy Football

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2026 34:16

The BEST Superflex Strategy in 2026 Fantasy FootballSometimes the old classics are the best. Danny and Bush are breaking down thier optimal SF strategy. In-Depth, How QBs should be valued in 2026 and how to execute it as best as you can!Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:17 What is a Superflex League00:44 How to Value QBs properly in Superflex01:02 Our Draft Sheets01:34 Underdog Superflex ADP01:55 Why hitting on a QB pick is amplified in Superflex03:45 Which Tier of QBs to target in Superflex06:15 QBs To Target and Avoid DataOther considerations for Superflex07:48 Stacking08:49 Size of your League + League Tendencies11:24 Tier List of Best SF Strategies16:16 Flock Fantasy Mock Draft Flexibility17:00 Superflex Mock Draft30:37 Reviewing Our Teams32:42 Do Public Mock Drafts+Use Our Sheets for SuperFlex2026 Season Pass + OutroOur Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Follow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,2026 dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy flock,fantasy football,fantasy football draft strategy,fantasy football draft advice,fantasy football mock draft,fantasy football strategy,zero rb draft strategy,hero rb draft strategy,double hero rb draft strategy,fantasy footballers,mock draft,fantasy football rankings,superflex,superflex draft strategy,superflex fantasy football

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The Best Draft Strategy for Yahoo Fantasy Football

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2026 31:40

The Best Draft Strategy for Yahoo Fantasy FootballDanny and Bush break down the best draft strategy if you're playing on the Yahoo fantasy football draft platform!Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSETimestamps:00:00 Intro00:07 Yahoo Default scoring00:25 Yahoo Live Draft Assistant + Draft Sheets01:08 Yahoo RB Strategy04:57 Yahoo WR Strategy07:14 Yahoo QB Strategy09:10 Yahoo TE Strategy11:44 Best Spot to Draft From17:08 Best Yahoo Strategies Ranked20:56 How to Mock Draft for Your Home League On The Site21:27 Yahoo Mock Draft29:14 Teams Reviewed30:33 Win Your Yahoo League with the 2026 Season PassGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Follow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags:fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,draft strategy,fantasy football draft,fantasy football draft strategy,fantasy football draft pick rankings,fantasy football strategy,hero wr,hero rb,double hero RB,elite TE strategy,elite QB,yahoo strategy

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Congressman Bennie Thompson, Bishop Reginald Witherspoon and more

Urban Forum Northwest

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2026 55:23

Thursday, August 6 on Urban Forum Northwest:*Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D) MS-2nd Congressional District, serves as Ranking Member, House Homeland Security, he will host the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Institute's Policy Conference being held in Tunica Mississippi August 6-8. The theme is "The Next Majority:Policy, Power, & Possibility. He provides overview of the conference and comments on the current political climate.*The following individuals met with Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson last Thursday morning regarding former Seattle Police Chief Dr. Shon Barnes and they will comment on the meeting. See the Seattle Medium Newspaper & the Sunday Seattle Times Newspaper.*Bishop Reginald C. Witherspoon Sr. DD, WNEJ Jurisdictional Prelate and Pastor, Mount Calvary Christian Center COGIC*Reverend Dr. Leslie D. Braxton, Pastor, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship (NBCF)*Attorney James Bible, Bible Law Group and former Seattle King County NAACP president*Former State Representative Dawn Mason*Hayward Evans, president, Seattle-King County Branch NAACP*Reverend Linda M. Smith, Pastor, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baptist ChurchUrban Forum Northwest streams live at 1150 AM KKNW/www.1150kknw.com. Visit us at www.urbanforumnw.com for archived programs and relevant information. Like us on Facebook.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Best Draft Strategy for Sleeper Fantasy Football

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2026 36:43

The Best Draft Strategy for Sleeper Fantasy FootballBusch and Danny break down the best draft strategy if you're playing on the sleeper fantasy football draft platform!Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSE00:00 Intro00:20 Sleeper Default scoring00:35 Use Our Rankings Directly in Your Sleeper Draft01:10 Sleeper RB Strategy05:15 Sleeper WR Strategy10:15 Sleeper QB Strategy12:30 Sleeper TE Strategy15:00 Best Spot to Draft From20:10 Best Sleeper Strategies Ranked24:30 Mock Draft for Your Home League26:00 Sleeper Mock Draft33:00 Teams Reviewed35:00 Win Your Sleeper LeagueGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Follow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags:

You're Drafting the Wrong WRs in 2026

If This Goes On (Don't Panic)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2026 17:05

You're Drafting the Wrong WRs in 2026Busch is breaking down the early round WR draft strategy he's employing in his own 2026 fantasy football leagues. Archetypes and hit rates better refine what we're looking for beyond micro factors like QB play, target competition and talent. Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEGet Custom Belts, Draft Boards, Rings & More:https://www.fantasyjocks.com/affiliate?dt_id=3346624&shopify_collabs=FANTASYSTOCKEXCHANGE Timestamps00:00 Intro00:50 Why Big Hits Matter02:30 WRs were Down in 202403:30 WRs are Still Expensive in 202505:30 Types of Early Round WRs06:30 Win Your Leagues with Our Season Pass07:10 Last Years Results09:15 The Archetypes of WRs - Hit Rates11:15 Hit Rates Simplified12:15 2025 ADP - The Elite Guys13:45 Sorting Through the WR Clump16:40 WR Clump in 202520:00 Example Mocks to Outline the StrategyFollow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange #MustDraftTags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,fantasy football rankings,fantasy football strategy,fantasy football draft,fantasy football draft strategy,fantasy football wr rankings,fantasy football wrs,nfl fantasy strategy,nfl fantasy draft,must draft wrs

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Bold Fundraising: The Method That Raised $91M in Unrestricted Major Gifts

Nonprofit CourageLab

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2026 30:55

If you're constantly bending over backwards for difficult donors, accepting restricted gifts that create more work than they're worth, or letting wealthy people dictate your strategy, this episode is going to challenge you.This episode breaks down the philosophy behind Bold Fundraising. It isn't about being louder or more aggressive. It's about having the courage to lead your nonprofit with clear standards, clear values, and the confidence to stop chasing money that pulls you away from your mission.Sharing the mindset shifts that have helped organizations raise millions in unrestricted revenue, scale without burnout, and build donor communities based in trust instead of transactions. If you've ever felt like your fundraising strategy depends on keeping everyone happy, this episode offers a completely different way forward.What you'll learn in this episodeWhy self-respect is one of the biggest competitive advantages in fundraisingHow to define the kind of donor community you actually want to buildWhy unrestricted revenue should become your fundraising standardThe difference between trust-based donors and high-maintenance donorsWhy you should stop asking your board, "Who do you know that's rich?"The three relationship shifts every fundraiser needs to make before walking into a major donor meetingHow to stay in the driver's seat when meeting with confident, successful donorsWhy saying "we don't accept restricted gifts" often leads to better conversations, not fewer giftsHow your calendar and budget should reflect the leader you're becoming, not the nonprofit you've outgrownWhy scaling your organization starts with saying no to work that no longer serves your missionThe organizations that grow the fastest aren't saying yes to every opportunity. They're crystal clear about where they're going, who belongs on the journey, and what they're no longer willing to tolerate. That's what Bold Fundraising looks like.Want 15 leads in 5 minutes? DM me "Breakfast burrito" on LinkedIn and I'll send you a pdf and 6-minute training to help you generate 15 leads for your nonprofit in minutes. It's totally free. All you need is an email to sign up. DM me "Breakfast burrito" - I'm from Texas, what can I say? - to get your pdf and mini training.If you're an ED or DD of a $1M+ making a difference in your community and you're ready to make bigger, bolder asks, then DM me “CL” on LinkedIn and I'll share details.

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Lying to tell the truth with Lili Saintcrow

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2026 72:11

In this episode, Alan and Cat talk to author Lili Saintcrow. They discuss D&D, Tolkien, World Of Warcraft (WoW), Star Hacker, the popularization of nerd culture, Lili's 5th grade novella, action movies, writing in different genres, the demented orange king, and much more. You can find all Lili's work here: https://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/

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HPR4697: Correcting the Dates of Files

Hacker Public Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2026

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. I recently had an experience where UNIX tools proved very useful. A relative had an old mobile phone running Android that stopped connecting to the carrier's network and bought a new one to replace it. I took on the job of trying to copy their files (consisting of just photos and videos) off of the old phone. Google's software was desperate to convince me to upload everything to the cloud, but I wasn't interested. It offered the option of copying the files over to an SD card, but failed on repeated attempts to do that. The option I tried next was to transfer them to another device via Bluetooth—that one did actually work, although it was slow and would only handle sending about 100 files at a time. They came over to my laptop OK, but the problem with that method was that all of the file times were set to the time when they were transferred. I'm not super familiar with how mobile apps manage metadata, but would presume that they look to file times for organizing photos by date. Fortunately, the names of each of the files included the date and time they were created. I recognized that I could write a bit of shell script to parse the filenames and set the file times accordingly. While there were over 800 files, the good news is that there were only three different categories of filenames, so the logic to extract the information needed was relatively simple. Each file had eight numerical digits representing the date and six digits representing the time. It would definitely be an option to come up with a more sophisticated parser that could handle a wide variety of filenames, but I went the lazy way and just handled those three cases. Another nice aspect was that none of the filenames contained spaces, which allowed me to be a bit less careful when using them in command lines. I didn't need to worry about time zones because my laptop was set to the same time zone as the phone—also, if a time was off a by a few hours it wouldn't make a practical difference. Examples of the three different types of filenames I had to deal with, labeled with the relevant values: YYYY=year, MM=month, DD=day, hh=hour, mm=minute, and SS=second. 00001IMG_00001_BURST20250525140124.jpg YYYYMMDDhhmmSS IMG_20220223_124023.jpg VID_20221017_095024.mp4 YYYYMMDD hhmmSS 20191224_195939.jpg 20161021_122620-1.jpg 20191130_134317_Burst01.jpg 20200129_223612_010.jpg YYYYMMDD hhmmSS I considered awk as an option (see Whiskeyjack's comment on HPR episode 4657 ), but realized it has no built-in way to change file times, so I set it aside. Don't worry, I will come back to that later. My approach was to use an if-then shell construct to choose how to treat the three categories of filenames. For the if condition, I fed the filename into the grep -q command with an appropriate regular expression to test whether it matches. The -q option to grep causes it not to output anything—it returns a zero exit status if there's a match and a status greater than zero if there isn't. Then, there is an elif statement with another grep -q test for the second category of filenames. Finally, an else statement is followed by the command to run for all other filenames. The whole thing is wrapped in a for loop that runs over all the files in the current directory. The touch command , when used with the -t option, can be given a string consisting of the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. These are all numerals that are run together, except that a period sits between the minute and second. So we need a way to extract these numbers and to insert the period. That's where the cut utility comes in. It can be given a set of characters to select, and I specified a different set representing the appropriate ones depending on which category a filename fit into. To insert the period, I used sed to replace the last two characters with a period followed by those characters. The first script was to test out that I was getting the correct results. for fn in * do if echo "$fn" | grep -q BURST then printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '21-34' | sed 's/..$/.&/' elif echo "$fn" | grep -q -E '^(IMG_|VID_)' then printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '5-12,14-19' | sed 's/..$/.&/' else printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '1-8,10-15' | sed 's/..$/.&/' fi done This one actually sets the file times. The -c option to touch prevents it from creating a file if one with that name doesn't already exist. for fn in * do if echo "$fn" | grep -q BURST then touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '21-34' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" elif echo "$fn" | grep -q -E '^(IMG_|VID_)' then touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '5-12,14-19' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" else touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '1-8,10-15' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" fi done The script ran over all the files in less than 15 seconds and correctly set the file time on each. Job done, right? Well, after I did this, it struck me that there was room for improvement. The script would probably run more quickly if I used a case construct instead of an if construct that called grep multiple times. While the pattern-matching notation used with case is not as flexible and can handle fewer situations than the regular expression syntax available with grep , in this case (see what I did there?) it is sufficient. Testing it out, using case reduced the running time by 45%. Replacing if with case —the commands to be executed for each category of filename can remain exactly the same. for fn in * do case "$fn" in *BURST*) printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '21-34' | sed 's/..$/.&/' ;; IMG_*|VID_*) printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '5-12,14-19' | sed 's/..$/.&/' ;; *) printf "$fn " echo $fn | cut -c '1-8,10-15' | sed 's/..$/.&/' esac done for fn in * do case "$fn" in *BURST*) touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '21-34' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" ;; IMG_*|VID_*) touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '5-12,14-19' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" ;; *) touch -c -t "$(echo $fn | cut -c '1-8,10-15' | sed 's/..$/.&/')" "$fn" esac done I couldn't completely put awk out of my mind, though, and I eventually came up with an awk script for the same purpose. This is far faster, probably because everything can be done within awk except actually modifying the file times, which is possible using the system() function to call touch . I was able to knock 90% off the running time, which for 800 files isn't a big deal but might make a difference if you have hundreds of thousands of files. The awk counterparts to both scripts above. Unlike those, ls is used to feed it with the list of filenames. We have the full power of extended regular expressions available to use for matching against the filenames. The next statement causes awk to skip any remaining pattern-action pairs and go to the next line of input. ls | awk '/BURST/ { print $0, substr($0, 21, 12) "." substr($0, 33, 2) next } /^(IMG_|VID_)/ { print $0, substr($0, 5, 8) substr($0, 14, 4) "." substr($0, 18, 2) next } { print $0, substr($0, 1, 8) substr($0, 10, 4) "." substr($0, 14, 2) }' ls | awk '/BURST/ { system("touch -c -t " substr($0, 21, 12) "." substr($0, 33, 2) " " $0) next } /^(IMG_|VID_)/ { system("touch -c -t " substr($0, 5, 8) substr($0, 14, 4) "." substr($0, 18, 2) " " $0) next } { system("touch -c -t " substr($0, 1, 8) substr($0, 10, 4) "." substr($0, 14, 2) " " $0) }' A further optimization that came to me later was to not call system() from within awk , but to instead just have awk print out a set of command lines. These can then be piped to sh to actually be executed. This cut the running time down by 95% compared to my original script. The fastest version I was able to come up with. If you run it without the | sh on the end, you can check that it's outputting the right information before actually modifying anything. The backslash on the end of a couple lines causes the subsequent line to be treated as a continuation of the existing line. Normally I would just keep everything on one line even if it runs longer than 80 columns, but for display purposes this looks nicer. ls | awk '/BURST/ { print "touch -c -t " substr($0, 21, 12) "." substr($0, 33, 2) " " $0 next } /^(IMG_|VID_)/ { print "touch -c -t " substr($0, 5, 8) substr($0, 14, 4) "." substr($0, 18, 2) " " $0 next } { print "touch -c -t " substr($0, 1, 8) substr($0, 10, 4) "." substr($0, 14, 2) " " $0 }' | sh It is probably true that this could have been carried out just as easily on Windows using Microsoft's PowerShell. I'm not very familiar with it, but would imagine (or hope) that it includes commands for managing these basic things like text manipulation and modifying file times. If you are stuck in an environment where you don't have a UNIX-like system available, investigate how to accomplish a task with the tools you do have. While I had the necessary information in the filenames to use, that might not be the case in all situations. You could look for other sources of dates—most digital cameras will add EXIF tags to a JPEG file giving the date and time it was created. (Hopefully, the clock in the camera will be set accurately.) While there is no standard UNIX utility to read those tags, free and open source software tools are widely available for that purpose. I found one called exiftags that included the utility exiftime , which specifically outputs EXIF data relating to time. The output format was a little trickier to handle, but awk was able to manage it with a little coaxing. Example of output produced by exiftime . Note that the first line with the filename is only printed if more than one filename is given as an argument. Also, for amusing-sign.jpg , apparently I edited that photo after taking it and the editing software updated the "created" tag but left the others intact. Not all images will necessarily have created, generated, and digitized tags; we will just take whichever ones exist. I redirected standard error to /dev/null to get rid of error messages for files that don't have EXIF tags; we'll handle those below. $ exiftime *.jpg 2>/dev/null 20260508_154743.jpg: Image Created: 2026:05:08 15:47:43 Image Generated: 2026:05:08 15:47:43 Image Digitized: 2026:05:08 15:47:43 20260508_155044.jpg: Image Created: 2026:05:08 15:50:44 Image Generated: 2026:05:08 15:50:44 Image Digitized: 2026:05:08 15:50:44 3704a78e771c2a25a894ef2f0b5a2a629f1eba80.jpg: amusing-sign.jpg: Image Created: 2017:01:24 23:14:04 Image Generated: 2017:01:24 21:18:07 Image Digitized: 2017:01:24 21:18:07 dscf3011.jpg: Image Created: 2015:01:01 00:02:19 Image Generated: 2015:01:01 00:02:19 Image Digitized: 2015:01:01 00:02:19 window-view.jpg: $ We can take advantage of the fact that different records are separated by a blank line. In awk , when RS is set to a null string and FS is set to a newline character, each set of non-blank lines is treated as a record and each line within those sets is treated as a field. One or more blank lines separate each record. For the output of exiftime , this means that $1 will contain the filename and $2 will contain the first line after the filename. For those files without an EXIF date tag, $2 will be a null string, which is treated by awk as FALSE, so the pattern will not match, the action will not be taken, and nothing will be printed. If a file has multiple tags, I will just use the first one reported by exiftime (contained in $2 ). The sub() function call removes the colon that exiftime prints after the filename, and the gsub() function call removes all non-numeric characters from the date and time in the tag. (After a comma within a print statement, a backslash is not necessary to continue a line.) Also, this time I bothered to print quotation marks around the filename in case it contains spaces. $ exiftime *.jpg 2>/dev/null | awk 'BEGIN { FS = "n" ; RS = "" } $2 { sub(":$", "", $1) gsub("[^0-9]", "", $2) print "touch -c -t", substr($2, 1, 12) "." substr($2, 13, 2), """ $1 """ }' touch -c -t 202605081547.43 "20260508_154743.jpg" touch -c -t 202605081550.44 "20260508_155044.jpg" touch -c -t 201701242314.04 "amusing-sign.jpg" touch -c -t 201501010002.19 "dscf3011.jpg" $ I would imagine that there's some photo management program out there that I could have used to accomplish this. But then I would have had to locate it, verify that it wasn't some malware-loaded garbage, download, and install it. And chances are it would want to take over all the photos on my laptop. Instead, with standard UNIX tools and shell capabilities like if , case , process substitution, and pipelines, I was able to complete the task without having to install anything. The techniques I described can be used in different circumstances and with the output of different utilities. My intention was not just to explain how to solve this specific problem, but to hopefully teach you some things that you can apply in many situations. Perhaps if you use them to tackle a challenge of your own, you'll record an episode for HPR to share what you know. Provide feedback on this episode.

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Hope & Fear Ch 1: Character Options - Daggerheart Overview | True Strike Podcast #177

True Strike

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2026 61:57

On this episode, Richard & Tyler go over chapter one of Hope & Fear!https://linktr.ee/theteahousemimicLinks to Stuff & Things:Merch - https://truestrikepod.com/Candles - https://cantripcandles.com/truestrikepodcastDrink - https://www.dubby.gg/discount/TRUESTRIKEPOD?ref=pstsxrvahttps://foundryborne.online/https://www.daggerheart.com/downloads/https://www.daggerheart.com/thevoid/Welcome to True Strike, a podcast for tabletop nerds.Each Tuesday, listen in while two friends discuss their completely unwarranted opinions about all things tabletop. Topics vary each week from D&D and Daggerheart, to whatever TTRPG or board game they happen to be playing!Hosts: Richard Cullen/Tyler WortheySong by: WILDJOE1

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The Best Draft Strategy For ESPN Fantasy Football

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2026 31:59

The Best Draft Strategy For ESPN Fantasy FootballDanny and Bush break down how they would handle an ESPN Fantasy Draft. From Positional Startegy to tierlists of the top draft picks and draft strategies on ESPNOur Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickTimestamps00:00 Intro00:25 ESPN Default scoring01:11 ESPN RB Strategy05:46 ESPN WR Strategy09:43 Use Our Rankings Directly in Your ESPN Draft10:17 ESPN QB Strategy12:41 ESPN TE Strategy14:41 Best Spot to Draft From18:40 Best ESPN Strategies Ranked22:43 How to Mock Draft for Your Home League On The Site23:39 ESPN Mock Draft29:03 Teams Reviewed30:43 Win Your ESPN League with the 2026 Season PassFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEFollow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange #espnTags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,draft strategy,fantasy football draft,fantasy football draft strategy,fantasy football draft pick rankings,fantasy football strategy,zero rb,hero wr,hero rb,double hero RB,elite TE strategy,elite QB,espn strategy

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VAMPIRES: Children of the Night, What a Mess They Make

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2026 70:04

Tonight, we're talking vampires, history's greatest transformation from suspiciously bloated corpse to immortal bisexual aristocrat with a castle, a cape, and absolutely no respect for personal boundaries. We dig into garlic, holy symbols, counting mustard seeds, bricks shoved into mouths, and the alarming number of vampire prevention methods involving someone's severed head near their butt. Then we compare D&D's growing collection of bitey hit-point bags with Pathfinder's bold decision to let you turn almost anything into a vampire. Grab a wooden stake, protect your neck, and remember: the undead pyramid scheme is not a scam if every wight gets eight zombies beneath them. Show Notes Vampires have been haunting folklore for centuries, but before they became wealthy, seductive goth icons, they were mostly blamed on misunderstood decomposition, disease, and humanity's long tradition of confidently inventing explanations for things it did not understand. We explore the regional beliefs surrounding vampires, including animal transformations, compulsive counting, invitations, running water, graveyard horse tests, and the creative methods people used to keep corpses from returning. Apparently, garlic was not enough. Sometimes you needed decapitation, holy water, a brick, and a very specific head-placement strategy. From there, we follow the vampire from folklore through The Vampyre and Dracula, then directly into tabletop gaming. Strahd is examined as D&D's legally distinct Dracula, complete with an Eastern European castle, disposable vampire brides, an unpleasant servant, and an unhealthy obsession with one particular woman. We discuss why vampires make such effective villains, whether they should always be irredeemably evil, and how their intelligence, charisma, resources, and ability to escape make them more interesting than another monster waiting patiently to be reduced to zero hit points. Tyler walks through D&D's increasingly crowded vampire bestiary, including vampire spawn, familiars, mind flayers, Nosferatu, infernalists, wardens, spellcasters, warriors, umbral lords, hopping vampires, and several versions of Strahd. Ash discovers that many updated vampires lost their regeneration and responds with the measured restraint everyone has come to expect. We also uncover the Jiangshi's undead pyramid scheme, where drained victims become wights, wights create zombies, and everyone receives an exciting opportunity to become their own boss. Pathfinder 2e takes a more flexible approach with vampire adjustments that can be applied to nearly any living creature. Want a vampire dwarf, vampire monster, full vampire character, Dhampir, or suspiciously blood-focused animal companion? Pathfinder has paperwork for that. We compare its vampire families, weaknesses, regeneration, player archetypes, unusual feeding options, and the many ways players can embrace eternal life without being reduced to a single edgy species choice. Finally, the Question of the Week asks how to deliver a satisfying campaign ending. The hosts discuss final boss battles, player-driven epilogues, heroic sacrifices, closing character arcs, carrying consequences into future campaigns, and giving everyone enough closure to explain what their character does after saving the world. Tyler also recommends a total party kill, because rocks falling remains the most efficient form of narrative finality. Key Takeaways Vampire folklore varied dramatically between regions, but blood drinking, animal transformations, compulsions, returning corpses, and elaborate burial precautions appeared frequently. Many historical vampire scares were fueled by misunderstandings about decomposition, disease, bloating, and blood appearing around a corpse's mouth. Bram Stoker's Dracula established many of the traits associated with modern vampires, including wealth, sophistication, seduction, immortality, and aristocratic menace. Strahd is essentially D&D's version of Dracula, enhanced with wizard abilities, legendary actions, extensive resources, and enough emotional baggage to fill Castle Ravenloft. Vampires make strong recurring villains because they are intelligent, charismatic, difficult to permanently destroy, and capable of retreating to fight another day. D&D offers numerous vampire variants, but several newer designs reduce them to durable biting monsters, and the removal of regeneration makes them feel less distinct. The Jiangshi can create an expanding hierarchy of wights and zombies, producing what can only be described as an undead pyramid scheme. Pathfinder 2e's vampire adjustments allow GMs to apply vampire abilities to existing creatures instead of relying entirely on separate stat blocks. Pathfinder also provides more vampire-related player options, including the Dhampir heritage, vampire archetype, vampiric companions, and blood-draining spells. A satisfying campaign ending should extend beyond defeating the final boss and give players room to resolve relationships, describe their futures, and address the consequences of their choices. Asking characters what they hope to do after the adventure can help the GM build meaningful rewards and bring long-running stories full circle. Heroic sacrifice can create a powerful bittersweet ending when the choice belongs to the player rather than being forced upon them. Plot holes may be forgotten, but players remember when an old joke, promise, relationship, or seemingly insignificant choice returns during the finale. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

spotify amazon ai matrix vampires mess gm lord of the rings dungeons and dragons dracula plot ash rpg d d neo nosferatu rpgs bram stoker heroic gms pathfinder eastern europeans vampyres strahd castle ravenloft jiangshi children of the night dhampir startplaying

VAMPIRES: Children of the Night, What a Mess They Make

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2026 70:04

Tonight, we're talking vampires, history's greatest transformation from suspiciously bloated corpse to immortal bisexual aristocrat with a castle, a cape, and absolutely no respect for personal boundaries. We dig into garlic, holy symbols, counting mustard seeds, bricks shoved into mouths, and the alarming number of vampire prevention methods involving someone's severed head near their butt. Then we compare D&D's growing collection of bitey hit-point bags with Pathfinder's bold decision to let you turn almost anything into a vampire. Grab a wooden stake, protect your neck, and remember: the undead pyramid scheme is not a scam if every wight gets eight zombies beneath them. Show Notes Vampires have been haunting folklore for centuries, but before they became wealthy, seductive goth icons, they were mostly blamed on misunderstood decomposition, disease, and humanity's long tradition of confidently inventing explanations for things it did not understand. We explore the regional beliefs surrounding vampires, including animal transformations, compulsive counting, invitations, running water, graveyard horse tests, and the creative methods people used to keep corpses from returning. Apparently, garlic was not enough. Sometimes you needed decapitation, holy water, a brick, and a very specific head-placement strategy. From there, we follow the vampire from folklore through The Vampyre and Dracula, then directly into tabletop gaming. Strahd is examined as D&D's legally distinct Dracula, complete with an Eastern European castle, disposable vampire brides, an unpleasant servant, and an unhealthy obsession with one particular woman. We discuss why vampires make such effective villains, whether they should always be irredeemably evil, and how their intelligence, charisma, resources, and ability to escape make them more interesting than another monster waiting patiently to be reduced to zero hit points. Tyler walks through D&D's increasingly crowded vampire bestiary, including vampire spawn, familiars, mind flayers, Nosferatu, infernalists, wardens, spellcasters, warriors, umbral lords, hopping vampires, and several versions of Strahd. Ash discovers that many updated vampires lost their regeneration and responds with the measured restraint everyone has come to expect. We also uncover the Jiangshi's undead pyramid scheme, where drained victims become wights, wights create zombies, and everyone receives an exciting opportunity to become their own boss. Pathfinder 2e takes a more flexible approach with vampire adjustments that can be applied to nearly any living creature. Want a vampire dwarf, vampire monster, full vampire character, Dhampir, or suspiciously blood-focused animal companion? Pathfinder has paperwork for that. We compare its vampire families, weaknesses, regeneration, player archetypes, unusual feeding options, and the many ways players can embrace eternal life without being reduced to a single edgy species choice. Finally, the Question of the Week asks how to deliver a satisfying campaign ending. The hosts discuss final boss battles, player-driven epilogues, heroic sacrifices, closing character arcs, carrying consequences into future campaigns, and giving everyone enough closure to explain what their character does after saving the world. Tyler also recommends a total party kill, because rocks falling remains the most efficient form of narrative finality. Key Takeaways Vampire folklore varied dramatically between regions, but blood drinking, animal transformations, compulsions, returning corpses, and elaborate burial precautions appeared frequently. Many historical vampire scares were fueled by misunderstandings about decomposition, disease, bloating, and blood appearing around a corpse's mouth. Bram Stoker's Dracula established many of the traits associated with modern vampires, including wealth, sophistication, seduction, immortality, and aristocratic menace. Strahd is essentially D&D's version of Dracula, enhanced with wizard abilities, legendary actions, extensive resources, and enough emotional baggage to fill Castle Ravenloft. Vampires make strong recurring villains because they are intelligent, charismatic, difficult to permanently destroy, and capable of retreating to fight another day. D&D offers numerous vampire variants, but several newer designs reduce them to durable biting monsters, and the removal of regeneration makes them feel less distinct. The Jiangshi can create an expanding hierarchy of wights and zombies, producing what can only be described as an undead pyramid scheme. Pathfinder 2e's vampire adjustments allow GMs to apply vampire abilities to existing creatures instead of relying entirely on separate stat blocks. Pathfinder also provides more vampire-related player options, including the Dhampir heritage, vampire archetype, vampiric companions, and blood-draining spells. A satisfying campaign ending should extend beyond defeating the final boss and give players room to resolve relationships, describe their futures, and address the consequences of their choices. Asking characters what they hope to do after the adventure can help the GM build meaningful rewards and bring long-running stories full circle. Heroic sacrifice can create a powerful bittersweet ending when the choice belongs to the player rather than being forced upon them. Plot holes may be forgotten, but players remember when an old joke, promise, relationship, or seemingly insignificant choice returns during the finale. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

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15 Players Going To The Moon in Fantasy Football

nfl moon players bush fantasy football d d deebo samuel out now malik nabers tank dell luther burden jonathon brooks fse parker washington

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2026 43:39

15 Players Going To The Moon in Fantasy FootballBusch and Danny are breaking down 15 players that are rising in the last 2 weeks in their rankings with all of the news since training camp has begun in the NFL for fantasy football.Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSETimestamps:00:00 Intro00:25 Jaylen Waddle03:48 Malik Nabers07:15 Bhayshul Tuten12:10 Jonathon Brooks15:15 Josh Downs18:25 Luther Burden21:30 Deebo Samuel24:30 Parker Washington28:00 Tank Dell30:07 Jordan Mason34:00 Terrance Ferguson35:30 Cyrus Allen37:10 Kaelon Black37:42 Marshawn Lloyd38:50 Tank Bigsby41:00 OutroFollow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange #nflnews Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,Jaylen Waddle,Malik Nabers,Bhayshul Tuten,Jonathon Brooks,Josh Downs,Luther Burden,Deebo Samuel,Parker Washington,Tank Dell,Jordan mason,Terrance ferguson,cyrus allen,nfl training camp news,nfl news today

HR 3 | Mego & Scheim: Former wrestler Jacas will excel in Pats locker room

Weekend Shows

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2026 41:33

This hour: Will Jarren Duran get the DFA?; Mego assigns D&D alignments to the stars between that fly ball in Sacramento - Contreras is chaotic neutral; Mego & Scheim discuss ‘The Odyssey'; Christian Arcand pops in for a flawlessly-executed crossover

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S11E19: Roll for Warcraft

Group Quest

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2026 104:12

Gulvan and Joe discuss the WOW Patch & in D&D, Doublefine layoffs, Atari signs Film deal, and Kratos replaced? Continue reading →

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You're Drafting the Wrong RBs in 2026

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2026 17:18

You're Drafting the Wrong RBs in 2026Busch is breaking down the early round RB strategy you NEED to be following in 2026 fantasy football drafts. This strategy spotted Gibbs & Bijan over Saquon, Achane and JT as smash picks round 2 & James cook as a great value in 2025. Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewTimestamps00:00 Intro00:30 Last Years Hits00:50 VORP for Running Backs01:58 Early Round RBs are King02:40 Injury Rates are Down03:30 Last Years Results06:05 The Archetypes of RBs - Hit Rates07:45 Hit Rates Simplified09:10 2026 ADP09:35 RBs in their Prime in 202610:45 Trust Veterans in 202611:45 Breakout Candidates in 202612:35 My RB Strategy in the Early Rounds13:30 Example Mocks to Outline the Strategy15:00 Dominate Your LeagueFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEFollow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football targets,nfl fantasy football,fantasy football strategy,fantasy football rb strategy,flock fantasy,fantasy stock exchange RB,league winners,fantasy football,the fantasy headliners,ffa,bdge,underdog,underdog fantasy,ron stewart,fantasy land,fantasy domain,domain fantasy,domain fantasy football,fantasy stock

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Podcast #878 - Return of the 4GB GPU, Intel's 65W iGPU, 8GB Surface Laptop is Unusable, LG Bloatware be gone, Linux GOG +MORE!

PC Perspective Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2026 99:25

GOG is coming to Linux! Microsoft asks LG to stop with the bloatware ads, the Radeon RX 9050 arrives in a 4GB config, Nova Lake-S is bringing a 65w iGPU to the fight, and 8GB is just not enough for a laptop with Win 11 + Josh takes over the show with his Racing Corner segment. Maybe a DD$4 build is not in your future? There's so much more in here, it's hard to summarize, I'm afraid you'll just have to listen.Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:15 Patreon03:29 Food with Josh05:10 Radeon RX 9050 (and the return of the 4GB GPU)14:29 Intel's Nova Lake-S iGPU draws 65W?17:44 GOG Galaxy app going native...Linux20:23 Microsoft's 8GB Surface laptop is an embarrassment22:50 The DDR4 to DDR5 gaming gap27:25 AMI acquired by a company called Lattice29:47 Starlink exempted from foreign router ban31:47 CXMT now charges more for RDIMMs than Samsung41:50 (In)Security Corner58:07 Josh's Sim Corner1:09:48 Gaming Quick Hits1:18:58 Picks of the Week1:37:37 Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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2014 DnD 5e RANGER (Remastered): Levels 1 - 4 - Archery to Beast Mastery: Choosing the Right Build

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2026 70:17

Welcome to Ranger levels 1 through 4, where you can become a deadly shadow archer, command your own miniature dragon, or sacrifice your entire action so that a flying snake with the structural integrity of wet parchment can participate in combat. In this episode, we explore Favored Enemies nobody tracks, terrain nobody visits, spells competing for the same concentration slot, and the revolutionary discovery that the Ranger becomes significantly better when you replace most of the Ranger. Grab your longbow, release your drake, and prepare to whisper, "Go get 'em, little buddy," moments before your animal companion is killed by incidental damage. Show Notes The Ranger has spent years carrying a terrible reputation, but is the entire class actually bad, or did everyone read the original Beast Master, experience psychic damage, and refuse to look at the class again? In this episode, we begin our journey through the 2014 Ranger from levels 1 through 4. We break down the class's ability scores, armor, weapons, skills, Fighting Styles, spellcasting, and its awkward position somewhere between Fighter, Rogue, and person who remembers to bring enough trail rations. We examine the original Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer features, which are extremely useful when the campaign takes place in one specific biome against one specific enemy and the DM insists that every mile of travel be handled in real time. Then we look at Tasha's optional features, including Favored Foe and Deft Explorer, which give Rangers abilities they might actually use during an adventure. At level 3, the builds split dramatically. Randall embraces the darkness with a Gloom Stalker built around stealth, hand crossbows, and making an alarming number of attacks before the enemy understands that combat has started. Ash chooses the Drakewarden, gaining a durable dragon companion that can attack, support allies, and generally behave like a functional subclass feature. Tyler, meanwhile, voluntarily builds the original Player's Handbook Beast Master. Armed with determination, optimism, and a flying snake that can be eliminated by an aggressively closed door, he attempts to prove that the subclass can work. It technically can, provided your definition of working includes surrendering your action, protecting your pet at all costs, and carrying its body around until the DM allows you to find another one. By level 4, the difference is impossible to ignore. The Gloom Stalker is attacking repeatedly from the shadows, the Drakewarden is firing arrows while a dragon controls the front line, and the Beast Master is pointing toward the enemy and asking his snake to please do something useful. Two Rangers are ready for the next tier of play. One Ranger needs to lie down. Key Takeaways Dexterity is usually the Ranger's best primary ability. It supports ranged and finesse weapons, Armor Class, initiative, Stealth, and several important saving throws without demanding the impossible ability spread required by most Strength builds. The original level-one features are painfully campaign-dependent. Favored Enemy mostly helps with tracking and recalling information, while Natural Explorer becomes relevant only when the party is traveling through the terrain you selected. Tasha's optional features are major improvements. Favored Foe provides extra damage without consuming a bonus action, while Deft Explorer gives the Ranger expertise in a chosen skill and helps it better occupy the party's scout role. Bonus-action management matters. Hunter's Mark, two-weapon fighting, Crossbow Expert, and companion commands can all compete for the same bonus action, so your build needs a clear plan for how its turns will work. Archery remains an excellent Fighting Style. The attack bonus is reliable, useful at every level, and especially valuable for builds planning to use powerful ranged feats later. Ranger spells should provide more than damage. Healing, control, mobility, and utility can offer better value than repeatedly concentrating on Hunter's Mark, especially when Favored Foe can handle shorter fights. Most Ranger subclasses are functional or strong. Gloom Stalker offers excellent opening-round offense, Drakewarden delivers an effective companion, and even Hunter remains playable. The original Beast Master is the feature responsible for much of the class's terrible reputation. The original Beast Master has a brutal action economy. Commanding the companion to attack consumes the Ranger's action, leaving the character watching their pet play D&D on their behalf. Modern companion subclasses demonstrate what Beast Master should have been. The Drake can act through a bonus action, contribute extra damage with its reaction, support the front line, and survive encounters without requiring constant emotional and medical supervision. Your build should have a recognizable combat loop by level 4. Randall attacks rapidly from hiding, Ash fires from range while the Drake fights up front, and Tyler commands a snake while quietly reconsidering every decision that brought him here. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

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Palace of the Vampire Queen: The First Ever D&D Module with Pacesetter Games - Episode 293 - 7/31/2026

Shane Plays Geek Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2026 72:31

Bill Barsh of Pacesetter Games holds forth on Pacesetter Games updates and the 50th Anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen, the first module ever published for Dungeons & Dragons. Palace of the Vampire Queen isn't just the first published D&D module; it's also the first published megadungeon. What are Pacesetter's plans for the 50th anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen? (hint: they're cool). Shane's inner 13-year-old asks the obligatory question that a 13-year-old would ask about the Vampire Queen. Bill gives his definitive answer on whether the Vampire Queen would own Strahd. OTHER COOL STUFF IN THIS EPISODE: Bill's market view is that people are playing a lot of 5E but aren't buying a lot of new 5E product. Bill predicts the timeframe for the new version of D&D to come out. A surprising amount of B/X D&D is being played vs "Red Box" and BECMI at cons. The third edition of the BX RPG from Pacesetter is unleashing. Dungeon X is coming… Dungeon X is taking the best of D&D from the last 50 years and molding it into a new game. Choose-Your-Own-Path Stories are a new choice on the market. Solo adventures (one play only, not a duo between DM and player) definitely have a place in the hobby. Pacesetter runs one of the longest-running consecutive D&D tournament series at cons. There was a time when TSR thought publishing adventure modules was a terrible idea with no market. Let's be real, OD&D is super important to the hobby, but it's not the most organized and readable set of rules. What game does Shane declare as THE "D&D" success story of the past couple of years? Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #293 7/31/2026 Like what you hear? Support Shane Plays Geek Talk on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/shaneplays Listen to the Shane Plays Geek Talk podcast on YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play Music, Amazon Music, Podbean and Stitcher (and other fine, fine podcast directories). Hey, you! Yeah, you! Buy cool stuff, support Shane Plays Geek Talk with these affiliate links! Humble Bundle https://www.humblebundle.com?partner=shaneplays DriveThruRPG.com https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?affiliate_id=488512 SHOW NOTES Palace of the Vampire Queen at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Vampire_Queen Pacesetter Games https://pacesettergames.com/ Kickstarter: Adventures from Farrador Keep: Choose-Your-Own-Path Stories! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pacesettergames/adventures-from-farrador-keep-choose-your-own-path-stories Save For Half Podcast: Original Dungeons & Dragons, Edited by Greyharp https://saveforhalf.com/2022/08/29/episode-42-original-dungeons-dragons-edited-by-greyharp/ Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition Shane's book! Co-authored with Matt Barton of Matt Chat https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Desktops-History-Computer-Role-Playing/dp/1138574643/

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2014 DnD 5e RANGER (Remastered): Levels 1 - 4 - Archery to Beast Mastery: Choosing the Right Build

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2026 70:17

Welcome to Ranger levels 1 through 4, where you can become a deadly shadow archer, command your own miniature dragon, or sacrifice your entire action so that a flying snake with the structural integrity of wet parchment can participate in combat. In this episode, we explore Favored Enemies nobody tracks, terrain nobody visits, spells competing for the same concentration slot, and the revolutionary discovery that the Ranger becomes significantly better when you replace most of the Ranger. Grab your longbow, release your drake, and prepare to whisper, "Go get 'em, little buddy," moments before your animal companion is killed by incidental damage. Show Notes The Ranger has spent years carrying a terrible reputation, but is the entire class actually bad, or did everyone read the original Beast Master, experience psychic damage, and refuse to look at the class again? In this episode, we begin our journey through the 2014 Ranger from levels 1 through 4. We break down the class's ability scores, armor, weapons, skills, Fighting Styles, spellcasting, and its awkward position somewhere between Fighter, Rogue, and person who remembers to bring enough trail rations. We examine the original Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer features, which are extremely useful when the campaign takes place in one specific biome against one specific enemy and the DM insists that every mile of travel be handled in real time. Then we look at Tasha's optional features, including Favored Foe and Deft Explorer, which give Rangers abilities they might actually use during an adventure. At level 3, the builds split dramatically. Randall embraces the darkness with a Gloom Stalker built around stealth, hand crossbows, and making an alarming number of attacks before the enemy understands that combat has started. Ash chooses the Drakewarden, gaining a durable dragon companion that can attack, support allies, and generally behave like a functional subclass feature. Tyler, meanwhile, voluntarily builds the original Player's Handbook Beast Master. Armed with determination, optimism, and a flying snake that can be eliminated by an aggressively closed door, he attempts to prove that the subclass can work. It technically can, provided your definition of working includes surrendering your action, protecting your pet at all costs, and carrying its body around until the DM allows you to find another one. By level 4, the difference is impossible to ignore. The Gloom Stalker is attacking repeatedly from the shadows, the Drakewarden is firing arrows while a dragon controls the front line, and the Beast Master is pointing toward the enemy and asking his snake to please do something useful. Two Rangers are ready for the next tier of play. One Ranger needs to lie down. Key Takeaways Dexterity is usually the Ranger's best primary ability. It supports ranged and finesse weapons, Armor Class, initiative, Stealth, and several important saving throws without demanding the impossible ability spread required by most Strength builds. The original level-one features are painfully campaign-dependent. Favored Enemy mostly helps with tracking and recalling information, while Natural Explorer becomes relevant only when the party is traveling through the terrain you selected. Tasha's optional features are major improvements. Favored Foe provides extra damage without consuming a bonus action, while Deft Explorer gives the Ranger expertise in a chosen skill and helps it better occupy the party's scout role. Bonus-action management matters. Hunter's Mark, two-weapon fighting, Crossbow Expert, and companion commands can all compete for the same bonus action, so your build needs a clear plan for how its turns will work. Archery remains an excellent Fighting Style. The attack bonus is reliable, useful at every level, and especially valuable for builds planning to use powerful ranged feats later. Ranger spells should provide more than damage. Healing, control, mobility, and utility can offer better value than repeatedly concentrating on Hunter's Mark, especially when Favored Foe can handle shorter fights. Most Ranger subclasses are functional or strong. Gloom Stalker offers excellent opening-round offense, Drakewarden delivers an effective companion, and even Hunter remains playable. The original Beast Master is the feature responsible for much of the class's terrible reputation. The original Beast Master has a brutal action economy. Commanding the companion to attack consumes the Ranger's action, leaving the character watching their pet play D&D on their behalf. Modern companion subclasses demonstrate what Beast Master should have been. The Drake can act through a bonus action, contribute extra damage with its reaction, support the front line, and survive encounters without requiring constant emotional and medical supervision. Your build should have a recognizable combat loop by level 4. Randall attacks rapidly from hiding, Ash fires from range while the Drake fights up front, and Tyler commands a snake while quietly reconsidering every decision that brought him here. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

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I Found the Next WR League Winners (+ WR Strategy!)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2026 36:30

I Found the Next WR League Winners (+ WR Strategy!)Busch methodically breaks down how to find the next league winners at WR and who we think they could be in 2026 fantasy football drafts. The answers to both 20+ PPR PPG finishers and also the next Olave/Pickens hits. Our Season Pass is Out NOW!https://FlockFantasy.com/FSE - for 30% off any packagesCode "FSE" and an Annual signup gets you a FREE LIVE Team ReviewTimestamps00:00 Intro01:00 Last Years League Winners03:00 League Winner Rate for WR04:10 WRs 1-9 in ADP07:50 WRs 10-18 in ADP13:59 WRs 19-27 in ADP19:35 WRs 28-36 in ADP23:20 WRs 37-45 in ADP25:15 Scoring the WR Position28:45 Who is the Next League Winning WR31:55 WR Draft StrategyFREE Redraft Guide/Projections & Dynasty Rookie GuideTAIL OUR PICKS & GET $50 IN BONUS ENTRIES ON YOUR FIRST $5https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-fseUsing Promo Code: "FSE" at first deposit and signup + a GIMME PickFor Questions, Team Reviews, DD 2.0's & More:Team Review: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/review?code=FSETrade: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/trade-question?code=FSESuper: https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/super-chat?code=FSESubscribe: https://flockfantasy.com/subscribe?code=FSEBuy One Team Review Get the 2nd 50% Off:https://flockfantasy.com/purchase/voucher-bundle?code=FSEFollow our Flock Leaguehttps://www.youtube.com/@FlockLeagueSocial Platforms:Bush Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasystockexDanny Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fseladInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasystockexchangeDanny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannyfootball59 Bush's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FootballStockFantasy Stock Exchange Twitter: https://twitter.com/FantasyStockEXPodcast Feed:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-stock-exchange/id1504562615Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/45YpJodM1wHNdaOlGftVdl?si=92eaf08b5347494dFor Business inquiries: thefantasystockexchange@gmail.com#FantasyFootball #fantasystockexchange Tags: fantasy stock exchange,fantasy football advice,fantasy flock,dynasty fantasy football,2026 fantasy football,fantasy football 2026,fantasy football news,fantasy football,nfl news,espn,nfl fantasy,nfl fantasy football,nfl,flock,flock fantasy,jaylen waddle,brian thomas jr,puka nacua,ja'marr chase,ladd mcconkey,emeka egbuka,jsn,justin jefferson,ceedee lamb,george pickens,tee higgins,rome odunze,luther burden,dk metcalf,michael wilson,chris olave

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Good Mythical Morning Hits Netflix, Toxic Fandoms & Would Your D&D Character Survive Real Life?

Geek Freaks

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2026 37:13

Frank and Jonathan are on vacation, so they dumped out a jar of ten random prompts and let the conversation run wherever it wanted. The result is a loose, funny grab-bag that swings from tabletop confessions to actual streaming news. They open by asking whether their D&D characters could survive a single day in the real world, which turns into a live rescue plan for Jonathan's volatile, faith-questioning gunslinger and a great story about the priest who quietly let a party member die. From there it is physical media versus streaming (with a Netflix boycott and a terabyte of movies packed for a cruise), the most toxic fandom corners (Pokemon card scalping, weighed packs, and Star Wars media literacy), the games everyone owns but never finishes, retro comebacks worth reviving, and the classics they think are a little overrated. The back half gets newsier with Good Mythical Morning heading to Netflix as a daily show, a debate about Emmy legitimacy versus chasing a new algorithm, and a closing round on which fictional universe would actually be miserable to live in. Timestamps and Topics 00:00 Intro and Vacation Filler Setup 00:24 Would Your D&D Character Survive Real Life? 07:03 Physical Media vs. Streaming 10:32 The Most Toxic Fandom Corners 17:11 Games You Own but Never Finished, Plus Retro Comebacks 22:05 Overrated Classics and Villain Redemption Arcs 27:07 Casting the D&D Campaign 29:11 Good Mythical Morning Heads to Netflix 34:36 The Fictional Universe That Would Actually Suck Key Takeaways Instead of retiring a chaotic character, Frank pitches turning Jonathan's crisis-of-faith gunslinger into someone actively fighting a chaos god, a reminder that a table can repair a character rather than shelve it. The physical media conversation lands on owning your favorites, fueled by climbing Netflix prices, Christmas movies that vanish from streaming, and a stack of downloads big enough to survive a stranded cruise ship. Pokemon card culture gets named the most toxic fandom corner, from pack-weighing and resale fights to Target reportedly cutting boxes open to kill the scalper market. Media literacy is the throughline for the Star Wars and Dungeon Crawler Carl "too woke" complaints, since both were anti-fascist and anti-capitalist from the start. Gaming talk hits the Oblivion remaster, cautious hope for Elder Scrolls VI amid Xbox layoffs and Bethesda leaning on proven IP, and one very honest Elden Ring skill check. Good Mythical Morning moving to Netflix drives the biggest debate: fresh cash and Emmy legitimacy on one side, the risk of chasing a new algorithm and turning away from YouTube on the other. Quotes "If you think it's too woke, it's been that way from the beginning." "We have to make our point with our wallet." "I return and tell him he was already dead." "I got my ass handed to me so hard I returned it within two hours." "Don't turn your back on YouTube after you literally built your success." Call to Action If you had fun with this one, subscribe so you never miss an episode, leave a rating and review to help new listeners find the show, and share it with a friend who would have strong opinions about Pokemon card scalpers. Tag us and use #GeekFreaksPodcast when you post about it. Links and Resources All news discussed on the show comes from GeekFreaksPodcast.com. Head there for the full write-ups on everything covered in this episode. Follow Us Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegeekfreakspodcast Threads: https://www.threads.net/@geekfreakspodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GeekFreakspodcast Frank: @franklourence79 Listener Questions Got a hot take, a reaction, or a topic you want us to draw next time? Send us your questions, arguments, and future episode ideas. We read them, and the best ones make it onto the show.

2026-2027 DND RELEASE SCHEDULE: A Roadmap Written in Blood and Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2026 64:44

Wizards of the Coast has revealed its plans for the future of Dungeons & Dragons, and apparently the strategy is simple: fix D&D Beyond, return to Gen Con, outsource adventures to people who know what they are doing, cross over with World of Warcraft, and traumatize a convention hall full of children with a Dark Sun trailer featuring a freshly removed spine. Tyler attended the secret briefing and emerged with five pages of notes, several enormous announcements, and absolutely no idea what D&D Icons are. So prepare yourselves for new books, old settings, digital upgrades, live puppies, and enough upcoming content to make your wallet roll a death save. EnWorld: President of WotC Steps Down Forbidden Lands (affiliate link) Show Notes Wizards of the Coast has revealed its roadmap for Dungeons & Dragons through 2027, and Tyler is here to unload everything he learned during an embargoed presentation. We begin at Gen Con, which Wizards plans to turn into the recurring home for its annual D&D announcements. There will be a massive convention presence, live events, streams, adoptable puppies, and something called D&D Icons. Everyone involved seems extremely excited about Icons. Unfortunately, nobody appears capable of explaining what they actually are. D&D Beyond is also getting a substantial overhaul. Wizards plans to introduce tools for finding groups, allow local game stores to advertise events, and form an official partnership with StartPlaying. The mobile app is being redesigned, the character builder and rules engine are being rebuilt, and new DM tools, improved search, and campaign-creation features are somewhere on the horizon. Several details remain vague, partly because the presentation's prerecorded D&D Beyond video stopped working halfway through. Technology! On the video game side, Wizards appears to be pulling back from its plan to release a major game every year. Several projects have reportedly been canceled, but Warlock and Exodus remain in development. Warlock will feature a protagonist whose patron is Tasha, while Exodus is shaping up as a science-fiction RPG with strong Mass Effect energy and a tabletop tie-in that nobody on the podcast entirely understands. The tabletop schedule begins with Arcana Unleashed, a large rules expansion containing eight subclasses, ten backgrounds, twenty-nine feats, thirty-three spells, group patrons, magical factions, forty-seven magic items, and nineteen creature stat blocks. It will also introduce evolving magic items that can grow alongside the characters using them. Its companion campaign, Deadfall, is an espionage-focused adventure running from levels 11 through 20. The characters must save Thay by opposing Szass Tam, which means the situation has become so dire that saving Thay somehow qualifies as the good outcome. The Season of Champions brings a full Dungeons & Dragons crossover with World of Warcraft. The book is being led by longtime D&D designer and Warcraft fan James Wyatt and will include eleven species, six subclasses, iconic locations, recognizable characters, dungeons, monsters designed to provide a raid-like experience, a DM screen, and a map pack with a digital adventure. It will also come in three different editions, allowing Horde and Alliance fans to continue fighting the most important battle of all: which logo belongs on the front of the book. Then comes Dark Sun. Wizards is presenting Athas as the first mature D&D setting, complete with shrink-wrapped books, content warnings, extreme violence, and a trailer that apparently wastes no time separating people from their spinal columns. Dark Sun will receive separate setting and gameplay expansions, a limited-edition Player's Handbook, a new Scion class, a DM screen, maps, and some form of adventure support. The gameplay material alone is expected to approach five hundred pages, suggesting that Wizards is not returning to Athas quietly. Greyhawk will also return during the 2027 Season of Sword and Sorcery. Crown of the Witch Queen is a 160-page adventure featuring Tasha's daughter as its central antagonist, supported by a map pack and DM screen. The final 2027 season, the Season of Rebellion, was announced without details, leaving everyone to speculate angrily until Wizards decides to explain itself. Perhaps the largest long-term change is Wizards' plan for annual setting support produced in partnership with established third-party publishers. Ghostfire Gaming will work on Ravenloft, Visionary Products and Designs will handle Eberron, and Kobold Press will support the Forgotten Realms. Wizards is also developing something with the Hickmans, although details remain scarce. The approach could finally give neglected settings regular adventures and character options, but it also raises questions about outsourcing, quality control, digital-only releases, and whether D&D is about to recreate the overwhelming flood of material from the third-edition era. Despite those concerns, the group is cautiously optimistic. Wizards seems willing to experiment, work with proven creators, support more settings, focus on tabletop products, and admit that maybe trying to become a video game company was not the best use of everyone's time. It could produce an exciting new era for D&D, or it could become an exhausting avalanche of crossovers and subscription content. Either way, Ash will be waiting for the D&D and Family Guy campaign setting so they can finally say they warned us. Key Takeaways Gen Con is becoming D&D's annual announcement hub. Wizards intends to reveal future product roadmaps there instead of relying on scattered online presentations. D&D Beyond is being extensively rebuilt. Planned improvements include group-finding tools, local game-store listings, StartPlaying integration, a redesigned app, a new character builder, a new rules engine, better search, DM tools, and campaign creation. Arcana Unleashed is a major player-focused expansion. It includes subclasses, feats, spells, backgrounds, factions, patrons, dozens of magic items, and new rules for items that evolve with their owners. Deadfall finally supports high-level campaigning. The adventure runs from levels 11 through 20 and sends the party into an espionage conflict against Szass Tam in Thay. The World of Warcraft crossover is a full product line. It includes numerous playable species, subclasses, famous locations, raid-inspired encounters, accessories, digital content, and three different cover editions. Dark Sun is returning without being noticeably softened. Wizards is positioning it as a mature setting with separate lore and gameplay books, graphic content warnings, hundreds of pages of material, and promised adventure support. Greyhawk returns with Crown of the Witch Queen. The adventure will feature Tasha's daughter as the antagonist and lean into a colorful, operatic sword-and-sorcery style. Classic settings may receive annual support. Wizards is partnering with experienced publishers to produce new Ravenloft, Eberron, and Forgotten Realms material, with another Hickman-related project also in development. Third-party partnerships could solve D&D's setting problem. Instead of leaving worlds unsupported for years, specialized publishers can create material while Wizards focuses on core rules and major releases. The biggest risk is content overload. More books, digital releases, partnerships, settings, and crossovers could strengthen the game, but they could also recreate the crowded and difficult-to-navigate release schedule of earlier editions. The overall mood is cautiously optimistic. The announcements suggest that Wizards is taking creative risks, investing in tabletop content, and making decisions that could benefit both players and the wider TTRPG industry. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia https://ashelydm.com/ https://ashelydm.com/ Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

To Escape Into the Dragon's Maw

The Thieves Guild

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2026 7:00

Maela must choose: die fighting or flee with Darla into the Dragon's Maw—a passage where no one has ever returned.-----CREDITS ✍️ Writer: Jake Kerr

ai magic dragon escape d d maw guild master maela jake kerr

CYBERPUNK RED: How to Play 1 - Talk Before You Glock

guide dice blue sky d d dungeon master west marches

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2026 63:09

Welcome to Night City, chooms, where the sky is red, the rent is due, your landlord is probably armed, and health care arrives by helicopter only if your credit score has a body count. In this episode, Ash introduces Randall and Tyler to Cyberpunk Red, a game about surviving late-stage capitalism after it bought a katana, installed cyberlegs, and decided empathy was bad for quarterly growth. The internet is dead, the new internet is haunted, corporations have private armies, your apartment is a cargo container, and if you get shot badly enough, your best hope is that Trauma Team thinks your subscription tier is worth the bullets. So chrome up, talk before you glock, and remember: in Cyberpunk, the future is not here to save you. It is here to invoice you. Cyberpunk: RED Core Rulebook (affiliate link) Show Notes This RPGBOT.Podcast Quickstart kicks off our Cyberpunk Red arc, with Ash taking the GM chair and immediately shoving Randall and Tyler into a glittering corporate hellscape where every system has failed except capitalism, which unfortunately got promoted. This is the concepts and themes episode, so before anyone gets to build a tragic little neon goblin with a gun, Ash walks us through the setting, the history, the tone, and the important survival lesson that being cool does not make you bulletproof. The episode starts in peak RPGBOT fashion: no one is ready, Producer Dan scares the cast, Evil RPGBOT becomes a conspiracy board, and the crew somehow detours through Taylor Swift, soccer, the metric system, and America's inability to understand that a third of a pound is bigger than a quarter. Eventually, because someone has to be the adult and it sure is not going to be capitalism, Ash drags everyone into Cyberpunk Red. Cyberpunk Red takes place in 2045, during the Time of Red, after the Fourth Corporate War and the pocket-nuke-sized corporate tantrum that helped turn Night City into a smoldering lesson in why companies should not have militaries. The old Net is gone, rogue AIs lurk behind the Black Wall, and the new Net is a bunch of local data structures that Netrunners have to physically approach because apparently even hacking needed to become a contact sport. Mechanically, the game runs on D10 checks and D6 damage, which sounds friendly right up until someone explains combat. Fights are fast, violent, and deeply uninterested in your character arc. Armor helps until it gets chewed apart. Critical injuries can cost you limbs, senses, or dignity. Death saves are less a dramatic countdown and more a paperwork-light way of saying congratulations, you lived long enough to regret this. Ash also digs into Netrunning, Black ICE, cyberware, humanity loss, and cyberpsychosis. Netrunners are basically hackers with a death wish and a brain cable. Black ICE is corporate malware that wants to delete either your programs or your thoughts. Cyberware lets you replace your sad meat parts with upgrades, but too much chrome can eat away at your humanity until you become less person and more violent product recall. By the end, Cyberpunk Red comes across as stylish, brutal, roleplay-heavy, and aggressively allergic to the idea that anyone is having a good time for free. It is a game about survival, reputation, scarcity, and looking incredible while the world collapses around you. Next up: character creation, where Tyler will almost certainly try to become some kind of cyber-wizard trash gremlin and everyone will pretend to be surprised. Key Takeaways Cyberpunk Red is set in 2045 during the Time of Red, which is what happens when the future catches fire and nobody with money feels personally inconvenienced enough to fix it. The setting is corporate dystopia with the safety rails removed. Governments are weak, corporations are terrifying, and basic human needs have been turned into subscription models with worse customer service. The old Net is dead because a vengeful hacker released digital nightmares into the system. Now the Black Wall keeps the murder-AIs in the internet basement, where they are definitely fine and nothing bad will ever happen. The new Net is localized, which means Netrunners have to get physically close to access points. Hacking is no longer safely done from your couch. Now it comes with floor plans and gunfire. The core system is simple: roll a D10, add your stat and skill, and try to beat the difficulty. The consequences, however, are very committed to ruining your evening. Combat is deadly, fast, and rude. Armor degrades, bullets hurt, and the game strongly encourages the sacred cyberpunk tradition of not starting a gunfight unless you are ready to become street decor. Critical injuries are nasty. Cyberpunk Red does not ask whether you are emotionally attached to your arm before it starts making suggestions. Trauma Team can save you, but only if you can afford the good plan. In Night City, even emergency rescue has premium tiers, because of course it does. Netrunners are terrifying little brain-goblins who can hack systems, fight programs, and potentially ruin someone's cyberware from the inside. They are cool, useful, and absolutely one bad roll away from becoming soup. Cyberware is powerful and stylish, but it has a humanity cost. Replace too much of yourself and the game starts asking whether you are still a person or just a problem with optics. Cyberpsychosis is not just a punishment for wanting cool robot arms. The episode points out that the game treats medical prosthetics and elective combat chrome differently, which gives the system more nuance than just metal parts make you evil. Cyberpunk Red is roleplay-forward. Rent, lifestyle, jobs, reputation, hustle, and survival all matter. You are not just adventuring. You are trying to make it to next month without being evicted, harvested, hacked, shot, or monetized. The next episode moves into character creation using the Edgerunner method, because apparently everyone agreed that dying in Night City should at least be efficient. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

america spotify amazon time death ai government taylor swift matrix gm lord of the rings rent combat fights dungeons and dragons ash rpg cyberpunk hacking armor d d neo rpgs pathfinder glock night city black ice d6 mechanically cyberpunk red producer dan trauma team black wall startplaying cyberware

412 - Nentir Vale

Dungeon Master of None

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2026 63:19

Well met, traveler! Welcome to our isolated and dangerous corner of a distant realm...the realm of Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons. DMs Rob and Matt explore the greatest (or worst?) D&D campaign setting that never quite was...Nentir Vale. Tune in if you want some inspiration for a wilderness crawl, a West Marches game, or just some cool factions to steal for your campaign. Links: Dungeon Master's Guide 4e: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/56694/dungeon-master-s-guide-4e Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale 4e: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/158948/monster-vault-threats-to-the-nentir-vale-4e Dungeon Master's Kit 4e: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/121978/dungeon-master-s-kit-4e Follow Dungeon Master of None on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/dmofnone.bsky.social https://www.patreon.com/DungeonMasterOfNone Join the DMofNone Discord! Music: Pac Div - Roll the Dice

PANDEMONIUM (Remastered) - Speaking of Things that are Chaotic...

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2026 58:48

Welcome to Pandemonium, the plane where the wind screams, gravity is a rumor, and every emergency exit has a reasonable chance of dropping you directly into the Abyss. Tyler explains the cosmology, Randall attempts to locate something resembling a usable map, Ash discovers that the wind is made from every scream anyone has ever screamed, and Producer Dan quietly realizes this entire episode will require aggressive noise reduction. Pack darkvision, ear protection, and a backup character. The weather is hostile, the architecture hates you, and even the demons would rather be somewhere else. Show Notes This week on the RPGBOT.Podcast, we descend into Pandemonium, the endlessly dark maze of caves where hurricane-force winds carry ancient voices, communication is nearly impossible, and prolonged exposure can leave travelers deaf, insane, or both. The crew explores the plane's four layers, from the enormous caverns of Pandesmos to the narrowing tunnels of Cocytus, the marginally more gravity-compliant Phlegethon, and the sealed chambers of Agathion, where forgotten horrors wait patiently for some adventurer with a shovel and poor judgment. Along the way, we examine Pandemonium's strange inhabitants, exiled gods, nihilistic settlements, bizarre monsters, and oddly specific afterlives. We also follow the River Styx, investigate portals that treat destinations as optional suggestions, and discover a magical shouting spot that lets you insult someone anywhere in the multiverse, provided invisible shadow demons do not eat you first. Finally, the episode turns to using spells against player characters. The hosts discuss why illusion magic becomes terrifying in the hands of a villain, how Pass Without Trace can transform ordinary goblins into a tactical nightmare, and why Dungeon Masters should give enemy spellcasters clever strategies without simply making the players miserable. RPGBOT.Podcast Episodes The Abyss Arborea Archeron Arcadia The Beastlands Bytopia Carceri Celestia Elysium The Ethereal Plane The Feywild Gehenna Hades Hell Part 1 Hell Part 2 Limbo Mechanus Pandemonium Plane of Air Plane of Fire Shadowfell Key Takeaways Pandemonium is an environmental threat before combat even begins. Darkness, deafening winds, madness, and unpredictable gravity can challenge a party without requiring constant monster encounters. The plane contains four layers: Pandesmos, Cocytus, Phlegethon, and Agathion. Each becomes more difficult to navigate, survive, or pronounce. The wind does more than make noise. It carries voices, screams, threats, and other sounds from across history, creating an endless supernatural chorus capable of destroying a traveler's sanity. Navigation is nearly impossible when characters can walk along cave walls and ceilings and rivers can flow in whatever direction they feel like flowing. Most of Pandemonium's inhabitants are exiles, prisoners, refugees, or creatures that arrived accidentally and cannot leave. Nobody appears to have moved there because of the excellent schools. Agathion's sealed pockets make excellent prisons, vaults, and adventure locations for ancient beings that absolutely should not be awakened. The River Styx and Pandemonium's portals provide possible escape routes, but memory loss, random destinations, and ambush predators make every option terrible in a different way. Pandemonium works best when the plane itself feels like the primary antagonist. The monsters should be additional complications, not the only source of danger. Enemy illusionists can create memorable encounters, but Dungeon Masters should apply the same standards to NPC illusions that they apply to player illusions. Smart enemies using stealth, terrain, traps, and spells such as Pass Without Trace can turn supposedly weak creatures into serious threats without artificially increasing their statistics. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

ARCHIVE OF MESS-US - Everyone Failed Their Diplomacy Check

The Property Management Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2026 66:16

Tonight, the RPGBOT.Podcast enters the discourse arena, where Paizo is financially bleeding, Archives of Nethys accidentally brought a flamethrower to a contract negotiation, and the internet has already decided who the villain is without reading past the headline. Ash arrives with enough hot takes to melt adamantine, Tyler desperately attempts to preserve nuance, and Randall keeps feeding increasingly tortured metaphors into the Wayback Machine. Grab your popcorn, silence your notifications, and remember: the rules are still free. Everyone can please stop screaming now. UPDATE: Joint announcement from Paizo+AoN on Juy 24th Links Impossible Magic on paizo.com Amazon: Impossible Magic (affiliate link) Paizo Announces Layoffs June 8th Reddit thread with links to support affected people Archives of Nethys announcement July 14th Paizo blog post about Archives of Nethys July 15th AoN FAQ July 17th UPDATE: Joint announcement from Paizo+AoN on Juy 24th More Info Ronald the Rules Lawyer on the Paizo layoffs Show Notes Paizo has ended its eight-year official licensing partnership with Archives of Nethys, and the Pathfinder community reacted with all the restraint and careful consideration of a barbarian discovering Reddit. We break down what is actually changing, what is not changing, and why Archives of Nethys is not being deleted, destroyed, paywalled, or dragged behind Paizo headquarters. The site can still provide Pathfinder and Starfinder rules for free, but it will lose access to most official artwork and will no longer receive books early enough to guarantee new content on release day. To understand why Paizo would make such an unpopular decision, we climb into the Wayback Machine and revisit the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy, millions of dollars in inaccessible Paizo inventory, costly legal disputes, tariffs, financial losses, and the recent layoffs affecting roughly 15 percent of Paizo's staff. Paizo says the Archives of Nethys license required legal, financial, and administrative resources that the company can no longer justify, especially when the expected royalty payments never materialized. We also examine how both sides handled the announcement. Paizo communicated poorly, chose terrible timing, and apparently believed email was the ideal tool for navigating a beloved eight-year partnership during a financial crisis. Archives of Nethys responded emotionally, published its announcement without giving Paizo advance notice, omitted important context about ongoing negotiations and a six-month transition period, and then buried much of the clarification inside a video and forum comments. The result was a community firestorm in which everyone was angry, nobody had the complete story, and Diamond somehow remained the least surprising villain. Ultimately, this is not Paizo attempting a Wizards-style crackdown on free rules access. It is a struggling company cutting expenses while two groups of exhausted people make imperfect decisions under enormous stress. Support Archives of Nethys through Patreon or by disabling your ad blocker, purchase Pathfinder products directly from Paizo when possible, and perhaps give everyone enough time to get on a video call before declaring the death of the entire hobby. Key Takeaways Archives of Nethys is not shutting down. Its existing Pathfinder and Starfinder rules content will remain freely accessible. The major changes are the loss of most official Paizo artwork and the end of early PDF access, meaning new rules may no longer appear on release day. Paizo's decision comes amid severe financial pressure caused by the Diamond bankruptcy, inaccessible inventory, legal expenses, tariffs, losses, and staff layoffs. The license produced no royalties because Archives of Nethys operates through donations, advertising, and unpaid volunteer labor rather than as a profit-making business. Paizo says the relationship still required legal, licensing, financial, and administrative work, including policing unauthorized reuse of artwork taken from the site. Archives of Nethys presented an incomplete version of the situation in its original announcement, including leaving out ongoing negotiations and the six-month grace period for removing restricted artwork. Paizo also deserves criticism for poor communication, bad timing, and allowing an important partnership discussion to stall through email. The backlash was intensified by fear and incomplete information, not by evidence that Paizo intends to eliminate free access to its rules. Both organizations say they remain open to finding another arrangement, and the hosts believe a compromise may still be possible. Fans can support both sides by contributing to Archives of Nethys, disabling ad blockers on the site, and buying products directly from Paizo rather than through Amazon. Tyler proposes that Paizo create an affiliate program so Pathfinder creators can direct customers to Paizo's store while earning revenue and helping more money reach the publisher. The true villain remains Diamond, with capitalism receiving a strong honorable mention. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

spotify amazon ai matrix reddit mess failed lord of the rings diamond dungeons and dragons ash rpg wizards archives archive d d diplomacy neo rpgs pathfinder wayback machine paizo starfinder diamond comic distributors startplaying juy

Iain Dale: Standing for Parliament was a humiliating experience

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2026 25:22

In a busy week for British politics, LBC's Iain Dale joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss his new book, Have I Said Too Much? Iain speaks frankly about standing as a Conservative candidate at two general elections – and his fateful attempt to fight a third. James asks what makes a good political book, while Tim delves into the 2005 Conservative leadership election and Iain's role in approving the infamous ‘It's DD for me' T-shirts.Iain also reflects on his friendship with the late Ann Widdecombe, and on how she came to be defined both by the strength of her convictions and her renowned sense of humour.Produced by Henry Lloyd. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

british standing acast conservatives parliament d d spectators iain lbc humiliating ann widdecombe iain dale tim shipman james heale

Portfolio vs. Departmental: Which One is a Better Property Management Team Structure?

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2026 41:08

Which structure works best for a property management business: Departmental or Portfolio? This is a topic that can be pretty polarizing in the industry. Welcome back to The Property Management Show, where we deep dive into the world of property management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Today, we're talking with two prominent property management business owners in Central Florida. Welcome to Maryann Hoffman and Andrew Dougill of Hoffman Realty and David and Stacy Wilson of Wilson Management Group. These experts are talking about the structures they've adopted and offering some advice to property management owners who have not yet decided on how they want to organize their businesses. td {vertical-align: top; border:1px solid #eee;} li {font-size:15px;} .clean-td {border-bottom:none;} Podcast Summary Each type of management structure has its pros and cons. For property management companies that are about to build out their own structure, they need to think about the things they like to do and don't like to do. Deciding what works best will require flexibility. Processes and systems are often more foundational than how a property management company is organized. Guest Bios: Hoffman Realty Andrew and MaryAnn Hoffman are the founders and principals of Hoffman Realty, bringing decades of leadership and experience to the Tampa Bay property management industry. MaryAnn, a licensed real estate broker, entered the industry in 1983 and established Hoffman Realty in 1988 with a clear vision: to deliver personalized, high-quality service to small residential investors. In 2000, Andrew, then Vice President of Engineering at TECO Energy, joined the firm to lead business operations, aligning his background as a long-time real estate investor and landlord with the company's mission. Together, they have built a 38+ year track record of supporting residential investors throughout the Tampa Bay area and currently oversee a portfolio of approximately 450 managed properties. Hoffman Realty's continued success is rooted in a disciplined operational approach and a strong commitment to client service, with MaryAnn remaining actively involved in day-to-day oversight to ensure every client receives personal attention, and no property owner is overlooked. Both Andrew and MaryAnn are deeply engaged in the professional community. Andrew is an active member of Suncoast Tampa Area Realtors (STAR), the Bay Area Apartment Association, and the Tampa Bay Chapter of NARPM. He has served as Property Management Chair for Greater Tampa REALTORS®, is a member of the STAR Government Affairs and Property Management Committees, a former Tampa Bay NARPM Board member, and currently serves as Tampa Bay NARPM Legislative Chair—advocating for landlord-tenant policy at both the state and national levels. Wilson Management Group Wilson Management Group was founded in Orlando in 1986 and has been family-owned and operated ever since. David Wilson obtained his Real Estate Salesperson's license in 1993 and began working for WMG as a property manager. In 2005, he obtained his Real Estate Broker's license and gradually transitioned into overseeing all day-to-day business operations. David, and his wife, Stacy, purchased the business from his parents in 2014, and they run it together with their fantastic team. They are active members of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers). David has been a member since the Orlando/Central Florida chapter was formed in 1995. They are passionate about keeping Florida a landlord-friendly state, for the benefit of their current and future clients. They participate every year with NARPM in annual legislative summits both in Tallahassee, FL and Washington, DC, advocating for the rights of landlords here in Florida. What Do Successful Central Florida Property Management Companies Look Like? Let's take a look at who we're talking to today: Hoffman Realty is based in the Tampa Bay Area. They serve communities as far north as State Route 54 and as far south as Apollo Beach and Wimauma. They're a departmental structure and have about 450 companies under management. Wilson Management Group is in Orlando. They're a portfolio style management company and serve all of Orange and Seminole Counties, with part of Lake County, Volusia County, and Osceola County within their scope. They also manage about 450 doors. How Do These Structures Differ? At the NARPM Broker/Owner Conference this year, Matthew Tringali of BetterWho presented a framework called The Team Structure Checklist, which highlighted the fundamental differences between each business structure. Here's what Maryann reported from that event: Departmental Structure. Most people are in the office and available for phone calls, answering questions, and serving more specialized areas of expertise. There's one person managing inspections for all properties and another person managing the accounting or the leasing. One point of contact takes care of customer service. There are property management departments. Portfolio structures would have one professional with a portfolio of 75 to 125 properties and they handle everything. The entire experience of that property is under their purview, whether we're talking about maintenance or leasing or tenant management. The primary point of contact is the property manager overseeing the portfolio. Does the Company Structure Impact Quality of Service? When we talk about departmental vs. portfolio structures, is it merely an internal operational decision that owners don't notice, or are there differences in how service is delivered and perceived? It depends. When we talk about portfolio models, we're often talking about companies that cover a larger geographic area, and to expand the business portfolio is necessary. Departmental structures work better for smaller service areas. Both structures can provide excellent client experiences. This depends on policies and procedures and how effectively and consistently the company can apply those. It also depends on staff. A leasing agent having a bad day in a departmental structure will not affect an owner who calls to talk about accounting. But in a portfolio structure, the property manager may be having a bad day, and that can affect any owner who calls for help. The answer to high-quality service delivery in either structure? Having strong systems. Which Model is More Scalable for Property Management Companies? Property management companies may want to know if one type of company can support growth better than the other, but the answer comes down to company goals and vision. Portfolio property management companies are geographically based. Each property manager has a portfolio that they manage, and the properties assigned are based on maintaining boundaries geographically. There's always a bit of overlap, but it's not going to work to have property managers crossing counties while trying to provide great service. David and Stacy want their property managers to concentrate on their portfolios to the best of their ability. So from an expansion perspective, portfolio works for management companies that want to grow geographically. It's possible to add another property manager when new doors are added in different neighborhoods or cities. Departmental management companies grow best within a tight service area. Maryann and Andrew note that their employees go home at night without being on call for owners or tenants who might need them (Maryann hands out her cell phone for that purpose). The point is to have good property managers who communicate well with existing clients before growing. A new client joined Hoffman Realty because he had not heard from his previous property manager for three months. It turned out his assigned manager had left the company, but no one there had told him. In each business structure, growth is only possible with good systems, clear assignment of duties, and smart staff. What Are Some of the Weaknesses in Portfolio and Departmental Property Management Structures? What if a tenant doesn't pay rent? What if there are complaints that repairs are taking too much time? What if a key property manager leaves the company? Portfolio The main challenge for portfolio companies is the loss of that knowledge and expertise when a property anger leaves. And it's also important to be clear about who owns the client. In a portfolio system, you would not want a property manager to leave your company and take your clients with them. Property management is a relationship business. Internal controls are needed no matter what your structure. You will need: Management agreements Independent contractor agreements (this is how Wilson hires) Policies and procedures David and Stacy have done a great job of mitigating risk and establishing that clients belong to the company, not the property manager. Most of the professionals working for them have been with the company for over 15 years. Departmental For departmental companies, it can be a challenge to juggle all the repairs. It requires a lot of time management to negotiate every single lease renewal. Things come up and Maryann and Andrew must decide when the limits of their system have been reached and it's time to hire another person. Another weakness in departmental businesses is that sometimes owners and landlords can feel passed around from one person to another. They're talking to someone different about maintenance and accounting, for example. As the Business Development Manager, Maryann makes sure she is the point of contact for any struggles owners may encounter. There are lots of questions when they're being onboarded, but once the path is clear, things settle quickly. How Are Florida Property Management Companies Unique? The housing collapse in 2008. COVID eviction moratoriums. Massive hurricanes. Post-pandemic pricing surges. Major relocation of new residents into Florida. Major insurance crisis. Florida management companies have been through a lot. How does each business structure approach these elements that are unique to Florida property management? Andrew said that for Hoffman Realty, the 2008 crisis was one of the worst to manage. There had just been a huge boom and prices were high. Then, the market crashed and people who had no intention of being landlords found themselves renting out homes when they could not sell.That included a lot of private equity firms.Maryann remembers a meeting with a huge company that was planning to buy hundreds of properties in 2010. It was exciting at first; the idea that they would get so much business. But the geographic area covered seven counties. Hoffman Realty would have had to change their entire operation in order to accommodate that management contract. For Stacy and David, the COVID pandemic and hurricanes are particularly memorable.During the pandemic, people did not want to leave their homes but they needed to see properties. At that time, video walk-throughs were not common, but they quickly became necessary. They could not imagine doing without video tours, now. Property management companies in Florida have to adapt to manage these crises.In 2004, there were three different hurricanes that hit the Orlando region in a span of three weeks, including the very powerful Hurricane Charlie. That storm took out the power to the Wilson Management Group office for two and a half weeks. But they still had to operate. Trees were down everywhere and property managers could not use phones or email. This was long before the technology we have today. David was grateful that they had planned ahead and printed out what they needed and were able to physically check on their properties. Diving Deeper into Hurricanes: How Do Business Structures Respond? More recently, after Hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024, Hoffman Realty had three pages of roof repairs that their properties needed. This is how the departmental process served them: One person was in charge of roofs. Another person was in charge of fence repairs. Another handled mold remediation. Separate people were assigned to insurance adjusters. Staff members were calling tenants to ask about any damage. It was a mess, Maryann said, but everything was departmentalized already. As a portfolio-based company, David and Stacy would have their property managers check in with tenants, first. In the first few days after a hurricane, roads were dangerous. There were no stop lights and trees were down across town. Before putting their property managers in any kind of situation where they had to go out and put eyes on a property, they'd ask their tenants for reports. Instead of conducting 30 inspections a month, their property managers were eventually conducting about 30 per day. What is the Relationship Between Team Structure and Company Size? Is there a size where one specific structure makes more sense than the other? It may not matter. Regardless of the business model a Management company has, there is some level of overlap into different sorts of business models no matter what. Some companies have a pod style, with senior and junior managers and they have coordinators in that pod. Andrew and Maryann have a departmental business which is similar. In the Wilson portfolio structure, property managers still have back-office support for accounting and leases. Overlap should be expected. Scaling any of those structures can be challenging. For portfolio companies, property managers are geographically aligned, so if there is a burst of new properties that come under management, how are they assigned when all of the existing property managers are at capacity? How Do Property Managers Know Which Structure is Right for Their Company? Maybe you're a smaller company at 50 to 100 doors, and you have to decide whether to form a portfolio or department company structure. What clues should you be looking for that might tell you which path is the best? Andrew says that if you're growing from a one-person show to a larger company, you'll realize you need help, and you should delegate the tasks you don't like to do. Maybe you like leasing and talking to landlords but you don't like coordinating maintenance. That maintenance supervisor should be your first hire. Stacy and David advise to be prepared for one thing: systems will break down as you grow. Whether you gravitate towards departmental or portfolio or something else, you'll have to pivot or adjust at some point. You might start off with one model and pivot to the other. Try to anticipate where the break might occur. If you can see it coming, you can prevent it. How Can AI and Technology be Used? Thanks to automation and AI, it's possible to do more with fewer people. With the help of technology, property management owners know that they can focus more on relationships. And remember that AI is able to do a lot of things, but it can't just be plugged into a property management business. Automating something that is broken will just allow mistakes to be made faster. We're saying it again: processes and procedures are essential. Deploying AI will not magically fix problems. Will Owners Care about Company Structure when Choosing a Property Management Partner? Hopefully, clients will ask deeper questions about how your business functions. How are applicants screened? How quickly does the staff handle maintenance? How and when will my residents get solutions to their problems? These are the things that help determine how efficient a property management business is. Company structure is rarely a part of the interview. Property managers trying to earn new business will want to clarify with the property owners and investors what the long-term financial goals are. That may play into how they decide what kind of company they hire. But that may not have to do with structure; it may have more to do with the perspective of the business and how they manage. What Are the Last Words from Hoffman Realty and Wilson Management Group? Here's what our guests want to leave you with: Loving what you do is a big part of success. Start off with strong systems and get those down before growing a property management company. Owning investment real estate is great. If you're starting off, keep moving forward. How can you connect with our fantastic guests today? Connect with Maryann and Andrew from Hoffman Realty at http://hoffmanrealty.com/ Connect with Stacy and David from Wilson Management Group at https://www.wilsonmanagementgroup.com/about Thanks for joining us on The Property Management Show. 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