Dungeons & Dragons

Polygamer #120: Sabriel Mastin, D&D editor & Overwatch player

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Ken Gagne

After years as a Dungeons & Dragons player, Sabriel Mastin stepped behind the DM screen to run her own campaign. She immediately loved it, creating her own adventures in the world of Eberron. With that experience under her belt, she realized she could help other DMs with their own creations as well. She now offers her services as a D&D editor, offering developmental, line, and copyediting on modules and supplements. By day, Sabriel is a the head of social media and support for Overbuff, a stats-tracking website for Overwatch, the popular first-person shooter from Activision Blizzard.

In this podcast, Sabriel and I talk about the transition from player to DM; how easy it is to switch between editions of D&D; Sabriel’s sources of inspiration for her campaigns; how her group has adapted to gaming in a pandemic; the benefits of hiring an editor, and the cost of doing so; and how the Overwatch community has responded to the lawsuits and scandals around Activision Blizzard.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for a transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Polygamer #110: Librarian Amanda Pegg-Wheat

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Ken Gagne

Amanda Pegg-Wheat is a children’s librarian and branch manager in Quincy, Massachusetts. In addition to books, movies, video games, and Internet access, Amanda offers her patrons another service: Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. As the DM, she guides young adventurers through the fantasy world of Theros — even when the pandemic keeps them from gathering around the gaming table in person.

In this podcast, Amanda and I chat about what made her want to pursue the children’s librarian track of library science; the value and services that libraries offer in our digital age; what kids can learn from Dungeons & Dragons; whether parents ever object to their children playing D&D; why librarians also need to be community managers; how libraries have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic; and the joys of reading aloud.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:11:35 — 41.9MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #75: Matt Baume of Queens of Adventure

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Ken Gagne

Queens of Adventure is a comedy-adventure podcast in which four drag queens slay their way through pencil-and-paper role-playing games. Adapted from the live stage show Dungeons & Drag Queens, Queens of Adventure has as its dungeon master Matt Baume, host of the podcast Sewers of Paris, director of documentary Playing with Pride, and returning guest of Polygamer.

On this episode, Matt provides an introductory lesson to drag and how it’s similar to D&D; how he’ll adapt an over-the-top live show of one-off adventures to an audio-only ongoing campaign; how designer James Morris is creating a role-playing campaign for drag queens that’s different from off-the-shelf modules, including using the language of polari; and the exciting stretch goals for the podcast’s Kickstarter campaign.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Links mentioned in this episode:

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:49 — 26.4MB) | Embed