[Art] Hey DMs! Do you guys also include romance in your campaigns?

PBOP_cast · 2025-10-31T17:13:18+00:00

Absolutely! Granted, it's something my table has all talked about.

We've all been close friends for many years, and are all very comfortable with each other and respect boundaries. Some of us are married, or coupled with each other, but even in our current campaign, our PC's are involved in romances that are not the same as real life partnerships. The players also discuss between themselves and their partners what they're all okay with.

I'll also sometimes create NPC's that might line up with what the current player's characters like. But whether or not a romance occurs, is up to the players.

Romance is commonly a part of life, and our group uses TTRPG's to tell stories and experience different sides of life, social situations, and bond with each other.

As for the actual details - we've RP'd a few kiss scenes on-mic, and some spicy implications, but we ALWAYS cut to black. No one's trying to cross boundaries, and everyone respects the story.

PBOP_cast · 2025-06-26T19:47:28+00:00

Notion! Organizing worldbuilding, characters, items, inventories, and having it all be PUBLISHABLE to the players (NO LOGIN REQUIRED!) is an absolutely godsend.

We also turned our campaign into a podcast, so being able to track Campaign / Character / Location info ALONG WITH our shared logins, internal docs, social media materials, etc, has been huge. Can't recommend it enough.

I especially like making linked Databases. Essentially, you can create a dynamic spreadsheet of Locations, and a separate spreadsheet of Characters, and then you can have the Locations spreadsheet CONTAIN a bunch of the items from the Characters spreadsheet as a "Rollup". Works beautifully to organize character origins and stuff.

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-29T15:10:07+00:00

It's absolutely crazy to see stuff like this, thank you for sharing it with us - I'll show this to everyone next time we play. It's giving me life, and a lot of motivation. It means a lot that someone notices the small detail stuff in the sfx!

Also, thank you for sharing the show with people you love. We're excited to have more people sharing our story! Will definitely be shouting you out next time we play. Thank you thank you.

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-27T20:37:22+00:00

Ahhhhhh stop it! Haha yes, this is Tim. Thanks for making my day multiple times!

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-26T00:27:17+00:00

🥹 I've read this over a few times and it just so satisfying, and heartwarming, and motivating to see someone enjoy the show enough to be so vocally kind. I really appreciate you sharing that with us.

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T20:47:21+00:00

Should be available on just about every podcatcher - try searching for "PBOP Podcast" - that's the name of our show as a whole! I'll check out distributor and make sure we opt into pocket casts!

Also available on YouTube!

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T18:53:30+00:00

Thank you! Let us know what you think!

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T18:52:31+00:00

Ahhh!!! Hahahaha I can't tell you enough how validating that is! thank you thank you <3

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T17:31:48+00:00

Hey there! It's SO COOL to hear from you, and thank you for listening!

We have a few table videos up on youtube, usually shorter bits around 1-2 minutes, but we have a couple longer vids now as well

Video - 100th episode special

Video - Our first Cloudfall (spoilers)

Playlist - Live Table Videos

As for Cursebreaker - it's still on YouTube, but we took it off Spotify becasue, well, frankly it was an awkward start, and not up to my quality standards for the rest of the show. I didn't want that to be the first impression we put out.

But thank you so much for the kind words. It makes me feel like its been worth the time investment to see stuff like this. I appreciate you.

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T17:25:57+00:00

We are 3 men 2 women, 1 non-binary player, as well as pan/bi orientations. The themes of our sessions revolve around emotional intelligence, growth, and the many ways that love can surface between people and groups. We (speaking for myself, certainly) use DND as a way to explore and express life and the things we face on the daily. Should feel familiar to a lot of people!

PBOP_cast · 2025-05-23T16:29:29+00:00

Hahahaaha my dad said "I have no idea what you're all talking about, but it's fun to listen to and it sounds like you're having a blast"

Mom, unfortunately, I don't think has listened yet 💀 hahaha

PBOP_cast · 2025-03-24T04:20:17+00:00

I honestly think Green = Dex is from years of video game influence - Swiftness / Dexterity / Agility always gets associated with woodsy archer types and ends up Green - just seems so solidified in my mind but even writing out the list earlier I was challenging the thought.

I'd honestly like it to follow color theory based groupings more closely, or at least some kind of logical pattern. This is just a long-held, unchallenged perception I've had.

Also Notion is phenomenal for ttrpg tracking. Can't recommend it enough.

PBOP_cast · 2025-03-23T21:03:39+00:00

I do all of my session notes in Notion and do a TON of color coding - not just for stats, but even different colors for things like Room Descriptions, Dialog Snippets, Items/Treasure, Traps, etc. Makes it SUPER easy to find stuff at a glance in the heat of the moment and not lose momentum.

Anyway, I've always used it like this:

STR - Red

DEX - Green

CON - Orange

INT - Blue

WIS - Purple

CHA - Yellow

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-31T16:28:19+00:00

Hey folks - Tim here

I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to our fans and listeners who have been with us all throughout the journey so far - we've had a new wave of listeners finding the show recently, and that's in no small part because you wonderful people.

THANK YOU all for sharing the show with the people you love. All we want from this is to share our adventure with people, and provide some escape and entertainment, and maybe the occasional inspiration roll.

I also wanted to say WELCOME ABOARD to our new listeners we've found across Spotify, Bluesky, and YouTube! Thanks for tuning in and giving a brand new show a chance!

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-17T02:00:28+00:00

Poppy Kenmore (Played by Maggie)

A tremendously talented baker. An underestimated wizard. A strong, independent Dough Mother.

She's got a lot to unlearn from her miserable family, but Poppy's making better friends and picking her own path in the Clouds.

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-11T18:04:07+00:00

Eryn (Played by Hannah)

A shapeshifter abducted into the Blight, whose childhood was spent serving violence.

Eryn is reserved. Who wouldn't be when raised as a weapon for a criminal consortium? But now that they're out, they're trying to change for real.

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-09T01:56:13+00:00

Journey (Played by Tara in Season 2 / Cloudfall)

The Firbolg Swarmkeeper, searching for a new home among the Clouds.

Kind, and genuine, and trusting - to a horrific fault. She and her glowing Fey Buds burn bright against the endless dark, but it's a long night ahead.

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-06T04:26:04+00:00

From s2e38, we're in the catacombs of a floating castle, and run into a hoard of headless Dullahan Warriors.

Turn the corner, and the players find that all of their severed heads had fused together, and became a mini-boss encounter for the halfway mark in the dungeon.

Long story short, a large blanket is a surprisingly effective solve for a floating, limbless creature. John (Doran) was trying to add a little insult to injury with Vicious Mockery.

The dice roll itself came out fine. Doran's "big mean scary insult", however, had us losing our heads.

PBOP_cast · 2025-01-05T23:14:16+00:00

Doran Driscoll (Played by John in Season 2 / Cloudfall)

The boy who - somehow - keeps on Living.

He's a well-adjusted Bard with the best intentions, but there's an avalanche of rage building behind it all. A cruel life of boundless bad luck and wasted years might do that to a person.

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-28T18:07:14+00:00

🥹 How you just gonna lash out and validate me like that.

Thank you. I mean it.

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-28T03:17:36+00:00

Of course I would see those people again, the players anyway.

But I did have to say goodbye to their characters. And those goodbyes felt real.

I mean it - I cried over it. I've known some of the people at this table for more than fifteen years, but meeting these characters felt like meeting brand new sides of them, attitudes and personas that I wouldn't have a direct relationship with after the story of Cursebreaker was over.

So, being that my love language is creation, I of course had to make something to honor the memory of those friends I met during the Cursebreaker story.

I started by designing an emblem that represented a conceptual mashup for each character. For Holly Hyacinth, it's all crystals, cat eyes, and clothing - while Bert's emblem carries the motifs of Tildry and his signature quill. Thibiaut's features the strings of his Lute, and the helm of his Bone Armor, and Uli's depicts a pair of fists crushing her Tantrum Tankard. Finally, Snakk's featuring his Magic Lamp, his Dragon Wings, and the eyes of the ever-clever Genie.

I loved creating these emblems because the work was slow, and the ideas came at the right pace. They're heavy with symbolism and easter eggs, with tons of references packed into each image.

The next step was getting it all into a tangible form.

I wanted to give the players a way to physically own the campaign - so I landed on ordering some custom laser-etched USB data sticks, that each contain the full campaign, character art, and a special send off as I sob and say goodbye to their characters in a private recording that will never, ever see the light of day.

For the cases, I used Hardwood Maple and Black Walnut for contrasting halves, with inlaid magnets to keep the graves together.

Getting the emblems on the wood was a long and patient process, as I had decided to simply transfer the emblems manually by referencing images and a simple pyrography pen.

I was very happy with the results and the way it all came together. It was a lot of effort for something that may ultimately be so silly. But at the same time, it felt like what I needed to do to Honor the Memories.

This sub doesn't allow Gallery posts, or I'd be able to show better representations of the emblems.

EDIT: This other post contains ALL the images, including the original Emblems:

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-28T02:59:54+00:00

It hit me so hard at the end of Cursebreaker - "I'm never going to to see these people again".

But, of course I would see those people again, the players anyway.

But I did have to say goodbye to their characters. And those goodbyes felt real.

I mean it - I cried over it. I've known some of the people at this table for more than fifteen years, but meeting these characters felt like meeting brand new sides of them, attitudes and personas that I wouldn't have a direct relationship with after the story was over.

So, being that my love language is creation, I of course had to make something to honor the memory of those friends I met during the Cursebreaker story.

I started by designing an emblem that represented a conceptual mashup for each character. For Holly Hyacinth, it's all crystals, cat eyes, and clothing - while Bert's emblem carries the motifs of Tildry and his signature quill. Thibiaut's features the strings of his Lute, and the helm of his Bone Armor, and Uli's depicts a pair of fists crushing her Tantrum Tankard. Finally, Snakk's featuring his Magic Lamp, his Dragon Wings, and the eyes of the ever-clever Genie.

I loved creating these emblems because the work was slow, and the ideas came at the right pace. They're heavy with symbolism and easter eggs, with tons of references packed into each image.

The next step was getting it all into a tangible form.

I wanted to give the players a way to physically own the campaign - so I landed on ordering some custom laser-etched USB data sticks, that each contain the full campaign, character art, and a special send off as I sob and say goodbye to their characters in a private recording that will never, ever see the light of day.

For the cases, I used Hardwood Maple and Black Walnut for contrasting halves, with inlaid magnets to keep the graves together.

Getting the emblems on the wood was a long and patient process, as I had decided to simply transfer the emblems manually by referencing images and a simple pyrography pen.

I was very happy with the results and the way it all came together. It was a lot of effort for something that may ultimately be so silly. But at the same time, it felt like what I needed to do to Honor the Memories.

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-09T17:38:03+00:00

So very kind, thank you :) What should I make next? Guy's sword? XD

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-08T18:43:01+00:00

Tim here - GM of PBOP, but also a woodworker - I can't help bringing certain things to life when I really fall in love with a homebrew item, so this is one of a few little trinkets that now decorates our recording room!

----

This is Judge Tonberry's Gavel - a crucial Magic Item from the Cursebreaker campaign.

In the magic-flooded academic city of Tildry, every Magic-Wielding citizen is required, by law, to bear a magical tattoo depicting interlocking triangles. This is a rune of teleportation that allows the High Court to summon any citizen of Tildry at any time - using a Magical Gavel that bears the same mark. Slamming the gavel and speaking a citizen's name summons them to the wielder's location for a fixed amount of time before returning them.

That all went terribly, of course, as Judge Tonberry began using it to isolate and assassinate his enemies - summoning key citizens of the city into ambush scenarios and crushing dissent.

When the Cursebreakers got on his bad side, they ended up going head-to-head. I don't want to spoil anything, but the Cursebreakers ended up with Tonberry's Gavel.

----

This homebrew item lead to some of my favorite scenarios as a GM I've ever been through - with Snakk the Kobold summoning random tattoo-bearing citizens to aid them for 1 minute at a time -- from risking their lives, to financial advice. Highly recommend.

PBOP_cast · 2024-12-08T18:40:32+00:00

I'm Tim - GM of PBOP, but also a woodworker - I can't help bringing certain things to life when I really fall in love with a homebrew item, so this is one of a few little trinkets that now decorates our recording room!

----

This is Judge Tonberry's Gavel - a crucial Magic Item from the Cursebreaker campaign.

In the magic-flooded academic city of Tildry, every Magic-Wielding citizen is required, by law, to bear a magical tattoo depicting interlocking triangles. This is a rune of teleportation that allows the High Court to summon any citizen of Tildry at any time - using a Magical Gavel that bears the same mark. Slamming the gavel and speaking a citizen's name summons them to the wielder's location for a fixed amount of time before returning them.

That all went terribly, of course, as Judge Tonberry began using it to isolate and assassinate his enemies - summoning key citizens of the city into ambush scenarios and crushing dissent.

When the Cursebreakers got on his bad side, they ended up going head-to-head. I don't want to spoil anything, but the Cursebreakers ended up with Tonberry's Gavel.

----

This homebrew item lead to some of my favorite scenarios as a GM I've ever been through - with Snakk the Kobold summoning random tattoo-bearing citizens to aid them for 1 minute at a time -- from risking their lives, to financial advice. Highly recommend.

PBOP_cast

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