🎲 He helped build Acquisitions Incorporated, runs the Draw Steel megaproject "Crack the Sun," and might just predict D&D's next big setting before Wizards announces it. This week on Tabletop Journeys, we sit down with veteran adventure designer Teos Abadía, and this conversation is PACKED. 🔥
If you've ever wondered how the pros actually write adventures that hit different at the table, how a horror module can wreck your players without a single monster appearing, or what it would take for Dark Sun to come back to 5E and actually be good, this episode is for you.
📖 What we get into:
✨ Teos's writing philosophy and why saying less at the table can mean so much more
⚔️ Inside Draw Steel and Crack the Sun, MCDM's biggest adventure ever. Bowling pin tactics, monster powers literally named "Grabby Hand," and a 5th act Teos says he wants to GM, read as a novel, AND watch as a movie.
👽 A spine-chilling Alien RPG actual-play story that gave a co-host literal nightmares for days.
🏜️ Teos's hot take on whether D&D's rumored "Season of Champions" should bring back Dark Sun and what Wizards would need to get right (and not repeat) from past setting revivals
🎤 Real, honest advice for third-party TTRPG creators on organized play, convention playtesting, building an audience, and figuring out why you actually create
This is your show if you're a GM hungry for inspiration, a player who loves hearing how the sausage gets made, or just someone who wants to know what "people bowling" means in a tabletop game. Hit play, then hit share. Send this to your DM, your party, your group chat. This is the kind of conversation that's better with friends. 🧙♂️🐉
And remember:
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🔗 Links & Resources mentioned in the episode:
- Crack the Sun / Draw Steel at MCDM: https://www.mcdmproductions.com/
- Mastering Dungeons Podcast (Teos & Sean Merwin): https://masteringdungeons.podbean.com/
- Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Cities
- And don't forget to check out Teos @AlphastreamRPG
🎙️ Tabletop Journeys links:
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Website: https://ttjourneys.com/
Email: podcast@ttjourneys.com
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