A Special Episode (episode 75)

On the Shoulders of Dwarves

### Why have a “special” episode? (1:06) It’s a fun break from the routine, it keeps the tension going, it’s a way to make some in-game event more special and it allows you to do things that the “regular” rules/flow/setting might not be well-suited to. And it encourages everyone to put more effort and excitement into the game. ### When? (2:25) A special can be used to celebrate an event (in-play or off-play) an adventure finale, a campaign finale, a player's birthday, a momentous event, something that the mechnics don't support, to represent something grander than the usual scope or scale. ### An all nighter (3:25) Set the time to play an extended session. ### Childhood encounters (3:45) Play the characters in their youth (toddlers/children/teens). ### Playing the baddies (4:40) Getting the player to play the villains. [Creating an Interesting Villain](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/creating-an-interesting-villain-episode-52-36ef5d25fb4d20/) ### Lower deck episode (7:10) [Lower-deck episode](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LowerDeckEpisode). Babylon 5: [A View From the Gallery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_View_from_the_Gallery) [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_Are_Dead) ### Using a different mechanic then usual (11:30) The Battle for Cecelia’s Mind [Tomb of Horrors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Horrors), using basic rules ### A special session for a specific character (17:30) Play a momentous event from a character’s past, a great chance for character development. ### Playing in a special location (18:25) The Yehiam Renaissance fair - playing in a burial mound. ### A player’s birthday (20:00) Uri did a session for a player's birthday, depicting 3 possible future incarnations of her character. ### LARPing your characters, to a point (21:05) Uri turned his game to a sort of LARP in the Chedek Tower, where the adventure actually took place. ### April Fool’s episode (22:45) Switching character sheets. ### Musical! (25:30) [The recorded Warhammer episode](https://www.dwarves.org.il/enemy-within/enemy-within-2-15) (in Hebrew). ### A weekend retreat (28:00) Uri's group does this once a year. ### Summary (30:45) [Episodes on TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Episodes) ### Taking the Load off Pffft ----- Email us at [e-mail] with questions, topic suggestions, and comments on this episode, and check out [our Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/dwarfpodcast) [We have a Patreon page](https://www.patreon.com/dwarfcast), in case you'd like to support us in a monetary fashion. Also, most links to [DriveThruRPG are affiliate](http://drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=29668), which means we get a bit of money if you buy through them, with no added cost to you. Intro and outro based on On the Shoulders of Dwarves by the Cliches Duo. On the Shoulders of Dwarves is shared under [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)