Teachers in the Dungeon Gift Guide 2021

Looking for a good gift for your significant other who plays D&D?  Maybe you are a DM and looking
for a fun gift for your players.  Perhaps you want to treat your DM to a nice gift.  Here are some ideas from Tom Gross and Dan Reem of Teachers in the Dungeon.  (any companies and individuals are pure recomendations from Teachers in the Dungeon, none are paid sponsorships)

Tom's List:  

Dice, Dice, Dice and more Dice!  Feed your #DiceGoblin and buy lots of dice.  Buy lots of dice from your local game store!! 

Dice Box:  The special dice or Game Dice need a special place to hang so they treat you well at the table. A custom-made wooden dice box is a great gift.  It gives your favorite player some swagger at the table when the Dice Box comes out to take control of the game.  

D&D Apparel:  Speaking of swagger, a classic D&D ampersand t-shirt or ball cap gives your D&D gal or guy a way to show their love of the game.  Or, check out some third-party groups that make their own roleplaying shirts.   

Roleplaying Book:  If your player is new to the game, a core rule book or a supplemental book is always appreciated, but for something unique, check out the third-party books.  Kobold Press has a great choice of really cool supplemental books for the player and DM alike.  You might also check out Cawood Publishing for some cool new books.  Also, Raven Press Maps (ravenpressmaps, Instagram) has a really cool and colorful map book with mini scenarios for quick battle opportunities.  

Character Token Sets: These are really cool little tin boxes, unique to the character class, that have a combat tracker tile the player can use to keep track of combat stats, and character condition tokens.  We have used these in our games and they are really helpful and keep you from constantly erasing on your character sheets.   

Dan's List

Minifigures: Whether you get the stock mini's or a custom figure made from a custom service like HeroForge, miniatures make great gifts for the gaming table.  

Miniature Paints: Cephalopod Studios is a small business that produces quality paints that do not need to be thinned, and any friend, player or family member who paints minatures would appreciate these. 

Commissioned Art:  Get your favorite D&D player a custom portrait of their character by commisioning a local artist or one online to create a unique work of art.  These are really special gifts and these talented artists are really great to work with.  The Teachers in the Dungeon recommend Jeremy Cole, Tatterdemaelion on Instagram.  

A quick note...

Before we wrap up, we always recommend buying your supplies and D&D gear and materials from your local game store or local creators.  It seems that you get more for your dollar buying from mass stores and websites, but the real value for your dollar is buying from your local creators and stores.  They support you and your game community in many ways.  They host product releases, they support local libraries and school clubs, they support your economy, they host game nights, they are the experts in the products.  They deserve your support.  

For more details on our thoughts about these products, check out the "Christmas Gift Guide" episode on the Teachers in the Dungeon podcast.  You can find the show on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and more.  On Teachers in the Dungeon, we discuss Dungeons and Dragons 5e and homebrew content from both player and DM perspectives, with additional episodes devoted to other topics related to D&D.  

Friday Favorites: Top 5 Concerts

I was asked to speak to the History of Rock class at our school to discuss a concert experience I had experienced.  I don't think the teacher, a good friend, had any idea how happy this made me as I love to talk about live music.  It got me thinking of all the concerts I had been to in my life.  I started by creating a list of as many of the concerts I could remember, and it became quite apparent which concert I would talk about.  But in the list making process, I thought it would be fun to create a top 5 concerts.  So here it is, with the top concert being the experience I would share with the class.  

5. The Kinks, Holiday Star Theater, Merriville, Indiana  1988

    My best friend in high school and I took made the trip to Merriville, Indiana to see The Kinks on a
Sunday night in 1988.  We enjoyed a powerful set from the Kinks, but we left something in that theather forever...a part of our hearing.  It was the loudest concert I have ever attended.  We couldn't talk to each other the entire way home, because nothing could be heard.  The next day at school we both experienced ringing in our ears.  Was it worth it?  At the time, absolutely it was worth it, check out the playlist of current songs and classics.  It was an amazing concert, but in hindsight, maybe some ear plugs would have been appropriate.  

4. The Eagles - Riverport Ampitheater, Maryland Heights, Missouri 1994

   

Any time you see a mega band like The Eagles, you are going to be in for a treat, because all of these band members went on to have incredibly successful solo careers.  At this concert, we weren't only treated to some of the best songs of The Eagles, but we got solo performances from Joe Walsh, Don Henley, and Glen Frey.  I will never hear Rocky Mountain Way in the same way when I hear it on the radio.  It was such a powerful performance.  The Eagles didn't disappoint with only one encore, they pounded out three encoure performances finishing with Take it Easy.  

3. Dave Matthews Band - Farm Aid, New World Music Theater, Tinley Park, Illinois 1997

    I have seen the Dave Matthews Band three times (once at FarmAid) and every time (not including Farm Aid) the audio mixing was disappointing.  I mean, disappointing to the point of almost leaving during one of the concerts.  The main guitar was so high on some songs that the bass and drums were almost not heard from where we were sitting.  But, Dave Matthews and band knocked it out of the park at their brief performance at Farm Aid.  I have no idea why this performance, mixing-wise, was so much better than the others, but I am thankful it was, because it makes it my third favorite concert experience. 

2. John Mellencamp - Rosemont Theater, Rosemont, Illinois 1997

     John Cougar Mellencamp puts on incredible shows with hard rocking music.  It is clear that he was a rocker growing up and living out his dream in this show.  It was a raucous concert with loud rock and roll with Scarecrow, Pink Houses, Cherry Bomb and he kicked off the encoure with R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A!  There was only one respite in the entire concert when he played Jackie Brown and concluded with

Check It Out which we all needed to come back to Earth after this non-stop musical experience.  

1. The Grateful Dead - Alpine Valley, East Troy, Wisconsin  1989

    I have my brother to thank for taking a risk on bringing me along for the ride of a Grateful Dead concert experience.  I am still amazed that I was able to see the Grateful Dead live in 1989 in Wisconsin.  When I think about the music of this concert, I will never forget the opening cords of the first song, Hell in Bucket, but the rest of the concert resonates in my head as just a Grateful Dead sound.  I don't have any particular memories of any other song except for Mexicali Blues in the first set.  Besides the musical experience, the Deadheads left quite an impression on me as I remember in the "market" area one man selling jars of absolutely nothing for ten dollars.  How could I forget the man skipping through the crowd tossing out Fruit Stripes gum to all of us.  This entire experience along with the iconic band and Jerry Garcia make it my number one concert experience.  

How about you?  What are your top concert experiences?  I could easily finish out a top 10, so let me know if you would like to see that, but I definitely would like to see your top shows and maybe even your favorite places to see a live show.  Leave a comment here or on Twitter and tag me @draftline

Storeroom Treasures part two: Old Equipment

Sometimes when I head into that storeroom in our house, I find some things that are so far removed from my memory.  Things that are obsolete in today's world, but for one reason or another seemed important to keep.  I came across a box that hasn't been opened in a long time because it found its way to the bottom of a pile of boxes.  I uncovered this box and popped off the lid to expose some old electronic equipment.  

The contents of the box included a VCR, a random remote control, a variety of different cords, and a digital television antenna/receiver.  This box is in the storeroom for several reasons even though the overarching question still is, why?  

Does anyone else keep a VCR around because of old family videos?  I think that is the only reason that VCR made it into the box. I know that there are also videotapes of some stage shows I did when I was in high school, and my wife has some videotapes of some dance shows.  What is funny is that none of these video tapes are in this box with the VCR.  That means that either we have discarded those tapes or there is another box somewhere filled with those tapes.  Upon inspection of this VCR, I discovered that there are a couple televisions in our house that do not have the RCA cable connectors for this old tape player, so it is almost completely obsolete.  

I kept the digital receiver from a time when we cut the cord and just watched the local digital, broadcast  channels.  That experiment lasted about a year.  It saved a ton of money that year, but in the times before streaming services, the Netflix DVD's just didn't come fast enough in the mail, and we went back to cable services.  I think I kept the digital receiver because I have dreams of cutting the cord again.  What I have discovered is that our local cable provider really offers reliable Internet service with a minimum cable channel list that it makes sense to carry this service.  So there sits the digital receiver in a forgotten box in the storeroom. 

This box also has a number of random cables including more coaxial cable than I think any room needs, an Hdmi extension cord, and some speaker wire.  Oh, there is a remote control from another VCR that apparently didn't make the cut, but the remote snuck in to this box to live another day.  

The best part of this box are the memories that are in here.  A silly box of random, old electronics has memories?  Of course, I remember all the rooms that I set this or other VCR's up in, from college apartments to houses long gone.  I remember the rooms and even some of the movies I watched on machines like this.  Boxes with old equipment like this are always filled with memories.  I realize that these boxes can't stick around forever, but while they are here in our attics, closets, or storerooms, they are worth a few minutes of time to reminisce.  Maybe even a little reflection is deserved to decide if boxes like these should go to the curbside to make room for new boxes that years from now will bring up a new collection of forgotten memories.   

Teachers in the Dungeon: An Episode Guide

Hello fellow adventurers and welcome to the Episode Guide to the Teachers in the Dungeon podcast.  

The show is a little over two months old and it has grown in ways we didn't see when we recorded our first episode over the summer.  Our goal is to discuss and analyze the games we play, and we plan to discuss other Dungeons and Dragons topics.  We also look to build a positive Dungeons and Dragons community where we celebrate content creators, game builders, Dungeon Masters and players.  Here is a quick breakdown to the different types of episodes you will find on Teachers in the Dungeon.  

Campaign Episodes: 

These episodes are the heart and soul of Teachers in the Dungeon.  We are currently breaking down the adventures of Zedi, Rix, Siv, Borem, Caersws, and Dirichlet.  They are better known as The Tiefling's Jacks.  Tom Gross and Dan Reem recap the adventure, talk about some inspiration for the setting, analyze decisions, mistakes, and successes by characters, players, and the Dungeon Master, discuss the origins of names and more.  These episodes last anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes in time.  The goal here is to make it the length of a short commute.  The Teachers in the Dungeon pack a lot into a little time.  

Random Encounter Episodes: 

Like a random encounter in Dungeons and Dragons, a Random Encounter episode could be about anything Dungeons and Dragons related.  In some upcoming episodes, Tom and Dan discuss their top three non-Wizards of the Coast resources.  You might find some interviews with players in the Random Encounters as well as a peek to the past by discussing Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks from first, second and third editions.  A random encounter is like opening up a chest in the dungeon; you never know what you will find.  

Bonus Action episodes: 

A Bonus Action is a quick and timely move, when you have one you use it!  Similarly, a Bonus Action Episode is a quick and timely topical episode.  Bonus Actions may be a timely interview from a local comic shop anniversary.  It might be a timely book or Dungeons and Dragons resource release that we discuss.  While they may be timely, they are worth a listen anytime.  

 If you love Dungeons and Dragons or just like some fun game conversation, give Teachers in the Dungeon a listen.  We also love feedback!  Leave a comment below or drop us an email teachersinthedungeon@gmail.com

Follow us: 

Twitter: @dungeonteachers

Instagram: Teachers in the Dungeon

Friday Favorites: Top 4 Frozen Pizzas

 In last month's Friday Favorites post, Top 5 Breakfast Cereals, I noted how my daughter, when seeing the question online of what food reminds you of your father, said that cereal and pizza are the foods she thinks of when she thinks of me. I gave you my top cereal, so here are my Top 4 Frozen Pizzas. 

Before giving my top 4 though, I did want to establish some expertise.  Not only do I eat an unusually high amount of frozen pizza now, I always have.  In high school and college, my pre-dinner was a pizza, not some pizza an entire frozen pizza.  In college, being budget conscious, I always bought the cheapest or best sale pizza I could find.  I mention that to establish that I have tried dozens of different kinds of frozen pizzas.  I will acknowledge that when it comes to the regional pizzas, I will be limited except for the region in which I live.

I have so many stories to share about frozen pizza, but I will leave you with this one that pretty much summarizes my experience with frozen pizza and how I consume it.  In high school, I was spending the night with a friend, and late at night, we cooked a frozen pizza.  My friend, who was getting the pizza out of the oven, asked me if I wanted to just split the pizza.  I said sure, that's what I was thinking.  I heard him cut the pizza and come into the living room where we were watching Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.  He walked over to me and literally handed me half of the pizza.  This was a new one for me, but there we were, each holding half a pizza, and eating it like watermelon.  It was great!  

Another reason why I claim expertise with this topic is that years ago I worked in the field.  I sold and drove a truck for Tony's Pizza Service.  As part of my training, we discussed what makes a good frozen pizza and I sat with my colleagues and taste-tested our pizza with national competitor pizzas.  We discussed many things from toppings to sauces and crust.    

With all that, here are my Top 4 Frozen Pizzas: 

Red Baron Four Meat:  The rest of the frozen pizzas on this list I would consider "craft" pizzas.  Red Baron is the best of the "mass-produced" pizzas.  There is no question it is a frozen pizza when cooked in the kitchen, but it is a good frozen pizza.  I like the healthy dose of meat on the "Four Meat" version of this Red Baron brand.  

Calipower Uncured Pepperoni:  This is the one pizza that I can actually eat, and I mean that in a couple different ways.  First, it is gluten-free and I don't have to worry about how it might impact me. Second, I have tried a whole bunch of gluten-free pizzas and this cauliflower crust is the most un-cauliflower and crunchy crust of them all.  It is more than just tolerable, it is tasty.  I highly recommend this pizza for anyone who is gluten intolerant or like me, just needs to limit gluten.  

Brew Pub Lotzza Motzza Breakfast Pizza:  My wife came home and thought she had purchased a sausage pizza for dinner.  When we realized our error, there was some disappointment for that dinner, but when we popped this pie in the oven the next morning, we were blown away!  This is an awesome breakfast pizza!  It has a crispy crust and generous toppings for a frozen pizza.  This is a special breakfast treat around our house.  

Home Run Inn Sausage: Hands down, this is the best frozen pizza on the market.  It has a yeasty "bar-like" crust that is filled thick with cheese and the best pizza sausage out there.  It is light on sauce, so if you like a lot of sauce, this won't be for you.  I like it because all parts of the pie are filled with flavor.  If you have this frozen pizza in the market in which you live, it is definitely worth cooking in your kitchen.  

2021 Personal Stats - Update October

Three quarters of the year down!  It is hard to believe that October is here which means it is time for the second to last Personal Stats update for 2021.  Here is where I am on October 12: 

Movies watched: 25
Rewatch: 12
First time: 13

TV series (streamed):
Episodes: 69
Rewatch: 28
First time: 41

Books read: 17
Graphic Novels: 3
Fiction: 11
Nonfiction: 3
Pages read: 3412

Books abandoned:
Graphic Novels:
Fiction:
Nonfiction:
Pages read:

Short Stories: 8
Pages read: 244

Comic books read: 131
Digital: 56
Print: 75

It is probably noted that I added a category titled "Books Abandoned."  I haven't done that yet, but I sense it coming soon.  I always tell the students at my school that if they are reading a book they aren't enjoying, they should stop reading it.  I may be reading a couple books that fit that criterion.  

Now that the school year is back in full swing, the stats have slowed in growth, but I did recently continue my MCU timeline rewatch by viewing Captain America: Civil War which has so much more context after watching The Falcon and  Winter Soldier this last year.  I also recently watched Raya and the Last Dragon with my family.  This was a fun, enjoyable film to watch with the family.  

I have been disappointed with the new update of Marvel Unlimited.  They removed the library, so when I want to read a quick comic when I have a few minutes, I have to hunt down something I haven't read.  In the past, I would just go to my unread library and choose something I had preselected.  I hope they bring this back in some updates.  

Anyway, one more quarter to create the baseline I need to measure my consumption of things I love.  

Here is where I was at the last check-in in July.  

Here is the link to the original Personal Stats post.  

Top 5 Breakfast Cereals

Recently, my oldest daughter saw a post online that asked what food reminds her of her dad.  Her reply was pizza and cereal.  It is true, I am not handy when it comes to the kitchen.  I like to keep it simple, but it is also no secret that my favorite meal of the day is breakfast.  Let's face it, it is the meal of the day where basically cake is acceptable: Donuts, pastry rolls, pancakes and syrup, French Toast, and the list goes on.  It is also the meal that often features bacon.  

My most common breakfast food though is cereal.  It is easy.  It can be eaten with milk or just throw it in a ziplock back and it is on the go.  Breakfast cereal is also good at any time of the day.  My favorite time of day for cereal besides breakfast is as the midnight snack.  

I feel that a list like this is best written by an adult because as a child, part of the breakfast fun is trying the 1000's of different kinds of cereals.  These are the sugary, colorful, fun shape cereals and the trial and error as a kid is endless.  It isn't until adulthood that you really start to shape a serious opinion, but hey if a kid wants to share her top cereals, don't let me stop her!!  It would be fun to see. 

Anyway, here are my Top 5 favorite breakfast kinds cereals: 

5. Frosted Mini-Wheats - I just love filling these little pillows of cereal with almond milk and eating them.  They fill my stomach, they are sweet, and satisfying to eat!  

4. Frosted Flakes - When I need a dose of childhood, Tony the Tiger and Frosted Flakes are there for me.  As an adult who doesn't eat the flakes often, they do tear up the roof of my mouth a bit, but it is totally worth it as they taste so good. In fact, they're Grrreat!!!  

3. Chocolate Chex  It is gluten-free and satisfies a chocolate craving.   

2. Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries - I like the variety of texture in a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with the clusters, flakes, and strawberries.  The flavor is also sweet but not overwhelmingly so.  

1. Honeynut Cheerios - This is the champion of cereals for me.  First, it is delicious any time.  I enjoy it with some almond milk, but when I am rushing out the door for work, I throw some in a bag and enjoy later.  On top of all that, it is a gluten-free option that takes care of any sweets cravings.