2023 in Retrospect and the Prospects of 2024

Speaker: 00:00:03

Welcome back to How to be a Better DM, the

official podcast of Monsters.Rent.

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: 00:00:09

I'm your host today, Justin Lewis, here

with Tanner Wayland, my brother in arms,

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: 00:00:14

my compadre, my colega.

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: 00:00:17

How's it going?

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Such a good man.

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I'm so many things.

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: 00:00:20

I'm excited.

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Well, you are everything, but you're also

Tanner.

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And that's exactly what we need.

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I'm being a little nostalgic today because

s the last podcast episode of: 2023

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Now I never thought we would get to 2023,

right?

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Because you never see yourself moving

forward in time.

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But I think today it would be ad propo,

whatever that means, to take a look back.

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at 2023 and also take a look forward into

: 2024

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see what the future holds for us.

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What do you think, Tanner?

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I'm down for that.

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Yeah, let's, oh, go ahead, sorry.

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I was gonna say, let's start with 2023.

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And Tanner, if you want to kick us off.

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I mean, yeah, just to on a personal note,

it's been, it's been a busy year.

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One things have gotten busier with the

podcast as we'll talk about, but also, uh,

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I mean, just personally got a dog.

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We got a house, uh, a house at the start

of the year, dog halfway through the year,

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good old banjo.

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He's a, he's a cutie.

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He probably just heard me bless his heart.

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Um, but yeah, it's been a great Christmas

season.

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Uh, Kirstie and I are doing well.

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Uh, otherwise, you know, just.

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Things are busy, but we're keeping up over

here.

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How about you, Justin?

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Yes, things are also busy for us.

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We had a baby.

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That's probably the biggest thing that

happened to us personally this year, back

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in August, my wife and I had a baby.

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Funny story, for nine months, we thought

the baby was gonna be a girl.

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The ultrasounds told us it was gonna be a

girl.

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And then the baby came out as a boy.

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So check your ultrasounds, people.

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You don't wanna surprise like that.

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But having a baby has been very rewarding,

very tiring.

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both those things.

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Yeah.

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And I mean, I believe that that's, that's

the thing about kids.

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You get a lot from them, but, uh, they

request everything from you.

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Absolutely, absolutely.

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Well, specifically talking about the

podcast, we've had actually a really good

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year.

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It's been fun seeing the podcast grow.

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And one of my favorite things this year

has been just in November, we had our

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highest download month.

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We had 5,000 downloads in the month, over

5,000 downloads, which is not a small

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thing, right?

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I think...

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Most podcasts never get past 10 episodes,

right?

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Just that's how it is statistically.

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And you're in the top 50% of podcasts if

you get more than 100 listens on any

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episode within the first seven days, and

we get around 200.

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So we're probably in the top 70% of

podcasts maybe.

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Obviously it is kind of an exponential

curve, but it's really cool to see the

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growth we're having.

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And more than that, I think is

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you know, having people reach out and

being like, yeah, you guys are helping us,

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you know, DM better or helping me.

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I just like listening to you guys.

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And it's just, it's fun to think, you

know, we did something that people like,

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which in this day and age is pretty,

pretty rare.

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Yeah, you know, I think that it's a great

thing just seeing that, you know, I don't

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think of us as any kind of exceptional

people.

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Like, obviously, we have a lot of advice

on being DMs, but it's nice to know that

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it's like, hey, if we and, you know, the

guests we bring on, just share some of our

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thoughts, you know, think a little deeper

about the individual parts of being a DM,

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then you can do really good work.

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It's kind of like a journaling in your

personal life where it's like, yeah.

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If you just spend a little bit more

thought deconstruct things a little bit,

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uh, regurgitate it in a good way, then

essentially you, you learn, there's a lot

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to learn from just a simple review of

things.

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Right.

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And so that's, that's been kind of an

interesting thing.

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And I've loved knowing that we're, we're

helping people that way.

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Absolutely.

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I mean, even though we talk a lot about

DMing, I would in no way, shape or form

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claim us to be the world's best DMs.

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Well, I can't speak for Tanner, but

myself, I DMed just last night, and

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afterwards I was like, man, I need to get

way better.

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But I'm sure that that's how a lot of

people feel.

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And honestly, that's why how to be a

better DM exists, because we want you to

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not feel that way instead.

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Finish the session being like, wow, that

was so great.

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I'm just so happy.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And you know, we try and change it up with

the with the topics if you know, in the

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future, if you guys ever are like, hey, we

want specific topics or types of content,

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like, we've considered, you know,

reviewing

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other people's games, you know, as they DM

we considered a lot of different types of

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things.

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We always try and get on guests who we

think would be valuable.

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But if any of you have any ideas, we of

course welcome that.

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Yeah, actually, you can go on Instagram,

look up at howtobetterdm or at

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monsters.rent, send us a message,

suggestions, or even content that we

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missed in an episode.

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You know, if you think that a particular

episode needs to be fleshed out a little

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bit more, definitely let us know.

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Or if, like Tanner said, you want us to

basically, you know, commentate on your

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session, you just have to record your

session and send it to us.

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But...

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Really over this last year, like Tanner

mentioned, we had some pretty great

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guests.

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I think one of my favorites was Victor

Bovine.

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And that's mostly just because, you know,

I kind of cut my teeth on the Forgotten

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Realms by listening to the Drizzt o'Urden

series by R.A.

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Salvatore.

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And Victor Bovine was the voice actor,

right?

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And so, you know, his voice for me is

Drizzt o'Urden.

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And it was really cool to, you know, to

listen to him.

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It was also fun, you know, hanging out

with Andy from WeGeek together.

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And,

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having like that live podcast feel, which

is kind of rare for us just because our

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guests are mostly not in the same locale.

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Though I do think, you know, moving into

the next year, I think it would be cool to

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have more and more in-person guests if we

can get them.

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Yeah, agreed.

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Like Andrew, he was great.

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Cause I mean, you should have seen all the

technical issues we had going into that.

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Cause we, we weren't onsite, you know, we,

we didn't do it at either of our places or

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at a studio, we went to we geek together,

you know, his store set up there, just so

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many technical issues getting it set up.

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And then once it was finally done, it was

just cool to actually have a chill

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conversation and we even thought that we

had lost like the, the recording and we

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found it.

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And so like that one.

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I think I'm nostalgic for it from like a

trauma standpoint because it was like both

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you had the bitter and the sweet you know

but that one was memorable for me

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Agreed, agreed.

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Also, we want to say thank you to everyone

who participated with us in the one-shots

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of last year.

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We know that they weren't as periodic.

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They didn't happen every month.

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But we were grateful to you for joining us

and having fun with us, even amidst the

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technical difficulties of the one-shots.

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I know the last one that I did, very

technically difficult.

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And hopefully in the next year we can have

more one-shots and more people join.

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Even if there are opportunities for live

one-shots in person, if there's a group of

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listeners here in the Utah region, we can

get together and do a one-shot that way.

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That would be fun, I think.

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But again, just wanted to say thank you

for everyone who participated and also for

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all the guest DMs we've had over the last

couple of years.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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It's always fun seeing you guys, meeting

you guys, and also just playing.

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We learn a lot every time that we do,

because it's one thing playing with a

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party that you've played with

consistently.

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Playing with a new one always is such a

learning experience.

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So thank you for being, I mean, our

friends and our guinea pigs to some

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extent.

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So thank you.

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Absolutely.

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Another great thing that we did this year

was the guild.

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And the guild is sort of a kind of

collaboration between the podcast and

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Monsters.Rent.

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And really it's all the same thing, but

just for your information, the guild is

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basically a free community that the goal

is to connect people.

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who are like-minded in the same space, but

also give them resources and things like

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that, right?

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We have the beginning of a Dungeon

Mastering course, and we have some

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downloadable resources available online

through the guild, again, all free.

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And for me, the coolest thing of the guild

has been, one, seeing people slowly kind

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of come in, right?

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And every new person that enters the guild

adds so much to everyone who's already

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there, and...

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hopefully to themselves, but also seeing

the collaboration between the people

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within the guild, seeing people talk about

homebrew monsters that they're working on

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or puzzles that they found.

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It's just really cool to sort of sit back

and see you guys, because if we could

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bottle up all of your knowledge and

experience, I think that would be way more

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informational and helpful than what we can

say.

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And it's frankly just kind of a treat just

to be kind of on the receiving end of

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that.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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That one's been just fun seeing like it's

growing slowly because we haven't been

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doing it that long.

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But but every time it does then you feel

you know, like, like you each new person

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is like a measurable help to everyone

else.

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And I love that.

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It's also growing slowly, I'd say, because

I don't know about you, Tanner, but I have

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no idea how to do Discord, right?

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Like, I don't know technically very well.

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But also, I'm not like a people person,

per se, so it's kind of a stretch for me

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being like, yeah, welcome, let's talk

about these things.

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So it's definitely a new experience.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So thank you for your patience with us, if

you are a part of that.

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And if you're not, come join, you know?

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Add to the milieu, as the French say, of

the voices and everything.

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For us, I mean, probably the thing that's

made me busiest this year is, I mean,

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aside from the podcast in general, it's

Monsters.Rent.

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You guys have heard us talk about that,

you know, for a hot second now.

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But...

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Yeah, it's just been kind of an eye

opening experience where it's like, yeah,

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there's a lot more to a, uh, miniature

rental business than you'd think.

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Uh, but it's, it's had a lot of, uh, a lot

of ups, some downs, but, um, you know, I

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think for me, like, uh, a big up was just,

you know, at the start, there's always a

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question when you're starting kind of like

a side venture, a side project.

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of like, okay, how much do we throw

ourselves into it at the start?

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And do we do it slowly?

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Do we just jump in and, you know, see if

we can swim?

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And I think we got a good experience with

that with the dead wars that we geeked

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together through, through back in, was it

May?

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I think it was May, April, around there.

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May, April.

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Yeah.

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Because you know, we, we made and painted

like, what it was like 200 minis for that.

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And then beyond that, we, like we went to

the show, we had a booth, you know, we got

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a sign printed, you know, we kind of put

our best foot forward.

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And that was kind of a an interesting

experience.

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I really like that.

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Yeah, I think it was fun for us because it

helps solidify kind of the real business

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aspect.

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When you start a business, it's sort of

like in your head until it goes out in

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public, right?

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Once you start getting people signed up

and people buying things from you, then

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you're like, wow, this is like a real

business.

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And for me, that was just really fun.

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It was also sort of...

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kind of validation, talking to a lot of

people saying, yeah, this is like a really

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great idea.

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Now, obviously, people saying that and

people buying whatever you have to sell,

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two very different things, but it was a

big event for us.

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And I think it did move us forward, at

least in maturity, business-wise, right?

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But another kind of highlight was when we

sort of upgraded our boxes, and we're

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still sort of working on this process

actually,

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the inside of the boxes, but we started

using these wooden boxes that were kind of

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custom designed.

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They have the Monsters.Rent logo and

everything on them.

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Actually, if you go to our website on

mobile, you can see there's like a cover

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image of a video that actually displays

the box really well on the homepage.

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But those boxes are pretty sweet.

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And honestly, just the box itself is like

cool enough that...

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someone should like want to buy it, but I

mean, who knows?

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Yeah, exactly.

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That was, it's kind of nice having a

little bit more individuality, uh, to our

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products, cause that's what we hope to do.

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The priority obviously is just like, Hey,

we want to make easily accessible and

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rentable minis, you know, that are

affordable so that people don't have to,

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you know, buy a bunch that just sit around

cause they don't want to reuse same minis

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all the time, but it's also nice to, you

know, make a little bit more of an

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individual product that way.

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Uh, I've really enjoyed, uh,

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beyond that, also we've just gotten some

really good help, like some amazing help

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from a few influencers.

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And obviously, you know, it's more in the

D&D space and the, you know, but we really

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like Bennett and Courtney, Bennett, you,

if you don't follow him, you should, you

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absolutely should.

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He's at, he's at the Ben Chewie,

C-H-E-W-Y.

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And Courtney, she's at the Curly.

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K U R L I G I R L I cosplay.

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So it's the Curly Gurly Cosplay.

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They've both been so helpful, honestly.

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We really loved the videos that they put

out for us and kind of having that

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partnership set up.

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And if you haven't heard of them, go check

them out, because they're great.

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Uh, regardless though, we're so grateful

for them and everyone else who's been

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helpful along the way, because you know,

we've, we've worked with quite a few

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people, some people haven't been able to

keep working with us, uh, like just

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because of time constraints or, or other

things, and we're just so grateful for

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anyone who's, you know, put any time into

this and, and also to any of you who, you

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know, gave us a shot.

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And so we were truly appreciative for

that.

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Absolutely.

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Uh, probably the biggest thank you that we

can give from a monsters.rent is to the

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current users of it, uh, the people who

are sticking with us regardless of, you

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know, how many technical hiccups we have

or, or how, uh, non user friendly the

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website may or may not be at any given

moment because, you know, it's always in

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flux, um, and actually, you know, Bennett

going back to that.

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Uh, the video, he made us a video and you

can see that video on the homepage right

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now, if you, if you go there, uh, it's a

pretty sweet video, uh, really well done,

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so definitely go to at the Ben Chewie on

Instagram, tick talk and you know, give

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them a follow, but I think another cool

thing that really for us has been just

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kind of a treat has been the ability to

accumulate or have the ability to produce

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something like over a hundred

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different minis, including 12 bundles of

different themed minis.

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And seeing the different files and things

has been really fun and nice.

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We actually signed up for the commercial

license of someone on my mini factory.

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Right.

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And that's allowed us to kind of

accumulate these minis and they're really

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well done.

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But I think moving forward, we have

hopefully, you know, some other plans.

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We'll tell you that in a second.

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But anything else you want to talk about

in terms of: 2023

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Uh, mostly I, one thing that we forgot to

mention with the podcast was just

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sponsorships really, because we've been,

you know, one nice thing is we, we like

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putting out the podcast, uh, up till now

though, we like, with a couple exceptions,

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it hasn't really made us money, you know,

which we're happy to still do it, but it's

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nice that the sponsorships allow it to be

more of a long-term thing.

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And like for example, Magic Mind.

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Honestly, we've been working with them

recently and they've been so helpful and

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supportive and we just really appreciate

that.

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Yeah.

299

: 00:18:11

Uh, when they first reached out, um, and

this is sort of a little bit behind the

300

: 00:18:17

scenes, like how the sausage is made kind

of deal.

301

: 00:18:21

Obviously the podcast costs money every

month for the hosting and things like

302

: 00:18:24

that.

303

: 00:18:24

It costs us time.

304

: 00:18:25

And, you know, we really love it.

305

: 00:18:27

And.

306

: 00:18:28

We, if we do the podcast, we can't do

other things that might provide for us

307

: 00:18:33

financially, you know, for our families

and things like that.

308

: 00:18:35

Tanner has a wife and a dog.

309

: 00:18:37

I have a wife and a dog and a baby.

310

: 00:18:40

So we can't do this all day every day just

because we have jobs.

311

: 00:18:45

When Magic Mind reached out and they're

like, yeah, we'd like to partner with you.

312

: 00:18:50

Honestly, it sounded a little bit too good

to be true.

313

: 00:18:52

So I was like, is this real?

314

: 00:18:55

Just because I've had people, on Instagram

you always get those people are like,

315

: 00:18:59

yeah, you're woman of the year.

316

: 00:19:00

And I'm like, I'm a man.

317

: 00:19:03

So they were like, yeah, we'd like to work

with you guys.

318

: 00:19:08

And

319

: 00:19:09

through the whole process, they've just

been so nice.

320

: 00:19:11

And to me, it shows me really what's

behind their product, which is Magic Mind,

321

: 00:19:18

it's a productivity shot, but it shows

kind of the culture of their company.

322

: 00:19:23

With our first sort of promotion, it was

kind of a little creative, I was a little

323

: 00:19:27

nervous of how they'd receive it, and we

sent it over, and our contact over there

324

: 00:19:32

was just like, yeah, this is so great, she

was just so praising of us, that to me,

325

: 00:19:37

again, it just showed

326

: 00:19:39

if they are that excited and that

emotional and energetic about, you know,

327

: 00:19:44

the promotion, then that's obviously

what's behind the productivity shot, Magic

328

: 00:19:49

Mind, which is, you know, a subscription

for it's supposed to replace your coffee

329

: 00:19:54

or your tea in the morning, whatever you

use to kind of get your energy.

330

: 00:19:58

And it's all natural.

331

: 00:20:00

And it has lots of, I actually have the

list up, lots of really great nutrients in

332

: 00:20:07

there.

333

: 00:20:07

things that honestly I don't completely

understand because frankly I'm kind of not

334

: 00:20:12

intelligent, but there's matcha, there's

bacopa manieri, which sounds really cool

335

: 00:20:18

and it also sounds kind of like a spell.

336

: 00:20:21

There's ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea, which

again sounds like a spell, lion's mane

337

: 00:20:26

mushroom, cordyceps mushroom.

338

: 00:20:30

So lots of things that

339

: 00:20:31

right here?

340

: 00:20:31

It says Vita men.

341

: 00:20:34

Huh, crazy.

342

: 00:20:35

I didn't, I don't, like, Vita means life,

so maybe it's like living men or

343

: 00:20:41

something?

344

: 00:20:42

I don't know, I don't know.

345

: 00:20:44

But, yeah, but, you know, when I took it,

it was a very interesting experience,

346

: 00:20:52

because I'm honestly, I don't drink

coffee, I don't drink tea, so I've never

347

: 00:20:56

really relied on sort of energy drinks, I

don't drink energy drinks.

348

: 00:21:00

And I definitely felt it, you know,

throughout the day, I felt the difference.

349

: 00:21:05

And what it is, it's supposed to help you

with your focus without the crash, right?

350

: 00:21:10

We all know the haste spell.

351

: 00:21:12

Once it's done, you know, you're stunned

for like one or two rounds with the haste

352

: 00:21:16

spell.

353

: 00:21:16

You don't get that with the productivity

shot Magic Mind.

354

: 00:21:20

And actually, they're doing a small

campaign for the month of January.

355

: 00:21:24

So I know this is the Thursday before

January, but we're giving you a little

356

: 00:21:28

heads up.

357

: 00:21:29

You can go to magicmind.com slash

JanBetterDM.

358

: 00:21:34

again, magicmind.com slash janbetterdm,

and then use the code BETTERDM20, and you

359

: 00:21:42

get one month free when you subscribe for

three months.

360

: 00:21:46

And that's a really awesome offer because

it's an extra 20% off, which gets you to

361

: 00:21:53

75% off because they're kind of running a

deal right now.

362

: 00:21:55

But again, it only lasts for January.

363

: 00:21:57

So if you are interested in this,

subscribe for three months, you get one

364

: 00:22:01

month free.

365

: 00:22:01

So essentially you're getting

366

: 00:22:03

you're subscribing for two months, but an

extra month, right?

367

: 00:22:05

Math.

368

: 00:22:07

Magicmind.com slash Jan BetterDM with code

betterdm20 at checkout, or you can find

369

: 00:22:14

these at any sprouts, farmers, markets

near you.

370

: 00:22:18

And moving into 24, our goal is to get

more subscriptions, sorry, more

371

: 00:22:25

sponsorships like Magicmind and continue

our sponsorship with Magicmind.

372

: 00:22:30

So that's definitely big on our.

373

: 00:22:33

Radar.

374

: 00:22:34

Yeah, because we just want to be able to

keep doing this podcast for you guys.

375

: 00:22:38

And so thank you for your support.

376

: 00:22:41

And, uh, let's talk about 2024 Justin.

377

: 00:22:44

Uh, first off for the podcast, I mean,

honestly, we really want to, uh, have more

378

: 00:22:50

creative episode, like ideas, you know,

just like where, like we kind of rethink

379

: 00:22:56

the concept of instead of just like

picking a topic, uh, from D and D.

380

: 00:23:01

We instead, you know, maybe we do.

381

: 00:23:04

a little bit more interesting, like maybe

it's themed or it's a comparison list or

382

: 00:23:09

you know, there's a lot of different

things that we need to do.

383

: 00:23:12

And so we're excited to try those out.

384

: 00:23:15

We're definitely going to get more guests.

385

: 00:23:17

I mean, that you know that we were always

trying to get new guests.

386

: 00:23:21

And so, Justin, what have you been

thinking about with as far as like the

387

: 00:23:26

types?

388

: 00:23:27

actually with regards to guests, I've been

thinking, I've been watching a lot of

389

: 00:23:33

YouTube videos of, you know, from like

insider or the breakdown where, you know,

390

: 00:23:38

they take an expert and then they have the

expert sort of rate or review movie clips

391

: 00:23:43

that involve their expertise and sort of

tell you, yeah, this part isn't realistic

392

: 00:23:46

or this is realistic.

393

: 00:23:48

For example, you know, a wildlife expert

watches movies with like...

394

: 00:23:54

lions or they watch part of free willy and

they're like, yeah, this is this is why

395

: 00:23:58

that is and stuff like that.

396

: 00:24:00

I thought that it might be useful and

interesting to have sort of the same thing

397

: 00:24:04

but as it regards to D&D so maybe we might

have someone who is a blacksmith and we

398

: 00:24:11

have them come on and we ask them.

399

: 00:24:13

Yeah, so if someone wanted to buy

something, how long would it take, you

400

: 00:24:16

know, ask some real questions that would

sort of inform how you roleplay a

401

: 00:24:22

blacksmith or

402

: 00:24:23

You know, up in Salt Lake, I know that

there is a armored combat team.

403

: 00:24:29

Literally it's a martial arts, mixed

martial arts sport where people dress up

404

: 00:24:33

in full suits of armor and they like punch

each other and kick each other and hit

405

: 00:24:36

each other with kind of dulled swords.

406

: 00:24:38

You know, we might have someone like that

come in and kind of walk us through like,

407

: 00:24:42

yeah, if someone was putting on armor, you

know, da da, or if you're describing

408

: 00:24:45

combat, what are some ways that

realistically this could kind of play out?

409

: 00:24:50

Um, I thought that might be more

interesting.

410

: 00:24:53

than just having everyday guests.

411

: 00:24:55

I also thought it would be good and useful

for us to try and start to reach out to

412

: 00:25:00

some more high profile guests.

413

: 00:25:02

You never know if you might get them, but

if we do get them, that would be just so

414

: 00:25:06

much more fun.

415

: 00:25:08

Yeah, absolutely.

416

: 00:25:09

You know, I think something to be said for

the profession, style of guest is that you

417

: 00:25:16

know, as a DM, there's a lot of

performance, like especially description

418

: 00:25:22

that we have to do.

419

: 00:25:23

And if we don't know anything about it,

you know, then the for example,

420

: 00:25:29

pickpocketing, how many of us actually

know how that works?

421

: 00:25:33

or leatherworking or blacksmithing, right?

422

: 00:25:35

We've seen like little images or little

clips on, you know, maybe a knight's tale

423

: 00:25:41

is the most we've ever seen of anything

relating to blacksmithing.

424

: 00:25:47

And all we're like is like, oh man Heath

Ledger is really cool.

425

: 00:25:50

And we don't actually know anything about

blacksmithing.

426

: 00:25:54

And yet we're supposed to describe the

situation when our party goes into the

427

: 00:25:58

local blacksmith dwarf.

428

: 00:26:00

looking for a whole new set of armor,

right?

429

: 00:26:03

And so, you know, every little bit helps.

430

: 00:26:05

Obviously, you know, email us or reach out

at Monsters Rent on Instagram.

431

: 00:26:11

Let us know if you think this is a good

idea.

432

: 00:26:13

We think it is, but we're very excited for

that.

433

: 00:26:18

And then, you know, we're hoping to play

more.

434

: 00:26:22

It's obviously, like we said, it's kind of

been a crazy busy year.

435

: 00:26:25

So we haven't had as much time to play

either one shots or just, you know.

436

: 00:26:30

Individually as much and so we're hoping

to have more opportunity for that and at

437

: 00:26:34

the very least we have planned to You know

have a live play campaign in this next

438

: 00:26:41

couple months So we're pretty stoked about

that and we don't have all the info for

439

: 00:26:45

you, but You know we It's going to take

place in Well, it's gonna start in hell,

440

: 00:26:55

which is which is nice.

441

: 00:26:56

You know, that's always a nice opener

442

: 00:26:59

Palette Cleanser for a campaign.

443

: 00:27:02

Um, but anyway, I've been talking too

much.

444

: 00:27:04

Just, are you excited for the new live

play?

445

: 00:27:07

Oh my gosh, I can't tell you how excited I

am.

446

: 00:27:11

So it's gonna be myself, Tanner, and

Kayden, our partner from Monsters.Rent as

447

: 00:27:16

the players, and the Dungeon Master is

going to be Jake Packham from the Dungeon

448

: 00:27:21

Mastermind podcast.

449

: 00:27:22

He's a friend of ours, and frankly he's a

really talented DM, right?

450

: 00:27:28

I've played with him once or twice before,

and he's just, I don't know, he's really

451

: 00:27:34

good.

452

: 00:27:35

So I'm super excited and like Tanner said,

basically the story, the campaign's gonna

453

: 00:27:40

start up with all of us, Tanner, Caden and

myself, all of our characters, having been

454

: 00:27:47

sent to the nine hells as some sort of

punishment or some other means and we're

455

: 00:27:53

basically starting in hell with nothing.

456

: 00:27:55

So if you wanna see other people suffer,

definitely tune in, we'll let you know

457

: 00:28:01

when it's going to be released and

actually,

458

: 00:28:04

If you want to kind of get the scoop, the

latest information on when it's going to

459

: 00:28:08

be released, sign up for the guild because

that's where we're going to do a lot of

460

: 00:28:11

our announcements.

461

: 00:28:12

All you got to do is go to monsters.rent

slash subscribe slash the guild or sorry

462

: 00:28:17

slash the dash guild.

463

: 00:28:19

Again, it is 100% free and then you get

access to our, you know, our Discord

464

: 00:28:24

server and everything and you become part

of the community.

465

: 00:28:29

But going to be super fun.

466

: 00:28:30

It's going to be set in the homebrew world

of Kalignos.

467

: 00:28:33

which is something Jake has been working

on.

468

: 00:28:36

Going back a little bit to having more

guests on the podcast, I just thought of

469

: 00:28:40

this.

470

: 00:28:41

I think it even goes beyond just

blacksmithing, things like that, but like

471

: 00:28:44

we could have experts on marshes or forest

life or caves, places where adventurers

472

: 00:28:51

would go to kind of help inform what kind

of conditions are gonna be there, how

473

: 00:28:56

would you travel, things like that.

474

: 00:28:58

And then, you know.

475

: 00:29:00

As far as more creative episodes go, if

you want an example of this, next week's

476

: 00:29:06

episode is a little bit more creative.

477

: 00:29:08

It's going to be talking about the

Shadowfell in a very interesting way,

478

: 00:29:12

hopefully.

479

: 00:29:13

Hopefully it's not off-putting, but join

us next week for that episode for more of

480

: 00:29:18

a creative show.

481

: 00:29:21

And as far as the one-shots go, not just

playing more one-shots, but having less

482

: 00:29:26

technical difficulties and also

483

: 00:29:28

possibly opening up the opportunity to,

you know, you the listener to host the one

484

: 00:29:32

shot as the DM.

485

: 00:29:35

You know, we don't always have to be the

hosts.

486

: 00:29:37

So if you're interested in that,

definitely reach out to us.

487

: 00:29:40

But speaking of the guild, this next year,

I think the guild is gonna be sort of a

488

: 00:29:45

big focus for us because it's not just the

community, but it's also the downloadable

489

: 00:29:52

resources and also the Dungeon Mastering

course.

490

: 00:29:55

And we've started on that.

491

: 00:29:56

And I think this next year, a focus of

ours should be to finish that course

492

: 00:30:02

because, you know, we all want to become

better DMS and if we have resources like

493

: 00:30:08

that available, it just makes it so much

easier.

494

: 00:30:11

Yeah, absolutely.

495

: 00:30:12

And, and I think, you know, we, we just

hope to see a lot more of you in there so

496

: 00:30:17

that when we have questions or when, uh,

our fellow DMS have questions, that

497

: 00:30:23

there's going to be just a readily

available source.

498

: 00:30:26

Um, but, uh, yeah, it was so basically a

lot happening with the podcast.

499

: 00:30:31

I'm very excited about that.

500

: 00:30:33

Um, the main thing that, uh, that we have

a lot of.

501

: 00:30:38

you know, of hope for, we're, you know,

we're crossing our fingers.

502

: 00:30:40

We'll be able to get it all done, but

monsters.rent.

503

: 00:30:43

We have a lot of plans for that.

504

: 00:30:45

Uh, beyond like, we're planning on being

involved with the dead wars again this

505

: 00:30:50

next year.

506

: 00:30:51

Which of course will be awesome,

especially since we'll be, you know, we

507

: 00:30:56

won't be on our back foot as much this

year, we'll have a bit more time to

508

: 00:31:00

prepare, which we're excited for.

509

: 00:31:02

And then, you know, we're also hoping to

get a booth at FanX.

510

: 00:31:06

If you're not from Utah, maybe you don't

know what this is, but it's a really big

511

: 00:31:10

comic con esque, you know event Where

there's you know celebrities a lot of

512

: 00:31:16

gaming?

513

: 00:31:18

D&D like just a lot going on there and

it's for fans of pretty much any genre but

514

: 00:31:23

certainly the fantasy D&D genre and Yeah,

we're hoping to get a booth there and

515

: 00:31:30

we'll have more info for you going forward

516

: 00:31:34

Yeah, I've actually already reached out to

them to see if we could host a panel

517

: 00:31:38

talking about being a dungeon master.

518

: 00:31:40

I might have to follow up with them.

519

: 00:31:43

But I think another focus of ours for

Monsters.Rent is creating the ability on

520

: 00:31:49

the website to sell the minis just

straight up.

521

: 00:31:54

Early on in Monsters.Rent, we had some

confusion with people who signed up for

522

: 00:31:58

subscriptions to rent the minis.

523

: 00:32:01

And then they reached out to us and

they're like, hey, why am I being charged?

524

: 00:32:05

I bought these minis.

525

: 00:32:06

And so we're thinking that it might be a

good idea, or at least, you know, I, I

526

: 00:32:11

definitely, I think that we should put

forth this opportunity for people to just

527

: 00:32:16

buy the minis, uh, it would provide

obviously some cash for us and a simple,

528

: 00:32:22

simplified product model.

529

: 00:32:24

Uh, and also it might tell us which people

want more, whether they want to rent more

530

: 00:32:28

or just buy more.

531

: 00:32:30

Um, and.

532

: 00:32:31

you know, if both options are available, I

don't see why that would be a bad thing.

533

: 00:32:36

I think another thing we're also going to

look to do is more merch, you know,

534

: 00:32:41

t-shirts and t-shirt designs.

535

: 00:32:43

I think we talked about in the past,

creating specific designs around each

536

: 00:32:47

class, including a DM shirt.

537

: 00:32:50

When we were at Dead Wars last year, we

were selling shirts that were specific to

538

: 00:32:54

the event.

539

: 00:32:55

It said World Record Beholder, kind of a

play on words there.

540

: 00:33:00

And that sold really well.

541

: 00:33:03

And I think having things like that for

people to buy would be a good idea for us

542

: 00:33:08

as well, because again, it would kind of

be an influx of cash, pretty hands off.

543

: 00:33:13

And, you know, we're pretty clever guys,

so I think we can come up with pretty fun

544

: 00:33:17

t-shirt ideas.

545

: 00:33:19

Exactly.

546

: 00:33:20

And so, yeah, we're hoping just to, you

know, get a lot more things that we've

547

: 00:33:26

been talking about for a sec rolling on

that with monsters.rent.

548

: 00:33:30

One thing specifically that if any of you

have any suggestions, like Justin said, we

549

: 00:33:37

were always looking for feedback.

550

: 00:33:39

We're also always looking for

collaborators and whether that's

551

: 00:33:49

right whether that's you know graphic

designers or 3d modelers or whatever right

552

: 00:33:58

we're always looking to partner with those

people and give them a chance to make

553

: 00:34:01

money while we do as well and also just

improve the product in general so yeah it

554

: 00:34:07

definitely reach out I guess you know it's

easy to say that or see that we've got a

555

: 00:34:15

lot planned a lot on our plate

556

: 00:34:17

And we're really hoping that you'll be

with us on this journey and we're so

557

: 00:34:22

excited.

558

: 00:34:24

Absolutely.

559

: 00:34:26

I mean, obviously we have a lot going on

this year.

560

: 00:34:29

We're going to work on the website, make

sure that it's very user-friendly.

561

: 00:34:32

We're going to take better photos of the

minis and things like that, collaborate

562

: 00:34:35

with more influencers.

563

: 00:34:37

I think the biggest thing we're going to

focus on, so our core values here are, and

564

: 00:34:43

Intentor, you might have to help me with

this, but number one, community, and

565

: 00:34:48

number two, wow, right?

566

: 00:34:51

We want...

567

: 00:34:52

every interaction anyone has with

monster.rent, how to be better DM the

568

: 00:34:56

guild, just to be blown away by their

experience.

569

: 00:35:00

And we want to build the community, our

community, the D&D community at large, and

570

: 00:35:05

obviously the world.

571

: 00:35:06

So with those two core values, our biggest

focus will be, you know, you, the

572

: 00:35:11

listener, who may or may not be also our

customer or user.

573

: 00:35:15

We want you to be the best dungeon master

the world has ever seen.

574

: 00:35:20

Because statistically speaking,

575

: 00:35:22

someone out there is that Dungeon Master

and why couldn't it be you?

576

: 00:35:26

So our goal is to help you reach your full

potential.

577

: 00:35:29

Gotta catch them all.

578

: 00:35:34

Um, we're, we're a Pokemon podcast now.

579

: 00:35:38

Uh, yeah, that's, sorry, D and D got a new

catchphrase.

580

: 00:35:44

Uh, we're just, we're just honestly want

to give you the most value, uh, that you

581

: 00:35:50

can get because, you know, being a DM

while it's so rewarding, it's also takes a

582

: 00:35:55

lot.

583

: 00:35:56

And there's always room for improvement.

584

: 00:35:59

And so we, we always hope that you're not.

585

: 00:36:02

depressed by that or overwhelmed, but

rather that you feel empowered by, you

586

: 00:36:07

know, by the podcast we offer, you know,

the minis or anything else, like the

587

: 00:36:12

community with the guild.

588

: 00:36:13

We just want you to feel like, like you

and any friends that you have who are kind

589

: 00:36:19

of like, oh man, DM, DMing kind of takes

it out of me.

590

: 00:36:24

It shouldn't feel that way, right?

591

: 00:36:25

It's supposed to be fun first and

foremost, and it's supposed to be

592

: 00:36:29

something that doesn't stress you out.

593

: 00:36:32

And, and I think we've done well at like

trying to help change the mindset about

594

: 00:36:37

that is like, Hey, it's not all about

knowing all the stat blocks from, from

595

: 00:36:41

heart and it's not all about, uh, about

having like spent a hundred hours of prep

596

: 00:36:48

for each session.

597

: 00:36:50

It's more about like, Hey, how do you

approach different aspects of the game?

598

: 00:36:54

Um, in a more natural fluid and less

stressful way.

599

: 00:36:59

So.

600

: 00:37:00

We hope to be able to do that a lot more

going forward.

601

: 00:37:04

Yeah.

602

: 00:37:05

A big thank you to you, all your support.

603

: 00:37:09

If you weren't listening, this would be a

lot less fun.

604

: 00:37:13

We'd probably still do it, but I don't

know how long we would do it.

605

: 00:37:17

So thank you for keeping us going just by

being here, listening to us and maybe

606

: 00:37:23

laughing at one or two of my jokes.

607

: 00:37:25

You know, here's to a very good 2023 and

hopefully for all of us and even better

608

: 00:37:31

2024.

609

: 00:37:33

We'll see you next week.

610

: 00:37:34

In the new year, let's go ahead and roll

initiative.