The Fourth Pillar of Play
The Fourth Pillar of Play is a Dungeons & Dragons podcast focused on learning TTRPG game design while designing for our own DnD games. We discuss information and ideas from industry professionals all while applying our research and discussions towards creating authentic, original, and engaging Dungeons and Dragons content to enjoy and share!
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 50 minutes
- Episodes
- 51
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2023
Building a 5e Species -- The Yliastrian (Part One)
Building a 5e Species -- The Yliastrian (Part One) Josh and Tallon dip their toes into the gene pool of fantasy species.
Episode Links
Revergence Draft 2 -- Inspiration in Popular Culture
Revergence Draft 2 -- Inspiration in Popular Culture Josh and Tallon go over the edits to Revergence, connect them to the Vergewarden, and discuss their similarities to popular culture and video gam…
Revisiting Revergence -- The Second Edition
Revisiting Revergence -- The Second Edition Tallon and Josh revisit the original draft of the revenant rules and take a stab at simplifying and editing for playtesting!
Episode Links
Planning a 5E One-shot Party!
Planning a 5E One-shot Party! Tallon and Josh are joined by Todd (of Superpod Herocast fame!) as they put some of their design knowledge to the test planning a one-shot 5e party based on medieval su…
The Vergewarden (Building a 5e Subclass Part 3)
The Vergewarden (Building a 5e Subclass Part 3) Tallon and Josh discuss the different attributes that will make the Vergewarden unique from other 5E ranger archetypes!
Find Us Online!
- Website: www…
What is the Fantasy? The Story of the Vergewarden! (Building 5e Subclasses Part 2)
What is the Fantasy? The Story of the Vergewarden! (Building 5e Subclasses Part 2) Tallon and Josh share their respective fictions to capture the essence of their new 5e ranger subclass! They also s…
Building 5e Subclasses
Building 5e Subclasses Josh and Tallon review informational videos by different content creators to compare and discuss the process of developing subclasses for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons!
Episod…
FPoP Reviews! Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Spoilers)
FPoP Reviews! Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Spoilers) Tallon and Josh do a non-spoiler and spoiler review of 2023's "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves!"
Episode Links
Districts of Point Reach: Building a Fantasy City! (Part Four)
Districts of Point Reach: Building a Fantasy City! (Part Four) Josh and Tallon dive into the prompts from Kobold Press' "Campaign Builder: Cities and Towns" as they create the various regions that m…
Fleshing out Point Reach -- Building Your Fantasy City! (Part Three)
Fleshing out Point Reach -- Building Your Fantasy City! (Part Three) Tallon and Josh discuss geography, climate, architecture and the evolution of city planning as they continue to built a 5e fantas…
Magic in Point Reach -- Building Your Fantasy City! (Part Two)
Magic in Point Reach -- Building Your Fantasy City! (Part Two)
Tallon and Josh continue to develop the metropolis of Point Reach, a fantasy city high above the surface of Esterach, where magic is abu…
Building Your Fantasy City! (Part One)
Building Your Fantasy City! (Part One) We jump into the urban center of Esterach, where Josh and Tallon use material from Kobold Press to begin developing Point Reach -- an Arcane City in the Sky!
Epi…
Behold -- Wyryth! MCDM is Making an RPG, and other RPG News!
Behold -- Wyryth! MCDM is Making an RPG, and other RPG News! Josh and Tallon review the first complete Wyryth stat block, and make their predictions for playtesting! Then they review Matt Coville's l…
What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part Three)
What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part Three) Tallon and Josh finalize the story, attributes, attacks, and abilities of their new Demigod: Wyryth!
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What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part Two)
What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part Two)
Tallon and Josh delve into the dark horror of a mad demigod -- and start building the story and mechanics for a level 19 monster!
Episode Links
What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part One)
What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Esterach? (Part One) In this multi-part adventure, Josh and Tallon delve into the Demigods of Esterach -- beings who remember a time of great power, but now must sett…
Fleshing out the Pantheon
Fleshing out the Pantheon Tallon and Josh continue to flesh out the deities of Esterach, and outline their purpose, drives, and relationships.
Episode Links
Creating the God of Nature in Esterach
Creating the God of Nature in Esterach
After a slight tech glitch in the first minutes, Tallon and Josh jump into the celestial weeds, discussing the tiers of divine beings, and use James D'Amato's …
Oh My Gods -- Building a Pantheon
Oh My Gods -- Building a Pantheon Josh and Tallon go to fantasy church and brainstorm the role of divine magic in Esterach, and pitch some god ideas for their savage pantheon.
Episode Links
The OGL and the Fourth Pillar of Play
The OGL and the Fourth Pillar of Play
Josh and Tallon get interrupted on their journey of monster creation to talk about the current drama at Wizards of the Coast, and discuss the future of 3rd part…