Make NPCs Essential in Your D&D Games
In my games I have seen characters develop long lasting relationships with NPCs. Nerdarchist Dave’s dwarven wizard Uthen-Gar crafted a magic item as a gift for the elven librarian who initially looked down on him for being a dwarf. I felt it was a rich relationship built over years of game play. That same dwarven character found a wife, even though we did not play out a romance, and became wed before the campaign was over. While romance can happen we developed that dwarves often wed as political arrangements to strengthen the clan. It was not originally planned that way but that’s how it panned out and it was awesome! I have had non-player characters on my mind and I’m interested in exploring concepts surrounding them from both the Dungeon Master and player perspectives.
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Reclusive Researcher
Salutations, nerds! Did your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons party forget to take identify? Got no wizard? Need a nerd who they can go to for the cleansing of cursed items or simply require a plot hook to motivate the party delve into the ruins of an exploded wizard lab? I’ve got a character for you.
Recognizing How 5E D&D Characters are Not Regular People
Salutations, nerds! I’m having a debate right now with one of my friend groups about why everyone in a Dungeons & Dragons world isn’t a wizard if wizards are so powerful. If people in your world can blow up a quarter of a city all at once with giant balls of fire and wipe out whole armies ten why does everyone not do this? Because the barrier of entry for being a high level spellcaster is prohibitively high for most people. Then why are so many D&D player characters spellcasters? Because D&D player characters are not regular people.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Servant of the Lord of Dead Dreams
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted develop a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character idea straight from Patreon. We conducted a poll to ask which Nerdarchyverse villain to revisit. Our own Lord of Dead Dreams came out as No. 1 and while we shared the insidious entity’s dream goblins at Nerdarchy the Website we thought he could use a more substantial enforcer. This Servant of the Lord of Dead Dreams 5E D&D Character Build Guide represents a dark fey knight who embodies their lord’s sinister reputation. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Lizard Wizard
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted started with the environment of a swamp to create a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who combines harnessing the darker elements and power of the swamp with a lizard wizard. Next step was to decide who would be in this swamp. This Lizard Wizard 5E D&D Character Build Guide leans into the idea of decay and the fetid nature of the swamp a bit more than our original lizard wizard concept. Let’s get into it.
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Way Guardian
Salutations, nerds! Do you ever need to make a quick jaunt through the deep dark woods more interesting and yet still go smoothly enough to get to your destination in the same session? The last pocket NPC for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I presented was the Lingering Spirit and today I’ve got a new one for you.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Devil of the City
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted set out to create a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who fearlessly embodies a true daredevil. We’ve done the rope-a-dope with this character concept in a roundabout way in the past, first as a discussion video several years ago and more recently with the Blind Master. Now we’re going straight to the source for a fresh take with the Devil of the City 5E D&D Character Build Guide. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Goblin Bomber
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted pay back the explosives enthusiast who’s faithfully served as our company mascot for nearly seven years with their own bona fide fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. The Goblin Bomber 5E D&D Character Build Guide takes their craft all the way and becomes a volatile presence in any battle. There’s also a really fun connection with another very popular project of ours. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Nature Possessed Warforged
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted tackle our first Eberron fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. Back in 2018 we welcomed Eberron into the 5E D&D space, which included a fan favorite playable race in the warforged. This allowed us to step into Eberron and make the fantastic and fun Nature Possessed Warforged Character Build Guide using a race and a background specific to that wonderful world. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Quick Striker
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted absolutely, positively must go first in any fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons confrontation, accept no substitute. This 5E D&D Quick Strike Character Build Guide presents a character who gets a bonus to their initiative from not only Dexterity but also Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, plus Jack of All Trades and Reliable Talent. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Ultimate Spell Duelist
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted were feeling inspired after building the ultimate melee duelist as a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character and set out to create its counterpart the Ultimate Spell Duelist. This 5E D&D Character Build Guide explores the idea of two wizards going at each other on equal footing — may the best spellcaster win style. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Justicar
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore an idea for a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who draws power from their cultural history. This dwarven Justicar Character Build Guide combines the Path of the Ancestral Guardian barbarian primal path with the 5E D&D paladin class to protect allies and hinder foes alongside the spirits of their forebears. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Supernatural Soldier
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted ask can magic replicate science? Finding an answer means recreating the first Avenger and most well known super soldier of all time for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Iconic comic book superheroes operate on a different scale than 5E D&D adventurers and D&D-izing our favorite fictional characters is a lot of fun. When our Supernatural Soldier Character Build Guide throws their mighty shield all those who chose to oppose this shield must yield. It’s science. (Or magic?). Let’s get into it.
Immerse Yourself in the Ashes or Ardor Campaign with New 5E D&D Subclasses
Over at Nerdarchy Live we’ve been playing various RPGs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. eastern. The group of us rotate Game Master duties after each campaign ends, which typically run 12 sessions each. For our current campaign we’re playing Ashes of Ardor with fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons set in the amazing world of Aulmn, a homebrew creation of Steven Partridge. During our session zero we decided we’d all play 5E D&D subclasses of our own Nerdarchy creation. With this campaign winding down, while we prepare for our next one — a superhero campaign using Cypher System — we thought we’d share some insight from this experience. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Sewer Ninja
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted fulfill a request from someone in the Nerdarchy community to create a Assassin rogue/Gloom Stalker ranger multiclass character build for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Instead of going with some of the obvious choices we decided to come up with something a bit more unique with the race for our 5E D&D Sewer Ninja. We were also thinking about the upcoming release of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for a character who would be fun in an urban adventure campaign setting. Let’s get into it.
