D&D Character Delve – Great Old One Triton Warlock for RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road
It is time for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. This time we will look at P’Saden, the Great Old One triton warlock character I played in the RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: Anchor Head Cave. As we were playing a seafaring adventure I wanted to use a triton. Ever since they came out in Volo’s Guide To Monsters I wanted an excuse to use these not-quite-mermaid people. I had no particular interest in the mechanics of the race, just the concept. I can honestly say I have never played a character like this before. Not that I haven’t played a wily swashbuckler, but not one with the superiority complex inherent in triton. It was kind of like playing an elf rogue. I had to figure out how he got from uptight xenophobe to smarmy spell slinger.
D&D Character Delve – Goliath Oath of the Ancients Paladin for RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road
It is time for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. This time we will look at Maala, the Oath of the Ancients goliath paladin character I played in episode four of out RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: A Knight’s Tomb. Maala is a D&D character built on one major concept, the bearded woman. As a fan of American Horror Story I wanted to play a character like Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates). All decisions from that point on centered around what it meant to be a woman who is outside her culture, in a world where she does not fit the prescribed ideal of femininity.
The D&D Chimera – Randomized!
Chimera – the spawn of powerful beast of legend, a creation of a mad wizard or poor fool’s curse by a demonic prince. However a chimera comes into existence we can all agree the three-headed Dungeons & Dragons creature with the tenacity of a dragon, stubbornness of a ram and ferocity of a lion is pretty freaking cool. What could be better right? What about the petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the strong back of a mule and the rust monsters ability to corrode the tools of the enemy?
This article brings you another randomized fifth edition D&D monster.
D&D Character Delve: Aarakocra Grave Domain Cleric for Adventures on the Open Road
Once a month, Nerdarchist Ted runs an RPG Crate-sponsored game of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. In one of these sessions, Adventures on the Open Road: From the Sky, I played as Kek, a 5th-level aarakocra Grave Domain cleric. The next Adventures from the Open Road D&D session is set for Jan. 26, 2018, so be sure to follow subscribe, follow Nerdarchy on social media or visit us on our Discord so you don’t miss it. You can always sign up for our newsletter too, and find out how you can game with Nerdarchy.
But for now, let’s delve into this D&D character.
The D&D Beholder – Randomized!
I have a love for all that is weird and other in the D&D fantasy worlds we share. One of my favorite creatures from the Dungeons & Dragons mythos is the beholder. As an avid reader of H.P. Lovecraft and the many other authors who followed in his footsteps, Arthur Machen, Robert Bloch and Stephen King, to name a few, it should come as no surprise that ball of tentacles, eyes and madness should attract my attention.
Heightening the Horror Atmosphere For Your Game
November marks NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Last year I met the goal to write 50,000 words of a story by the end of the month and this year I hope to do it again (although that doesn’t seem likely as this point). This year my focus is on a short story, maybe two as time allows. At the moment I am on the edit stage of the first, a supernatural horror about a young girl who made friends with the monsters haunting her in the night. Not wanting to ignore my Nerdarchist work for all of November I decided this would be a great opportunity to write an article about how to apply horror to your game.
Pay-to-Play RPG Paid GMs: Are You Worth It?
What would you pay for a Game Master?
Almost every tabletop RPG requires a GM, yet when it comes to constructing a group the dreaded question is “who will run it?” Many players are put off by the role of GM, whether they are new to the hobby, they don’t want to manage the expectations of others or they prefer to control a single character. I know there are notable exceptions; I am someone who prefers GMing to playing a character, but that is a rare exception. Even I want to step out of the place of control and experience someone else’s world from time to time. In the event that you are a player who cannot find a facilitator I ask, what price are you willing to invest for paid GMs?
Tribute to George Romero: Godfather of Zombies
Zombies, what is not to be said?
George Romero on the set of Day of the Dead (1985). [Photo courtesy of Rex Features]
In light of George Romero’s death there are not enough words to describe how much his iconic monsters have shaped pop culture over the past fifty years.
I could tell you all about when his first zombie film (Night of the Living Dead) hit the big screen (1968) or how many zombie movies Romero has made (six) but I am not going to.
If you want to find the numbers surrounding the zombie legacy I am sure there are articles and top ten lists all over the internet and YouTube overrun with that information.
I have no interest in discussing all the creators who were inspired by this great man in horror. That is their job to do.
Instead, allow me to tell a personal story.
Run Each D&D Encounter Like it is Combat
Why don’t you run each encounter like a combat encounter? Combat is a Dungeons & Dragons staple. Most of the rules are based around it. The formula for combat has evolved through five editions and countless erratum. Each change made it faster and more efficient. Why then, aren’t you applying this finely tuned formula to your explorations and roleplay encounters?
Our live Open Legend game’s aether parasites invade!
This article comes to Nerdarchy from a fan of the Open Legend RPG-sponsored “Aether Skies – The Beginning of the End” live game that streams Fridays at noon EST. YouTuber AJ Kinney was inspired by an encounter in Session 6 of the game and sent in this in-depth look into one of the fantastic creatures Nerdarchist Dave challenged the party with during a long airship voyage – the aether parasite. AJ writes from the perspective of someone living in the world of Zanterra where the game takes place. A blend of fantasy, steam punk, eldritch horror and espionage, the populace lives on floating cities high in the sky. The surface is a desolate, dangerous place, if there even is a surface! Theories abound about what lies below, for no one in memory has traveled there. Or have they…?
Without further ado, let’s get to it and see what AJ, er, Professor Kalthzar Quin Terril has to say.
