Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Mischief Maker
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted don a Mantle of Majesty to enchant a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Mischief Maker character. This 5E D&D character build takes advantage of every opportunity to embrace their fey nature. Let’s travel through the Fey Crossing and get into this most fey character for 5E D&D.
Plane Shift Your 5E D&D Game Into Magic: The Gathering — Zendikar
On July 16, 2021 Wizards of the Coast releases Adventures in the Forgotten Realms — the first Dungeons & Dragons themed expansion for Magic: The Gathering, which lands in place of what would typically be a Core Set. The D&D expansion for MTG represents a true collaboration between these two Hasbro teams. But did you know there’s six times MTG crossed over into fifth edition D&D even before Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica and Mythic Odysseys of Theros? Amonkhet, Dominaria, Innistrad, Kaladesh, Zendikar and Ixalan all Plane Shift-ed over to 5E D&D through terrific titles available free from Dungeon Master’s Guild. Let’s get into it.
Inspire Revolution in Sirens: Battle of the Bards 5E Campaign Setting
One of our earliest friends in the tabletop roleplaying game sphere launched a new crowdfunding campaign recently and we’re thrilled to be a part of the project too! Satine Phoenix partnered with Apotheosis Studios to create Sirens: Battle of the Bards, a 5E campaign setting in a city of artists where bards inspire revolution. The robust and sweeping project encompasses tons of material for Game Masters and players alike to create awesome memorable moments, stories and campaigns together and we couldn’t be more excited to take part in the creation. Let’s get into it.
Plane Shift Your 5E D&D Game Into Magic: The Gathering — Amonkhet
On July 16, 2021 Wizards of the Coast releases Adventures in the Forgotten Realms — the first Dungeons & Dragons themed expansion for Magic: The Gathering. In place of what would be a Core Set Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is a true collaboration between the two Hasbro teams. But did you know there’s six times MTG crossed over into fifth edition D&D? Amonkhet, Dominaria, Innistrad, Kaladesh, Zendikar and Ixalan all walked the planes over to 5E D&D through highly produced Plane Shift documents available from Dungeon Master’s Guild for free. Let’s get into it.
Become a 5E D&D Master of Monsters
Our great friends from Kobold Press sent me an advance copy of their Kobold Guide to Monsters and I’m here to share the experience with you. Hot on the heels of… You know what? Kobold Press releases so many titles I’m not even sure what’s the most recent. I’ll go with Vault of Magic since our own Nerdarchist Ted contributed to the project. At any rate Kobold Guide to Monsters is set for June 8, 2021 release and features essays from 15 different creators and personalities about monster concepts, details and usage. Since they’ve built their reputation and library on content for Fifth Edition at this point in time these essays presumably focus on 5E Dungeons & Dragons, which of course is right in our own wheelhouse. Let’s get into it.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Artificer Specialists by a Factor of Three
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted enjoy looking at fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons homebrew content contributed to D&D Beyond. While they explore homebrew magic items on the DDB website — including one from Matt Mercer — I’m taking a look at another 5E D&D class and the homebrew subclasses folks created there. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) This time I’m looking at a D&D class beyond the core classes found in the Player’s Handbook. Artificer made its official 5E D&D debut in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. An artificer creates inventions and magic items of peace and war and the gears are turning as to what I might expect to see from the Top 10 homebrew Artificer Specialists. There’s currently over 350 homebrew of them so let’s get into it.
Expanding on 5E D&D Battle Master Builds from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Next to the tremendous number of new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons subclasses and terrific tools and resources inside Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything one section of the book receives far less attention than anything else. Nestled in the character options between Rune Knight fighters and Optional Class Features for monks the Battle Master Builds presents a dozen packages of fighting styles, maneuvers and feats to represent a variety of warriors and their approach to combat. What can be said of these second edition AD&D-esque kits? A massively mathematical minded person might put together spreadsheets and data to quantitatively assess each one. I’m not such a person and instead I’m curious about taking these 5E D&D Battle Master Builds to the next level. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Elephant in the Room
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted lean into an appreciation for puns to sneak in a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Elephant in the Room character. This 5E D&D character build focuses on stealth both magical and mundane to demonstrate how with the right training and experience an unusual lumbering giant of a race can vanish before your very eyes. Let’s get into the loxodon master of stealth.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Martial Archetypes by a Factor of Three
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted enjoy looking at fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons homebrew content contributed to D&D Beyond. While they explore homebrew magic items on the DDB website — including one from Matt Mercer — I’m taking a look at another 5E D&D class and the homebrew subclasses folks created there. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) This time around my gaze turns to my favorite D&D class. Fighters come equipped with the best foundation to manage one third of the game. In other words as we like to say around here fighters fight. This leaves tremendous space to add variety to a fighter character. There are fighter subclasses in the Player’s Handbook, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and outside of official sources there are countless Martial Archetypes created by players all over the world. We put the finishing touches one of the the ones we’ve created just this past week and shared it along with a bunch of other new subclasses, spells, magic items and creatures. Now it’s time to check out the Top 10 homebrew Martial Archetypes. There’s currently over 325 homebrew of them so let’s get into it.
Newest 5E D&D Unearthed Arcana Provides Path to Draconic Power
New playtest documents for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have been rolling out recently and presenting new options for characters to explore. Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Draconic Options is the latest one to continue the trend with new race options, which revamps the dragonborn and kobold races for players. Both of these, especially the former, have widely been considered weak options despite the great affection players hold for them. It’s also interesting to note the alternating approaches as either lineage or race. Along with these fresh takes on draconic races this Unearthed Arcana presents a handful of feats and seven new spells for 5E D&D. So let’s get into it.
Getting More from 5E D&D Monsters — Kangoram
Kangorams make spirited mounts. These bipedal creatures reach heights over 10 feet tall and their powerful legs mimic the bounding gait of part of their namesake while thick skulls and curling horns belie the other half. A ridge of bony plates runs down their back to the tip of their tail, which they balance on to deliver powerful kicks. Druids who understand these unusual beasts know the way to train them as a powerful mount lies in steering them away from their forward focus to exert control. These beast monsters appear in Chimes of Discordia: Fantastical Mounts, one of the digital fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products we create for Patreon supporters and later for Nerdarchy the Store. Here you’ll find expanded 5E D&D content inspired by these exotic beast creatures along with the stat block as it appears in the book ready to drop into your games.
Looking Forward to Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Strixhaven: School of Mages for MTG Arena
While it’s true creating content related to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and Fifth Edition generally keeps Nerdarchy the Lights on we all enjoy plenty of other games too. And since this site remains primarily our blog it’s fun to share those other game experiences from time to time. Makes us relatable and whatnot. Way back when I was a junior in high school and got into Magic: The Gathering with the Revised Edition it was exciting to eagerly await The Dark’s release. Here I am 26 years later looking ahead to a Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms in a few months along with Strixhaven: School of Mages at some point. I’ve dug when the MTG multiverse crosses over with the D&D one and it’s neat to see worlds colliding the other direction now too. But most of all I’m wondering what juicy bombs I’ll find in those sets.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Ranger Archetypes by a Factor of Three
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted have taken a shine to my posts over here looking at fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons homebrew content contributed to D&D Beyond. There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious. Since spring is in the air and I’ve been out working the garden this week I’ve got the natural world on my mind so today I’m focusing on the 5E D&D ranger. (Druids got their fair share already!) There are ranger subclasses in the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and outside of official sources there are countless Ranger Archetypes created by players all over the world. We put the finishing touches one of the the ones we’ve created just this past week and shared it along with a bunch of other new subclasses, spells, magic items and creatures. I’ve definitely got the 5E D&D ranger on my mind and I’ll pluck out the Top 10 homebrew Ranger Archetypes. There’s currently over 925 homebrew of them so let’s get into it.
Speak Your 5E D&D Truth as a College of Eloquence from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted master the art of oratory to discuss the College of Eloquence Bard College for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Storytelling potential from this Bard College from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything ranks high in my book like most 5E D&D subclass options beyond the Player’s Handbook. Over the lifespan of any edition of the game the character options tend to become increasingly niche. As my perspectives grow and change I’m refining how I view the relationship between storytelling potential and mechanics and I’m curious to discover where I land on the College of Eloquence so let’s get into it.
Come to that Fantastic Note with College of Creation from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted strike a cosmic chord to discuss the College of Creation Bard College for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. When it comes to storytelling potential this Bard College from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hits the ground running with extremely evocative introductory text. This flavorful section even folds some new lore into the D&D multiverse through the concept of the Song of Creation, which points to legendary draconic entities Bahamut and Tiamat as the first singers of this cosmic music. While my approach to 5E D&D starts with story more than mechanics I’m discovering the latter impacts my perspective more than it used to, at least as we continue these deep dives into the subclasses found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. So far they’ve all been oozing with storytelling potential but in many cases the mechanics either fall flat or illustrate power creep. I’m curious to see where the College of Creation falls so let’s get into it.
