Expanding the Spell Lists for 5E D&D Beast Master and Hunter Rangers
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted finish up the video series on go to spells for spellcasting classes for tiers 1 and 2 with the ranger for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. During this tier of play from 5th-10th level rangers gain access to 2nd and 3rd level spells. If you are playing a Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker or Monster Slayer ranger one of your Ranger Archetype features is Magic, and you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in the class. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know. Features like these across different classes typically include spells not normally found on the class spell list, so in addition to having these additional spells in your repertoire, you get some nifty new options other rangers do not. But what about the original Ranger Archetypes? Let’s create Beast Master Magic and Hunter Magic features for those two Ranger Archetypes!
Adventurers of Adventure Guild Wants You! Creating a Guild for 5E D&D, Step 1
I can’t tell you how many times our discussions about fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons around Nerdarchy HQ include talk of organizations. Character build guides, adventure hooks, character stories, Dungeon Master or player tips and a whole lot more often raise a point about creating some kind of group. There’s a multitude of benefits to coming up with this kind of content, not the least of which is providing context in a campaign setting. Organized groups of people tell players something about the world their characters exist within. Whatever cause or goal brings an organization together illustrates something important, at least to the members. Organizations represent a useful resource in a DM’s toolbox whether it’s one a player came up with as part of their character’s backstory or one already established in a campaign setting. In my 5E D&D games there’s an organization all players become familiar with from the start. New characters begin their careers as new recruits of Adventurers of Adventure, and they’re always looking for more.
What Do Your Unearthed Arcana Subclasses Say About Your 5E D&D Character? Part 2
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take a look at Unearthed Arcana 2020, Subclasses Part 2. The playtest document from the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons team presents new subclasses for bards, clerics and sorcerers. Once again we were in the midst of our weekly video planning meeting when a new Unearthed Arcana showed up via social media, but it turns out this was a leak! Someone took an educated guess at the URL for a follow up to Unearthed Arcana 2020, Subclasses Part 1 and they were right, sort of. There was a playtest document but it was not a version Wizards of the Coast planned to release. So Dave and Ted headed back to the set to film a new discussion about the College of Creation, Unity Domain and Clockwork Soul. And since we dig themed series of things around here, I’m curious what sort of characters represent these exciting new subclass options. So let’s get into it.
Dragon Stew is the Perfect Recipe for Cooking in 5E D&D
I suppose you could say I’m a foodie. I love trying new cuisine and flavors. Helping my girlfriend, a national food publication editor, in the kitchen is a lot of fun and I frequently make cooking analogies to help explain lots of things. So when I saw an announcement for Dragon Stew: a 5th Edition Cooking Supplemental I started counting the days until the Kickstarter went live. No joke! You can check out the tweet for yourself. I wasn’t the only one looking forward to Dragon Stew with great anticipation either. The project funded in 45 minutes and it’s nearly 500% funded at the moment. Any time I see new content for 5E D&D with unusual twists like this I become very intrigued and with cooking and culinary skills taking the forefront in this project I am absolutely thrilled. So let’s get into it and see what Dragon Stew brings to the table when it comes to cooking in 5E D&D.
Creating Folklore Monsters for 5E D&D
Over at Nerdarhcy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted shot a video response to Making Enemies in 5E Witchery from Zee Bashew. The idea is taking the way monsters and monster hunting are presented in the world of The Witcher and apply the concepts to 5E D&D. What I really dig about this approach is how it encompasses several components to help players create more engaging and exciting stories together with the Dungeon Master. Since we started playing a Nerdarchy team campaign last week with a fresh party of 1st level characters I thought it would be fun and useful to use the Witcher style monsters discussed in the videos by Zee Bashew and our own Dave and Ted to create a terrifying monster for the Adventurers of Adventure to face off against. So let’s get into it, lay down the ground rules and create a Witcher style monster for 5E D&D.
Learning the Secret History of Giants
Browsing around Amazon recently I saw a recommendation for The Secret History of Giants, by Ari Berk. The compelling cover art and design caught my attention and I'm a sucker for folklore and kitschy monster stuff so I ordered a copy. Turns out the book...
New Arcane Tradition Beardomancy was Only the Beginning
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share a video inspired by Beardomancy from Chance’s D&D Spellbook. In the video within the video Chance creates an animated short and goes over a homebrew spell for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, the wizard cantrip beard whip from our Beardomancy product. Ted and I worked on the project together for our April Patreon rewards in 2019. We wanted to do something fun to celebrate April Fool’s Day and over the years no small number of people proposed we come up with some beard related content. Beardomancy grew from these sentiments. It got unruly at times but with proper care we tamed the tangle of content and came up with a new Arcane Tradition and school of magic and replete with magical lore and mundane enrichment for beardomancers ready to drop right into your game.
Mythology of a 5E D&D Dwarven Artificer Specialist
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted tinker with ideas for playing an artificer in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. A while back we did a video series about the best race to play each 5E D&D class and with the artificer being the only new official class since the Player’s Handbook we were compelled to add a new title to the series. The discussion on YouTube brought up some intriguing ideas and if I’m honest the artificer class itself didn’t really captivate me until I was watching the video. One of the races they mention for potential best artificer doesn’t make the final cut for them but for me it shot to the top of the list and remained there like mountain bedrock. At least for my own growing campaign setting the best artificers are dwarves.
Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting — What it Says On the Tin from Nord Games
Our friends at Nord Games launched a new Kickstarter today and judging by the response so far it’s clear fans of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons are picking up what they’re putting down. The Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting for 5E delves into an area of the game players love to explore with a brand new game mechanic for creating items, potions, and magical goods. The project checks all the boxes I look for in snazzy new content for my games, and if you’re wondering why you should back the Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting for 5E Nord Games includes a wonderful sidebar to help you decide too.
Taking Morality, Duty and Obligation from a Galaxy Far, Far Away for 5E D&D
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted bring some ideas from a galaxy far, far away to the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons table. They take inspiration from a mechanic from Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars Roleplaying and talk about how they’d implement a similar device in 5E D&D. In Star Wars RPG part of a character is your Morality, Duty or Obligation. These narrative mechanics are tied to Force and Destiny, Age of Rebellion and Edge of the Empire respectively. If I’m honest I’m not very familiar with FFG’s Star Wars RPG so when we were planning the video I wasn’t much help. But now that I’ve heard what Dave and Ted have to say, I’m certainly intrigued to explore this idea more and think about how Morality, Duty and Obligation can be a terrific tool for 5E D&D Dungeon Masters and players alike.
Catching up with DMs Guild and D&D Community Creators
My collection of content from Dungeon Masters Guild continues to grow! There are so many amazing creators in the D&D community and keeping up with all the fantastic new material is challenging to say the least. Thankfully the DMs Guild newsletter delivers a great summary of new content along with special deals to save you money on great new content for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games. In addition I appreciate whenever creators reach out to share news about their own new and upcoming material for 5E D&D available through the DMs Guild. Also, how about a shout out for Lysa Penrose, recently named brand manager for DMs Guild! Congratulations to Lysa, she is a tireless advocate for great gaming and positive D&D community building. (She’s also a guest creator for our Out of the Box book, and her Crones and their Cravings encounter is one of my favorites of the 55 encounters.)
D&D Party Composition — Playing an All Wizard Party
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the idea of an all wizard party for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We get a kick out of making this video series people seem to dig it, and I’m having a blast with the concept here on the website. Playing an all wizard party in 5E D&D more than anything raises concerns about squishiness, something many of the video comments touch upon. Dave and Ted can share their insights into 5E D&D party composition and over here we’re continuing to build the scenario we started way back when with the all bard party — a campaign setting of academia for each particular character class. So let’s get into it and put on our pointy hats for an all wizard party composition in a 5E D&D academic setting.
Creating Undead Hordes in 5E D&D is Fun!
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss what happens when a necromancer's undead army stops being a few minions and starts being a real pain to conceal from the rest of the world. Around the Nerdarchy HQ we joke about how...
Have You Ever or Never as a D&D Dungeon Master?
Over on Twitter I saw Nerdarchy friend Mini Terrain Domain Jake shared a graphic from Arcane Emporium with 20 D&D related scenarios called Never Have I Ever: D&D DM. The idea is for each thing you have done on the list, add one level and then see what level Dungeon Master you are according to these parameters. I thought it might be fun to share this here with y’all, and I’ll go through the list myself to find out what level DM I am after 30+ years of rolling funny shaped dice. Afterwards I fully expect you to share your results in the comments too! So let’s get into it and find out what I have and have not done as a D&D DM.
Help Dungeon Masters Guild and DriveThruRPG Fight Fire with Games
Since late July 2019 devastating bushfires have ravaged large swaths of Australia, the worst the country has experienced in decades. Persistent heat and drought make the problem even worse. Entire towns have been consumed by wildfires, thousands of homes destroyed or damaged and over 7.3 million hectares have burned across Australia — an area larger than Belgium and Denmark together. Because the D&D community includes people from all over the world, we have some personal touchstones to the terrible situation going on in Australia through the creators and people living there who we become friends and fellow gamers with online and at conventions. So it is incredibly wonderful to see the RPG community doing what it can to help. When I saw just now there is a Fight Fire with Games campaign going on at Dungeon Masters Guild and DriveThruRPG I knew right away we had to share this news here on the site.
