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Author: Robin Miller

Nerdarchy > Articles posted by Robin Miller (Page 10)
bard troupe 5E D&D

A Group of Bards is Called a Troupe

Salutations, nerds! I’m going to keep this ball rolling right into back into bards in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons this time around. Troubadours! Thespians. Minstrels. All those fun words for people who know how to pluck a lute or give a mad soliloquy. From people busking along the side of the road to the most renowned acting troupes with real theaters to perform in, they (likely like your party) know how to make a spectacle of themselves in 5E D&D.

5E D&D rogue thieves guild

A Group of Rogues is Called a Thieves Guild

Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to talk about a fantasy staple: the thieves guild. A group of stylish rogues with a secret code language who are much of the time the best organized and most numerous group of people in the city. You see those street urchins playing over there? They’re informing for the Guild Master. The guy at the bazaar who sells terrible bread you never actually see anybody buying? I mean, you had to know he was a fence.

I’ve got a soft spot for a good heist story and I’ve always kind of wanted to run a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game where the entire party are rogues and center it around the inner dealings of the thieves guild. So often my home town party ends up going off on tangent of stealing things anyway, after all, so why not cut out the middle man? Which got me wondering…why do people end up doing crimes so often in 5E D&D anyway?

5E D&D Worldbuilding for a Revolution Plot: Part 2

Salutations, nerds! Last week we talked about setting up for a revolution plot. We explored reasons your power hasn’t been overthrown by revolutions  already, and if all that is true, how to motivate your PCs to go ahead and overthrow them in the first place. Today, we’re going to talk more about 5E D&D worldbuilding and what you have to knock out from under your ruler’s legs to disrupt their power base. In other words, the stuff likely to actually happen in the campaign, at the table.

5E D&D Worldbuilding for a Revolution Plot: Part 1

Salutations, nerds! I hope you’re ready to do some 5E D&D worldbuilding because today we’re going to be talking about revolutions and empires, and what you need if the tabletop roleplaying game storyline you’re planning on running has to do with unseating someone currently in power. Please note, this is going to be a quick run down, not a comprehensive list. I’ve got the span of a quick article to do this — nope, two. Two quick articles. I’ve done the thing again where I had more to say than I thought I did. Ahem. But. I’m going to try to give you enough to springboard off of and hopefully enough to get the gears turning in your head for what you want to do with your plot. Got your notebooks out? Ready? Let’s dive in.

Where Conflict and Tension Comes From in 5E D&D

Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to be talking about conflict in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. I’m not talking about the big bad evil creature and the general conflict of the campaign, of course. I mean the scene-to-scene conflict. Have you ever found yourself sitting at the gaming table in a scene where everyone was hanging out and nothing was going wrong? It can be pretty good once in a while just to hang out in character and let your party chill together, but if it goes on too long it starts to drag. If you have a conflict in every scene, however, even the minutiae of shopping for supplies can be made tense and interesting.

Disrupting the Status Quo in Established Campaign Settings

Salutations, nerds. Today I want to talk to you about playing in tabletop roleplaying games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in established campaign settings and disrupting the status quo. Not clinging by wrist and ankle to the cannon so you don’t get fired across the playmat — it’s canon? Hmm. Okay, well, that metaphor’s over, now, moving on.

The One Thing You Want to Know About NPCs in RPGs

Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to be talking about character motivations, particularly of the NPC variety, in tabletop roleplaying games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We Game Masters know we’re not supposed to get too invested in these characters because they are not spotlight characters. Not really. The game should focus on the player characters. But there’s an art to NPCs, and not being the focus doesn’t mean they don’t have to be complete characters. No, I’m not saying you need a dozen notes for the backstory of Bob the Baker. What I’m saying is, you should know what his goals are, what he wants, and how to leverage him.

Portraying History as Cultural Point of View in Collaborative Storytelling

Salutations, nerds. Today we’re going to be talking about cultural point of view and the way history is recorded. Particularly, we’re going to be talking about how that applies to your gaming setting and the things you present to your players in games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons or whatever your favorite game happens to be. One of my absolute things in games is the effect you get where you know “x” happened, but everyone who was around to talk about it after believes it happened differently.

wizards of the coast

NPC Relationships and Reputation in D&D Factions

Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to be talking about fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons NPC relationships and reputation in D&D, something some player characters are very good at and others…not so much. Some PCs take the attitude that NPCs are basically just Popsicle sticks with faces painted on them who are supposed to vend gold because they were charming enough. Your job as the Dungeon Master is to make those NPCs feel like real people, and sometimes real people aren’t going to pay you more no matter how well you rolled because they just don’t have it.

Credible D&D Threats and Challenges — Raising the Stakes Without Being a Killer DM

Salutations, nerds! I’m talking to the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters, today in particular, so strap in. We’re going on an adventure that has to do with creating credible D&D threats and challenges without being labeled a “killer DM.” We want our players to feel like the game has stakes. We want them to feel like death is a possibility without feeling like that is specifically what we have in mind for them. After all, what fun is it if it’s too easy, right? But it’s also no fun to feel like the DM is actually trying to kill you on purpose. And as DMs it’s our job to strike that balance.

5 Reasons for Your D&D Adventurer to… Adventure?

Salutations, nerds! One of the big things that comes up a lot in terms of characterization is, “What reason could your character possibly have for wanting to risk their life in a dungeon?” And that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I give you five reasons a character might want to be an adventurer.

5E D&D social villains

5E D&D Villains: Social Villains

Salutations, nerds! We’ve reached the end of my list of kinds of villains to talk about finally, and we’re bringing it to a close with social villains. These are going to be best if you’re playing something that leans more toward political intrigue, like Houses of the Blooded or Vampire: the Masquerade, but they can add some spice to any social heavy situation whether it’s 5E D&D or whatever tabletop roleplaying game suits your fancy.

5E D&D Villains: Rivals and Frenemies

Salutations, nerds! Continuing on with talking about 5E D&D villains, this time I want to take a moment for one of my favorite kinds of bad guys, and the kind that tend to go over the best at my table personally. I’m talking rivals. Also known as frenemies. Players love this type of villain because it doesn’t get more personal. If you do it right, a rival can be an incredibly multi-faceted character, and by turns both a help and a hindrance. Sometimes, even a romantic interest. So let’s get down to business, shall we?

D&D Villains: The Charming Monster

Salutations, nerds! I’m back, and ready to hop back into some villainous discussion, and today we are going to be talking about the charming monster. I’m talking about the succubus who smiles even as you know she’d flay you alive if you let your guard down. The nobleman with the winning smile who pays the party with one hand while he’s bribing a pirate mercenary to shake you down for the artifact you refused to sell him with the other. The comely vampire with a high body count. These are the villains who try to charm their way out of trouble. The ones who might try (and sometimes succeed) in seducing party members— often to horrifying results. There is no disgusting description to go with this monster, I’m afraid, they simply are a picture of beauty and grace and are made monstrous