Player Agency and Why Some Curses Are Total Garbage
I promise you I’m not finished talking about Dungeons & Dragons villains, but something came up this week that requires my immediate attention and I will get right back to those as soon as I’m done with this one. Yeah, we’re going to talk about player agency in 5E D&D. I can hear people groaning already. The thing is, player agency has kind of lost its meaning in the midst of all of these discussions about it and I hear it used incorrectly as often as I hear it used right.
D&D Villains: Sympathy for the Devil
Salutations, nerds! Today, I’m going to talk about villains again, and this time we’ll be discussing sympathetic villains in your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games. I’m talking about the wizard whose been vivisecting people trying to come up with a cure for his wife’s ailment and save her life. I’m talking about the planar being who has cut a swathe of chaos across the land trying to get home. I’m talking about the blackguard who was betrayed by his people and had his heart stained in darkness. These are the D&D villains you almost want to fix. The ones who tug your heartstrings and make you hesitate to kick their butt. These are the Mr. Freezes, the Princess Lunas, and the Magnetos of your D&D campaign.
D&D Villains: The Enemy With the Inhuman Face
Salutations, nerds! I want to talk a little bit more about designing and running the bad guys in your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game. Specifically, I want to talk about the kinds of bad guys that cannot be reasoned with. Dark creatures that could never be mistaken for “human.” I’m talking dark gods. I’m talking the tarrasque. I’m talking the massive thing on the horizon that just swallowed the cathedral and made the party feel so small in Session One in a single bite, yes. I’m also talking about smaller demons. I’m talking about the insectoid creature that keeps hollowing out people’s bodies and using their meat puppets to its own ends. These are the inhuman monsters so alien there is no connecting with them and the only chance you have is running them through before they do more damage. If you even can. If you’re even sure where to hit it.
Villains: The Hierarchy of Heinousness
Salutations, nerds! I’ve been on a bad guy kick recently and because of that I want to talk about D&D villains and how to use them. This is going to be broad strokes — a top down look at how bad guys can interlock to make a Dungeons & Dragons campaign feel more connected. I’ll get back to this topic again soon and get into some more specifics.
Handling D&D Treasure Troubles: Tips for Counting Coppers
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to talk about party funds and how to manage your gold flow in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Hilarious that I’m the one talking about this one, right? If you have a Dungeon Master who doesn’t like to dole out a ton of treasure, or if you’re playing the early levels, here are some tips and tricks for making your gold pieces go farther and streamlining treasure distribution at the table.
Giving Players Chores at the Table to Keep D&D Running More Smoothly
Salutations, nerds! I want to talk about the division of labor at the table during a Dungeons & Dragons game! Now, I know you may be saying, “The Dungeon Master is doing most of the work, the players are just playing their characters, right?” But that’s not always the case. As the DM, giving players chores at the table is sometimes the prudent choice. A lot of the upkeep can be done by the players to keep the DM’s brain power free to keep the game rolling. So today I’m going to go down a list of chores you can give to your players to keep D&D running more smoothly.
Dungeons & Dragons Tavern Menus and Fantasy Culinary Culture
Salutations, nerds! Today I want to talk about Dungeons & Dragons taverns and things you can acquire in them. Specifically, let’s talk about the tavern menus. Are you the kind of Dungeon Master who likes to give your players a handout of a menu that’s prefabricated or do you prefer to make it up on the spot? Either way, there are useful things to consider when it comes to your taverns and the food that is available in them.
RPG Character Types and the Sliding Scale of Tactical Characters vs. Heroic Characters
Salutations nerds! Today, I want to talk about RPG character types, in a way that directly lines up with playstyle. See, a lot of the players I know fall into patterns, somewhere between a couple of polls, and now that I’ve noticed I can’t help but find it kind of fascinating. I’m talking, of course, about tactical characters and heroic characters. They’re both awesome.
Worldbuilding: Different Styles of Monarchy in D&D Political Campaigns
Salutations, nerds! I’ve been giving a lot of thought to fantasy governments and how they tend to be portrayed in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Most of the time you’ve got a pretty standard monarchy in D&D set up and that’s all right if you’re playing a kick-in-the-door style game, but sometimes you want more out of a D&D political campaign than that. Today, we’re going to talk about monarchies (by which I mean ‘one ruler’ more so than the specifics given in the Dungeon Master’s Guide) and a bit about feudalism for worldbuilding.
The Name Game Part IV: Game Titles (And Why Your Campaign Should Have One)
Salutations, nerds! Today I want to take a moment to talk about game titles. A lot of home groups don’t have them, but plenty of character sheets (looking at you World of Darkness) have slots for ‘campaign name’ on the page and promote doing so. So, allow me to put on my saleslady hat and try to convince you this is a good idea.
5 Magical D&D Weather Phenomena
Salutations, nerds! We play fifth edition Dungeon & Dragons, and a lot of the settings we spend our time in come equipped with intense magical nonsense that permeates almost everything from wizards to weapons to other odds and ends. Depending on the kind of campaign you’re playing, the weather can sometimes be overlooked unless the Dungeon Master is specifically trying to drive characters someplace to take shelter, and honestly that’s okay. We drop details to enhance play, not to get in the way of it.
Speak With Dead #29: Dark Lord Problems
Each week, our resident necromancer Maxillae the Mad takes time from her busy life as a alchemist and practitioner of death magic to offer her unique insights and advice to denizens of any world or setting. At the bottom find out how you can Speak with Dead and ask your questions of our necromancer with the answer. Until then, welcome to the crypt!
Be Classy: Some Thoughts on D&D Party Roles
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to take a moment to talk about party roles and classes, specifically doubling up on them within the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party. I have seen a lot of trouble crop up regarding two people in a party wanting to play the same class. Particularly in fifth edition D&D, this is not as much of a problem as it sounds like it is, especially when you go into the situation with a little bit of good will.
Doling Out Descriptive Details as a Dungeon Master
Salutations, nerds! I’ve recently been running into a recurring problem, both personally at the roleplaying game table and hearing about it through stories other people have told, regarding scenery detail and how the Dungeon Master breaks it down. So today we’re going to take a moment to talk about descriptive details. These crucial skills are viable for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons or any RPG.
The Psychology of a Likable RPG Character Part 3: Respect
Standard disclaimer: I got these points from a YouTube video centered around actual self help and the real life application of these points. I didn’t come up with this myself, I’m just repurposing it for fiction writing and roleplaying. I would love to be able to link that video here, so if you have it, drop a link in the comments please! (Edit: If you’ve been following, you know Nerditor Doug found it and it’s over here. Also Charisma on Command, very good material, makes a lot of Game of Thrones references, if you’re not already watching him you should be.)
