Let Loose the Lamp Louse from Untraditionally Arcane in Your 5E D&D Game
Salutations, nerds! Today I want to share with you one of the creatures that came up in our last session of Untraditionally Arcane, the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign at Nerdarchy Live where the Chaos Crew takes on the role of wizards from various untraditional schools of magic because the traditional ones of 5E D&D are on the fritz and puts us in a unique position to fix them.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Elemental Creature Type
Salutations, nerds, I’ve got some hot stuff for you today. The focus of this post about a specific creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is all about elementals. These primal creatures are basically made of earth, air, fire or water. It’s a little bit more complex than this and since this is one of my very favorite 5E D&D creature types I’m pretty excited to tuck into this one.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Dragon Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Today’s post focusing on a specific creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is interesting because with almost every other creature type there’s a little bit of fuzziness around the edges but pretty much everybody already shares some familiarity with a dragon. Take a second and picture a dragon. I know something came to mind whether it’s the long snakelike Eastern kind or the big ol’ firebreathing Western kind. Listen — dragons are cool in 5E D&D.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Construct Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Like clockwork I’ve found my way to the construct creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it’s in terms of golems, modrons or anything else made instead of born I’m taking you up close and personal with some 5E D&D creatures probably made by an artificer or a wizard.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Celestial Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! It’s time for a look at celestials in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, by which I mean angels. Sort of. You’ll see what I mean when we start cracking into them but suffice it to say, another day another 5E D&D creature type.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Beast Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Are you ready to unleash the beast? Well, neither am I, but I am at least ready to unleash an examination of the beast creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Beasts in 5E D&D are basically mundane animals. These are the kinds of creatures druids look to for their Wild Shape feature.
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Lingering Spirit
Salutations, nerds! The last pocket NPC for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I presented was the Identify Intern and today I’m introducing something a little bit spoopier. Some of my favorite D&D sessions have been ghost stories and that’s exactly where we’re going right now so I present to 5E D&D Dungeon Masters the Lingering Spirit character.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Aberration Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! I’m going to get a little bit eldritch and talk about the aberration creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. What they do, what unifies this creature type, what they generally feel like. You know the drill. We’re also going to highlight five iconic aberrations, so make sure to stay tuned for the end of the article for that!
Study Up on 5E D&D Magic — Necromancy Spells
Salutations nerds! Manipulating the energies of life and death falls under the purview of necromancy magic in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Necromancy is also the school you use to resurrect people. Today I’m going to dig into necromancy, which in most 5E D&D worlds represents the most outlawed school of spellcasting. Not surprisingly necromancy magic is also the favored area of study for our own Maxillae the Mad.
Study Up on 5E D&D Magic — Illusion Spells
Salutations, nerds! Next up on the docket is illusion magic for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Illusion is the school of magic spun to ensnare the senses of others, to hide things or plant ideas. I’m going to be honest that I don’t really understand why illusion and enchantment are different schools of magic in 5E D&D except illusion creates sensation and enchantment can take full control of a creature. Illusion sits in a weird place because if you’re really good at illusion magic then they kind of become conjurations. Maybe this is part of my bias against enchantment magic because I feel like if you’re good enough at picking your illusions you can get the same effect without hitting an automatic “you believe me” button. Illusions in 5E D&D can be really fun. Just be careful not to be too heavy handed about it or you could leave your enemies asking what you’re hiding.
Study Up on 5E D&D Magic — Evocation Spells
Salutations, nerds! Let’s explore evocation magic for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. These spellcasters represent elementalists and those who make things go boom! Evocation magic is arguably the most useful 5E D&D school of magic in combat and most healing spells are also classified as evocation too. Evocation is also the school I don’t feel as inclined to glorify for you because so many 5E D&D players already at least strongly consider playing an evoker or at least rely heavily on spells from this school of magic. Let’s blast off!
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Identify Intern
Salutations, nerds! I’ve got another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons NPC for your pocket today. Last time we went with a fence for shady types to give their ill begotten gains to for payment and now we’re going to be talking about the Identify Intern. This is the 5E D&D wizard the party can bring their magic items to if none of them knows how to cast identify themselves. Pocket Full of NPCs gives 5E D&D Dungeon Masters a variety of characters you can pull off the shelf whenever you happen to need them.
Study Up on 5E D&D Magic — Transmutation Spells
Salutations, nerds! In this post I’m exploring ideas about my personal favorite school of magic for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons — transmutation! Polymorphs, classic transmutations and enhancements all fall under this 5E D&D school of magic. Fun fact — transmutation is also where you will find time related spells (not that 5E D&D has any explicit time manipulation magic but more on this later). I see School of Transmutation spellcasters so rarely and I think it’s a shame because there’s not a whole lot more thematic than a transmuter. Turning lead into gold or your apprentice into a whole bunch of different kinds of animals…mmm. It’s just good. So let’s crack into this.
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Fence
Salutations, nerds! I’m back with another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons NPC for you, something to keep in your back pocket for when your 5E D&D players need them. Last time we spent some time with a lycanthropic barbarian and this time we’re looking at something a little bit more utilitarian and subtle. I’m sure you’ve been in a situation where your rogue characters stole something and needed to get rid of it, right? Well, you’re in luck. That is the very situation this NPC was geared toward.
Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Ulfhednar
Salutations, nerds! I keep a pocket full of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons NPCs I can reach for whenever I need to stall characters or they’ve made a request I wasn’t specifically ready for. Honestly, pulling characters out of the ether is a strong point of mine but I know for a lot of people this isn’t the case. And so, Pocket Full of NPCs gives 5E D&D Dungeon Masters a variety of characters you can pull off the shelf whenever you happen to need them.
