Exploring 5E D&D Multiclass Character Builds
Welcome and greetings fellow nerdarchist. Nerdarchist Dave here to talk D&D character builds. But first you might be wondering if you are a Nerdarchist or not. You decide:
Customizing 5E D&D with Feats and Spellcaster Cantrips
Hello and welcome, reader. Nerdarchist Dave with a tale of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons feats and how I accidentally created my first one. It all started with a question from a viewer. The same person also asked about casting cantrips using higher level spell slots. At first I balked at the higher level spell slots, but than I thought about it. Most cantrips only effect a very small area with a limited range for the most part — only one target — or a saving throw avoids all damage so I don’t think it’s game breaking. Then you add in having to use an ability score increase to take a feat to do it. A maximized fireball is still usually a better option than an empowered cantrip. But if you want a spellcaster with a certain flavor, why not? This is the first 5E D&D feat I’ve homebrewed and it’s a really great example of how easy this edition of the game is to customize.
5E D&D Monsters — Goblins and Their Goblinoid Cousins
Hello Nerdarchy reader, Nerdarchist Dave here to talk Dungeons & Dragons monsters, in this case goblins. The D&D goblin has been around for as long as the game has existed, actually longer. Goblins have been lurking around folklore and mythology for ages. Goblins and their ilk are classic D&D monsters we love to hate. It’s one of those monsters adventurers encounter in the beginning of their careers. The downside to all this is goblins have become mundane and dare I say boring to today’s gamer. Heck I bet most Dungeon Master’s don’t even both to describe them to their players anymore. “You see a goblin,” is what a lot of DM’s more than likely say.
Good Dungeon Masters Know The Rules, Great Dungeon Masters Know How To Break Them
Hello reader it’s Nerdarchist Dave and I’m here to take your Dungeon Master game to the next level. Rule zero of running a tabletop roleplaying game is the Game Master makes the rules. Your number one job as the Game Master, Dungeon Master, Referee, Storyteller or whatever you are calling the person running the game is help everyone have fun. It was in the fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide where I first saw something so simple yet magical. “Say yes.” Those two words changed my perspective completely with tabletop roleplaying games. It made me reexamine how I behave as a Game Master for tabletop roleplaying games.
How to Find a Gaming Group for Tabletop RPG Games
Hey folks Nerdarchist Dave here to talk about the age old question: how do I find a gaming group? This can be super easy or a Herculean task especially among us tabletop RPG gamers. Let’s face it, inside the gaming community there are more socially inept people than you can roll a d20 at. I feel like can say that, being one of the inept. I personally have always gotten anxiety when placed in large social gatherings with people I don’t know.
My Secret Life Playing Dungeons & Dragons and Other RPGs
Hello and welcome to Nerdarchy readers. Nerdarchist Dave here and this article is going to be a little different than most I’ve written. It’s going to be a lot more personal. RPG Games have been a part of my life for a long time now. I was first exposed them at age 5, but it would be a few years later before I’d start playing Dungeons and Dragons regularly with some friends.
Gaming was great for me. It was a way to escape the real world and immerse myself in a fantasy one where the monsters were less scary. In the real world I grew up in the party house. There were drugs, alcohol and violence on a regular basis. It wasn’t uncommon for the police to show up. At an early age I learned not to have friends over because I never knew what they’d see or be exposed to.
Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse — It’s All About that Gear
Greetings ghouls and gals. Nerdarchist Dave here and I’m going to try to help you get through a zombie apocalypse. First things first it’s all about the preparation. Once you find yourself in the middle of an invasion from the living dead it might already be to late.
Build a Better Adventure with Terrible Terrain in Your RPG
Nerdarchist Dave here and it’s time to talk about some RPG encounter building. I’m going to make this a miniseries article containing four parts. On Nov. 15, 2014 Nerdarchy took part in the online convention called Brigade Con. Brigade Con is dedicated to tabletop roleplaying games. There was a ton of online games and discussion panels going on for just over 24 hours. Terrible Terrain was the name of the discussion panel we ran. Later in this article you can check out the video. In the meantime I’m going to elaborate on our discussion and break down the encounters more in depth.
How to Speeks Goblin | Spa
Every feel like you just needed to get away? Well maybe our little green goblin friend here can help. In this weeks "How to Speek Goblin" we see what goblins consider a spa day. Looks like this dwarf is finding out the hard way to...
Rewarding an RPG Character’s Backstory
Hello and welcome to another article here at Nerdarchy.com. My name is Nerdarchist Dave and I’ll be laying down some Game Master tips for you today. Have you ever struggled with getting your players involved in your game? Maybe they ignore every one of your plot hooks. Perhaps they aren’t willing to interact with your finely crafted NPC’s. Or they don’t care about the living, breathing city you’ve lovingly sculpted from your imagination. Have you asked yourself why this is? Or do you blame the players, because let’s face it you’ve done everything you could to give them an awesome experience. I see a lot of Game Masters in tabletop roleplaying games who struggle with letting go of the reigns a little bit. After all it’s their game right?
Is This You? Common Game Master Mistakes
I’ve been throwing funny-shaped dice with my friends for more years than I care to admit. Most of those games I’ve run the game as the Dungeon Master. Most of those years I spent making things far more difficult for myself than necessary. In this article I’m going to impart to you what I consider to be the most important of all the Game Master tips I have to give. Let’s face it, we play tabletop roleplaying games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons for one reason above all other reasons, and that is to be entertained.
How To Speeks Goblin | Doing Dishes
It's time to check in on our little green friends with this week's How To Speeks Goblin. Now let's look at the domestic aspects of goblin life. You may not want to let a goblin do your dishes. Let us know what you think of this...
5E D&D Character Build — Gnome Illusionist
Nerdarchy recently did a video on fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons races — the gnome. Which has led me to want to play one. For me gnome illusionist was one of the iconic characters from AD&D. The great thing about gnomes to me is they share a lot of the cool traits of dwarves when it comes to their industrialness, but lack the dwarven somberness. They are fun loving and gregarious by nature easily lending themselves to a comedic role without taking away too much from a serious game. One of the things about these guys is they’re practical jokers and jovial by nature. I think this adds a great dynamic to a group of adventures. When you combine their nature with their affinity for illusion magic in the case of the forest gnome or tinkering when it comes to the rock gnomes it’s the perfect storm for creating a trickster character.
Constructing a 5E D&D One Shot
Last Friday night I was home alone and not an RPG game to be played in sight. My regular group wasn’t available yet and I still wanted to drop some funny shaped dice. So what is a gamer to do? I’ll tell you what I did. I reached out to the online RPG game community and some of my fellow Nerdarchists via Facebook. On Facebook there is this group called the Tabletop RPG One Shot Group started by fellow YouTuber GM Juce. He started it to bring gamers together and help people game. A while back I did an article on that FB group and how it’s helping gamers to game.
Game Master Tips — How To Start an RPG Campaign
One of the toughest parts about being a GM in any RPG game is “How do you start the campaign?” You will have characters with different backgrounds, professions, motivations, and depending the the kind of game you are playing even different races or species.
For this game master tips article I’ll be referring to the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign I’m about to start running. The tips and advice I’m going to offer up will work in pretty much any setting or game, but I want to give a context in how these tips and tricks work and why I do certain things.
