Make Your 5E D&D Magic and Magic Items More Mysterious
It is not unheard of to hear me talking about fifth edition being my favorite of all the editions of Dungeons & Dragons but in some cases I think they got it wrong. One of these examples is the ability to know the properties of magic items simply by spending a short rest or one hour essentially communing with said object. This means the character who dumped Intelligence and Wisdom and has no proficiency in History, Arcana, Investigation or heck, maybe even Nature can tell you exactly what an incredibly powerful magic item is after spending only 60 minutes considering the object.
Defend the Forests of Your 5E D&D World with a Radiant Treant
A while back I wrote about Treants. These glorious creatures exist in the realms of Dungeons & Dragons but why do we not have a variety of options such noble creatures. Other creature types have martial versions and spellcaster options and ones with extraordinary abilities. Sure, it is easy to combine some monsters together but not everyone is ready to do this. For those folks and any Dungeon Masters interested in more treant variety I am making my first treant for fifth edition D&D.
Support the Troops in Your 5E D&D War with the Armory Golem
A while ago we covered D&D Ideas — Shields and I tossed out the idea of an Armory Golem. It is time I make good on my promise to create this new creature to share with you for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games.
Play Your 5E D&D Dragons with Big Brain Energy
Dragons are immortal creatures who grow in power and size but it is not only their physical stats reaching immense proportions. Mentally dragons are one of the most intelligent creatures in the realms. As a 5E D&D Dungeon Master it can feel a little intimidating to run dragons whose intellect is much more vast than our own. Even DMs with genius level IQs are still not up to par with the intellect of elder dragons.
Run Your D&D Encounters with a Battle Pack
There are all sorts of ways to run encounters in D&D. Whether you are using hazards, lair actions, legendary actions or just monsters there is a lot to keep track of during an encounter. Today I’m exploring going one for one with the party. Typically a good group of adventurers comprises a warrior, a sneaky character, a healer and some kind of damage dealing spellcaster. In the years I have been playing very rarely do I see combats being pitted against such an encounter unless we are in direct opposition of another adventuring party.
Plant the Seeds of Adventure with More Treants for your 5E D&D Games
Whether you are talking about Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings, treants have the ability to make a big impact. Not only are treants very large creatures — Huge in fact — but they are quite long lived and quite powerful.
Adding Magic Schools into Your Fantasy World
There has been a recent rush of ideas talking about schools teaching magic in relation to fantasy gaming. As a gamer who has been playing for decades this does seem like an alien concept to me. Before you get all up in arms about it I am not opposed to the concept. It just seems rather odd to collect a group, possibly a large number, of untrained magical practitioners and keep them all in a confined space.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Backgrounds by a Factor of Three
I know, it’s crazy. Nerditor Doug wrote so many of these but now I’ve taken over, at least for this one. Backgrounds in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have so many criteria so we get to see how they all stack up. But like usual we are going to look at the backgrounds and evaluate them three different ways and see which of these fan created backgrounds you want to add to your 5E D&D game.
Adventure the Length and Breadth of a Two Dimensional World
I am always looking for inspiration to do something other Game Masters are not especially when gaming with my kids. In addition I like incorporating my gaming supplies into the game at the table. One idea I had originated from my son’s love of Minecraft and LEGO. What if there was a place where everything was literally made of blocks and everything had 90 degree edges?
WizKids Throws its Hat (and Various Other Pieces and Parts) into the Kitbashing Ring
Ever since the release of plastic miniatures during the release of third edition Dungeons & Dragons I have loved collecting, using, painting and then kitbashing figures. If you are not familiar with kitbashing it has its foundation in model cars and airplanes long before us nerds who roll funny shaped dice decided to give it a go. Kitbashing means taking parts from one kit and adding them to another or salvaging parts from even outside a kit to make the model you imagine. A super famous kitbash you might not be aware of is the Death Star for the original Star Wars movie. It was put together with model kits used in new ways and new angles to give the Death Star its iconic look.
Go Bigger and Badder with More Archdevils and Demon Lords for 5E D&D
I explored some of the baddest baddies from the Nine Hells of Dungeons & Dragons in the past. If you want to check it out you can do so here. Now it’s time to check into a few more of these amazing lords of hell and how you might use these wonderful meanies in your next campaign or session.
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay Watching the Monsters Roll Your Way
When I am preparing my session material I like to see what new things I can add to the game. Is there a fun mechanic I would like to explore, an amusing hazard I can add or a location I have not used at all or in a long time that will be engaging for the players?
Scaling Up Your D&D Game to Giant Proportions
Giants have been a part of Dungeons & Dragons since the beginning of the game. I have always struggled with giants. They did not come up a lot early in my game play and when I watched the old ’80s D&D cartoon giants were much more massive than they are listed as now. But whether giants are just over 10 feet tall or over 100 feet tall they are still ginormous and difficult to interact with in D&D.
How Often Should Dragons Show Up in Dungeons & Dragons?
I have been playing tabletop roleplaying games for over 30 years at this point. I can honestly say there have been long stretches of time and numerous games played with no dragon encounters. Today I ask the dreaded question, “How often should you face a dragon?”
Ember Roc and Other Monsters of Tal’Dorei Inspire New Characters and Adventures
Tal’Dorei Reborn recently released and if you managed to get your hands on a copy from the wonderful people over at Critical Role’s Darrington Press you’ve seen a bunch of new monsters and their respective stat blocks for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. But enough of the book for now — you can hear more on this from us over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel.
