Terrorize 5E D&D Adventurers with the Hellmouth Hydra
I am a huge fan of hydras and dragons. They are very cool creatures that can be used in so many different ways and on so many different levels. With the release of Tiamat by WizKids I was thinking of how one might use this mini either as something other than the Queen of Evil Dragons or her direct agent. If I made a new (obviously less powerful) stat block it would give people a chance to use this gorgeous mini.
Enhance Your Witchlight Carnival with Fey Magic Items for 5E D&D
Wild Beyond the Witchlight is out in the world now and people are playing the wonderful fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure. I thought it might be time to make some magic items that mesh well with the Feywild and the fey themed 5E D&D games people are playing. This coincides with the new releases over on Hero Forge — an amazing site where you can design your own customized tabletop 3D printed miniatures.
Roleplaying Games Truly Rock
The life of an adventurer can feel like hitting a stone wall. Some monsters, townsfolk and maybe even fellow adventurers can come across like they have rocks for brains. I am sure I could assault you with some more rock related jokes but I will spare you for now. Instead I wanted to take a moment and share some great overlap.
Crazy RPG Antics and Great Charisma on Display with The General Adventuring Company
Sometime ago Nerdarchist Dave interviewed a few members of The General Adventuring Company. Either I failed a Wisdom saving throw or they collectively passed a Charisma (Persuasion) check. However it happened, after Critical Role finished their second campaign I had an open game slot to watch. While I did watch Exandria Unlimited I still had more hours in my week to fill.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as the Coolest Character Around
Summer is on over here in the US and it is hot outside. If you are like me and looking for a way to cool off why not think about and make some cold weather characters for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons? Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frost Maiden has been out for a while now but I still hear people talking about it and new 5E D&D games start all the time. Rime of the Frost Maiden hoists characters into an arctic environment and while it is easy to put on a cold weather outfit why not look for those 5E D&D races used to being in cold environments so there is no need for the extra gear?
Giving Thanks for Critical Role’s Undeniable Impact
Critical Role‘s Campaign 2 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and while Critters like me eagerly await news about Campaign 3 I thought I’d look back and consider all Critical Role has done for me personally. Worry not — I am going to avoid spoilers for those not caught up yet.
Enhance Your 5E D&D Game with Magic Drums
Magical instruments have been on my mind for a while now. Our friends over at Hero Forge recently released a set of new drums to add their their ever expanding collection of of items that you can add to your character. I took inspiration from those designs to make three new magic items to add to your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game.
Go Wild with Beasts in Your 5E D&D Games
Animals, or beasts as they are referred to in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, play an important role in the game and to be fair in the story too. As early as 1st level wizards, variant humans or characters created using the Custom Lineage guidelines who take the right feat can get a familiar. Familiars can be very useful at scouting without being noticed as out of place, but more on that later. Druids gain the Wild Shape feature at 2nd level and at 3rd level Beast Master rangers gain a beast companion. By 5th level druids (and rangers at 9th level) get access to the conjure animals spell. Lastly many spellcasters gain access to the polymorph spell at 7th level. Why am I wild about animals in 5E D&D? It could be because in the game I run for my kids for a while it was more like them collecting interesting creatures, like a Pokemon game or it could be how useful they are in the game — if used correctly.
Plane Shift Your 5E D&D Game Into Magic: The Gathering — Ixalan
Are you looking for more fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons content to add to your game? Do you like free stuff? Are you a fan of Magic: The Gathering? Chances are you answered yes to at least one of these questions. Nerdarchy the Website readers know on July 16, 2021 Wizards of the Coast releases Adventures in the Forgotten Realms — the first D&D themed expansion for MTG. This expansion represents a true collaboration between these two Hasbro teams. But MTG crossed over into 5E D&D six times even before Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica and Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Amonkhet, Dominaria, Innistrad, Kaladesh, Zendikar and Ixalan all Plane Shift-ed over to 5E D&D through titles available free from Dungeon Master’s Guild. I am here to share with you Plane Shift: Ixalan.
Add a Draconic Lineage to Your 5E D&D Game
Draconians existed since first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons introduced them through the Dragonlance franchise and they are very different from the Dragonborn we get to play these days in fifth edition D&D. Along with lizardfolk, kobolds and tortles there’s a great selection of reptilian races to play in 5E D&D. But none of them seem to capture what people are looking for when it comes to playing an iconic dragon character. Maybe it’s because dragons are put on a pedestal of power and the playable version of dragonborn doesn’t hold up by comparison. Or maybe they are underwhelming when put beside what many agree are better performing races from a mechanical perspective. Explorers Guide to Wildemount introduced a couple of new options with the dragonborn variants of Draconblood and Ravenite. These options provide the darkvision dragonborn should have and they get traits that can be more useful than the breath weapon as an action presented in the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook. So how do we fix this?
Master Your Coiffure with this New 5E D&D Magic Item
One of my great joys as a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master is creating new magic items to release into my world. Sometimes they provide mechanical buffs to characters’ existing strengths or shore up weaknesses. Other times however I make something ludicrous and see what kind of antics players get up to while using such items. Inspired by the new hairstyles our friends over at Hero Forge recently launched I decided to go ahead and make a new magic item to share with all of you. Hopefully one of the characters in your games will love such a fun and crazy item.
Adding the Eldritch Foundry to your D&D Game
I wanted to create a cool location to add to your Dungeons & Dragons game and the fine people over at Eldritch Foundry asked us to share how awesome their minis are so here is a great way to do both. Eldritch Foundry makes great miniatures. I first met them at Gen Con and they were already fans of Nerdarchy. Eldritch Foundry is a web based program allowing you to design and print 3D miniatures for your tabletop roleplaying games. There are loads of ever expanding options for use in creating fantastic miniatures of your own design.
When Fight Club meets Cobra Kai Your RPG Character has to Fight
I take a lot of inspiration from everywhere both as a player and Game Master for my tabletop roleplaying game experiences. Reading novels, watching movies and TV present so many elements that have already been done so well — why not copy some elements to improve your own RPG experiences? I binged all three seasons of Cobra Kai over the weekend and man, what a show. It got me thinking about all the elements about fighting in a typical fantasy RPG. With so many urban adventures to play with it is no wonder fights can break out in the middle of the streets. If you plan to incorporate these kinds of groups, clubs or organizations focused around fighting in your games you could very much take inspiration from Cobra Kai and the movie Fight Club and make up rules and a place where these fights can go down.
Oath of Glory Paladin from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Embodies 5E D&D Heroism
Paladins in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons take Sacred Oaths and become ideal champions of those tenets. The Oath of Glory found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything was originally the Oath of Heroism. The tenets of the oath changed a little bit in the final version and some of the features as well. Since the character I play in a weekly live stream 5E D&D game took the Sacred Oath of Glory during their journey as a justicar it felt only natural to share a closer look at this fantastic subclass.
RPG Elements Abound in Disney’s Frozen 2
Nerdarchy talks about always seeking inspiration from everything but I was not expecting so much fuel for my imagination in Disney’s Frozen 2. I have always loved Disney’s animated movies and I might be behind the times on this one but as a father I can enjoy watching these movies with my kids. We just finished watching Frozen 2 and even for a movie about an ice enchantress set in a fantasy world there are loads of things I am ready to incorporate right into my own tabletop roleplaying games and my own personal magical RPG setting.
