Remembering all my D&D and gaming pals at Thanksgiving
Here in the U.S. we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, a holiday in which we go shopping, watch football and eat way too much. Oh yeah, and we give thanks for the good things in our lives. As part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this year I...
Now for something completely different: Add laughs to your D&D game with Monty Python rules
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Around some role-playing game tables, especially those for Dungeons & Dragons, quotes from the Monty Python’s Flying Circus television show and Monty Python movies are as common as twenty-sided dice. As might be expected considering the subject matter, quips from “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” are especially prevalent.
Who can blame us, and our fellow gamers? Those movies and the show are hilarious and often full of scenarios and one-liners just fit for a session of D&D. In our broader culture, perhaps only “The Princess Bride” comes close as being quoted, or maybe the Star Wars franchise.
However, sometimes quotes aren’t enough. Sometimes you might want to take your game to the next level by actually including Monty Python material in your adventures. Drafting some of the characters would not be too difficult, and it would be a fairly easy task to include King Arthur’s famed sword Excalibur as rules for it exist in earlier editions of the game. But what about specific rules that allow for Monty Python-esque gameplay?
Energize your Fifth Edition D&D character classes by playing across types
Hello, Nerdarchists! Have you played all the Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons character classes, and all the archetypes, and now you’re looking for something new? Are all your characters starting to feel the same? Do you need an idea to help kick start your creativity...
D&D Alignments: Has Chaotic Neutral gotten a bad rap?
Hello Nedarchists! Today I want to take a look at the Dungeons & Dragons Alignment system, specifically the Chaotic Neutral alignment.
The Alignment system in some form or other has been part of the D&D experience since the beginning, all the way back in 1974 with the first edition of the game. Even in the early days, Alignments sometimes brought about a predicament for players and dungeon masters alike as Alignments could be understood in a rather subjective fashion, giving rise to lots of different interpretations.
The occasional troubles have not abated to this day. Some dungeon masters do away with Alignments altogether, or at least ignore them. Some players consider Alignments a burden upon their characters, while other players enjoy using Alignments as a guidepost for their creations.
Armored Instinct: Bringing combat of the past to the future
The ring of steel on steel, swords against armor, maces against shields, these are often considered sounds only from the far past. Today, however, that is no longer the case. With interest in the sword arts growing, in no small part due to organizations such as ARMA (Association for Renaissance Martial Arts) and HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) and Russia’s M-1 Medieval Sports League, more and more fans and athletes are taking up arms and armor to experience the thrills of historical combat for themselves.
Two such individuals are Kyle Roberts and Andrew Dunn, founders of Armored Instinct in Winchester, Kentucky, who answer questions below.
Question: What exactly (and who) is Armored Instinct?
Afraid you’re a bad Dungeon Master? Do it anyway
So, you’ve run a couple of Dungeons & Dragons games as dungeon master, but you’re not feeling great about it. The sessions seemed to drag. You felt like you were always flipping through the Player’s Handbook.
A couple of characters bickered and you couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe there were even technical issues if you gamed online, or if you were at a table, maybe the chips tasted stale and the soft drinks flat. Maybe, dread of all dreads, a total-party-kill took place. Against flumphs.
In other words, the games sucked, and you feel like you’re to blame for all of it.
1982: Year of the first ADV Dungeons & Dragons video game
Box cover for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When it comes to Dungeons & Dragons products, the tabletop games might be first to come to mind, but the brand has had more than its share of success with video games. Everyone has their favorites, from “Baldur’s Gate” this and “Neverwinter Nights” that, but those new to the franchise might not be familiar with some of the earlier digital efforts for D&D.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Video Games
Though not the first Dungeons & Dragons video game (that honor goes to “dnd,” created by Ray Wood and Gary Whisenhunt in 1974), the first such game to have the word “advanced” in the title would be 1982’s “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” for the Intellivision home console.
Review – Revolution: Virtual Playspace
With the growing popularity of online tabletop gaming, more and more game masters and players are turning to sites and software for digital virtual playspaces in order to boost their fun and the gaming experience. Most of these virtual tabletops include a variety of extra functions, such as dice rollers and campaign managers and messaging and more, but to my knowledge all focus upon a two-dimensional environment.
Not so with Revolution: Virtual Playspace.
Fantasy Artist Spotlight – Daniel R. Horne
I have been enjoying fantasy art since I was a boy in the 1970s. Initially I grew to recognize and love the works of Brothers Hildebrandt, Frank Frazetta, Walter Valez and Darrell K. Sweet. Most of these artists drew my attention by their fantastic work on paperback book covers. During the 1980s, I found myself drawn to newer artists, those whose works were featured in role playing material, mostly Dungeons & Dragons products and Dragon magazine. Names like Erol Otus, Bill Willingham, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore and Keith Parkinson became familiar to me, along with hosts of others.
Yet one artist stood out for me among all the others, that artist being Daniel R. Horne.
Fantasy Artist Spotlight – Daniel R. Horne
How Gaming (and Nerdarchy) Helped Save Me
2014 is a year I will never forget.
In May of that year I lost my wife of 12 years to breast cancer. Then in June my father passed away from stomach cancer. In July an uncle died from a heart attack. Even a beloved family pet passed on soon after.
As you can expect, it was quite the tumultuous and emotional year. Everyone experiences grief in their own way, so I won’t compare my own to anyone else, but it did seem for a long while I was falling deeper and deeper into a well of numbness. Also, it seemed there was no way out, that I would never be able to pull myself back up to find breathing space, let alone any peace of mind.
Dungeons and Dragons and Nerdarchy
5th Edition – The Warlock: Are You Playing It Right?
One of the grumblings I sometimes hear or read about fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons concerns the warlock class. Almost always these center around the fact the warlock has so few spell slots, only one initially and then only two until 11th level, eventually ending with a maximum of four at 17th level. While it’s true the warlock does not have as many spell slots as other spellcasting classes, and it’s true the warlock does not have the diversity of spells available to many classes, the warlock has so many unique abilities I am left wondering if some players simply are not sure of how to play a warlock.
