Minions of San-Tac-Laus to Help Deliver 5E D&D Holiday Cheer
About this time last year I made a holiday beholder for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons based on the chubby bearded man who is a symbol of the holiday season. But I knew the story would not end there. After all if the jolly man in the red has his staff of elves who really look and act like really short gnomes then San-Tac-Laus should have his own set of 5E D&D minions to work with as well.
Transforming Worldbuilding Lore into a New 5E D&D Paladin Sacred Oath
Over the past several days I’ve been doing a challenge for 30 days of worldbuilding and one of my viewers shared how she is building two worlds at once with this challenge. This inspired me to do the same. So while I have been building a comedic fantasy world through YouTube videos and exercises I’ve also been building a dark fantasy world called Aulmn for my second project. Part of worldbuilding is developing your own lore surrounding… well, everything. My launch point for this dark fantasy was a history of oppressive spellcasters leading to magical revilement. Then I started thinking about how spellcasting classes fit into the world and everything just snowballed from there. Recently Nerdarchists Dave and Ted talked about using Dungeons & Dragons lore and making up your own. This video hugely inspired many aspects of my worldbuilding. Today we’re covering one aspect of this lore and how it led me to develop a new paladin Sacred Oath for fifth edition D&D.
The Nightmare Before Critmas Part 2
All things considered 2020 wasn’t too shabby for the Nerdarchy crew. We continued to grow across the board from Nerdarchy the YouTube channel to right here on the website where the quality and quantity of content increased dramatically. We started a second YouTube channel for our longform and live video content at Nerdarchy Live. Our Patreon got a needed refresh with more benefits for supporters and we’re super excited about the refined game content we produce every month and Nerdarchy the Newsletter evolved into a vibrant weekly dispatch with a huge subscriber list. Nerditor Doug (me) celebrated a one year anniversary as a full time employee while staff writers Robin and Steven became more involved in creating new content. Later this week we’ll be publishing our year end retrospective so keep an eye out for it but for now we’ll continue a tradition started last holiday season. So I’ll give you back over to Steven for the Nightmare Before Critmas Part 2. — Nerditor Doug
Opting for 5E D&D Character Options from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Hey folks! With the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players and Dungeon Masters alike have been given a number of exciting new character options for Customizing Your Origin and creating a Custom Lineage. Strangely these new options seem to be met with mixed responses but like any optional rules they are merely a source of inspiration and variation to be adopted or not as individual groups of players see fit.
Silent Night RPG
As I write this the sun has set on the shortest day of the year — Winter Solstice. (For my friends of the Goddess: have a peaceful solstice.) My semester finally ended with a flurry of papers (the last being thirty pages long.) Now it’s a waiting game. So now, what to write about? Hmm. Last year I wrote about the Deities & Demigods book I received for Christmas decades ago. Shall I write about the many different ways St. Nick has been adapted for D&D? Been done. No, instead I’ll write about April Fool’s day.
Fluff Like Your 5E D&D Character Backstory is the Game Too
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted examine how a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character’s backstory functions as a tool for the player and Dungeon Master alike. Comments on the video run the range from enthusiasm for this component of 5E D&D character creation to dismissal completely. The modular and adaptable nature of the game itself makes all these perspectives valid but from my perspective backstory is like a lot of other elements of 5E D&D — sitting right there in the open but often glossed over because there’s no pluses and minuses attached. So let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Depths
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is depths, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of depths in Deep Breaths a group of lizardfolk and their chief ambush heroes deep in the oppressive jungle and demand a price be paid for intrusion. Political and spiritual pressure create a powderkeg of tension among lizardfolk on a pilgrimage along with 54 other dynamic scenarios in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Incorporating Lore into 5E D&D Experiences Invites Engagement with Worlds Both Real and Imaginary
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted go to the well to discuss lore in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. In general lore is a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group and typically passed from person to person by word of mouth. This definition applies in our 5E D&D games too and encompasses both the lore presented in the game materials produced by Wizards of the Coast as well as the details specific to your world whether it’s your version of existing settings like Forgotten Realms or something you’ve created wholecloth. So let’s get into it.
Become a Great Game Master with Epic Battlemaps
I can’t even guess how many times I relied almost exclusively on a great map to help run a fun tabletop roleplaying game session. Vibrant maps catch your eye, inspire your imagination and evoke a sense of realism and being there. Details provide touchstones for description and dynamic scenarios, scenery hints at fantastic locales and the space on a map simply provides context for the adventure space. So a book of ready to play, immersive and indispensable fold-out maps that fit in your backpack and make a Game Master’s life easier makes the best kind of resources for your RPG collection.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Unkillable Adventurer
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dig deep to come up with a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who refuses to stay down. There’s a lot of different features 5E D&D characters can take advantage of to keep death at bay and the video incorporates several into a character build guide for players who never say die. The Unkillable Character Build Guide finds a narrative thread and follows through from 1st to 20th level making it useful for any tier of play. And as always we put together an NPC creature version for Dungeon Masters too. So let’s get into it.
