D&D Ideas — Name Days
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is name days, 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 name days if you thought your last holiday get together was awkward you ain’t seen nothing yet because things could get messy in Dinner Party. The truth about your character’s painful, embarrassing or otherwise personal information comes to light for fellow adventurers to learn 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.
What’s Your Type as an RPG Player?
Every Tuesday evening at Nerdarchy Live the team gathers for a weekly tabletop roleplaying game session at 8 p.m. eastern. While preparing for our next one with Nerdarchist Ted running a dungeon delving reality game show with fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I realized something about myself — I like playing tank characters. This led to an intriguing discussion tying in nicely to a recent video over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel where Nerdarchists Dave and Ted zoom through a conversation about the fastest 5E D&D character. So let’s get into it.
Getting More from 5E D&D Monsters — Mage’s Echo
When a spellcaster dies, sometimes a part of their soul lingers behind with the body rather than moving on to its final resting place. These imprints are called mage’s echoes. These undead monsters appear in Wizard’s Wake, one of the digital fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products we create for Patreon supporters and later for Nerdarchy the Store. Here you’ll find expanded 5E D&D content inspired by these haunting spirits along with the stat block as it appears in the book ready to drop into your games.
Enjoy 5E D&D Quality of Life with Optional Class Features from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted ponder the implications of a quantum leap forward in character options for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons ushered in through Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Chapter 1 of the latest official sourcebook for 5E D&D introduces optional class features for all 12 character classes from the Player’s Handbook. (Artificer appears in the book as well making a debut outside Eberron: Rising From the Last War as a 13th class option.)
Power Your Next 5E D&D Game with Friendship as a Peace Domain Cleric from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is kind of notorious for adding several aspects to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons that feel like they always should have always been present in the game. One of these aspects embraces a classic fantasy trope — the power of friendship. The Peace Domain cleric is all about the power of friendship in all the best ways. The Unity Domain from Unearthed Arcana leveled up and evolved into this new Domain. The way mechanics support this subclass give such vital flavor and represent really the best restructuring of Unearthed Arcana content we’ve seen. What’s more this subclass really inspired me with its tone and flavor to the point I feel the best place for this particular subclass is a dark fantasy campaign in the vein of things like The Witcher and Dragon Age.
Join #My30DayWorld RPG World Building Challenge with Jorphdan
Renowned YouTuber Jorphdan’s (the PH is silent) normal repertoire includes Dungeons & Dragons lore videos on everything from Forgotten Realms to Spelljammer. Spurred by My 30 Day World challenge put out by Absolute Tabletop and a Fantasy World Building Guide from WebWriter.net, Jorphdan concocted a challenge to end this 2020 — 30 Days of RPG World Building! If you missed out on NaNoWriMo or GamoWriMo never fear because there’s still plenty of time to do #My30DayWorld challenge!
Magical Phenomena Materialize from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players received an adrenaline shot with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything injecting a huge number of new subclasses and character options. Like its predecessor Xanathar’s Guide to Everything the latest sourcebook includes a wealth of material for Dungeon Masters too. The back half of the book segues into a resources blending concrete rules with guidance for incorporating fun and engaging content into 5E D&D games. Layering adventures and encounters with these elements brings new dynamics to campaigns and this time around I’m taking a closer look at Magical Phenomena. So let’s get into it.
Enjoy 5E D&D and Help Kids with Muk’s Guide to Everything He Learned from Tasha
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything released not too long ago and it’s causing a splash for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players. The eponymous wizard granting her name to the latest official 5E D&D book also made an impression in the Dankwood home of the adorable goblin who returns to Dungeon Masters Guild in a wonderful new book Muk’s Guide to Everything He Learned From Tasha. So let’s get into it.
Subpar Character Optimization is a Foolish Perspective for 5E D&D
Salutations, nerds! There’s a lot of discourse online about optimization of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character creation and what options to take when you level up. And honestly…we’re still talking about this? A lot? In 2020? In 5E D&D? This has to be an exaggeration. Excuse me a minute while I do a quick online search — oh. Oh, I guess we are.
Customize Your 5E D&D Game with Character Options from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dive into the front half of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Like Xanathar’s Guide to Everything he latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book splits the difference with about half of the content pertaining primarily to player character material and the other half resources for Dungeon Masters. The modular content in this book is dense! The DM tools drew my attention first but the most recent examination put a notion in my mind and I’m curious to see if the Character Options holds any water in this regard. So let’s get into it.
