Going Wild to Create the Free Zoo Mafia RPG Quick Start
Zoo Mafia RPG began a while ago with a simple misheard comment and now here we are releasing a free Quick Start packet of the game out into the world. It’s a wild new direction for Nerdarchy and we are more excited than ever before about what lies ahead. We’ve shared video design diaries of the development process and live streamed our first playtest and I thought it might be fun to give some looks behind the curtain of the Zoo Mafia RPG Quick Start version now available for folks to Go Wild, Do Crime and Don’t Let the Humans Catch You around their own gaming tables. I’ve also got a bit of future development plans to share, so let’s get into it.
Making D&D Memes and GIFs Round-Up Vol. 6
Our D&D meme drops are a little bit behind but here we go again. This D&D meme and GIF round-up is a little light compared to Vol. 5. but Vol. 7 will be back to normal. In this round-up we’ve got themes like pizza, beholders, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and D&D dice.
Can 5e Races Be as Interesting as Classes? In Rule of Chaos, the Answer is Yes!
By guest poster Brave Alice Studios
For most 5e players, the race of their character is an important question in character creation. You have some set characteristics and gain some feats. And after that, your race normally stays the same from 1st level all the way up to level 20. All further customizations of your character are done on class level.
Nerdarchy on 3 New Ways to Elf in D&D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNXWMS_Qs5E In this 15-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore elves in D&D and how make different kinds of elf societies. The conversation begins with Dave and Ted asking the question, "Should we change D&D monsters, races, and other D&D tropes?" Of...
Creating a PbtA Playbook — Thug for Zoo Mafia RPG
Welcome to the Family! But first, have you downloaded the Zoo Mafia RPG Quick Start Rules? You can sign up for the Zoo Mafia RPG Newsletter here and get them for free. It’s time to build a new Playbook: Thug. (Or maybe it’ll be called Muscle.) Before going any further let me give the elevator pitch for Zoo Mafia RPG. It’s tabletop roleplaying game heavily influenced by the Powered by the Apocalypse, specifically Monster of the Week. Our design also took inspiration from Green Ronin Publishing’s AGE System. Zoo Mafia is all about being a zoo animal who is also criminal trying to get into an organized crime family.
Stuff D&D People Like No. 6: Elves
In the realms of fantasy no other fictional creature gets as much attention and affection than elves. In the worlds of D&D you could make a strong case for dragons too but when it comes to relatively mortal humanoids the magical, pointy eared folks stand...
Book of Ebon Tides Holds a Dark Mirror Up to Your D&D World
The concept of other dimensions overlapping the real world captured my imagination decades ago with an RPG called Wraith: The Oblivion and in my D&D setting this holds true. Like the Dungeon Master’s Guide describes the Feywild and Shadowfell exist in parallel to the Material Plane, occupying the same cosmological space but distorted and exaggerated (in my setting they’re combined into a singular Dreaming World to mirror the Waking World or Material Plane). Despite presenting a compelling dynamic with very little exception neither the DMG nor any other official material really explores any of this space. Book of Ebon Tides from Kobold Press, like so many other titles in their library, represents a terrific grab bag of ideas to help make your shadowy fey realm exciting, engaging and unforgettable. Let’s get into it.
Nerdarchy on Zero Prep D&D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoP2zrwRAw In this 15-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore a new TTRPG tool for Dungeon Master and Game Master alike. Check out Hex Roll from Pen, Dice, and Paper with us. The conversation begins with Dave and Ted sharing the inspiration...
D&D Ideas — Plants Revisited
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is plants, which we revisited for discussion in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of plants there’s no shortage of different ways your characters can interact with the plants in your games with the power contained inside magic items from the Mage Forge! We’ve got the digital versions done and production on the physical card decks begins very soon. There’s still time to preorder — but not too much! Learn more here. You can get Nerdarchy the 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.
Make an Unexpected Alliance in the Battle Against Mind Flayers
In D&D the neothelid monster is a remnant of a destroyed mind flayer colony. Neothelids are vicious creatures lacking the intelligence of the society from which they spawn. Typically roaming the underground passages in the wake of the destroyed colony they seek only to sate their ever growing hunger.
