A Group of Fighters is Called a Club
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to be talking about fighters in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and honestly I feel like this is going to be the most difficult one because as far as all the 5E D&D classes go, I feel like fighters have the least cohesive class identity. So let’s see what we can coax out of this one. Fighters…fight things. And that’s pretty much the unifying feature. Some of them cast spells, some of them are just straight up masters of weaponry, some of them are ranged and some of them are melee. It’s not even a more interesting word than that, it’s just ‘fighters fight’ because that’s what they do. But there’s something to be said about simplistic melee, and something else entirely to be said for groups of fighters, especially when they’re trying to keep up with classes like wizards and rogues. There’s a trope, the badass normal, and that’s what I think of when I think of a straight up fighter. Someone who is just good because they’re good and not because of any magic or special trick they use. They keep up, and they keep up with people who should be way over their heads, and that alone is worth the effort.
Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting — What it Says On the Tin from Nord Games
Our friends at Nord Games launched a new Kickstarter today and judging by the response so far it’s clear fans of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons are picking up what they’re putting down. The Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting for 5E delves into an area of the game players love to explore with a brand new game mechanic for creating items, potions, and magical goods. The project checks all the boxes I look for in snazzy new content for my games, and if you’re wondering why you should back the Ultimate Guide to Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting for 5E Nord Games includes a wonderful sidebar to help you decide too.
Nature 101 – 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons mechanics revolve around the ability checks and the proficiency bonus. When it comes to skill checks as ability checks, the check is written like this (for example): Intelligence (Nature). The reason for this is Intelligence is the applicable ability score, and the Nature proficiency allows further modification of the ability check. Quick Disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can allow or require any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant to act as a guide for new players and DMs to explain how skill checks work and what they look like narratively.
Taking Morality, Duty and Obligation from a Galaxy Far, Far Away for 5E D&D
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted bring some ideas from a galaxy far, far away to the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons table. They take inspiration from a mechanic from Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars Roleplaying and talk about how they’d implement a similar device in 5E D&D. In Star Wars RPG part of a character is your Morality, Duty or Obligation. These narrative mechanics are tied to Force and Destiny, Age of Rebellion and Edge of the Empire respectively. If I’m honest I’m not very familiar with FFG’s Star Wars RPG so when we were planning the video I wasn’t much help. But now that I’ve heard what Dave and Ted have to say, I’m certainly intrigued to explore this idea more and think about how Morality, Duty and Obligation can be a terrific tool for 5E D&D Dungeon Masters and players alike.
D&D Ideas — Patrons
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week's topic is patrons, which we discussed in our exclusive Patreon live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST with Patreon supporters and talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes...
Catching up with DMs Guild and D&D Community Creators
My collection of content from Dungeon Masters Guild continues to grow! There are so many amazing creators in the D&D community and keeping up with all the fantastic new material is challenging to say the least. Thankfully the DMs Guild newsletter delivers a great summary of new content along with special deals to save you money on great new content for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games. In addition I appreciate whenever creators reach out to share news about their own new and upcoming material for 5E D&D available through the DMs Guild. Also, how about a shout out for Lysa Penrose, recently named brand manager for DMs Guild! Congratulations to Lysa, she is a tireless advocate for great gaming and positive D&D community building. (She’s also a guest creator for our Out of the Box book, and her Crones and their Cravings encounter is one of my favorites of the 55 encounters.)
Nerdarchy the Convention Prep in Full Swing — and YOU Can Help!
Planning and preparation for Nerdarchy the Convention is in full swing! We are putting everything we’ve got into this event and we want to make sure your experience exceeds any and all your expectations. Thanks to the incredible backers for Out of the Box: Encounters for 5th Edition we hit our ultimate stretch goal of creating Nerdarchy the Convention. Hosting events to celebrate nerdy culture and gaming was a dream of ours for quite a while and we cannot wait to share this experience with everyone Halloween weekend 2020. A few months ago we shared an overview of what we’d planned so far at that point and we’ve been charging ahead ever since. But we can only prognosticate so much and we need your help to make Nerdarchy the Convention an unforgettable experience for everyone in attendance.
D&D Party Composition — Playing an All Wizard Party
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the idea of an all wizard party for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We get a kick out of making this video series people seem to dig it, and I’m having a blast with the concept here on the website. Playing an all wizard party in 5E D&D more than anything raises concerns about squishiness, something many of the video comments touch upon. Dave and Ted can share their insights into 5E D&D party composition and over here we’re continuing to build the scenario we started way back when with the all bard party — a campaign setting of academia for each particular character class. So let’s get into it and put on our pointy hats for an all wizard party composition in a 5E D&D academic setting.
Medicine 101 — 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons revolves around the ideas of ability checks and the proficiency bonus. When it comes to skill checks as ability checks, the check is written like this (for example): Wisdom (Medicine). The reason for this is Wisdom is the applicable ability score and the Medicine proficiency allows further modification of the ability check. Quick Disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can allow or require any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant to act as a guide for new players and DMs to explain how skill checks work and what they look like narratively.
Creating Undead Hordes in 5E D&D is Fun!
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss what happens when a necromancer's undead army stops being a few minions and starts being a real pain to conceal from the rest of the world. Around the Nerdarchy HQ we joke about how...
