A Group of Warlocks is Called a Cult
Salutations nerds! We’re going to be talking about warlocks in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons today, so take a moment to get yourself into the head space of quiet meetings in out of the way places, dark cloaks and the smell of burning wax and dust amid ancient books and forbidden knowledge. Some 5E D&D warlocks are big deal spellcasters working at the right hands of their patron and some are cultists working for scraps of power. Some are genuinely friends with the entity bestowing their magic.
5E D&D Alternative Encounter System
Encounters are a central part of Dungeons & Dragons. Whether they take the form of a pit trap, goblin horde or debate between nobles, they are an opportunity to test your players and let them show off all the cool things their characters can do. However, there is a major issue with fifth edition D&D encounter philosophy, namely the number of encounters the game expects a party to run into between long rests — 6-8 — versus the real-world time and effort it takes to plan and run said encounters. The result of this is either a complete absence of minor encounters or a series of uninteresting minor encounters the party slogs through using minimal resources so they can dump those saved resources on whatever unfortunate boss crosses their path. I’m not the first to recognize this issue, folks like Matthew Colville and Nerdarchy’s own Out of the Box Encounters do a great job coming up with ways to make a campaign’s encounters more interesting. However, I’d like to approach this issue from a different direction with an idea for an alternative encounter system.
Do You Feel Lucky Like the Mandalorian in 5E D&D?
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed the hottest new Unearthed Arcana — Fighter, Rogue, Wizard. In the playtest document, Wizards of the Coast presents a new take on a classic mechanic in Dungeons & Dragons history: psionics. Wielding the power of their minds, practitioners of psionics present a prickly scenario in various edition of D&D. Often a later add-on to an edition of the game, only in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were psionics included in the Player’s Handbook. In the book, all characters have a chance to gain a psionic ability based on a lucky percentile dice roll. Meanwhile in the Star Wars universe, Force sensitive creatures can tap into the energy field created by all living things to achieve mind over matter effects. Whether in 5E D&D or a galaxy far, far away, what’s a creature without psionics supposed to do in the face of creatures with incredible mental powers? When you’re playing in a bounty hunter campaign inspired by the complicated profession of The Mandalorian, you’ve got to ask yourself: did that 5E D&D psionic creature use all 6 of their power points or only five? I hope you feel lucky. (No spoilers.)
D&D Ideas — Psionics
How to Have a Session Zero for Your Tabletop Roleplaying Game
Hail, and well met! In continuing one of my favorite pieces I’ve written for the site here. I’ll be elaborating more on the concept of starting a tabletop roleplaying game campaign once you’ve solidified your premise, which is a fun exercise in and of itself. Nerdarchy has mentioned this in several of their videos concerning Game Master advice, and I’ll be giving you guys my thoughts on the matter. That’s right! We’re talking session zero.
Why You Should Gift Adventure Modules This Holiday
It’s that time of year
For gifts, merriment, and cheer!
Suppose you have a nerd in your life?
What should you get them? Maybe a knife?
Realize Your World with Fantasy World Creator
Fantasy World Creator product line by Gamestart Edizioni
The “World Creator” product line dedicated to Fantasy RPGs, is designed for all players who want a “physical” setting on which to play but without having to spend too much on miniatures or expensive plastic scenarios. The Fantasy World Creator core box contains more than 500 elements including game tiles, character and monster tokens, fast environments and status tokens. The two expansions, proposed in the first reprint in March, add accessories for players (such as interactive equipment cards) and a rewritable book dedicated to masters, the Black Book, containing maps and tools to keep track of every aspect of adventures and characters. Any element is dry-erase rewritable, ensuring total customization.
An Invitation to the Winter Court
Salutations, nerds! They’re having a fancy party in Fairy and you the patrons have been cordially invited. Today I want to talk about the December Patreon content going out on the Dec. 5. Surprise! It’s a Christmas Party in the Winter Courts. Within you will find some cool party favors like masks of glamour to wear to the festive party and a dueling cane, a few fierce pixies and constructs, some fun denizens of the Winter Court and 7 new Winter Spells, as well as a map and small adventure at this Winter Court Soiree.
The Gingerbread Gang Joins the War in Christmas Village
Are you looking for holiday themed adventure? Would you love to send the Mouse King, Krampus or evil snowmen at your players but having a hard time finding just the right miniatures to use? Please allow me to introduce to you The Gingerbread Gang, part of an amazing assortment of awesome miniatures to add to your tabletop roleplaying games through the War in Christmas Village line.
Khorvaire Schmorvaire — This is the Coolest Thing About Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed an overview of Eberron: Rising from the Last War for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The Eberron campaign setting remains hugely popular, since it was first introduced for third edition D&D. Everybody loves warforged, and artificers, and dragonmarks and elemental airships. But my favorite thing about Eberron only shows up in a few paragraphs at the end of Chapter 2: Khorvaire Gazetteer. Y’all can have Sharn, Breland, Droaam and the Mournlands. I’ll take Xen’drik.
