D&D Planes, Cosmology, and Welcome to the Realm of Chaos
Delving back into Nerdarchy’s homebrew campaign setting Chimes of Discordia for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, I want to talk to about some of our D&D cosmology and our Realm of Chaos or the Chaos Realm. We have this Stranger or Traveler god that either was spawned from the Realm of Chaos or created the Chaos Realm with their birth. Like many creation myths the multiverse started out as chaos. Powerful beings that would come to be known as gods came forth from somewhere else, looked upon the chaos and brought order to it. They gathered up all of the chaos and cast it out and far away. That mass of chaos condensed and built up over the ages.
Mind Flayer Meets the Nerdarchy Homebrew Campaign Setting
I started talking about using the mind flayer and beholder in our homebrew campaign setting in a previous article. Mainly I covered the beholder re-imagined as dread spheres. In the previous article I talked about the idea of a Chaos Realm and powerful beings known as Travelers. One of these creatures took control of an elven city named Karsha Luceen.
Metagaming as a Tool for Creating Tension in D&D
There’s always a conversation going on about metagaming in Dungeons & Dragons somewhere. Many argue over what it is but few people argue for its merits. I’m here to put forth that metagaming, like many aspects of D&D or any tabletop roleplaying game, is a tool to be applied with skill and nuance. There is good and bad with every tool, but I believe I’ve built a case for helping you find where those lines are at your table and it all revolves around creating tension in D&D.
Kickstarter Korner for July 2018, Week 5
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat and generally just hang out and talk nerdy with the Nerdarchy community.
In the description of each weekly video, Nerdarchist Ted compiles a list and links to all the videos and website content from the week. But he also shares a selection of cool Kickstarter campaigns. As an avid Kickstarter supporter, he’s happy to share his favorite RPG and gaming-related Kickstarters with you, the Nerdarchy community. Enjoy!
The Iconic Dungeons & Dragons Monster – A Love Letter to Them
The beholder was introduced with the first Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Greyhawk in 1975. The mind flayer first appeared in the official newsletter of TSR Games, The Strategic Review No. 1 in spring 1975. These are two of the most iconic Dungeons & Dragons monsters in the game. I’d love to know how many players have met their end to one of these two baddies. Of course D&D is rife with monsters what makes the beholder and mind flayer so special. I think it’s because they are so alien and bizarre that they really capture the imagination of players and Dungeon Masters alike in a way that very few other Dungeons and Dragons Monsters do.
Feats of Inspiration – D&D character building from a single feat
I’m in the mood to flesh out some characters and I like the idea of using the variant D&D rules for feats to infuse some flavor into a character concept. Let’s jump into it with three more feats in D&D and maybe these traits will spark some inspiration for your D&D character building on existing characters or ones you might be writing for an upcoming campaign.
Wizard Willy’s Wily Weasels – Beyond Bandits in D&D
Nerdarchists Dave and Ted are talking about bandits in D&D and giving out lots of great ideas and examples. However, the segment is intended to be monster replacements and it got me thinking about how I would replace bandits without simply going right back to something commonly used like goblins and kobolds. I got to flipping through the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, looking for creatures I’d never used to replicate the feeling and challenge of bandits. I came to a rather odd inspiration: giant weasels. How do we use weasels in place of bandits? Let’s explore some ideas together!
Using Exotic Mounts in D&D – The Knights of the Crimson Spiral
Nerdarchy plays fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in the our own campaign setting Chimes of Discordia. The world is Ulthe-Ganya, a hodgepodge one of our early campaigns we are currently doing in D&D games. In that world there is our god of war Stromguard, the lord of battle, bloodshed, and warfare. He is a brutal being that lives for strife and conflict. It is only fitting he has champions to match his demeanor. His followers are drawn from warriors, soldiers, and more primitive tribal peoples. Mechanically his followers in our campaign setting will be drawn from the barbarian, fighter, and War Domain cleric character classes. Some outliers would be bard (skalds), ranger, monk (brawlers), and paladin. Paladins in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have become holy warriors dedicated to a particular oath. The most violent and warlike of these might find that oath sworn before the altar of Stromguard. Two oaths in particular stand out for Stromguard — Oath of Conquest and Oath of Vengeance. These champions are both revered and feared even among the faithful of Stromguard.
Nerdarchy Patreon Evolved! Original 5E Content — Bigger, Better, Bolder
Since 2014, Nerdarchy has been hard at work creating content all over the place. What began with a video featuring Nerdarchist Dave geeking out has grown to a library of well over 2000 videos on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. Here on the website, you’ll find over 1500 posts sharing news, views, and homebrews as well as the Nerdarchy Store with even more original content. But there’s another place we create even more content still! Through the Nerdarchy Patreon, we’ve been rewarding supporters with original 5E content since 2016. And now it’s evolved!
Khorvaire, Sharn and More D&D Campaign Setting Just a Wayfinders Guide to Eberron Away
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players have been clamoring for it for years. Diehard fans have homebrewed content for it. Popular streamers like Maze Arcana have embraced it wholeheartedly. And now it’s here. Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron dropped at both the Dungeon Master’s Guild and D&D Beyond, opening the door to a whole new world of adventure. The book provides an overview of the core themes of the D&D campaign setting and rules to connect Eberron to current campaigns. The continent of Khorvaire and the great city of Sharn are covered inside, along with races like kalashtar, shifters and the megapopular warforged, dragonmarks, magic items, and a guide to further reading to learn more about Eberron.
