Run Your D&D Encounters with a Battle Pack
There are all sorts of ways to run encounters in D&D. Whether you are using hazards, lair actions, legendary actions or just monsters there is a lot to keep track of during an encounter. Today I’m exploring going one for one with the party. Typically a good group of adventurers comprises a warrior, a sneaky character, a healer and some kind of damage dealing spellcaster. In the years I have been playing very rarely do I see combats being pitted against such an encounter unless we are in direct opposition of another adventuring party.
D&D Ideas — Roleplaying
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is roleplaying, which we discussed 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 roleplaying in Dinner Party after accidentally ingesting a Truth Serum Poison characters are embroiled in a long night of deception and revelation — a terrific scenario for exploring the roles each character plays in your game. 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.
Plant the Seeds of Adventure with More Treants for your 5E D&D Games
Whether you are talking about Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings, treants have the ability to make a big impact. Not only are treants very large creatures — Huge in fact — but they are quite long lived and quite powerful.
Trust in the Rust of MTG Arena
My Nerdarchy colleague Robin Miller and I have been totally geeking out over Magic: The Gathering’s latest expansion. Streets of New Capenna not only brings a snazzy style to the planes of existence with it’s magical gangster theme and aesthetic but also there’s simply tons of awesome new cards. One of them in particular provides another piece of the puzzle to solving the Anti-Life Equation, which is my personal quest. I knew immediately I’d have to Call in a Professional to really put the kibosh on my most loathed deck archetype. But it turns out this led to an even more fun MTG Arena deck altogether and one in which two very weird but classic D&D monsters make a tremendous splash. Let’s get into it.
Nerdarchy on What’s in the Zoo: Zoo Mafia RPG Design Diary #5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKqIMxrI6ak In this 19-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the zoo and surrounding area of the zoo as a roleplaying game campaign setting. There are tons of areas within the zoo for crime, adventure and exploring in the Zoo Mafia...
Adding Magic Schools into Your Fantasy World
There has been a recent rush of ideas talking about schools teaching magic in relation to fantasy gaming. As a gamer who has been playing for decades this does seem like an alien concept to me. Before you get all up in arms about it I am not opposed to the concept. It just seems rather odd to collect a group, possibly a large number, of untrained magical practitioners and keep them all in a confined space.
Stealing MMO Mechanics for Your Tabletop — Blackfathom Deeps
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m sharing ideas for stealing mechanics from MMORPGs, how to make them work and an example my players enjoyed. Suffice it to say your mileage may vary. I’m going to be dissecting Blackfathom Deeps from World of Warcraft. On top of being an extremely long dungeon there some really good concepts to steal from this dungeon and a couple of things that just wouldn’t translate well.
D&D Ideas — Transformation
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is transformation, which we discussed 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 transformation we’re changing lovable animals into ruthless mobsters in Zoo Mafia RPG. 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.
RPGs Helped My Mental Health
There’s a such a broad swath of tabletop roleplaying games out there and I’ve only discovered more since working with Nerdarchy. One of the best parts of delving into this hobby is the connections I’ve made with others who share my interests and this sense of community has vastly improved my mental healthscape. With May being mental health awareness month I wanted to share a more personal story, talking about how TTRPGs have helped me with my own mental health journey.
Nerdarchy on Powered by the Apocalypse Hack for Zoo Mafia RPG Design Diary #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJB1Gh3jo4A&ab_channel=Nerdarchy In this 17-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted continue their exploration of creating their own roleplaying game -- Zoo Mafia RPG. They are now looking at the merits of Powered by the Apocalypse. The conversation begins with a quick overview of Zoo...
