Tilting on the Axis of Alignment in D&D 5E
Some would argue alignment no longer has a place in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. No matter where you lie on alignment it has been and will be, for the foreseeable future, a part of D&D. We had better get used to it because it’s here to stay. Alignment is a moral reference point we as players use to guide our actions and make sure we are sticking to the concept we have laid out. As important as the Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws are, the core concepts of law vs. chaos, good vs. evil and all of the gray area leaves room to play there within.
5 Magical D&D Weather Phenomena
Salutations, nerds! We play fifth edition Dungeon & Dragons, and a lot of the settings we spend our time in come equipped with intense magical nonsense that permeates almost everything from wizards to weapons to other odds and ends. Depending on the kind of campaign you’re playing, the weather can sometimes be overlooked unless the Dungeon Master is specifically trying to drive characters someplace to take shelter, and honestly that’s okay. We drop details to enhance play, not to get in the way of it.
Starcalled Studios Creatures of Vathis: Volume One Kickstarter is a Beast(iary)!
The team of Starcalled Studios is a group of long-time gamers dedicated to bringing you tabletop content. In addition to streaming fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, RPG video games and board games on their Twitch channel, they also created several books for their Zodiac Empires setting including a full-color, illustrated campaign setting guide and player’s guide, and an adventure, all compatible with both 5E and Pathfinder. Their latest project, Creatures of Vathis: Volume One, successfully funded in 24 hours on Kickstarter with several weeks left to go on the campaign.
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #44 – “Airquarium”
Out of the Box introduction
There are two occasions when a Dungeon Master might wish to make an encounter something other than an obvious combat encounter. The characters may be wounded or otherwise diminished to the point where combat is a lethal risk. Or, the party of adventurers may be so averse to combat as to wish to avoid such at any cost. The latter can be prevalent when running a game for younger players.
Things Get a Little Chaotic When We Review Deep Magic: Chaos Magic from Kobold Press
We recently looked at the Deep Magic series Chaos Magic PDF over on the YouTube Channel. Nerdarchy has become great fans of the Kobold Press Deep Magic series. There’s tons of options for players and Dungeon Masters alike in this series.
Extend your 5E Game World with Limitless Adventures 5th Evolution
Andy Hand and his team at Limitless Adventures have heard your frustrated call. These top creators in the gaming community have assembled under the Limitless Adventures banner and have brought to you 5th Evolution (5Evo). The intrepid band of writers have sat down and given your favorite Fifth Edition rules new life in three fantastic genres: 80’s Horror, Super Heroes, and World War II. They’ve taken their favorite genres, added new equipment, rule supplements, and monsters, and made pregenerated characters and an 8-page introductory comic with an epic cliffhanger to start players right into the adventures, with the 5Evo Kickstarter set to launch on June 4, 2018. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: Updated June 6 with link to live Kickstarter]
Delving into the West Marches RPG Campaign Style
About a year ago there was a notable resurgence of an old RPG campaign style dubbed West Marches within the tabletop roleplaying game community, especially in the Dungeons & Dragons circles. This happened to be the first time I had heard about this method of play and decided to take a stab at it. In this article, and others to come, I will be opening up about my experience of building a play area within a sprawling campaign, my reactions to the dozens of sessions, and what I did to make this campaign style something more in-line with my taste as a Game Master.
Creating a Good Necromancer for Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons
We decided to take a stab at creating a good necromancer for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Nerdarchy has had a cantankerous relationship with our fans when it comes the wizard tradition of necromancy. We are of the philosophy of if you animate dead you are creating evil creatures, which is an evil act.
Players Corner: A Brand New Resource for D&D Players
Players Corner is a resource for the players at the table, where you can chime in to the Nerdarchy community. Players Corner is a collaborative article to discuss matters affecting players of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Many D&D products and resources are targeted towards Dungeon Masters, often created by DMs. I will be approaching topics from the player’s perspective to talk about player content, character options and go over what kind of things players can get up to in their downtime to keep the progress of their characters moving forward.
Making the Beholder an Even Scarier D&D Monster
D&D monsters — the game is full scary ones, but sometimes you need to ramp things up a little more. Or maybe you want a particular monster to fit a specific role or theme. For instance you want a beholder that has been touched by the demiplane of shadow. We had a viewer to challenge us to just do that: merge the undead shadow D&D monster with the iconic beholder. Nerdarchist Ted and I accepted this challenge and did it as part of the Nerdarchy Fast and Dirty D&D Monsters series.
Can One Spell Change the Way D&D is Played?
Small things or changes can greatly effect the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons gaming experience. Like how easy it is to figure out what the magic items in the dragon’s hoard do. In earlier editions of D&D the identify spell existed, but it wasn’t as potent when it came to examining magic items.
RPG Crate Unboxing — April 2018
Hello adventurer, Nerdarchist Ted here and we got us a crate to look at again. This time we are rockin’ out with RPG Crate. RPG crate is a Game Master’s dream with all the great stuff delivered in your subscription box each month. There’s so much prepared content you can either use as-is or take apart to use the pieces as you see fit.
Stream of Many Eyes, a Rubber Chicken, and You — Memorable Campaigns for D&D
A cult strives to bring their dragon goddess into the world to wreak havoc. Demons from the Abyss invade the Underdark. Evil elementals build a powerbase in an ancient temple. A vampire holds sway over a cursed land. Giants compete to establish a new cosmic order. An archlich inflicts a terrible curse upon the world. Great campaigns all around. Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players around the world have saved the multiverse from these threats countless times. And the upcoming Stream of Many Eyes will reveal the next campaign for adventurers to tackle. But it’s the How and not the What that makes these memorable campaigns.
Dungeon Crate Unboxing — April 2018
Hello dungeon delver. Do you like awesome RPG and D&D related products? Do you want these type of things to show up at your door once a month, say in a subscription box? You might consider getting a subscription to Dungeon Crate and use the promo code Nerdarchy to get 10 percent off your first month’s subscription.
Create Plot Hooks and Adventures in Your D&D Campaign Through Crime and Punishment
We like to do Game Master Tips via videos over on the Nerdarchy YouTube Channel. You can check out a playlist here with well over 200 videos on Game Master tips. As a matter of fact when we first met Satine Phoenix who took over GM Tips on Geek and Sundry from Matt Mercer she told us something that completely blew us away.
