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Dungeons & Dragons

Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons (Page 105)

Help Save the Tarrasque: Gifted Vision Behemoth Mini Needs You

Hello gamers and fans of wonderful minis. Nerdarchist Ted here calling on you not only out of selfish greed to get the Gifted Vision Behemoth mini that I backed on Kickstarter but to help out an awesome company that makes cool miniatures. There is a bit of backstory here that I will try to explain as best as I can without being any more than a backer.

RPG game master player

Why Do We Play? RPG Game Master and Player Differences Explored

In a recent video from Nerdarchists Dave and Ted, they explored the question of why we Game Master. It’s a fantastic video if you haven’t checked it out yet, and it gave me a lot to think about for my own motivations. In this article I’d like to explore a topic that runs parallel to theirs but at a higher level of generality: why the differences in motivations between being a GM and being a player leads to most conflicts at the table.

fighter

D&D Design Diary: Martial Artist martial archetype

Hello! Nerditor Doug here to welcome a new writer to the family. Chris Chupp is part of the awesome Nerdarchy community and recently sent us a copy of his homebrew subclass for the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons fighter – the Martial Artist martial archetype. A couple of our writers gave it the once over and shared their thoughts about the content available over at the Dungeon Master’s Guild. I invited Chris to write a follow up design diary about his work creating the D&D fighter subclass. This is that design diary.

Worldbuilding: Where to Begin with a Homebrew Campaign Setting

You’ve been playing roleplaying games for a bit now. It might be Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, Savage Worlds, or untold countless possibilities. The problem is you don’t like the setting. It almost fits the image in your mind but not quite. You’ve looked around, found some old campaign setting material at secondhand stores or eBay but no luck. So, what do you do? How do you make the world you want too? Don’t worry — Nerdarchy is here to help. Over the past month or so you’ll have seen some changes in the Nerdarchy landscape. We have Nate the Nerdarch and Kienata running the Nerdarchy After Dark late-night build sessions. We’ve posted some articles for items like World Anvil and Realm Works to help you organize things. However, none of these really give a starting point. Why not fix that now? Let’s look at how to start.

The Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour and What it Means for D&D

If you’re a part of the Dungeons & Dragons community and actively keep up with the content Wizards of the Coast is putting out on YouTube or Twitch, you’re probably aware of the incredibly named Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour. But if not, you really should be. On a weekly basis over on D&D’s Twitch channel, co-creator of fifth edition D&D and Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls gets on for an hour or so and just designs stuff for the game.

D&D Beyond Spelljammer campaign

D&D Beyond the Spheres of 5E Spelljammer – Ingest Quest

I’m a campaignaholic. My main home campaign of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons (on indefinite hiatus), a Curse of Strahd party, a family game following the trail of the Xanathar Thieves Guild, a megadungeon in a very rough stage of development, a just-launched live stream D&D 5E Spelljammer campaign and more all have a home together on D&D Beyond, which I confess does little to curb the compulsion to create campaigns.

Out of the Box D&D

Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #37 – “Ambition”

Out of the Box introduction

I cannot recall how many times I have heard either myself or someone else say “how much do you want it?” This marketing clarion call has crept into a lot of different aspects of our lives, but it’s rarely heard in the tabletop roleplaying game environment. I think the reason for this is based on the easy access to things like healing, magic, and experience in a fantasy setting. There’s always an assumption of the access, and if the party has none within their ranks, then they almost always expect a Dungeon Master to facilitate that access. Whereas this is not a universal practice or outlook, it is a very common one.

D&D Martial Artist Fighter Subclass Bare-Knuckle Brawls its Way from Our Community to You

Hello! Nerditor Doug here to introduce this special post based on content straight from the Nerdarchy community, from creator Chris Chupp who sent us his homebrew creation for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons – the Martial Artist fighter martial archetype. Chris put this subclass together specially for one of the players in his D&D game who loves the flavor of unarmed combat monks provide and wants to punch some dragons but isn’t too keen on the ki system.

Chris shared his work with Nerdarchy to show appreciation for what he’s learned and taken from our videos and website to his own gaming table, and wanted to give back to the community.

Critical Role episode 8

Critter Corner: Examining the Storytelling Devices in Episode 8 – The Gates of Zadash

Welcome you to the next installment of musings and thoughts on the new campaign of Critical Role, Geek and Sundry’s mega-popular live stream gameplay starring Matt Mercer as Dungeon Master with a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing D&D. New episodes live stream every Thursday at 10 p.m. eastern on Alpha, Twitch and starting with Campaign 2 on YouTube as well. 

Midgard Heroes Handbook 5E Kobold Press

5E Midgard Heroes Handbook from Kobold Press Awaits the Bold

The kobolds at Kobold Press have done it again! The Midgard Heroes Handbook for 5th Edition is already available from the Kobold Press store, with physical copies starting to arrive in the hands of gamers this week. This 216-page hardcover book contains everything a player needs to create a character for the Midgard campaign setting and features the same top quality content we’ve come to know and trust from Kobold Press.

D&D Spelljammer live stream

D&D Heads to Space with Spelljammer Live!

You’ve heard us talk about it. You’ve read posts here on the website about it. You’ve seen recorded gameplays of it. On Friday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m. eastern you can see us play it live! The premiere of our newest live stream game will take a party of adventurers into fantasy space with Ingest Quest, a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer campaign.

RPG Game Master

Performing Mechanics Surgery on Your D&D Game

There comes a point in every Dungeon Master’s experience with Dungeons & Dragons when they think to themselves “I wish fifth edition did X better” or “I wish fifth edition had rules for X”. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, fifth edition D&D is by no means a perfect system. But recognizing that and wanting to remedy it for your specific group are two different viewpoints entirely. You can begrudgingly admit the faults in the mechanics of the system and carry on, all the while realizing what you want to achieve isn’t explicitly written. Or you could work on the problems you see in the context of your individual game and try to fix them.

Out of the Box D&D

Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #36 – “Ouroboros”

Out of the Box introduction

This series of articles has gone to great length to create rooms and chambers of all kinds, as well as some outdoor settings. It has not really gone into the one area of exploration providing access to many of those moments: doors. A doorways or portal should be approached with the same sort of respect and caution as the chamber beyond might be. These gateways are often guarded in some manner or another, if only a lock. That lock might be trapped, or the door itself might be the trap.
Critical Role manticore

Critter Corner: Discussing Episode 7 of Critical Role

Welcome you to the next installment of musings and thoughts on the new campaign of Critical Role, Geek and Sundry’s mega-popular live stream gameplay starring Matt Mercer as Dungeon Master with a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing D&D. New episodes live stream every Thursday at 10 p.m. eastern on Alpha, Twitch and starting with campaign 2 on YouTube as well.