The Case for Half-Dragons as a Playable D&D Race
There can be no denying that dragons are a huge part of D&D. After all, they’re half the name. Most of the time they function as adversaries: a monster to slay in order to save a princess or town. In a few cases, good-aligned dragons can function as mentors or allies to a party of adventurers. However, interest in playing a character of draconic descent must have increased in recent years, because the last three editions of Dungeons & Dragons have had playable races of draconic descent, with the dragonborn even being featured in the fourth edition and fifth edition Player’s Handbooks. Dragonborn have continued to be a popular selection for many players. But their inclusion as a mainstream race has always baffled me, because even before they were introduced, there was another great candidate for a playable D&D race of draconic descent: half-dragons, the children of true dragons and their mortal lovers.
RPG Crate Unboxing — June 2018
Hello adventurer. It is that time again when we ask, “Whats in the box?” June’s RPG Crate subscription box just arrived and as I peek inside the theme is Wondrous Power. We are hopefully all familiar with figurines of wondrous power so I wonder (get it? Wonder…wondrous…yeah it is a pun) if it has anything to do with the theme. Unboxing is the only way to find out for sure.
Put Your Gaming Set Proficiency to Work with Games within Games in D&D
The Nerdarchists brought up some interesting set pieces in their games within games in D&D video. I’ve had players really gravitate towards gambling at the tavern in between adventures, but just merely rolling skill checks can get a little dull. There are a many options out there for bringing gambling games into your sessions, but I thought I’d share one method I used to take a simple gaming set proficiency and gambling downtime activity of my local rogue and turned it into a recurring scene with an enjoyable NPC and a great way to give weird magic items to the party.
Feats of Inspiration – D&D character building from a single feat
It may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not a huge fan of feats in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. I think these variant D&D rules work, albeit better with specific D&D character building guidelines, but ultimately I greatly disliked feats in D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder and these aren’t enough of a step up for me to enjoy them. However, in an effort to enjoy every aspect of the game and maybe even give some character inspiration to others, I’m going to go through some of the feats in D&D and develop some characterization around them.
Out of the Box D&D Encounter, Series 2, #49 – “Sting of Life”
Out of the Box introduction
I have been remiss in one aspect. I have failed to reveal a villain that has played a role in some of the homebrewed creatures featured in the Out of the Box series. This villain has been mentioned in The Broker, and will be featured in re-writes of The Passenger, Smells Fishy and others. The reasoning for this is clear, and it’s something that happens at more than my table.
Add Beauty to your D&D World with a Custom Character Option
D&D Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls has got creative fever! The co-creator of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons already streams his creative process during the Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour on Twitch, pulling back the curtain to show how subclass options for D&D character classes are created and developed. And recently, on Twitter he shared a creation particular to his own home campaign — the Beauty Domain for clerics. Adding a custom character option like this can enrich your own D&D world too.
Roleplaying an Eladrin Like a Fey Trickster in D&D
Of all the new elf subraces in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, eladrin are the most mystical and mysterious. As a subrace of elves that make their home in the Feywild, the eladrin are the closest a player character can get to playing a fairy in D&D. They are described as being capricious and changeable, and their ability to change seasons reflects this. This can make roleplaying an eladrin a challenge. However, if one looks to the original lore that inspired the Feywild in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, then roleplaying an eladrin as a fey trickster can be both fun and rewarding.
The Dungeons and the Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons: White Dragon Lairs
Now that we’ve seen the insidious and torturous nature of the black dragon and the windy torrent of the wind dragon and their D&D dragon lairs, I think we need to cool off. Let’s take this party to the frozen tundra of the north where, shockingly enough, I have no shirtless savages. Instead, there be dragons. Well, just the one really. Let’s talk about introducing a dragon with the vicious, cold, and animalistic white dragon. What do these frost wyrms have to offer, what do white dragon lairs look like, and what servants, if at all do they have? We’re going to jump into my take on this lesser used dragon and try to make a unique adventure.
New D&D Stuff! Limited Edition Covers for the Core Books, New Setting and D&D Adventures Outlined
On Twitch and Twitter, the D&D team continues to spoil us with teases and announcements about new products and projects left and right. At the Stream of Many Eyes we learned that not one, but two new storylines are dropping later in 2018. Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage are separate but interconnected spawling adventures taking place in the City of Splendors. We also got some cryptic teasers from Dungeons & Dragons Senior Director Nathan Stewart about new settings coming to 5E this year. And just recently, another batch of spoilers and announcements came our way. We’re getting another new book, cool new covers for our old books and a big ol’ confirmation on what our first new 5E setting will be. Excited yet?
Top 3 Reasons to Run Published D&D Adventures Like City of Brass
Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share great insights and ideas on the reg on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. In particular a recent video inspired by the City of Brass Kickstarter from Frog God Games is near and dear to my heart. In the video the pros and cons of a Dungeon Master running adventure paths and published D&D adventures are weighed with some surprising results. In my estimation, it’s all pros. No cons (except ones where thousands of nerds gather in one place for days of gaming celebration. Like Gen Con coming up in Aug. 2-5!)
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #48 – “It’s Raining….Men?”
Out of the Box introduction
Terrain, planning and paranoia can play havoc with a Dungeon Master’s plans. Introducing an encounter becomes an adversarial game of justifying how an encounter could occur while any number of spells, class or racial abilities or magic items render surprise all but impossible. However, there’s always a way.
D&D Monstrous Races Really Miscast My Cantrips
If you’re a frequent reader, you know I like to jump onto whatever topic the Nerdarchists are talking about any given week and throw in my 2 cp. Recently, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted are covered the gith chapter from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes and I simply gave a soft sigh. The gith are a combination of just about everything I find uninteresting in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Living in a plane of existence beyond the material, psionics, and being a monstrous race. Let’s dive into why I dislike D&D monstrous races and ways that disdain has made my game better. Well, at least I think it’s better.
Dungeon Crate Unboxing – June 2018
Hello fellow gamer. Or are you also a nerdy collector? Here I get to share what’s inside the subscription box, in this case an unboxing of great stuff from our friends of at Dungeon Crate. I have been getting these since box No. 1 and I am surprised at how many Dungeon Crate boxes that is over the years. I actually saved a large number of them and have used them to store nerdy things in and the treasure chest feel is pretty cool.
Buff is the Stuff for D&D Support Characters
I figured it out, y’all. The secret to a satisfying session of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, especially a live stream D&D game, and more especially still a live stream D&D game with people you’ve never played with before. Fair warning, it’s not a scientifically proven method or meticulously playtested concept. And it’s definitely not a fully-realized comprehensive guide. But it is based on observations from a non-zero number of live stream roleplaying games I’ve been involved with as a player, Dungeon Master and engaged viewer. So, pretty cerebral, thinktank-level stuff on playing D&D support characters and options to buff the party. Indulge me while I attempt to take the Help action to aid your next game.
The Dungeons and the Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons: Wind Dragon Lairs
I can’t be held down friends. You thought I was going to keep it going on the chromatic spectrum for introducing a dragon, but here we go doing a pivot to elemental dragons enclosed in the wonderful Tome of Beasts. While I have a deep love for the chromatic dragons, I do find them a bit restrictive at times. Because they are so iconic and interesting, it feels wrong to step outside their prescribed niches. The additional types of dragons and drakes in the Tome of Beasts allow for not only a wider range in dragon types and D&D dragon lairs but built-in personalities running a much wider gamut. Let’s roll into the bullies of the sky: the wind dragons and wind dragon lairs.
