D&D Ideas — Frogs
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is frogs, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of frogs in Scaling Up a tactical group of lizardfolk on unusual mounts and bolstered by a half-dragon ambush adventurers in the wilds. This gorgeously illustrated encounter and map leaps off the page and into your games along with 54 other dynamic scenarios in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy, by signing up here.
Find Adventure Over, Under or Across WizKids 4D Settings: Stone Bridge
When I look for affordable scenery and setting terrain for my tabletop roleplaying games the 4D line by WizKids is really taking off. There are so many great pieces and sets now available and even more on the horizon. The 4D line recently released the Settings: Stone Bridge.
Multiclass Without Multiclassing Courtesy of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted go through all the character classes in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons to sample the 1st and 2nd level features making multiclass dips so juicy. Plenty of video comments notwithstanding they make it clear early in the video they’re looking at broadly useful class features. So while the whataboutism as regards specific or niche character concepts do indeed make perfectly valid sense in many cases this simply isn’t the scope of the video. What is very pertinent when discussing mutliclass options in 5E D&D though is Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. So let’s get into it.
Undead Halloween Terrors of D&D!
Halloween: my favorite holiday! Those who know me know I have a healthy death obsession and when it comes to roleplaying games (and Warhammer) I’m all about the undead. I don’t think I have to define what this is — those who were dead but now walk upon us.
Play Your Halloween 5E D&D Game as an Undead Character with Hero Forge
I have played more characters than I care to try and count in the decades I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons. Plenty of those campaigns featured fun and interesting character concepts and with Halloween right around the corner I thought I would approach the idea of playing an undead adventurer for fifth edition D&D. This undead character might not be for a main campaign, but I could totally envision playing such a character in a fun 5E D&D one shot. But if your Dungeon Master and group leans more into story and you have a good character idea then why not allow an undead adventurer into the party?
‘Twas the Nightmare Before Father Winters’ Day for 5E D&D
It’s that time of year, when things go bump in the night and everyone gives cosplayers the pass they deserve. Halloween is one of my absolute favorite times of year and I really wanted to write something inspired by the season. I have several favorites when it comes to Halloween movies. Among my top tier are one most have likely heard of and one most have likely never known to exist.
Adding Randomness to Your RPG
The controlled chaos of randomly rolled characters or randomly created events within tabletop roleplaying games appeals to many gamers. Even the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide contains a nice chunk of random tables and charts to create NPCs, treasure or campaign events. But sometimes you crave even more RPG randomness. Allow me to present some system agnostic books to add some randomness to your RPG game.
5 Survival Skill Challenges for 5E D&D
Salutations, nerds! We’ve done it. We’ve made it to the last skill in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. I hope you’re prepared to make some Survival checks because as suggested by the title, we’re going to get into five skill challenges to give more skill based 5E D&D characters a moment to shine without taking over your entire game. Hopefully. As a note, per the usual each skill challenge is geared toward small moments of conflict to show those hard earned skills off and give a little more conflict to situations that would have otherwise gone smoothly. So without farther ado let’s dig into Survival.
D&D Ideas — Kobolds
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is kobolds, which we discussed in our live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy, by signing up here. Speaking of kobolds in Wooden Dragon a group of kobolds keep the legacy of their dragon overlord alive after a group of adventurers do what they do through some crafty carpentry and a magic ring. You can find this gorgeously illustrated encounter and map along with 54 other dynamic scenarios to drop right into your game in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here.
Two Critical Qualities to Make Your 5E D&D NPCs Memorable
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dance to the beat of a different drum and use a group of NPC musicians from a recent game of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons as a jumping off point for discussing this dwarven band in greater detail. Several key points emerge, ones I took note of as salient points to keep in mind for any individual or group of NPCs for 5E D&D or any other RPG. This 5E D&D dwarven jug band wonderfully illustrates what makes NPCs so compelling. So let’s break it all down and get into it.
3 Iconic Fantasy Characters Who Dumped Constitution
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted go the distance to examine the health, stamina and vital force of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons characters. The mere thought of dumping Constitution in 5E D&D or any edition of the game — or any game at all — is anathema for many players. Say what you will about being weak or clumsy or dumb, a character with poor health faces some tough obstacles in any game incorporating physical danger. Is a 5E D&D character with low Constitution doomed? Here’s three fantasy characters who suggest anything but, so let’s get into it.
Does Experience Gain and Character Progression Ruin 5E D&D?
At the crux of nearly every roleplaying game are the notions of experience and gaining levels. The Level Up appears in tabletop RPGs, video games and in the case of Evermore even a theme park! Even the term Level Up is ingrained into our vernacular. However, recently I was thinking about leveling up progression and experience and how the whole things works in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and it got me to thinking maybe, just maybe, leveling up and experience are holding back our beloved 5E D&D.
Who Are 5E D&D’s Chonkiest Bois? Meet the Monsters with the Most Hit Points
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted scoop up all the dice they can muster and discuss the myriad ways to roll a myriad of weapon damage dice in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. They draw the dividing line at making weapon attacks as opposed to spellcasting and if your 5E D&D playstyle leans more towards setpiece battles and sporadic cinematic combat you can really pile up the damage dice without as much concern for resource management over time. In other words, pull out all the stops for those crucial combat scenarios. Why would an adventurer need to deal such prodigious damage? Monsters in 5E D&D boast some hefty hit points potential so let’s get into it and take a closer look.
5 Stealth Skill Challenges for 5E D&D
Salutations, nerds. We’ve arrived at the penultimate set of skill challenges for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Be proud of me because you have no idea how tempted I was to skip Stealth, go straight to Survival and make a joke about how you failed your Perception checks. I resisted the urge! So today is all about you making 5E D&D NPCs fail their Perception checks, so let’s get to it. As a note, per the usual each skill challenge is geared toward small moments of conflict to show those hard earned skills off and give a little more conflict to situations that would have otherwise gone smoothly. They are not intended as hooks to bigger adventures but as you well know, no plan survives first contact with the players so know your table and be prepared for what they’re likely to do with what you hand them. Now, roll for stealth.
Critical Role’s Oath of the Open Sea and Way of the Cobalt Soul Available Free
Critters watching the most recent episode of Critical Role on Oct. 15 witnessed a wonderful surprise when Fjord chose his paladin Sacred Oath. Dungeon Master Matt Mercer wove this critical character choice into the adventure narrative during a very cool scene that ended with the Mighty Nein’s warlock-turned-paladin taking his Sacred Oath of the Open Sea. I can only imagine how many other people beside myself immediately started searching around online to find out more details. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Mercer shared the information that this new paladin Sacred Oath for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is available for all to see over at D&D Beyond. As an extra special bonus another custom subclass appeared as well and 5E D&D players can now follow the Way of the Cobalt Soul for their monk characters too.
