Out of the Box D&D Encounters, series 2, #45 “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
Out of the Box introduction
Different players have different playstyles. this can be a challenge for a Dungeon Master who might be attempting to engage conflicting styles of play at the same time. Failure to do so can lead to player disengagement and boredom. It’s always a risk and tends to be on the mind of many DMs. Therefore this encounter will combine two aspects of the roleplaying game experience. The intention behind this is to get all of the players cooperating in some degree.
Using the Corpse Rook- Fifth Edition Foes from Frog God Games| Dungeons and Dragons Monsters
What has brilliant feathers as dark as night, a massive wingspan and heads that’d make a Doduo jealous? Why, the corpse rook. Frog God Games was nice enough to include this beauty in their Fifth Edition Foes compendium and just like every other entry in the book, I love this monstrosity. Let’s jump into what I think is a great way to use this fantastic creature.
D&D Character Delve – Great Old One Triton Warlock for RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road
It is time for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. This time we will look at P’Saden, the Great Old One triton warlock character I played in the RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: Anchor Head Cave. As we were playing a seafaring adventure I wanted to use a triton. Ever since they came out in Volo’s Guide To Monsters I wanted an excuse to use these not-quite-mermaid people. I had no particular interest in the mechanics of the race, just the concept. I can honestly say I have never played a character like this before. Not that I haven’t played a wily swashbuckler, but not one with the superiority complex inherent in triton. It was kind of like playing an elf rogue. I had to figure out how he got from uptight xenophobe to smarmy spell slinger.
Top 3 Most Overlooked Cantrips for D&D
Greetings and well met fellow dorks, welcome to the Forge, courtesy of Nerdarchy’s hospitality. Today we have for you just a quick post about those fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons overlooked cantrips that tend not to get picked. Be it they seem underwhelming or, to some players, they’re not combat relevant so why bother?
New 5E Player Race – Goatfolk, Getting Down with these Baaaa-ad boys
Goatfolk. The Beastmen. The Faun. They come by many names across many mediums. The Nerdarchy crew was inspired to create a stubborn, bearded race that wasn’t dwarves. This lead them to write us up a goatfolk 5E player race for your Fifth Edition games and I think we can christen these cloven-hoofed creatures with a proper encounter idea.
Tackle D&D Exploration in Style with a Fantastical Mount — Abizders
Deep in the Beneath, duergar clans of Ulthe-Ganya toil endlessly. Greed never satisfied, hatred never abated and resolve as strong and tempered as the metal of the forge, the grim folk work relentlessly. These dark mirrors of dwarves assert their superiority over all other races through the sheer volume of anything they set their strong minds to. In their endless search for wealth and material, one noble duergar house discovered a nest of bizarre creatures.
Bring on Sixth Edition D&D — Modularity, Dynamics and Live Stream Play
The immense popularity of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is undeniable. The streamlined 5E ruleset coupled with Wizards of the Coast’s dedication to engagement with the RPG community and embrace of social media and streaming culture has propelled D&D both up and out. Longtime gamers who’ve been with the hobby since the first days or any edition along the way, as well as incredible numbers of new players, have cottoned to today’s D&D experience. The upcoming Stream of Many Eyes, June 1-3, highlights how all these elements come together in a three day spectacle of live stream D&D games, cosplay, elaborate sets and celebrity guests. With the amazing success of the fifth edition of the world’s greatest roleplaying game, will we ever see a sixth edition D&D?
Worldbuilding: Different Styles of Monarchy in D&D Political Campaigns
Salutations, nerds! I’ve been giving a lot of thought to fantasy governments and how they tend to be portrayed in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Most of the time you’ve got a pretty standard monarchy in D&D set up and that’s all right if you’re playing a kick-in-the-door style game, but sometimes you want more out of a D&D political campaign than that. Today, we’re going to talk about monarchies (by which I mean ‘one ruler’ more so than the specifics given in the Dungeon Master’s Guide) and a bit about feudalism for worldbuilding.
Demons and Devils Waging D&D Blood War in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
Demons, devils and wars, oh my! Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes has given us all kinds of new demons and devils content to tinker with and while Nerdarchists Dave and Ted go over the creatures and lore of the D&D Blood War in the new tome, I’m going to try and give you some inspiration. I’m a Dungeon Master who uses demons and devils quite sparingly, really reserving them as true horrors and beings of pure evil. Let’s talk about the time I warped the mind of the party’s rogue with a demon that was trying to stop the summoning of a devil into the world.
Descriptions Over Dice: Roleplay Character Actions Before You Roll Play
Hello! Nerditor Doug here to welcome guest posters from Dork Forge to the Nerdarchy family. Dork Forge are “a righteous, funny, and super humble group of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventurers with killer memes.” The folks at Dork Forge stream games live on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. central on Twitch, with VOD on YouTube. They also have their own website with articles and video archives. This post comes to us from Dork Forge co-founder and Dungeon Master Tom Ball. Tom tackles a great topic that can trip up a lot of players from veterans to those new to the RPG hobby — how to roleplay character actions when the player themselves isn’t an expert. Using description in front of rolling those dice can enrich a character’s actions when it comes time to make that crucial check.
Delving into the West Marches RPG Campaign Style: Better, Faster, Stronger
We continue this archiving of my experience running a West Marches adventuring campaign style and if you haven’t read the first article and second article, you really should for context. My tabletop roleplaying game background is one that heavily focused on narrative and story. With that being said, this new RPG campaign style is a bit of a departure. This article will focus on the portions of the West Marches formula that I fell in love with, the major changes I made and the additions I constructed to bring the game closer to what I consider makes an enjoyable campaign style.
Beyond the Fantasy Setting: Converting for 5E D&D Steampunk
Cogs. Steam. Cogs and steam. Have the itch to get some steampunk in your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons life? You’re not alone. Steampunk, and other niche genres derived from it, is a great addition to any fantasy setting. You can start your D&D steampunk experience by simply reskinning equipment and environments with all manner of odd baubles and whirring mechanisms or as deep as to tinker and toil brand new home brew to bring your steamy thoughts into life.
Only Human: Reskin D&D Playable Races for All Human Campaign
Many campaign settings strive for a more human-focused style but this often turns away many players as they see the lack of fantastic races as limiting character options. This is mechanically true if you get rid of all these races and do nothing to compensate for their absence. Often this is done through having cultural archetypes become replacements for distinct D&D playable races. Another way to accomplish this is to simply reskin character races as human cultures from your all human campaign setting. In this way, the standard assortment of D&D playable races are still available but appear and play like variations of humans.
Player Agency and Cooperative Stories Make a D&D Game Belong to Everyone
Its a very common phrase in the roleplaying circles that its “the Dungeon Master’s Game.” As with most aspects of this hobby, its not always so cut and dry. In your D&D game, you might find infusing some player agency through cooperative storytelling might get a you a new level of engagement from your players. This player agency can take many forms, to include working together with your players to collaboratively create the setting and world.
Win Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes for 5E D&D — First Look and Flipthrough
Friday, May 18, 2017 was the Wizards of the Coast release of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes to specific FLGS and digitally through D&D Beyond. This is the newest D&D book from The Wizards of the Coast team. Wide release for this 5E D&D book will be on May 29.
The folks over at the PR company for the WOTC team, 360 Public Relations, is always good about getting us early copies so we can show them off to the fans. We always give them away. It’s still nice to get the free 5E D&D swag even if we don’t keep it most of the time. Speaking of which you can get in on a give-away running to May 31 for one of five copies of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes.
