Engaging Players around the RPG Table is a Group Effort
For a Game Master running a session for a group of players, whether it’s fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Kids on Bikes, Weave or any of the wonderful roleplaying games out there (and there’s a lot, for any taste!) the key to success around the table is engagement. We hear that word a lot in the RPG space, and engaging players is a frequent topic for GMs seeking advice and tips. What exactly does it mean, and how do you do it?
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #42 – “Empty Chair”
Out of the Box introduction
I cannot speak for others, but I grew up with a lot of superstitions. My mother was very superstitious, but I cannot say if it was a factor of her generation, age, culture, or what have you. All I know is that I inherited many of these superstitions, and it may have lead to my own world view. Some of them I inherited were forgotten until unlocked by an action, word, or reference. One such occurrence recently unlocked this forgotten lore.
Making a Villain of the Warlock with a Little Help from our Friends
Warlock is probably one of the most popular fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character classes. It didn’t come into existence as a character class until the later part of 3.5 D&D. Fourth edition D&D made it a core class in the fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: According to April’s And Beyond live stream with D&D Beyond lead Adam Bradford, warlocks are the No. 1 most created character class over there.]
By My Beard! Tricks and Items for D&D Dwarves Beards
Say the word “dwarf” to a fantasy fan and the first thing that likely comes to mind is their opulent beards. Throughout the majority of fantasy literature and roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, dwarves are immediately identified with the follicle splendor of their facial hair. What follows is a brief collection of ideas for ways in which dwarves might use or augment their beards. While background information and D&D mechanics have been provided this is more to provide easy inclusion in a game. Feel free to alter the game mechanics to suit your style of play.
Deep Magic: High Elven Magic for 5th Edition with the Kobold Press| Review
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube Channel we’ve been reviewing the Deep Magic series from Kobold Press. Elven High Magic is our tenth one in the series. We have a handful left to go complete the Deep Magic series. Quite few have been also reviewed here on the website by various Nerdarchy staff writers.
Playing D&D Games without All the Party Roles is Out of Control
Jumping back into playing D&D without filling out all the party roles we’re taking a look at the controller this time, typically a role filled only by wizard in D&D games. Up until the launch of 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons it was either wizard or druid exerting control on the battlefield, and later came the sorcerer. You could always get some control from your cleric too, but that means they won’t be laying down the healing during your D&D games from them.
D&D Character Delve – Goliath Oath of the Ancients Paladin 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 Maala, the Oath of the Ancients goliath paladin character I played in episode four of out RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: A Knight’s Tomb. Maala is a D&D character built on one major concept, the bearded woman. As a fan of American Horror Story I wanted to play a character like Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates). All decisions from that point on centered around what it meant to be a woman who is outside her culture, in a world where she does not fit the prescribed ideal of femininity.
D&D Gets Post Apocalyptic with Hellscapes
There’s a huge variety of tabletop roleplaying games out there on the market, providing infinite variety in settings, themes and mechanics. Everything from primitive worlds to vast universes, quickstart guides to 500-page rulebooks, and low-brow humor to high-brow drama. But if you’re like me, and can simply never get enough Dungeons & Dragons, testing the limits of fifth edition D&D keeps you plenty satisfied with your RPG obsession. In the weekly live stream game I run on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel, we cobbled together our own gonzo Spelljammer setting using material from Hyperlanes. And now with Hellscapes, the follow-up project from the same creators, a new avenue is open to explore – post apocalyptic adventures using the 5E engine!
Running the Double Cross on Your D&D Adventuring Party
It can be a lot of fun for the Dungeon Master and a player in a D&D adventuring party to run a long con on the rest of the players, whether this is something planned out from the very beginning of a campaign or something that evolves out of the ongoing story line.
Exploring D&D Party Roles with the Healer
Our Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles series continues. This time we look at the healer. When I think healer in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I think cleric, druid, and maybe bard. Then there’s what I consider the secondary healers of D&D – bard, paladin, and ranger. Notice bard is included in both. Bard is a super versatile character class in D&D and has the ability fill several party roles.
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #41 – “Down the Well”
Out of the Box introduction
Infusing Myth and Folklore into D&D Trolls
Trolls as depicted in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products bear little more than a superficial resemblance to the creature of myth and lore they are based on. Like many creatures from our past they have been compartmentalized and streamlined for the sake of mechanics until they are truly a different creature. While it is in no way meant to be an exhaustive or completely academic article, this exercise attempts to bring back some of the ancient context from whence the troll came.
Dungeon Crate March 2018 Unboxing
Hello gamers! Our crate unboxing segments are moving from our video series to a new home here on the website as we shuffle things around to best provide all the things we want to offer between here and the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. Check back every month should you wish to learn of the awesome stuff that comes in that month crate. This time we are unboxing the March 2018 Dungeon Crate.
Unearthed Arcana Order Domain for D&D Cleric Lays Down the Law
The latest Unearthed Arcana came out so of course we took a close look and weighed in on the new Order Domain for the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons cleric. It was first presented during The Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour, which streams live every Tuesday at 4 p.m. eastern on the D&D Twitch channel.
Doling Out Descriptive Details as a Dungeon Master
Salutations, nerds! I’ve recently been running into a recurring problem, both personally at the roleplaying game table and hearing about it through stories other people have told, regarding scenery detail and how the Dungeon Master breaks it down. So today we’re going to take a moment to talk about descriptive details. These crucial skills are viable for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons or any RPG.
