A TTRPG GM is like a Swiss Army knife
GM tools for adventure – you only need a few
My TTRPG group keeps me on my toes as a GM. Comprised of adults, all of whom have varying degrees of adulting to do, our get-togethers are infrequent. It averages out to about twice a month on Sunday evenings. Within that group, everyone has varying schedules for work, family responsibilities and so forth. This results in a flexible group makeup on top of everything else. That last part usually isn’t a problem, as PCs can fade into the background or remain on their spelljammer ship while the present players form an away team.
But what happens when a particular character is important to the story for that session? Maybe the previous session ended on a cliffhanger or dramatic moment and a character’s absence would be awkward Or you as the GM simply aren’t prepared to continue your usual campaign?
Creature Symbiosis is an Underutilized RPG Tool
Symbiosis is an amazing thing within nature. Symbiosis is defined as the “interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.” Now how does this work within Dungeons & Dragons (as well as other games)? Well, amazing Nerdarchy reader, symbiosis is something that both players and Dungeon Masters can use to fill their world with amazing, multilayered experiences that will blow your players’ minds. Below I will be listing a few situations of symbiosis that are already in Dungeons and Dragons, and a few I think would work well within it.
The clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris (known from the Walt Disney/Pixar cartoon Finding Nemo). Photo is from a coral reef near the Japanese island Sesoko and taken 2 m below water surface. In the background is the giant carpet anemone Stichodactyla gigantea with which the clownfish forms a symbiosis. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #2: Black Circle
To expand on an opinion expressed by others more famous than myself (an easy achievement to accomplish), much of what we assume in D&D comes from a generic fantasy world. We tend to also assume the appearance and behavior of certain cultures and races. What I’d like to do in this encounter is bring an event which may have already occurred in this generic setting and describe it in a more primitive setting.
Designing Dungeons & Dragons Races: Aatier
Very recently, in the wake of writing articles about modern firearms, I wrote a couple of articles about the ways we should think about designing and implementing various types of mechanics. Similar to the way that I shared my thoughts on modern firearms, I wanted to go over my thoughts on designing races, and the whys, whens, and wheres of doing it.
5E D&D in space with Spelljammer is back!
Spelljammer thrusts your D&D adventures into space
Concordance of Arcane Space is one of the books included with the original Spelljammer Campaign Setting boxed set. Art by Jim Holloway
In last week’s column I shared a cobbled-together homebrew system for handling ship-to-ship combat from the homebrew 5E D&D Spelljammer campaign that I run for my friends. With the Memorial Day weekend keeping my players busy we did not gather around the gaming table this week, which means playtesting those rules will have to wait.
Spoilers for any of my players reading this before our next session – they will encounter a potential ship-to-ship combat situation. Or did they think commandeering that mercenary ship was going to be easy?
D&D 5E initiative from the Mike Mearls AMA gets a look from Nerdarchy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNpLHTHLKWo&w=560&h=315]
During a May 15 Reddit AMA with Mike Mearls, lead designer of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, he mentioned how the D&D 5E initiative system bugged him and shared a house rule method he uses for his own games.
D&D 5e weapons nomenclature: When a longsword is not always a longsword
D&D and weapons
= Labeled diagram of a sword and its scabbard. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Weapons have always been a big part of Dungeons & Dragons. This makes sense considering combat has played a large role in D&D since the game’s earliest days. True, a Dungeon Master and players can enjoy tabletop roleplaying without combat, but usually there is some kind of conflict. Even for the most non-violent-oriented RPG players, often those interested far more in the RP aspects of the game than combat, there tends to be some form of conflict as this creates tension, and without this tension the characters within the game are living rather humdrum lives and the game itself can become quite dull.
So, conflict ensues, which often enough leads to physical conflict, actual combat. Despite the fantasy aspects of D&D, the magic and the monsters, weapons tend to make an appearance, usually weapons that are taken from the real world and history.
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #1: Stick in the Mud
Magic items as encounters has become an accepted option within this series. However, there’s one particular dynamic that has yet to be really explored fully – sentient items. Sentient items allow for a completely new approach to magic items as it not only allows the introduction of some cool magical effects, but essentially allows for the introduction of an unusual NPC into the group. Moreover, this NPC will enter into a special relationship with its owner/wielder. This relationship is somewhat symbiotic, as the sentient item will have its own motivations, personality, and “mental attributes.” When its motivations are subverted, a contest of personalities may occur whereby both the item and the possessor vie for control of the wielder. The winner of this contest then decides how the wielder acts for a time. This sort of relationship can open up a whole series of role-playing opportunities. However, if a potential player may take offense at such loss of control over their character concept, I would advise avoiding this sort of encounter.
The Virtues of an Epic Failure: Really Critty Stories
On April 17, Nerdarchy released a video about Critical Failures and why to use them.
Stream of Annihilation highlights what’s fantastic about D&D
It’s no fluke that an enormous and continually-growing slate of streaming game play has emerged alongside 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. When Greg Tito joined Wizards of the Coast’s marketing team a couple of years ago as communication manager, adding more streaming programming to their schedule was one of his goals to expand the audience for D&D.
Postmodernism in Dungeons & Dragons
Recently, Megan posted an article about how to reconsider evil characters the same day a video with Nate, Scott, and Kyle talking about whether the alignment system was still viable was uploaded. Along with a conversation I had with the Nerdarchy staff writers about postmodernism, I was inspired to write an article about applying postmodern principles into Dungeons & Dragons.
Satine Phoenix is living the nerdy dream
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ5Hts-8VQY&w=560&h=315] Nerdarchist Dave got three special guests for the cost of one when he welcomed Satine Phoenix to the Nerdarchy live chat. Hanging out on her birthday from her home/studio in sunny Los Angeles, Phoenix shared her morning chatting live and answering questions. Nerd culture...
Spelljammer ship combat primer for 5E D&D
You can’t throw a d20 in 2017 without hitting a space fantasy RPG. Tabletop gamers looking to combine swords and sorcery with science and starships can take their pick of several products hitting the market this year. Starfinder utilizes the Pathfinder engine to explore fantasy...
Absolute Tabletop takes the Oath of the Frozen King with Nerdarchy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPJk2Taia9c&w=560&h=315]
Nerdarchist Dave welcomes Matt Click and Tim Kearney from Absolute Tabletop to live chat #45 to talk about Oath of the Frozen King, their latest Kickstarter project. With a solid history of RPG content creation, AbTab’s latest offering is the Adventure Kit, which they describe as “versatile, flexible frameworks for roleplaying game adventures.” The modular presentation allows for minimal prep time for GMs, enabling you to run adventures for your players at the drop of a hat.
Evil is a Spectrum
There is oh, so much talk floating around about evil characters and good characters in tabletop RPGs and how you should or shouldn’t mix them in parties. Every time you get people together talking about Dungeons & Dragons, this is something that’s going to come...
