“Fibble’s Fantastic Familiars” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #42
An Apothecary Smoking in an Interior by Adriaen van Ostade, oil on panel, 1646. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Okay, DMs, how many times have your D&D players asked you about familiars and other companions? A DM who has at least one Wizard or Warlock (Pact of the Chain) in the group will likely display how fun this relationship can be, and that may lead to a desire for others to have their own “little friend.” Some will want one for color or roleplaying. Some will want one for the power it gives for scouting and “Help” actions. Some will want one out of sheer envy. Players are all different.
D&D Character Professions and Why We Need More of Them
What 5e D&D lacks
What 5e D&D lacksFifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons is a wonderful thing, but there is something it’s missing. Something that’s a big deal to a few of us, even as others don’t even notice it’s missing. That thing is an official crafting system. Of course, there are fan rules up on the internet for this kind of thing, and some of them are really great. That’s what I want to talk about today.
Making things is fun. There is something undeniably cool about having your character in one campaign craft an item or a weapon and then three campaigns later having a character find that item in a dungeon and you as a player getting to feel the rush of excitement that comes with remembering that thing.
Split the party! Trials and triumphs of a full-time nerd in a part-time world
Without a GM to run the tabletop RPG, whether it’s Dungeons & Dragons or whatever game your group is playing, the party’s continuing adventures will be put on hold. But what if one or more of the players can’t make it to your next session?...
New DM Handbook: Character Backstory
There are a lot of people who either don’t feel creative enough to make up a character backstory, or who feel like they’re going to do it wrong. There’s no real way of doing it wrong, as long as you can paint a vivid enough picture of your character for yourself (although I’m sure a lot of DMs would prefer to have something concise, if you’re going to share it with them). Still, I know some people feel lost without some help, so I’m going to share a tool I created for my players that’ll help simplify the process.
“Backstabber” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #41
Many starting Dungeon Masters struggle with how to make a new monster not already in an existing reference manual. The general advice is almost always “just re-skin it.” That can be tricky when that new monster doesn’t really fit into one category or another. So, in an effort to assist starting DMs, here’s an example of an encounter which blends aspects of two different “monsters” to create a new encounter to keep new and experienced players off guard.
Learn How to Play Dungeons & Dragons for Beginners | Brought to you by Easy Roller Dice
What a typical adventuring party might look like … well, actually there is no “typical” adventuring party!
At Nerdarchy we’re excited to announce we’ve recently joined an adventuring party with Easy Roller Dice to do a series focused on teaching new players how to play Dungeons & Dragons. The problem of learning how to play D&D has often been that you need someone to teach you how to play it, an older brother, cousin, or friend of the family who already knew how to play the game! Learning how to play D&D correctly is almost something of a hybrid between written and oral traditions as the complexity of the rules can make it difficult for new players to come into the hobby. That’s how I learned to play — when I was 11 years old, my eldest brother Dave began showing me how to play Dungeons & Dragons in the 2nd edition of the game (and believe me, there were some really awkward, wonky rules — just look up THACO!). Fortunately, we now have the ability to easily share information in written, audio, and visual forms — twenty years ago you needed that mentor player, but now, we can direct you to this series of videos that we’re making for you, apprentice D&D adventurer.
Play Time: RPG Truths Revealed
On a serious note, were you once a child? Did you spend hours with siblings or friends passing the hours playing with toys, making up games, or obsessing over random strange objects just for the fun of it? “Make believe” was always the term I remember being used to describe these moments outside of reality. As an adult I like to call it “being in the moment” or “living in the now.” As a mother, I gain an incredible amount of inspiration and peace just by watching my two little ones create, and find joy, in the day-to-day moments.
Stay in touch between sessions! Trials and triumphs of a full-time nerd in a part-time world
There’s all manner of real-life demands for time that can make for infrequent RPG sessions. Try using time away from the table to enhance your game!
By now, after leading the way to muster a group of roleplaying gamers, throwing their characters into the middle of an exciting situation, and letting the players guide the direction of the narrative, you’ve got yourself a campaign going. What started with your ambition to preserve and foster your gaming hobby, sharing the joy with others, has been a success!
New DM Handbook: The Rival Party
From Beowulf vs Breca, Muhammed Ali vs Joe Frazier, Maverick vs Iceman, Marvel vs DC, Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs, and Gary Oak vs Ash Ketchum, rivalries have been an integral part of history and culture from the beginning of civilization. They drive and fuel us to do better. To be better.
Rivals aren’t just opponents to be vanquished. They’re the measuring stick by which we compare ourselves. Pepsi doesn’t compare itself against Shasta. It competes with Coca-Cola. In turn, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group may aspire to be in competition with Pepsi and Coca-Cola, but being that both companies have no problem sharing space with Dr Pepper products, it’s obvious that they aren’t.
“Three Eyes Are Better” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #40
In conjunction with previous encounters, this will also expand on the concept of making D&D monster encounters less “vanilla.” As seen in “Phoeba’s Bet,” this will be another foray into granting class levels to a normally predictable monster.
The monster in question this time is the (lowly) Cyclops. The Cyclops has classically been seen as a dim-witted, superstitious, and ill-tempered brute who might fall victim to any assortment of late-night infomercials. Whereas that preconception should bear some merit, and some elements may be contained in this encounter, leaving it as-is defeats the purpose of delivering an encounter that challenges preconceptions. Drawing from inspiration from such sources as Bugs Bunny (“The Abominable Snowman”) and Star Trek TNG “Samaritan Snare,” this encounter was designed to take on the concept of a danger interjected with moments of humor.
New DM Handbook: Adventuring Guild Agencies
Earlier this week, the Nerdarchist Primes did a video on good practices for using adventuring guilds. It made me think of something I’m putting together for my world: Adventuring Guild Agencies. I know it sounds really weird, but I would best describe it as a cross between an adventuring guild and a talent agency. It’s a place more than an adventuring guild hall. More importantly, adventuring guild agencies can provide the GM and the players with significantly more tools in their game.
“Enemy at the Gates” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #39
A great villain who sees very little action is the Oni (otherwise called the Ogre Magi or Japanese Ogre). Oni are special in the ranks of the giant-kind in that they are talented spell casters and shape-shifters. They walk the line between brute and Hag,...
The Gift Of Friendship with D&D
Here is our awesome group! We call ourselves the “Unicorns of love”… Inside joke, of course.
This is the the mural I painted on our living room wall. Tolkien inspired. 😉
This past week brought about some changes for our D&D group, and what almost turned into disaster or possibly the end of our gaming table ended up turning into the best possible thing that could have happened for our game! Our normal meeting place was denied to us by the runner of the local comic shop because of “liability issues,” the real reason being a couple of old, washed-up co-owners who glared at us across the room and obviously had a hard time with how much fun we were all having in our “satan worship” … lol!
DMing a Killer Romance Arc in D&D
Bringing romance to D&D
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and with all this pink and red plastered everywhere, and all of these teddy bears crowding the shelves at every store, it’s no wonder I’ve got romance on the brain. It’s enough to make a person want to barf. But in honor of the holiday, I’m going to take a moment to talk about romance subplots at the gaming table.
Start off with a bang! Trials and triumphs of a full-time nerd in a part-time world
If you know why this advertisement for Botany suits is relevant, then you have too much time on your hands. I know I do, that’s how I found out they used the slogan “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” in a 1966 ad campaign. I couldn’t find that one, but this ad’s “Come on strong!” message works, too.
Last week in this column, I began to explore ideas to keep a gaming hobby vibrant amidst increasing demands on time presented by things like children, conflicting work schedules and the like. Adulting can take a serious toll on a gamer’s opportunities for group gaming.
