Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e (The Druid)
Hello fellow Nerdarchests, Art here. I’m back with the third installment of my series Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. If you missed my previous article on the Cleric just click HERE.
Today we are going to be covering the wonderful menagerie of… The Druid
As always I’d like to take a few lines to address the class as a whole. The Druid in 5e is very well thought out, but from a supplement stand point not allot of love has been given to them as a class. This means they currently are pigeon-holed into one major type of single class character, where with this article I hope to shed some light on things you can do to “Spice” up your Druid and make them more interesting as a character.
English not your first language? Use that for RPG fun
Monsters of Faerun, Japanese language edition, D&D 3.5, 2004
One of the great experiences of taking part in tabletop role playing games online is that you get to interact with people from different cultures, often who do not have English as their first language. The roots of tabletop RPGs are mainly in countries which have English as a common tongue, and no few of us gamers were brought up on English and are mostly familiar gaming with others who speak English, so it can be interesting and sometimes a challenge to game with those who come from a different background.
That being said, there are plenty of online games taking place in non-English languages despite many rules sets having not been officially translated, including the most recent edition of Dungeons & Dragons. A quick look around various sites which are home to online RPGs can lead one to campaigns in Spanish, German, and any number of other languages. Still, it seems games in English are quite common, perhaps the most common.
Even the English language has its variations
Ty’s Gaming Resolutions for the 2016 New Year
In a matter of days it’s going to be a new year, and like the beginning of every new year, many of us make resolutions. Some of us will try to lose weight or quit smoking. Others will try to be nicer to people or maybe promise to put money into savings. Me? This year I’m going to try to be a better tabletop role-player. How do I hope to accomplish this? By following my resolutions below.
Expanding my horizons in the new year, Part I
Are you going to watch the ball drop to kick in the new year?
I have a tendency to find a role-playing game I like, then stick with it and nothing else for months, even years. Right now I’m enjoying Fifth Edition D&D, so I’ve been playing lots of it. See, I’ve been gaming for 35 years, off and on, and I’ve played all kinds of systems, some good, some bad, and I guess now in my forties I’ve grown a bit … maybe “lazy” would be the right word, though I prefer “skeptical.” I’m usually not interested in learning yet another system, especially if it’s one which I know I won’t be playing more than maybe once or twice. I need to break this habit. There are lots of great games out there which I’ve yet to experience, and a few which I’ve only experienced once or twice. So, one of my gaming resolutions is to play more games that are new to me, to enjoy the experience of different game systems. I’m especially interested in trying out some zombie survival games.
Expanding my horizons, Part II
A Visit from St. Cuthbert (aka ’Twas the Night Before Gaming)
St. Cuthbert of Greyhawk
’Twas the night before gaming,
and all through the castle
not a beastie was stirring,
nor nary a vassal.
All the spadroons
lay stacked by the lair,
in hopes that St. Cuthbert
soon would be there;
The goblins lay drunk
atop of their beds,
While visions of raiding
stole through their heads;
Mama sheathed her blades
in scabbards with a slap,
While I tugged down on
my helm’s arming cap.
While out in the bailey
there arose such a clatter,
I sprang up with my sword
to spy what had been shattered.
Away to a turret
I darted in a flash,
then charged to the gatehouse
when I heard another clash.
Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e The Rogue
Hello fellow Nerdarchists, Art here. I’m back with the next installment of my series Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. If you missed my previous article on the Paladin just click HERE.
As usual I’d like to take a moment to talk about the class in general. The Rogue in D&D 5e is much more diverse than we’ve seen in previous editions of D&D, with the addition of the Sword Coast Adventures Guide we are given several unique way to play them such as assassins or swashbucklers. The Back-Stab dice scale nicely in D&D 5e making the Rogue a good choice to bind other classes with adding flare and abilities that make the character quite interesting.
Back-Stabbing with the rogue!
2015 gamer gift suggestions for the holidays
By the time you read this, Hanukkah will have passed, but Christmas and Kwanzaa and other holidays are still more than a week away, which means there is still time to purchase presents for your favorite tabletop role players and other gamers. But what to get your friends? Rulebooks and dice are the easy answer, but likely your pals will already have those. If you want to get them a different type of present, check out some possibilities below.
Something chocolate this way rolls
Never Tell Me The Odds|3 of the Most Epic Uses of the Lucky feat| 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons
“Never tell me the odds!”, Han Solo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Lucky feat may draw a collective groan from many a 5th edition dungeons and dragons players and Dungeon Masters alike and who can blame them? Following the errata, a player can turn the Disadvantage mechanic into “Super Advantage” or a foes Advantage into “Super Disadvantage” since it was clarified that the Lucky feat allows you to roll an extra die and choose the desired result before success is determined. If a player turns this feat into simply, “I roll more dice”, well yeah, that is in fact incredibly lame, but I promise you this: if you make your use of the Lucky feat narratively cool, something that characterizes and defines your character, no one will bat an eye at your use of the feat- they’ll be looking-out for the next time you do something heroic, something badass!
A part of the power of the Lucky feat is actually in the exploitation of circumstances that would grant Disadvantage- you can use the Lucky feat to do really cool, really epic feats of awesomeness. Utilizing the Lucky feat will actually have you fishing for Disadvantage! You could use the feat to make neigh impossible trick shots, death defying acrobatics, or pick a lock with your eyes closed! And also remember that you can turn your foe’s Advantage, that attack that should have inevitably hit into “Super Disadvantage”. With that in mind, let’s look at the situations or conditions that would cause you Disadvantage or grant your enemy Advantage:
Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e The Paladin
Hello fellow Nerdarchists, Art here. I’m back with the next installment of my series Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. If you missed my previous article on the Monk just click HERE.
Today we are upholding our vows with…the Paladin!
AS always I’d like to talk a little about the class and its’ uses in multi classing. First I think the paladin can be the most effective “Tank” in the game due to the new content in the Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide with the Oath of the Crow Paladin class path. Being able to force opponents to attack only you can be quite a strong ability. When multi-classing you can combine the Paladin’s ability to smite with other class features to create some insane damage combos as I’ll give you a few here. Also the Paladin can be a great healer with their “Lay On Hands” abilities to keep other characters up in a fight even if its only healing for a few points at a time just to get them up and out of danger. It also lets the Paladin be very hard to kill due to their ability to cast Cure Wounds as well, combined with their Lay on Hands. Now on with the builds…
Gamescience providing precision dice for more than 40 years
Louis Zocchi at GenCon 2014. / Photo courtesy of Gamescience
For those old enough to remember the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role playing games, the dice available often were of lackluster quality. Sometimes soft but brittle around the edges, the dice had a tendency to flake or dent easily, not only making them appear less than appealing, but also damaging their statistical usefulness. Even today there are players who are interested not only in the attractiveness of the dice they purchase, but the accuracy of those dice.
D&Dizing Star Wars for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Part 3
Hello Nerdarchist and Star Wars fans. Today I am bring you my Epic conclusion to D&Dizing Star Wars. Lets figure out how to play a Sith in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Star Wars has always considered the rites of the Sith a secret thing so as to dissuade the Jedi from being tempted by their power.
Now in a setting where powers are level dependent there is no easy way to give a Sith more power and still keep the system balanced. Last week we did Jedi and Sith are not a far cry from them they are just willing to do different things. The first and foremost this that Sith use their lightning Attack. Not only do we already have a spell that functions just like this effect but it is already a warlock spell: Witch bolt.
What Does it Take to a Play a Sith in 5th Edition
A Sorcerous Legacy | New Metamagic options & Feats for the Sorcerer 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons
I have a love/hate relationship with the Sorcerer- thematically, I think they’re fantastic, but in this edition of Dungeons & Dragons, I think they’re a second-tier spellcaster and that makes me sad.
Next to the Wizard, with their full array of ritual tag spells, Wizard’s literally have as many more spells as that character can acquire provided they have the time to ritual cast it, arcane recovery to regain half of your spell levels, 2 3rd level spells become spells that recharge after a short rest at higher levels, and many great school of magic abilities.
Then one could make the case for the Warlock as being on equal footing as the Sorcerer, surely the Warlock has a comparably limited scope of spellcasting. The Warlock has a higher hit die, access to light armor, and simple weapons. So, dismissing that a main feature of the Warlock is it’s use of Eldritch Blast (an always useful Force effect) and let’s decide that we want to make a more caster-y Warlock.
The Pact of the Tome’s the most obvious Pact choice for the expanded cantrip list from any class and you would likely take The Book of Shadows invocation for access to all the ritual spells you can afford and acquire.
D&Dizing Star Wars for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Part 2
Last week I spoke about letting you play a Jedi, or as close as I can make it, in Dungeons and Dragons. D&D is full of fantastic abilities and with just a little re-imagining and adding a custom warlock patron we can bring Star Wars to Dungeons and Dragons.
Play a Jedi in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition
Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e The Monk
Hello fellow Nerdarchests. I’m back with the fourth installment of my series Multiclass Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5E. If you missed my previous article on the Fighter just click here. Today we are going in the dojo with the monk! As before I want to take up some space and talk about the class as a whole. Monks areone of the most interesting 5E D&D classes as a whole. It offers a variety of ways to address martial arts and characters that use them a defining path in their existence. Themonk by far has the most options in combat with their Unarmored Defense and ability to deal deadly bludgeoning damage with only their bare hands and feet. Looking at the progression of the monk at 11th level they switch to a d8 for their Martial Arts damage and that is when they start to taper off as a combatant. This is when multiclassing will come into effect if you are not looking to the whole spiritual aspect of the monk.
Remembering all my D&D and gaming pals at Thanksgiving
Here in the U.S. we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, a holiday in which we go shopping, watch football and eat way too much. Oh yeah, and we give thanks for the good things in our lives. As part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this year I...
Now for something completely different: Add laughs to your D&D game with Monty Python rules
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Around some role-playing game tables, especially those for Dungeons & Dragons, quotes from the Monty Python’s Flying Circus television show and Monty Python movies are as common as twenty-sided dice. As might be expected considering the subject matter, quips from “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” are especially prevalent.
Who can blame us, and our fellow gamers? Those movies and the show are hilarious and often full of scenarios and one-liners just fit for a session of D&D. In our broader culture, perhaps only “The Princess Bride” comes close as being quoted, or maybe the Star Wars franchise.
However, sometimes quotes aren’t enough. Sometimes you might want to take your game to the next level by actually including Monty Python material in your adventures. Drafting some of the characters would not be too difficult, and it would be a fairly easy task to include King Arthur’s famed sword Excalibur as rules for it exist in earlier editions of the game. But what about specific rules that allow for Monty Python-esque gameplay?
