Grimlock as a Playable Race for 5E D&D
Hey Nerdarchists out there, Nerdarchist Ted here and it is time for yet another installment of customized races for D&D 5th edition. Inspired by the name alone can make one remember the quote, “Grimlock strongest of the . . .” If you remember that, I hope I made you chuckle.
Grimlocks are descended from humans but being worshipers of evil for so long and living underground has caused them to change. They no longer posses the ability to see adapting their senses to just know what is around them instead of actually trying to see it.
Presenting an Adventure Hook for 5E D&D
Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition Adventure Hook
– Faslemil’s Glade
LOCATIONS
Faslemil’s Glade – A quiet area where Faslemil is buried \ Population 0
Scrilstarg – Village near Faslemil’s Glade \ Population 800
Wilmvoln Tower – Former home and arcane laboratory of Oda of Tangran \ Population 0
Jofleth – Town near Wilmvoln Tower \ Population 3,700
CHARACTERS
Faslemil – Gold Shadow Dragon (Adult)
Jedumtre – Faslemil’s son
Iscalon – Human Paladin (Folk Hero)
Oda of Tangran – Elf Wizard (Sailor)
Quess – Human (Female) Fighter (Mercenary)
Animal Trainer Background for 5E D&D
Welcome to Nerdarchy as we explore creating custom backgrounds for D&D 5e.Backgrounds are one one of the most innovative additions to this iteration of the game.
They combine role-playing elements and game mechanics right in a characters core concept. The inspiration mechanic is also tied to a characters bonds and flaws.
First let me start off by saying this is something I found very challenging.
5E D&D Character Build — Scout Tracker
Nerdarchist Ted here and I am going to share a cool character build for a character I have recently made for a Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition game. I was asked to play in a game online and it was restricted to humans and no wizards, warlocks, or sorcerers were going to be allowed.
Magic was divine in this world. It was full of wilderness so I though maybe having a woodsman around would be a good thing. Now in D&D anytime Human is mentioned I am always thinking what feat is going to best serve this character.
5E D&D Character Build — The Crossbow Expert
Hello and welcome Nerdarchist Dave here. Today we are doing a character build for an archer character using the seven steps I had laid out previously. Those seven steps are- race, class, background, ability scores, weapon, archetype, and feats.
1st Level Character Build-
We start with human because this build is going to be dependent on feats. I’ve got my eye on three at the moment.
Next we select our class. This is going to be fighter for the fighting style at 1st level. Then we are going to want pick our background. Here we will have a lot more leave way.
In my opinion we do want a background that is going to support our archer character build thematically at least.
5E D&D Character Build — Sorcerer Warlock
I am going to share a cool character build for a character I have played recently in a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game. I was entering a game that had been going on for a while so I was told to make an 11th level character. When doing a character build all the pieces of the puzzle are important. In my past I have played a lot of strong melee characters but the new edition of D&D offers so many cool powers I wanted to play a spellcaster. I’m Not saying there is not a draw to do a character build for a melee character — there is — but I felt a diversion is necessary. So with this spellcaster, as with any character build, you need all the pieces: race, background and class. I typically like to have these decided for the most part before I focus on stats, but at least race and class before I do stats always. This makes sure I can place my stats as effectively as I can, even if it is not an optimized race and class combination. For this one I certainly veered off the beaten path. I made a multiclass warforged sorcerer/warlock. Getting a bonus to Strength and Constitution does not make for a Charisma focused character, so if you want to use the concept and change the race to a tielfling, half-elf or aasimar I am not going to be able to stop you. On the other hand I like to try interesting character builds based on what I think would make a cool concept rather than focusing entirely on mechanics. So let’s get in my head on these choices. With the Eberron PDF recently released by WotC people are jumping at the chance to try out the new material. I am not immune to this hype or craze so I jumped in head first.
5E D&D Feats — Aberrant Dragonmarks from Unearthed Arcana: Eberron
Nerdarchist Dave here and ready to talk about one of my favorite D&D campaign settings, Eberron. Our first glimpse into Eberron for 5E D&D was just enough to whet my appetite. You can get the free PDF download here. I did a little article talking...
Unearthed Arcana — Eberron for 5E D&D
Unearthed Arcana — Eberron is out and it’s time for Nerdarchy to weigh in. If you haven’t downloaded the free PDF from Wizards of the Coast grab it here.
5E D&D Character Build — The Archer
So you’ve come to talk about archer character builds for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition? Well you’ve come to the right place.
Nerdarchist Dave’s three character building rules to game by:
Character Builds rule #1 FUN
In my opinion a successful character build is fun to play.
Character Builds rule #2 Effective
The build must excel at what it was created for.
Character Build Rule #3 Multidimensional
I want to build a character I could see myself or someone else role-playing in an actual game and have potential to be more than just stats on a piece of paper.
How to DM — Cheat With The Lazy Dungeon Master
Hello and welcome fellow Nerdarchists. I’ve got a great way for you to up your tabletop roleplaying game skills. It’s called The Lazy Dungeon Master written by Michael Shea. Don’t worry about which edition of Dungeons & Dragons you are playing. This book is useful. As a matter of fact I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest you could use nearly all of the advice given for any tabletop RPG. This book is short, sweet and packed with valuable Dungeon Master tips. If you are looking for a how to DM resource this one is at the top of my list. It weighs in at an anemic 123 pages but offers storm giant sized value. If I would have stumbled across this book there is no way I would of bought it, but because a friend recommended it I decided to give it go. At 123 pages I was thinking what the hell is this Michael Shea guy going to tell me about how to DM? I mean, I’ve been gaming for over 30 years at this point.
Creating the Most Foul 5E D&D Lich Villain Straight from the Monster Manual
Welcome fellow Nerdarchist. Today I’ll be guiding you through the horrors of the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual as we discuss a villain most foul. Nerdarchy was asked to do a video about a 1,000 year old lich who was a human and is chaotic evil from one of subscribers over at the Nerdarchy the YouTube channel. The request was for both a story and stats.
Top 5 D&D Campaign Settings
Hello and well met. I’m here to discuss my top 5 picks for D&D campaign settings through out my 30+ years of the game. First and foremost we will be skipping Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. I find these to be the most generic of D&D campaign settings. They could literally be anyone’s homebrew game. Oh wait, Forgotten Realms was Ed Greenwood’s. Nothing against those settings it’s just there isn’t anything really different in them. The only reason Forgotten Realms is interesting at all is because of the amount of detail that has gone into it, with tons of authors having written in that setting. Even with all of that it strikes as being incredibly generic. Personally if I’m going to play in a generic setting I’d rather just run my own homebrew.
5E D&D Character Builds — Dragonborn Paladin
Hello Nerdarchy reader, Nerdarchist Dave here to talk character builds. I got me a hankering to delve into a dragonborn paladin for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Paladins are an iconic character class harkening back to the very beginning of the game. Dragonborn on the other hand are a bit newer, first appearing in 3.5 D&D towards the end in a different incarnation than the current version. They really came into their own with fourth edition D&D. To be honest it took me a little while to warm up to them as player character race. Honestly it was the 4E D&D art that killed them for me. Two words: dragon boobs! The idea of a mammalian trait slapped onto a reptilian race seemed ridiculous to me. But I’ve decided to grow as a person and get over it. Not too long ago I wrote an article about dragonborn that kind of made me want to play one hence this article where we build a dragonborn paladin.
Exploring 5E D&D Multiclass Character Builds
Welcome and greetings fellow nerdarchist. Nerdarchist Dave here to talk D&D character builds. But first you might be wondering if you are a Nerdarchist or not. You decide:
5E D&D Customized Races — Subraces of the Underdark
Hey Nerdarchists out there, it is time for yet another installment of customized 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons races. We have a request from Nerdarchist Ashton Smyth who is running an Underdark campaign and wanted my take on the duergar. Thanks for the great suggestion I hope you like it and agree with my take on it. And since I am doing the dark dwarves why not add the deep gnomes as well? I have included the full race write up so you can use this as an easy reference for creating your own duergar or svirfneblin character. Some changes needed to be made to the base races for thematic or mechanical purposes.