Excavating Unearthed Arcana that Didn’t Make the Cut, Part 2
Courtesy of the Dungeons & Dragons design team’s plethora of Unearthed Arcana playtest documents over the years we’ve seen a ton of new character options evolve from initial concepts into their final versions in official published products. Each Unearthed Arcana follows up with a survey for players to weigh in with their thoughts and impressions, which the team uses to guide further development. Some remain largely the same, some change drastically and many don’t pass this playtest stage. At this point quite a few subclasses, feats and other 5E D&D character options fall into the latter category. Curious what didn’t make the cut? Let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Classic D&D Monsters
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is classic D&D monsters, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of monsters we’ve created quite a menagerie over the years ourselves like the Booze Ooze, Gantuan, Elemental Kin templates and so many more. You can find a ton of creatures for your game in Nerdarchy the Website’s Monster Category. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game with Pride as a Circle of Manifestation Druid
Happy Pride Month to all! It’s June, which means it’s Pride month once again. If you remember last year I created the Rainbow Domain for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons clerics on Nerdarchy the Website right here. This year I thought it might be fun to transform it into a tradition. You heard right. I’m creating another 5E D&D subclass for Pride.
Defend the Forests of Your 5E D&D World with a Radiant Treant
A while back I wrote about Treants. These glorious creatures exist in the realms of Dungeons & Dragons but why do we not have a variety of options such noble creatures. Other creature types have martial versions and spellcaster options and ones with extraordinary abilities. Sure, it is easy to combine some monsters together but not everyone is ready to do this. For those folks and any Dungeon Masters interested in more treant variety I am making my first treant for fifth edition D&D.
Excavating Unearthed Arcana that Didn’t Make the Cut, Part 1
Courtesy of the Dungeons & Dragons design team’s plethora of Unearthed Arcana playtest documents over the years we’ve seen a ton of new character options evolve from initial concepts into their final versions in official published products. Each Unearthed Arcana follows up with a survey for players to weigh in with their thoughts and impressions, which the team uses to guide further development. Some remain largely the same, some change drastically and many don’t pass this playtest stage. At this point quite a few subclasses, feats and other 5E D&D character options fall into the latter category. Curious what didn’t make the cut? Let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Unearthed Arcana Giant Options
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is Unearthed Arcana Giant Options which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of giants we’re fast approaching the production stage of our own giant collection of magic items. There’s still time to preorder your Mage Forge deluxe set of 250 magic item cards. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Support the Troops in Your 5E D&D War with the Armory Golem
A while ago we covered D&D Ideas — Shields and I tossed out the idea of an Armory Golem. It is time I make good on my promise to create this new creature to share with you for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games.
Summon One Bad A$$ Evil SOB to Your 5E D&D Games
The time of Vecna is nigh! One of the most iconic Dungeons & Dragons villains of all time is experiencing a renaissance of late thanks in no small part to the immense popularity of Netflix’s Stranger Things season four, which follows the series’ tradition of borrowing from D&D’s rich monster lore to name each season’s primary antagonist. Hot of the heels of the show’s mid-season break (the second half drops July 1 at midnight) Wizards of the Coast released the Vecna Dossier, a supplement detailing the legacy and statistics of the Undying King. Let’s get into it.
Let’s Make a Deal and Run 5E D&D as a Monty Haul Dungeon Master
I love magic items in my Dungeons & Dragons games. As a player there’s nothing quite like adding awesome new magic items to a character’s inventory. When I’m the Dungeon Master I aim to elicit this same excitement for players by providing a steady flow of nifty magic items for their characters too. I’m definitely dating myself by invoking the name of Monty Hall, host of the classic musical comedy variety-game show Let’s Make a Deal and later used to describe a playstyle wherein the DM’s unreasonable generosity translates into lots of treasure — including magic items. What can I say? I love dishing it out as much as I do raking it in. Let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Terrain
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is terrain, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of terrain in Albatross heroes are caught between insect ravagers and forest elves in a tense pursuit through treacherous terrain with an infant chieftain at stake. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Play Your 5E D&D Dragons with Big Brain Energy
Dragons are immortal creatures who grow in power and size but it is not only their physical stats reaching immense proportions. Mentally dragons are one of the most intelligent creatures in the realms. As a 5E D&D Dungeon Master it can feel a little intimidating to run dragons whose intellect is much more vast than our own. Even DMs with genius level IQs are still not up to par with the intellect of elder dragons.
Run Your D&D Encounters with a Battle Pack
There are all sorts of ways to run encounters in D&D. Whether you are using hazards, lair actions, legendary actions or just monsters there is a lot to keep track of during an encounter. Today I’m exploring going one for one with the party. Typically a good group of adventurers comprises a warrior, a sneaky character, a healer and some kind of damage dealing spellcaster. In the years I have been playing very rarely do I see combats being pitted against such an encounter unless we are in direct opposition of another adventuring party.
D&D Ideas — Roleplaying
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is roleplaying, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of roleplaying in Dinner Party after accidentally ingesting a Truth Serum Poison characters are embroiled in a long night of deception and revelation — a terrific scenario for exploring the roles each character plays in your game. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Plant the Seeds of Adventure with More Treants for your 5E D&D Games
Whether you are talking about Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings, treants have the ability to make a big impact. Not only are treants very large creatures — Huge in fact — but they are quite long lived and quite powerful.
Adding Magic Schools into Your Fantasy World
There has been a recent rush of ideas talking about schools teaching magic in relation to fantasy gaming. As a gamer who has been playing for decades this does seem like an alien concept to me. Before you get all up in arms about it I am not opposed to the concept. It just seems rather odd to collect a group, possibly a large number, of untrained magical practitioners and keep them all in a confined space.
