Play Your Next 5E D&D Game with the Break System from Octopath Traveler
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons has seen a boom in success like never before. So many people are playing and talking about 5E D&D and a robust community of homebrew and indie content has flooded the community with enough ways to tell and play so many types of stories with the system. Even when 5E D&D can’t accommodate a certain type of game or story there are a wealth of other systems to choose from. Much like the golden age of JRPGs this is the golden age of TTRPGs and as such I’ve had both on the brain lately.
Immerse Yourself in the Ashes or Ardor Campaign with New 5E D&D Subclasses
Over at Nerdarchy Live we’ve been playing various RPGs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. eastern. The group of us rotate Game Master duties after each campaign ends, which typically run 12 sessions each. For our current campaign we’re playing Ashes of Ardor with fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons set in the amazing world of Aulmn, a homebrew creation of Steven Partridge. During our session zero we decided we’d all play 5E D&D subclasses of our own Nerdarchy creation. With this campaign winding down, while we prepare for our next one — a superhero campaign using Cypher System — we thought we’d share some insight from this experience. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Dragon Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Today’s post focusing on a specific creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is interesting because with almost every other creature type there’s a little bit of fuzziness around the edges but pretty much everybody already shares some familiarity with a dragon. Take a second and picture a dragon. I know something came to mind whether it’s the long snakelike Eastern kind or the big ol’ firebreathing Western kind. Listen — dragons are cool in 5E D&D.
D&D Ideas — Planning vs. Plotting
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is the planning vs. plotting, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of planning vs. plotting in the module series Dark Paths: Shimmer a villain’s plot is long since underway and the plan is for the adventuring party to embroil themselves in a grand mystery. You can get the Nerdarchy 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.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Magic Items by a Factor of Three — Potions
Sometimes I discover a bunch of awesome stuff and others not so much but I always enjoy browsing the homebrew content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons found at D&D Beyond. I’ve gone over all the schools of magic, subclasses for every class, feats and several other categories of 5E D&D content and most recently began looking at magic items. Alphabetical is the order of the day. I already looked at all the homebrew armor for 5E D&D. Now it’s time for potions, of which you’ll find over 9,514 at DDB. We get a kick out of checking out the 5E D&D content folks come up with and sharing their homebrew creations so let’s get into it.
Simplifying Distances for Theater of the Mind in 5E D&D
We love some fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons here at Nerdarchy, and we love streaming over on Nerdarchy Live. Part and parcel with streaming comes a need to adjust things and make them more cinematic for an audience. While minis are great they kind of bog down a stream if you’re not really skilled at multitasking or have a huge production team like Critical Role. As such we use theater of the mind, which comes with its own challenges.
Find Roleplaying Inspiration On Your RPG Character Sheet
It all started when our Tuesday night RPG group started a new campaign with me at the helm. For my turn in the Game Master seat I chose to run Quest, an all around favorite of mine. It’s a wonderfully streamlined and narratively focused roleplaying game. One particular standout from the rulebook describes the nature of each character’s abilities, which direct players to “Think of your abilities as ways to take control of a scene.” Acknowledging this concept in a deeply meaningful way changed how I look at RPGs for the better so let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Sewer Ninja
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted fulfill a request from someone in the Nerdarchy community to create a Assassin rogue/Gloom Stalker ranger multiclass character build for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Instead of going with some of the obvious choices we decided to come up with something a bit more unique with the race for our 5E D&D Sewer Ninja. We were also thinking about the upcoming release of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for a character who would be fun in an urban adventure campaign setting. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Construct Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Like clockwork I’ve found my way to the construct creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it’s in terms of golems, modrons or anything else made instead of born I’m taking you up close and personal with some 5E D&D creatures probably made by an artificer or a wizard.
D&D Ideas — Culture
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is the culture, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of culture in the frozen tundra of Kredgefur’s Belt myth and magic greatly inform the lives of clan culture including the power of fate to affect outcomes — like the rise of a new Frost King. You can get the Nerdarchy 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.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Magic Items by a Factor of Three — Armor
Wow is there a tremendous amount of homebrew content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons found at D&D Beyond. I’ve gone over all the 5E D&D schools of magic, subclasses for every class, feats and several other categories of content and now it’s time to start tackling magic items. Starting at the alphabetical top I’m looking at all the homebrew armor for 5E D&D. You’ll find over 20,454 of these at DDB. We get a kick out of checking out the 5E D&D content folks come up with and sharing their homebrew creations. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) Let’s get into it.
Expand Your Roleplaying Through Heritage and Culture in 5E D&D
If you want to stir the pot with the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons fandom then bring up the topic of race and watch the opinions flow. Race is a core mechanic of 5E D&D and while some prefer the term lineage (see Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) the two terms are used interchangeably within the community. The way I like to run D&D games, I view any mechanic as having a direct influence on the story and likewise I believe every mechanic’s existence ought to be justified by a story element. Race is just one of these areas so let’s break down character race, what it means, and how to use it more effectively in your 5E D&D games.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Flesh Render
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took inspiration from a community supporter to create a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build around the inflict wounds spell. The Flesh Render delved too deeply into both the arcane and divine workings of the multiverse, which drives them a bit mad and we found great appeal in this concept for a 5E D&D character. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Celestial Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! It’s time for a look at celestials in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, by which I mean angels. Sort of. You’ll see what I mean when we start cracking into them but suffice it to say, another day another 5E D&D creature type.
D&D Ideas — Creepy
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is the creepy, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of creepy the beetles, centipedes and other deep living creepy crawlies creep adventurers out during an encounter with an insectoid knight and the horrendous creature tormenting it. You can get the Nerdarchy 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.
