Attack of the 5E D&D Swarmkeeper Ranger from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
The ranger class really catches a lot of flak in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons over the vastness of internet discourse. Every Ranger Archetype since the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook like the ones in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything have attempted to fix these shortcomings. Essentially every Ranger Archetype since the PHB has done two things to greatly help the class. First they gain one additional known spell of 1st through 5th levels. The second thing is a way to deal more damage — typically an additional die per round. The Swarmkeeper is one of two new 5E D&D Ranger Archetypes introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Newest 5E D&D Unearthed Arcana Conjures Up Folk of the Feywild
Full transparency as I’m getting started with this at least a tiny part of my motivation is seeing if I can publish a post before there’s two or more Nerd Immersion videos on the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons playtest document Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Folk of the Feywild. Like Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Gothic Lineages this one presents new race options for 5E D&D. There’s a lot to unpack including a big detail from the last sentence I wrote. So let’s get into it.
Streamline Your 5E D&D Game with Alternate Saving Throws
Many staple mechanics of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons shape the greater genre of tabletop roleplaying game options. While 5E D&D is my favorite edition I have found myself wondering recently if perhaps this game couldn’t be even better. Is there a way to hack 5E D&D to make it more streamlined? Being the plucky adventurer I fancy myself to be I’m determined to try. In the previous post I wrote about an alternate ability scores and an option to streamline things regarding those. Today I’m taking the next logical option to explore with saving throws. For those of you who don’t know I have a YouTube channel and as part of #DungeonMarch I’m posting exclusively RPG content all month long.
How to Evoke Fear in a TTRPG Character
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m writing about striking fear in the hearts of tabletop roleplaying game players. And no I don’t mean just in the sense of a player making an obscenely high attack roll and telling them they miss. I mean truly unsettling the players. This may just be a me thing but nothing turns me off of an adventure faster than someone telling me my character feels terrified. This is acutely true in a situation where my character wouldn’t even be unsettled. Some TTRPG characters may be really freaked out walking into a room strewn with viscera for example but a character with a history of murdering people and using their internal organs as a sacrifice to a dark deity probably isn’t going to be too bothered by these circumstances. And honestly forcing a character into having a fear response to a scenario that wouldn’t scare them is cheating.
Sit for a Spell at the Gobble Inn with Muk for 5E D&D
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted devise a business plan for the Gobble Inn as a memorable location for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. In the video they come up with several fun concepts and ways to incorporate this location into a 5E D&D game. I couldn’t help but think of the adorable goblin Muk who’s two Dungeon Masters Guild titles introduce and present a bunch of awesome activities, adventure hooks and light hearted fun in and around his home in Dankwood (while also generating money for Extra Life, a charity uniting gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital). So let’s get into it.
TTRPG Stock Sessions — Nightmare and Phobia
Salutations, nerds! At the time of writing this post I am getting ready to run a session going along with the subject matter. Hopefully by now the players involved have already done it and there won’t be any chance of spoilers. Today I’m focusing on character phobias in tabletop roleplaying games and the nightmare stock sessions where they’re brought manifest for the characters to deal with during the TTRPG experience.
D&D Ideas — Cults
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is cults, 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 cults in Enemy at the Gate a manipulative guard acts as the agent of some greater villain in your world, perhaps with their own cult of agents and followers… A deceptive oni makes life difficult for the heroes by stopping them at a town gate and disrupting their lives along with 54 other dynamic scenarios in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here. 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.
Master Your Coiffure with this New 5E D&D Magic Item
One of my great joys as a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master is creating new magic items to release into my world. Sometimes they provide mechanical buffs to characters’ existing strengths or shore up weaknesses. Other times however I make something ludicrous and see what kind of antics players get up to while using such items. Inspired by the new hairstyles our friends over at Hero Forge recently launched I decided to go ahead and make a new magic item to share with all of you. Hopefully one of the characters in your games will love such a fun and crazy item.
Runey McRuneface is the Runiest Rune Knight fighter in 5E D&D
Every Monday evening we go live talking about a topic in the context of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and back in November we etched our thoughts in virtual stone discussing runes. At the time Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hadn’t yet been released but there’d been confirmation of pretty much all the new subclasses included in its pages. The Rune Knight fighter was one of these and I was very excited since the Unearthed Arcana version really captivated my imagination. During the live chat I mentioned how this Martial Archetype could fit very well with Kobold Press’s Deep Magic: Rune Magic so well since those abilities come from a series of feats. Since 5E D&D fighters earn more Ability Score Improvements — which players can substitute feats for with their Dungeon Master’s permission — I wondered just how many runes a Rune Knight fighter could acquire. So let’s get into it.
All About Bags!
One of the most essential pieces of equipment you just have to have for adventuring gear is a bag! Where, oh where are you going to put things if you do not have the bag space? Do you have special treasures or items you need to conceal and keep close? What type of bag do you have it in? There are so many different types so let’s dive right in.
New Possibilities Abound with 5E D&D Alternate Ability Scores
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons has taken the world by storm and it makes a lot of sense. The creation of the Open Game License (lovingly referred to as the OGL) opened the floodgates for creators to use a core set of rules for developing everything from supplementary materials for the tabletop to video games. This popularized many core aspects of the system and created genre staples and today I want to challenge one of those 5E D&D staples and offer my own take.
Confessions of a 5E D&D Twilight Domain Cleric
Every Saturday morning I play in a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game with a bunch of my internet friends. It started off as a Wildemount game where we ran through the Frozen Sick adventure included in the book. I wasn’t sure how long this campaign was going to last so I wanted to play a character who started off at 1st level with their subclass right away. In 5E D&D this means cleric, sorcerer or warlock. I hadn’t really played a 5E D&D cleric for more than a one shot at this point so I decided to play one for this campaign. At the time Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hadn’t come out yet and the Twilight Domain was still Unearthed Arcana but I wanted to playtest it. So Tunk Girgunkil, variant human Twilight Domain cleric with an urchin background was born.
TTRPG Stock Sessions — The Time Loop
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m going focusing in on Groundhog Day. Not the movie but the concept of being stuck in a time loop as a tabletop roleplaying game stock session. This episode comes up in a lot of places. The first one coming to mind right now being the Supernatural episode where the brothers Winchester die repeatedly and have to live the day over. The time loop TTRPG stock session comes with a warning label — It’s frustrating to deal with. The time loop is a concept you want to make sure players are okay with before bringing it to the table. All the advice you see about how parties need clear goals is really hard to pull off in a situation like this so proceed with caution. After you’ve cleared it with your TTRPG group here are the things you have to hammer out.
D&D Ideas — Oceans
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is oceans, 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 oceans in Fish Food a chance encounter on the high seas leads to a potential trifecta of terror: drowning, water issues and being lost at sea. A pleasant sea voyage turns upside down by attacking water enemies and a rapidly sinking ship along with 54 other dynamic scenarios in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here. 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.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Spell Assassin
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take precise aim at a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who puts a sneaky spin on their magical attacks. The Spell Assassin leans into their rogue training to get the drop on adversaries with the Assassinate feature and take them out through a deadly spell salvo. Dabbling in a few disciplines compiles a very particular set of skills for this 5E D&D character over the course of their adventuring career. So let’s get into it.
