Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as the Coolest Character Around
Summer is on over here in the US and it is hot outside. If you are like me and looking for a way to cool off why not think about and make some cold weather characters for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons? Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frost Maiden has been out for a while now but I still hear people talking about it and new 5E D&D games start all the time. Rime of the Frost Maiden hoists characters into an arctic environment and while it is easy to put on a cold weather outfit why not look for those 5E D&D races used to being in cold environments so there is no need for the extra gear?
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Azorius Templar
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted hoof it through a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons centaur character build. Centaur player characters in 5E D&D are fey creatures, and monstrosities in their Monster Manual version. In the source material Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica centaurs typically associate with the Gruul Clans and Selesnya Conclave. But we wanted to make a centaur knight because frankly it sounds cool. The Azorius Templar character build draws on other aspects of the source material for inspiration. Let’s get into it.
Curses Come With Dramatic Significance in 5E D&D with Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
We’ve been delving deep into Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft since this fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book released and at this point not only read it cover to cover but spent a great deal of time thinking about the content to share useful insights on all the material inside. The book devotes significant space to guidance for running horror adventures for 5E D&D and does a terrific job doing so for Dungeon Masters and the rest of the players in any given game. One of those areas of guidance deals with curses so let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Rings
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is rings, 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. A Ring of Stoneshielding protects adventurers from the dangerous effect of creatures like basilisks and keeps a hero’s body flexible and limber whenever effects seek to restrain them in place. Originally created for our Garden of Statuary book this ring more recently became one of our monthly Magic Item Cards. 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.
Adventuring Is All Business for 5E D&D with Acquisitions Incorporated
The other writers and I enjoyed covering Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft in deep detail so much we decided to do it again. The campaign setting books for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons do a masterful job providing all the tools and resources players need to create unique experiences within each particular environment including tremendous inspiration, encouragement and guidance for developing your own ideas. Now we’re turning our attention to my favorite book of the bunch — Acquisitions Incorporated. Let’s get into it.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Enchantment Spells by a Factor of Three
I’m continuing with a look at homebrew spells for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons this week by checking out the enchantment spells over at D&D Beyond while on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted studied the homebrew Arcane Traditions for 5E D&D wizards. 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.) There’s currently over 7,380 homebrew enchantment spells at DDB, so let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Zen Archer
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted calmly take aim at a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. On a whim the Nerdarchy crew wanted to create a wood elf archer build. It appeared to be something players were searching for online. Instead of going with some of the obvious choices we decided to come up with something a bit more unique for the Zen Archer character build for 5E D&D. Let’s get into it.
Life Sucks By It’s Very Nature in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft for 5E D&D
Ravenloft sucks! Or rather, I suppose I should say life in Ravenloft would suck. Now that I’ve got your attention let me explain myself. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is the official guide for twisting your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games with horror. When I say life in Ravenloft sucks, I’m specifically talking about how it sucks for the townspeople, the nobodies, the people with whom the main characters interact.
Creating Domains of Dread for 5E D&D with Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Wizards of the Coast really hit their stride when it comes to campaign setting guides for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is the latest in line to provide resources along a wide spectrum for players to engage with the material as it best matches their play style. I like to think the arrangement of content in these sorts of books holds as much meaning as the information itself and when it comes to creating domains of dread the book cleverly places the material just a page flip away from the juicy new 5E D&D character options. Let’s get into it.
Fear and Horror Emanate from Haunted Traps in 5E D&D with Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m going to be taking a closer look at the Haunted Traps section of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Long story short, normal traps were put in place on purpose by a person for a reason. Haunted traps by contrast aren’t set with purpose and instead manifest like a stain. This is a recurrent theme in a lot of horror works, it turns out, and now it’s represented in 5E D&D too.
Dr. Benard Finklestien’s Catalog of Quality of Life Improvements
One of the easiest ways to add some fun and spice to gameplay is to create dynamic and mysterious NPCs and maybe add some fun items. Easy items to add would be minor but interesting items that just improve the adventurer’s quality of life, like a magnifying glass for example. You would not want anything game breaking or changing, but instead something simple that adds to the gameplay.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Stealer of Souls
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted offer up blood and souls for a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. This Stealer of Souls character build for 5E D&D came about because frankly we just wanted to make a paladin/Hexblade warlock character. While discussing it, a certain albino anti-hero from literature came up, so we leaned into the connection. Let’s get into it.
Classical Style and Impactful 5E D&D Adventure Meet in Tartarus | Journey Into the Underworld
Salutations, nerds! We’ve got something particularly interesting to chew on today as Elise Cretel brings us Tartarus | Journey into the Underworld! I don’t have any real complaints about this fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Those of you who haven’t died of shock, please read on.
D&D Ideas — Rods, Staves and Wands
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is rods, staves and wands, 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. Rods, staves and wands are all powerful arcane implements but there’s plenty of variety and opportunities for those who don’t use magic to make use of them too. 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.
Experience the Horror Firsthand with Survivors in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft offers a menagerie of tools to help Dungeon Masters and players of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons sink their teeth into genres of horror. We’ve already written about preparing horror games, running horror games with atmosphere and pacing to enhance the experience of your 5E D&D group. However, if you really want to sell the horror flavor and show players how grim and unforgiving the world can be then Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft suggests the use of survivors.
