Monsters & Creatures Offers a Perfect Entry Point for Budding D&D Adventurers
Have a young adventurer in your life? There is a set of Dungeons & Dragons guides specifically catered to younger readers. One of these is Monsters & Creatures: A Young Adventurer’s Guide by Jim Zub, Stacy King and Andrew Wheeler. This guide is part of an officially licensed D&D set called The Young Adventurer’s Collection. Monsters & Creatures is a total of 105 pages long and is fully illustrated in full color.
Expanding 5E D&D Background Characteristics — Urchin
Salutations, nerds! I’m onto the Urchin background for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in the unassailable order that is alphabetical. Time to explore expanded personal characteristics for street rats! I’ve had a lot of fun playing 5E D&D characters like this myself and I’ve seen a lot of good urchin characters played as well. Let’s dive in and expand the options for background characteristics, shall we?
D&D Ideas — Acid
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is acid, 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 acid in Balance an innocent sprite’s existence literally hangs in the balance from a sadistic trap. 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 Feats by a Factor of Three
I’ve gone through all the schools of magic, subclasses for every class and a few other categories of content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons when it comes to homebrew material found at D&D Beyond. This time around I’m looking at homebrew feats for 5E D&D and there’s a whopping 21,400+ over 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.
5 Random Tables to Avoid Boring 5E D&D Characters
Too many times I’ve begun a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign with the phrase, “You meet in a tavern…” and given zero thought to what the player characters might be doing in the tavern in the first place. I never gave thought to why the druid who doesn’t drink would be in the tavern at all. Last night after our game of Ingest Quest 2, Nerditor Doug, Nerdarchist Ted and I had a conversation about gaming groups and how to make D&D characters more interesting.
5 Underrated Pieces of Adventuring Gear from the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m taking a look at basic adventuring gear for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Specifically I’m looking at adventuring gear from the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook I haven’t seen in play nearly enough. These pieces of adventuring gear are things you can find in most shops, many of provide a measurable mechanical benefit to characters who use them.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Spell Savant
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took on a request to create the ultimate cantrip master for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons as the Spell Savant character build. The concept behind this 5E D&D character build is getting as many cantrips as possible without just simply multiclassing into every spellcasting class — bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock and wizard — plus acquiring as much variety as possible in damage types and effects. Let’s get into it.
Worldbuilding and Character Development for 5E D&D Inspired by Game of Thrones — Hide Armor
I finished rewatching Game of Thrones all the way through for a second time recently and the series engaged me in different ways this time around. For one thing it’s fun knowing the fate of characters and seeing how each step on their journey influences their outcomes and for another and I simply missed a lot of the nuance the first time around. As for so many fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons nerds the show appeals to me as a source of gaming inspiration too. One particular standout from the show is the armor worn by warriors across Westeros and Essos. A wealth of worldbuilding and character development potential for 5E D&D awaits through armor and I’m excited to explore them. Let’s get into it.
Expanding 5E D&D Background Characteristics — Soldier
Salutations, nerds! I’ve reached the Soldier background for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and as quickly as the Sailor went I am just as sure this one is going to give me trouble. Bear with me and cross your fingers as I hope to come out of these expanded personal characteristics with a newfound appreciation for an archetype of 5E D&D character I seldom ever play.
Knock ‘Em Dead in 5E D&D as a College of PUNishment Bard
Dungeons & Dragons games can be full of laughs and comedy. From wacky scenarios to moments where the dice have the greatest sens of humor at all there’s no shortage of silly D&D stories. When it comes to our own games, Nerdarchy Live is choc full of comedy gold, enough to sate the greediest of dragons. Whether it’s Nerditor Doug’s current game, Ingest Quest 2, or Dave’s homage to Thundarr the Barbarian with Moon Rises, we’ve got loads of live play campaigns with goofy premises. Through all the silly game sessions there’s one star who shines brightest in the Nerdarchy galaxy, and that’s Nerdarchist Ted with his plethora of puns. This got me to thinking about a way to show him how much we feel PUNished by his unique style of gaming — an homage to the maestro of word play. A set of fifth edition D&D subclass mechanics feels right at home and if the subclass in question were anything other than a Bard College I’d be truly remiss. Therefore ladies, gentlemen and otherwise I present for your players and Dungeon Masters’ pleasure the College of PUNishment bard.
Full warning: I will not hold back.
D&D Ideas — Thunder & Lightning
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is thunder & lightning, 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 thunder & lightning these foreboding phenomenon may signal a successfully solved puzzle or herald something ominous for adventurers. Why not both? 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 Ray Spells by a Factor of Three
A recent Reddit thread inspired this week’s look at homebrew content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. I came across a wonderful web comic called Socks and Puppets shared over there and the particular strip titled Summoning Ray. Creator David Birch illustrated a variety of manta rays each themed after a type of 5E D&D ray spell. I reached out to the creator to ask about including his comic in this post but didn’t get a reply. (I’ll include links below so you can check it out.) Regardless I’m checking out the 480+ homebrew ray spells at D&D Beyond and since ray isn’t a codified keyword I suspect the results are going to be quite unusual. 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.
See All Things as They Truly Are with MTG Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Book of Vile Darkness
I wrote a while back about my excitement for the Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion for Magic: The Gathering and since the set released I’ve been enjoying it immensely. Spending mana to invoke all manner of awesome D&D creatures, magic items and spells brings an extra layer of nerdy satisfaction. Creating content related to tabletop roleplaying games and fifth edition D&D in particular is Nerdarchy’s bread and butter but we all enjoy plenty of other games too and it’s fun to share those other game experiences from time to time. Let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Pack Master
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted sink their teeth into a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Pack Master character build. The inspiration for this character comes by way of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. More specifically a passage from the book that reads, “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” This 5E D&D character is all about establishing a powerful connection with wolves whether through communication, summoning or straight up becoming a wolf themselves! Let’s get into it.
Advancing Your 5E D&D Franchise with Acquisitions Incorporated
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons’ campaign setting books do a masterful job providing all the tools and resources players need to create unique experiences within each particular environment including inspiration, encouragement and guidance for developing your own ideas. My favorite book of the bunch — Acquisitions Incorporated — expands tremendously on the concept of running a business included in the 5E D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. Let’s get into it.
