Exhaustion Saving Throws in 5E D&D
There is one rule in most roleplaying games that is especially true in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. There’s a check or saving throw for everything. Does a character want to jump across the chasm? Athletics check, please. Does a character want to avoid falling over a cliff? Dexterity saving throw, please. This applies to special abilities or spells characters or monsters may have as well. in 5E D&D conditions generated by these spells or abilities have ability checks or saving throws attached to them.
What do 5E D&D Paladin Spells Say About the Class and Yes, There’s More than Just Divine Smite!
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed five essential spells for tier 1 paladins in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This cover 1st level spells only. Since there’s only 16 of them total (Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants doesn’t add any either) and I help plan the videos, what else do I have to say about it? In the video comments there’s several “what about <spell>?” My thoughts on these are same as any other time: what about them? We looked at the list and made our choices. My curiosity about tier one 5E D&D paladin spells isn’t so much determining the best or essential ones. Instead I’m wondering what do 1st level paladin spells tell us about the character class, particularly from 1st-4th level?
A Group of Rogues is Called a Thieves Guild
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to talk about a fantasy staple: the thieves guild. A group of stylish rogues with a secret code language who are much of the time the best organized and most numerous group of people in the city. You see those street urchins playing over there? They’re informing for the Guild Master. The guy at the bazaar who sells terrible bread you never actually see anybody buying? I mean, you had to know he was a fence.
I’ve got a soft spot for a good heist story and I’ve always kind of wanted to run a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game where the entire party are rogues and center it around the inner dealings of the thieves guild. So often my home town party ends up going off on tangent of stealing things anyway, after all, so why not cut out the middle man? Which got me wondering…why do people end up doing crimes so often in 5E D&D anyway?
Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants Impact on 5E D&D
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took a long look at the most recent Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants. There’s a ton to unpack in the 13 page playtest document. For me these class feature enhancements and replacements illustrate more of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons original design intent of modular content for our games than the actual core rulebooks. Sure, there’s feats and multiclassing and stuff, but I’ve been playing 5E D&D since the D&D Next days and I’ve only met one person for who really considers those optional and not included in their games. Even the Uncommon Races (dragonborn, gnome, half-elf, half-orc and tiefling in the Player’s Handbook) allude to them as optional, and in practice they’re essentially ubiquitous. Two concerns come to mind as regards Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants. And since Dave and Ted break down what these variant options are, let’s get into what they might mean.
Please Allow Me…
Hail and well met! I’m Sophie, and I’ve been invited to contribute to this esteemed community. I know — big deal. So, let me tell you my qualifications. Well, to start with, I’ve been playing hobby and tabletop roleplaying games since 1977. I started Dungeons & Dragons with the basic “blue box” edition back in 1978. That means I have dice older than some of you. Probably most. However, it’s not just that I’m older than the Nerdarchy guys, I also spent 13 years working in the gaming community.
D&D Ideas — Kingdoms and Warfare
Random Encounters like The Mandalorian in 5E D&D
When it comes to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I tend to run a lot of one shots and shorter campaigns. I like this scenario just fine because I’m always finding inspiration for new campaigns and gaming with new friends. After watching chapter one of The Mandalorian last week my first thought was wow! This Disney+ show is incredible. And my second thought was this would make an awesome 5E D&D campaign. A party of bounty hunters navigating the underbelly of scum and villainy sounds like tremendous fun to me. I found a lot of inspiration from Nord Games Ultimate NPCs: Skulduggery for a bounty hunter campaign. Now with two chapters of The Mandalorian available for viewing, we’ll match it with a second chapter developing this idea. So let’s get into it. (And don’t worry — still no spoilers!)
Mashing Up Milestone XP and Inspiration in 5E D&D
It’s a fact of life — there isn’t an tabletop roleplaying game out there someone, somewhere hasn’t tweaked in one way or another. Opinions and perspectives are multitude. The value of these outlooks varies, and their worth only truly judged in a public forum through playtesting. To this end, I would like to offer a few fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons house rules regarding milestone XP and inspiration that have existed at my table for a few years now, with the same expectation other Dungeon Masters further tinker with them to suit their own needs. This is only logical; not every rule fits ever table.
Drunken Tactician: Character Build for Adventurers League D&D 5e
Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants remains the gift that keeps on giving this week. We took a look at the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons ranger a few days ago with an eye towards creating a spellcaster focused ranger character and had a lot of fun exploring those ideas. So while Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss the drunken tactician character build for Adventurers League over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, I’m going to dive back into Unearthed Arcana and see what we’ve got available there for this character concept. More fighter tactics? More monk drunkenness? Let’s get into it and find out.
DMs Guild has Eberron Covered for the D&D Community
In just a few days Eberron: Rising from the Last War releases and we’ve been abuzz around Nerdarchy HQ. We’re all excited for the unique, compelling campaign setting to get official fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons support. But there’s a whole lot of content out there already for the Eberron campaign setting, and thankfully the Dungeon Master’s Guild collects it all for the D&D community. A lot of players today might not have discovered the hobby back then, so there’s literally a whole world for them to explore. Adventures and resources from Eberron’s past offers a tremendous resource to inspire 5E D&D games. And at the moment, the DMs Guild is offering Eberron titles for 20% off. They’ve also curated bundles of classics and other select titles for 70% off!
5E D&D Worldbuilding for a Revolution Plot: Part 2
Salutations, nerds! Last week we talked about setting up for a revolution plot. We explored reasons your power hasn’t been overthrown by revolutions already, and if all that is true, how to motivate your PCs to go ahead and overthrow them in the first place. Today, we’re going to talk more about 5E D&D worldbuilding and what you have to knock out from under your ruler’s legs to disrupt their power base. In other words, the stuff likely to actually happen in the campaign, at the table.
Expanding 5E D&D Ranger Spells Beyond Unearthed Arcana
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed 5 essential 5E D&D ranger spells for tier 1 characters. For a 1st-4th level ranger this means 1st level spells only, with two spells known beginning at 2nd level and a third known at 3rd level. Whenever a ranger gains a level, they can choose one of the ranger spells they know and replace it with another spell from the ranger spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots. Not a lot of wiggle room for a tier 1 ranger when it comes to spellcasting. There’s 17 1st level spells to choose from in official 5E D&D material, and with the video highlighting five standout spells, where do we go from here to continue the discussion?
How to Add Emotion and Depth with Fantastical Mounts
“Come on, Herbie! Just a little more!”
Herbie unleashed a thunderous grunt, his six massive legs sinking into the soft, wet earth. Mud clumped his thick fur, the torrential rain mingling with his sweat as the gantuan struggled to pull the carriage from the mire.
Panic gripped Wally’s heart as the family inside the sinking carriage clung to one another. The child, a little girl with her father’s broad features and her mother’s elven ears, pressed a hand against the glass.
Bounty Hunting like The Mandalorian in 5E D&D
If you’re like me and what I suspect are tens of thousands of other nerds, you fired up Disney+ today and watched episode one of The Mandalorian. And since you’re here I’m going to assume you’re also a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons player. Taking those two things into account, it can’t be far from the truth that a lot of us were not only blown away by the premiere of this new streaming show and our first thought was “this would make an awesome bounty hunter 5E D&D campaign!” And I just got a copy of Ultimate NPCs: Skulduggery from Nord Games so I’m going to use this Game Master’s Toolbox book to help. If this sounds cool to you, I’ll give you a promo code for 20% off the book and everything else in your cart from Nord Games when we’re done. So let’s get into it. (And don’t worry — no spoilers!)
Celebrate #5yearsof5e and 45 years since D&D’s First Publication
Guess what happens in 10 days? Wizards of the Coast commemorates five years of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and 45 years of D&D history since the game’s first publication in 1974 with the D&D Sapphire Anniversary Dice Set. The complete set of luxury aluminum dice is created exclusively for WotC by Level Up Dice, and will be available directly from WotC starting at 11 a.m. PT on Nov. 21, 2019.
