Bad RPG Stories are Only the Beginning!
Writers and Game Masters have a ton of things in common. A writer’s main goal is to tell a good story to entertain their target audience and sell a profitable amount of their work. A GM’s goal is to facilitate fun through a good story and entertain their own target audience — the players. Because of these similarities, GMs can learn a lot from studying good storytelling tactics. In this week’s RPGtube video, I discuss my top five tips for GMs, as coming from the perspective of a writer.
D&D Quest Starters by Character Class — Cleric and Druid
If you happened to have missed part one, D&D quest starters are designed as small scenes or quick skill challenges meant to get some roleplaying in. Maybe you use these when you feel a character needs to be put in the spotlight. Maybe you wrote story plot about one of the characters and you do not want to leave the others out. Bring in some quest starters and allow the roleplaying to begin. These can develop into larger stories if all involved like where the story is going but they can also be a simple one and done conversation. This series is organized by character class, and last time I did a large intro and knocked out bard and barbarian. So today we are going to look at a couple more. Do you have faith?
D&D Ideas — Nightmares
How Background Enhances Your D&D Character
The notion of your D&D character having a background is integral to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. It grants you a precious few skill proficiencies, and a combination of tool and language options. While background was a part of 4E, it wasn’t nearly as prominent or impacting as it to your D&D character in this edition, and I think the reason for making background such a big deal is directly related to the attempt of 5E to harmonize mechanics and roleplay.
Curse of Hollow Hills – Undead Miniatures on Kickstarter
From the people of Crippled God Foundry, allow me to present the Curse of Hollow Hills. Dungeons & Dragons, or let’s face it any fantasy roleplaying game, would not be the same without hordes of undead. It is that fear of a fate worse than death that can scare the normal mortal into staying in town. It takes a brave adventurer — or a foolish one — to brave the trials and tribulations of the monsters out there. And the undead are one of those. Curse of Hollow Hills is a miniatures project of fantasy heroes & undead monsters. If funded, it will include a collection of up to 50 original sculpts (including future stretch goals), inspired by the most iconic undead creatures of fantasy novels, RPGs & tabletop board games.
D&D Ideas — Artifacts
Welcome once again to the weekly Nerdarchy Newsletter. This week we are talking about artifacts — uber-powerful magic items that can reshape your D&D campaign world. But before we dive into that, an update on the Facebook page. I’ve regained access, but I wouldn’t say control. The forces of evil are still listed as the owners of the page. I’ve got it unpublished but not deleted. These people won’t have to be subjected to the nonsense that has been going over there. I’m convinced I won’t be booted off the page by these evildoers again. We are fighting to get it back before we initiate the self destruct mechanism. We are leaving that for the last resort.
Broken or Killer D&D Animal Companion Combo
Time to build a better D&D animal companion in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. You decide if this is a killer or broken D&D combo. Below you will find the video and transcription.
Broken or Killer D&D Animal Companion Combo
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How Character Introductions Can Make Your D&D Game Epic
As Game Masters it’s our job to facilitate fun! Players have fun when they get to impact the story in a meaningful way. Often, when a player makes a new character, they think about who this character is and how great they are and so on. In my experience, every player usually has some sort of idea about how they would introduce their character such as particular circumstances or roleplaying. Character introductions really set the tone for each character, especially when it comes to more roleplay-heavy parties, like those I’m used to. An introduction or first impression can really make or break a player’s initial passion for their character.
D&D Quest Starters by Character Class — Barbarian and Bard
As a Dungeon Master I try to incorporate specific D&D quest starters and roleplaying opportunities in for characters in my games. But some players like to make generic characters or not give enough material to inspire me. Other times what they give me is not appropriate at all times or where the campaign currently is. This has led me to make D&D quest starters by character class. These are jumping off points and ideas for generic character classes. These D&D quest starters might not be applicable to all characters of a chosen class and some of another class might be useful instead. These are designed to be a short one scene idea that should be complete in 5 or 10 minutes, but have the potential for much more based on how the roleplaying goes or how it is handled. Just because the encounter is overlooked does not mean the story needs to end there.
D&D Ideas — House Rules
Bye Bye Magic Items: D&D Cartoon: The Hall of Bones Ep 3
Time to talk about the D&D Cartoon again. We discuss Episode 3 Hall of Bones and how to add lessons from it into your Dungeons and Dragons game. We believe whether you are the Dungeon Master or a player there is something to learn. Below there is the video and transcription.
Bye Bye Magic Items: D&D Cartoon: The Hall of Bones Ep 3 Video
Bye Bye Magic Items: D&D Cartoon: The Hall of Bones Ep 3Video Transcription
5 Eldritch Invocations to Empower the Warlock’s Eldritch Blast
ELDRITCH BLESSSSTTTT!
As many veteran players of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons know, eldritch blast is one of the most powerful cantrips, and its exclusivity to the warlock class is essential to its niche in the game. By allowing for multiple attack rolls, having a high damage die grade, being of the force damage type, and possessing such a long range, this cantrip is accused by many to be too powerful. However, like most things in the D&D 5E, this cantrip’s exclusivity to warlocks is partly what makes it so well balanced. Unlike other full spellcasting classes, warlocks get extremely few spell slots.
One way the class makes up for this is by granting special spell-like abilities through Eldritch Invocations, often passive adjustments to how your character plays. Eldritch Invocations grant things like new or improved senses, low level spells at-will, higher leveled spells on a cooldown, or modify your premier cantrip (you guessed it): eldritch blast.
Today, I’ll be introducing 5 original Eldritch Invocations for use at your table. All of these work to enhance the warlock’s signature cantrip!
Dungeon Master Just Frakked Your D&D Backstory What Do You Do
Ever have your Dungeon Master totally ignore your D&D backstory? Here are some tips, tricks, and advice for DMs and players to get their game back on track. Below you’ll find the video and transcription.
Dungeon Master Just Frakked Your D&D Backstory What Do You Do Video
Dungeon Master Just Frakked Your D&D Backstory What Do You Do Video Transcription
ThunderCats Ho! Claw Shield D&D-ized
This one is a long time coming. As a follow up to my very first Neradrchy writing assignment — D&D-izing the Sword of Omens from Thundercats — I’m finally getting around to its companion relic, the Claw Shield. It’s been on the list for quite a while, and every so often we’ll see a new comment, suggestion or request for this incredible item, one of a pair that gives Lion-O, Claudus or any other ThunderCat Lord their power. Is it as powerful as the Sword of Omens? The cartoon version of the legendary sword is beyond the pale of even the most powerful artifacts of D&D lore, and the D&D-ized version we have here on the site is no slouch either. But does the Claw Shield match its might? Let’s get into it and find out.
D&D Campaign Ideas – 3 Ways Players Build the Game
Lets discuss a great way for a Dungeon Master to get their players involved in building their campaigns in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. All of the D&D campaign Ideas don’t need to come solely from the Dungeon Master. Video and transcription below.
