D&D Beyond Digital Toolset Before, During and After a Campaign
Yeah, yeah, I know. You already bought the books. I did too, and both Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage are on preorder from Amazon. I enjoy having the physical books to read through and — for running adventures — use at the table. And it’s important to me to support D&D as a consumer. But I’ve been using D&D Beyond since the beta, long before I was a DDB Insider, and I’d unlocked quite a bit from the marketplace before that too. I keep up with the conversation about DDB also. “It’s double dipping, it’s a money grab, it’s unfair to pay twice, X digital toolset is better,” and so on. At the end of the day, it comes down a cost-benefit analysis for each individual. If the advantage DDB provides is not greater than the price to unlock content for you, there’s nothing wrong with that. For many, many others around the world, the analysis is more favorable. For me, it’s really favorable and here’s why. But before getting started, let’s make a deal: I won’t disrespect your view of DDB, and you won’t get angry because I enjoy using, supporting and advocating it.
WotC Products and New D&D Stuff on the Way in 2018
New products for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have rolled out relatively slowly. Compared to previous editions of the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game, it’s been at a flail snail’s pace. (Speed 10 ft. for a large creature? That’s pretty slow.) The pace certainly picked up now in 2018, starting at the Stream of Many Eyes when Wizards of the Coast announced two new story adventures set for release later in the year, followed by Nathan Stewart’s cryptic tease of new campaign settings. And then we got two of those! Of course, there’s always new third party content rolling out, but we’ll get our hands and bookshelves full from all the new stuff on the way from WotC itself. A handy post over on the D&D subreddit compiled the list, so let’s check it out.
Rant: D&D, RPG Games, and YouTube — You Love What You Hate
Hello and well met traveler of the internet. I’ve got a little bit of a rant. Nerdarchy has been accused of using clickbait titles in the past. Sometimes it’s true and they are a little clickbaity. Other times we just don’t talk about a D&D or roleplaying game topic the way a viewer thought we were going to or how they thought we should. Let’s start by looking at some good examples of this.
Celebrate Nerd Culture at Gen Con 2018 — the Best Four Days in Gaming
Hello! The Nerdarchy crew is back home from Indianapolis and back to work on all our nerdy projects. Gen Con 2018 was an incredible experience for Nerdarchists Dave and Ted, Nerditor Doug and Intern Jake, and we wanted to share some of the highlights from our excursion to the Best Four Days in Gaming. Our favorite thing about conventions is meeting up with and hanging out with friends from all over the place; seeing all the awesome roleplaying games, art and other swag; and the incredible costumes and cosplay. But more than anything, the best part is hanging out with thousands of fantastic folks from around the world to celebrate nerd culture. Down below you’ll find links to a lot of the stuff mentioned in this recap, in case you’re interested, plus a photo gallery of our adventures at Gen Con 2018.
Nerdarchy Patreon Evolved! Original 5E Content — Bigger, Better, Bolder
Since 2014, Nerdarchy has been hard at work creating content all over the place. What began with a video featuring Nerdarchist Dave geeking out has grown to a library of well over 2000 videos on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. Here on the website, you’ll find over 1500 posts sharing news, views, and homebrews as well as the Nerdarchy Store with even more original content. But there’s another place we create even more content still! Through the Nerdarchy Patreon, we’ve been rewarding supporters with original 5E content since 2016. And now it’s evolved!
Celebrate International Tabletop Day with a Free Download of D&D Stuff
In 2017, some folks on the Nerdarchy team put together a free adventure for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in recognition of International Tabletop Day. And for 2018 we’re at it again, and stepping up our game! To coincide with the revamp and relaunch of our Patreon rewards, we’re giving away a free download package of special rewards to everyone in the RPG community to help celebrate this most special of days on April 28. Empusia, Curator of Souls is a total package of D&D magic items, monsters, allies, enemies, dynamic and lost lore.
From Hit Dice to Heroics: New Options for Your 5E Characters to be Awesome
Our fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons characters get put through the wringer on the regular during adventures, and pull off incredible acts in pursuit of quest success. And when they get a moment to catch their breath, a pool of resources – Hit Dice – waits to give them enough energy to press on. But what if there were other uses for these sometimes forgotten and often unspent dice? What if your characters could tap into these reserves outside of a short rest to perform amazing stunts? From Hit Dice to Heroics, our latest product in the Nerdarchy store, answers that question!
Mixing It Up at Cleveland ConCoction
The crew is back home, recovered from daylight savings time and the wonderful experience at Cleveland ConCoction where Nerdarchy was the featured guest for gaming, reinvigorated and ready to keep rockin’ and rollin’. We want to give a huge thanks to Tony and the rest of the organizers and volunteers from the convention who reached out to invite us there, the Bertram Inn and Conference Center for providing great accommodations and facilities for the convention, and all the fans and nerdy folks who attended. We had a great time!
D&D Beyond Goes Beyond ‘And Beyond’
Whether you use the digital toolset’s robust free resources, went all-in with a Legendary Bundle and Master Tier subscription, or remain skeptical of the whole affair, D&D Beyond is without a doubt part of the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons culture and conversation. Here at Nerdarchy, we are big fans and advocates of DDB. We use it for our games in-person and live streamed, for research and reference with its fantastic search features and filters, for tinkering with homebrew creatures, items and spells, and basically everything. Don’t get us wrong – we still cherish our physical books, dutifully adding them to our bookshelves and flipping through them in equal measure. But as DDB continues to evolve, the already indispensable resource establishes a firmer foothold with the upcoming mobile app, the fantastic video content from Todd Kenreck and, most recently, the announcement of a writing team to create even more D&D content.
ConCoction Welcomes Nerdarchy as Featured Guests for D&D Events
Attention Nerdarchy community!
You’ve heard Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch talk about it in the Saturday Quests & Adventures live chats and read about it here on the website – Nerdarchy is headed to Ohio for Cleveland ConCoction! Northeast Ohio’s fan-run, volunteer-run convention celebrates all things sci-fi, fantasy and gaming. ConCoction returns in 2018 to the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio, on March 9-11.
Strongholds & Streaming Kickstarter from Matt Colville Raises the Bar
Just over two years ago, John Wick’s 7th Sea: Second Edition Kickstarter smashed through the barriers of roleplaying game potential, becoming the first campaign of its kind to surpass the $1 million mark. Among contemporaries in the RPG space, consistent hits from Monte Cook Games and Richard Thomas, along with extraordinary successes from Evil Hat Productions, Modiphius, Kobold Press, Frog God Games and others illustrate the possibilities of crowdfunding. And with the meteoric launch of Strongholds & Streaming, the first Kickstarter project from Matt Colville, we will almost certainly see the bar raised even higher.
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes Reveals Conflicts of D&D Multiverse
We can thank Wizards of the Coast senior director Nathan Stewart and franchise creative director Mike Mearls for revealing the next fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book during the Fireside Chat on the D&D Twitch channel Friday, Feb. 2, 2018. And today we got the official announcement from WotC about Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes!
D&D Welcomes Kate Welch as Game Designer
Way back in November 2017, Wizards of the Coast announced their search for a game designer to join the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons team. Countless hopeful candidates the world over threw their hats, resumes and CVs in the ring for this nerdy dream job. And on Jan. 18, 2018 we found out who earned this incredible position.
2017 Holiday Nerdy Gift Ideas for Roleplaying Gamers
The holiday season is upon us and it’s time for this year’s gift suggestions for the nerdy gamers in your life. Whether you’re a Game Master of player, dig your digital products or prefer physical swag in hand, there’s a little something for everyone here. This past year has been incredible for roleplaying gamers, with tons of new games and new stuff for games we’ve all been playing like good ol’ Dungeons & Dragons.
If you still have some shopping to do (or you want to treat yourself to some nifty stuff) here’s a selection of suggestions for 2017. This feature has become something of a tradition around here, and as Nerditor-in-chief I’m honored to carry on with what was passed to me by my predecessor Ty Johnston. Everyone at Nerdarchy wishes you the happiest of holidays and as the close of 2017 nears, until the 2018 gift guide stay nerdy!
