Be Classy: Some Thoughts on D&D Party Roles
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to take a moment to talk about party roles and classes, specifically doubling up on them within the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party. I have seen a lot of trouble crop up regarding two people in a party wanting to play the same class. Particularly in fifth edition D&D, this is not as much of a problem as it sounds like it is, especially when you go into the situation with a little bit of good will.
Kickstarter Korner for April 2018, International Tabletop Day Edition
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat...
Engaging Players around the RPG Table is a Group Effort
For a Game Master running a session for a group of players, whether it’s fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Kids on Bikes, Weave or any of the wonderful roleplaying games out there (and there’s a lot, for any taste!) the key to success around the table is engagement. We hear that word a lot in the RPG space, and engaging players is a frequent topic for GMs seeking advice and tips. What exactly does it mean, and how do you do it?
Making a Villain of the Warlock with a Little Help from our Friends
Warlock is probably one of the most popular fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character classes. It didn’t come into existence as a character class until the later part of 3.5 D&D. Fourth edition D&D made it a core class in the fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: According to April’s And Beyond live stream with D&D Beyond lead Adam Bradford, warlocks are the No. 1 most created character class over there.]
Playing D&D Games without All the Party Roles is Out of Control
Jumping back into playing D&D without filling out all the party roles we’re taking a look at the controller this time, typically a role filled only by wizard in D&D games. Up until the launch of 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons it was either wizard or druid exerting control on the battlefield, and later came the sorcerer. You could always get some control from your cleric too, but that means they won’t be laying down the healing during your D&D games from them.
D&D Character Delve – Goliath Oath of the Ancients Paladin for RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road
It is time for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. This time we will look at Maala, the Oath of the Ancients goliath paladin character I played in episode four of out RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: A Knight’s Tomb. Maala is a D&D character built on one major concept, the bearded woman. As a fan of American Horror Story I wanted to play a character like Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates). All decisions from that point on centered around what it meant to be a woman who is outside her culture, in a world where she does not fit the prescribed ideal of femininity.
Kickstarter Korner for April 2018, Week 4
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat...
Running the Double Cross on Your D&D Adventuring Party
It can be a lot of fun for the Dungeon Master and a player in a D&D adventuring party to run a long con on the rest of the players, whether this is something planned out from the very beginning of a campaign or something that evolves out of the ongoing story line.
Exploring D&D Party Roles with the Healer
Our Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles series continues. This time we look at the healer. When I think healer in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I think cleric, druid, and maybe bard. Then there’s what I consider the secondary healers of D&D – bard, paladin, and ranger. Notice bard is included in both. Bard is a super versatile character class in D&D and has the ability fill several party roles.
Unearthed Arcana Order Domain for D&D Cleric Lays Down the Law
The latest Unearthed Arcana came out so of course we took a close look and weighed in on the new Order Domain for the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons cleric. It was first presented during The Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour, which streams live every Tuesday at 4 p.m. eastern on the D&D Twitch channel.
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.
Empowering Your D&D Spells with Shadow Magic from Kobold Press
A couple of months ago we began reviewing the Deep Magic series for 5th Edition from Kobold Press. These are short PDFs over on DriveThruRPG and their own site. You can check out our playlist for the Deep Magic series on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. These books are full of new D&D spells to add to your game. These e-books contain more than just new spells, feats, monsters, magic items, wizard traditions, sorcerer origins, warlock pacts and patrons, and more. This our ninth video review on the Deep Magic series from Kobold Press. I usually don’t care for a lot of third party products, but Kobold Press is one of the exceptions.
Kickstarter Korner for April 2018, Week 3
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat...
Party Roles: Playing D&D Games without a Tank
“D&D Tank – is it even a really thing in the game?”
This is a comment we received on our No Tank, No Problem – Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles video. This is our first video in the Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles series. The truth of the matter is I’ve been playing D&D games since first edition Dungeons & Dragons we looked for someone to fill the cleric, warrior, magic-user, and thief roles to fill out the D&D adventuring party even back then.
D&D Stories Bring Roleplaying Gamers Together and Create Communities
Whether gamers find themselves at a gaming store, convention, or someone’s home gaming group it’s our stories from the roleplaying games we play that unite us as a community. These bonds strengthen our existing friendship and help to create new ones.
Even if you’ve just met a fellow gamer for the first time you already have bounds to connect you together – your gaming stories. Plus what Dungeons & Dragons player doesn’t love sharing their characters or D&D builds with their peers?
