D&D Ideas — Patrons
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week's topic is patrons, which we discussed in our exclusive Patreon live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST with Patreon supporters and talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes...
D&D Party Composition — Playing an All Wizard Party
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the idea of an all wizard party for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We get a kick out of making this video series people seem to dig it, and I’m having a blast with the concept here on the website. Playing an all wizard party in 5E D&D more than anything raises concerns about squishiness, something many of the video comments touch upon. Dave and Ted can share their insights into 5E D&D party composition and over here we’re continuing to build the scenario we started way back when with the all bard party — a campaign setting of academia for each particular character class. So let’s get into it and put on our pointy hats for an all wizard party composition in a 5E D&D academic setting.
Medicine 101 — 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons revolves around the ideas of ability checks and the proficiency bonus. When it comes to skill checks as ability checks, the check is written like this (for example): Wisdom (Medicine). The reason for this is Wisdom is the applicable ability score and the Medicine proficiency allows further modification of the ability check. Quick Disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can allow or require any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant to act as a guide for new players and DMs to explain how skill checks work and what they look like narratively.
Creating Undead Hordes in 5E D&D is Fun!
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss what happens when a necromancer's undead army stops being a few minions and starts being a real pain to conceal from the rest of the world. Around the Nerdarchy HQ we joke about how...
A Group of Druids is Called a Grove
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to be talking about druids in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and I don’t know about you but I don’t tend to run into them as often as I do some of the other classes so brace yourselves for an adventure, because I’m learning a lot this time right along with you. Druids are the nature class. Devoting oneself to the wild is not a whim, it’s a lifestyle. I know in 5E D&D they kind of swerved away from this, but once upon a time druids were so devoted to the natural order of things they weren’t even allowed to wear metal on their person, so often you’d find them in armor made of bone or ironwood instead of steel. Druids are promoters of growth, defenders of the wild and they can even take the shapes of animals. With all that going for them, it’s a shame they don’t get as much attention as some of the other classes available. I mean, I get it, kind of. They’re not the best class mechanically, and you can always play an Oath of the Ancients paladin, after all. So today, I’m going to try to convince you (and convince myself) to go druid and give it a shot.
Investigation 101 — 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons mechanics revolve around the ability checks and the proficiency bonus. When it comes to skill checks as ability checks, the check is written like this (for example): Intelligence (Investigation). The reason for this is Intelligence is the applicable ability score, and the Investigation proficiency allows further modification of the ability check. Quick Disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can allow or require any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant to act as a guide for new players and DMs to explain how skill checks work and what they look like narratively. Ever want to play a character like Sherlock Holmes or Batman? What about the ghost whisperer, or Veronica Mars? Some of the greatest plot points in D&D games include intrigue, mystery and suspense. The ability to navigate complex plots and solve mysteries might very likely be solved by a character trained in the Investigation skill.
Intimidation 101 — 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons revolves around the ideas of ability checks and the proficiency bonus. When it comes to skill checks as ability checks, the check is written like this (for example): Charisma (Intimidation). The reason for this is Charisma is the applicable ability score and the Intimidation proficiency allows further modification of the ability check. Quick Disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can allow or require any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant to act as a guide for new players and DMs to explain how skill checks work and what they look like narratively. The worlds of D&D are full of monsters, mayhem and all sorts of scary stuff, but suppose you want your character to be one of the scary things of the world? Maybe you want your cleric to put the fear of the gods in people? If you’re looking to coerce, bully or unnerve then Intimidation is the skill for you!
D&D Ideas — Other RPGs
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is other RPGs, which we discussed in our exclusive Patreon live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST with Patreon supporters and talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Our new cover relaunch in Nerdarchy the Store continues with gorgeous new art by Adrian Prado, along with a couple of promo codes for miniatures, game products and RPG accessories. And yes, the Out of the Box Pledge Manager remains open for late pledges. You can get your hands on the book and all the add-ons including presale badges for Nerdarchy the Convention, or upgrade your badge to Legendary or Artifact level. There’s also a FREE encounter Seizing the Means you can download for a sneak peek at the sort of content you’ll find in the book. Check it out here.
Insight 101 – 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons has a variety of skill proficiencies a player character gains, especially at character creation. These skills represent a character’s capability in each designated area. In this series, we’re diving into a look at the different skill proficiencies that can modify ability checks. Skill checks, or ability checks are written like this (as an example): Wisdom (Insight). This is because Wisdom is the ability check being made, and Insight is the skill proficiency that’s further modifying the ability check. Quick disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can require or allow any ability check and/or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant as a guide for new players and DMs as to how certain ability checks and skill proficiencies can be applied. Speaking of insight, that happens to be our focal skill check today!
Your 5E D&D Monsters Need More Actions
If you are anything like me then you like making monsters for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games. I consistently game with veteran players. In fact, many of the people I have recently been playing with have been gaming longer than I have or even longer than I have been alive in some cases. They’re generally familiar with all the great monsters in the Monster Manual and other official 5E D&D publications, making it challenging to surprise them.
Because making my own monsters from the ground up involves mainly my own creativity, this means there is no way players are going to have a chance of knowing what is in the stat block. Only I do, because I made it. But after years of playing 5E D&D I fear I have made a mistake with many of the monsters I made previously. It is very easy to take a monster and scale it up or down to make it more powerful or weaker, but this is not very creative. I have also taken a monster, made some slight changes, moved some stats around and described it differently. But this is not what I am looking for either.
What Do Your Unearthed Arcana Subclasses Say About Your 5E D&D Character?
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed the latest Unearthed Arcana 2020, Subclasses Part 1. The playtest document contains material for barbarians, monks, paladins and warlocks in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Fun fact: we were in the middle of our weekly video planning meeting last week when this new Unearthed Arcana came out. No brainer, right? We’re all big fans of 5E D&D so of course we eagerly want to read over and geek out about new character options. In the video Dave and Ted break down the crunchy stuff for the Path of the Beast, Way of Mercy, Oath of the Watchers and Noble Genie. But what sort of characters represent these exciting new subclass options? Let’s get into it.
D&D Ideas — Beginnings
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is beginnings, which we discussed in our first live chat of 2020. With the beginning of our new schedule, we combined the topical chat of our long running Quests & Adventures live chat with the exclusive Patreon weekly chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. with Patreon supporters and talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy, by signing up here. Speaking of beginnings the image below is from our wildly successful Out of the Box: Encounters for 5th Edition Kickstarter. In Aces High the encounter begins when a gang of goblin sky bandits makes their presence known in dramatic fashion. The Out of the Box Pledge Manager remains open for late pledges. You can get your hands on the book and all the add-ons including presale badges for Nerdarchy the Convention, or upgrade your badge to Legendary or Artifact level. There’s also a FREE encounter Seizing the Means you can download for a sneak peek at the sort of content you’ll find in the book. Check it out here.
History 101 — 5E D&D Skills and Skill Checks
When it comes to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons many newcomers will quickly notice the importance of the proficiency bonus and the prevalence of skills. In the system, ability checks determine outcomes at the will of the dice, but ability score modifiers and proficiency bonus modify the numbers rolled, potentially turning failure into success. In this series, we’re diving in to look at the different skill proficiencies that can modify ability checks. Skill checks and ability checks are written like this (as an example): Intelligence (History). The reason is because Intelligence is the ability check being made, and History is the skill proficiency modifying the ability check. Quick disclaimer: a 5E D&D Dungeon Master can require or allow any ability check or skill proficiency, even outside this purview. This article is meant as a guide for new players and DMs on how certain ability checks and skill proficiencies can be applied. Today’s focus is all about knowledge of the past and memory! That’s right; we’re talking about History.
Dungeon Master’s Guide Appendix A Shows 5E D&D isn’t All About Combat
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted shared a great conversation about a topic near and dear to my heart — the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide. More often than not whenever I’m looking for an answer, guidance or a little inspiration I find it within the 5E D&D DMG. Like Dave and Ted mention in the video, DMs who’ve been playing for a long time across several editions might feel like they’ve seen one DMG they’ve seen them all. To some extent this may carry some water but only in broad strokes. There’s a great thread on Twitter from Neal Powell going through the DMG page by page to share takeaways DMs might have overlooked. You can follow along #DMGC2C to track his findings. As a big time DMG advocate myself I’m happy to share my perspective on what the DMG tells us about 5E D&D and how useful it is for understanding what the game is all about. So let’s get into it and take a look specifically at Appendix A: Random Dungeons in the 5E D&D DMG.
5E D&D World of Monsters — Aberrations
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted started a new video series called Nerdarchy’s Guide to D&D Monsters. We like creating new video series for the same reason we enjoy starting a new campaign with a set number of sessions. It helps focus your attention more closely because you have a finite amount of time to explore an idea, and you get the satisfaction of completing a tidy, succinct experience. I particularly dig video series here at Nerdarchy the Website because we publish a new post with every video and I do most of the writing. A series with a theme makes a great jumping off point. Since the guide to aberrations in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons video covers what to expect and how to manage things when these creature types show up in your campaign setting and adventures, it was kinda tough coming up with a theme for these accompanying posts. How about this: what if aberrations are the only type of monsters in your 5E D&D world?
