Geek and Sundry GM Tips with Satine Phoenix…and Nerdarchy!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztH7NtxVl2M[/embed] Thanks to so many awesome Nerdarchy fans and supporters, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted were able to make it out to Los Angeles earlier this year to appear on GM Tips with Satine Phoenix. The Geek and Sundry program features different Game Masters each week tackling...
Kobold Press Holds All The Cards in Deck of Beasts
Kobold Press deals a winning hand with Deck of Beasts
Greetings Nerdarchy readers! Has anyone told you that you are awesome today? Well you are, and I believe that awesome people deserve equally awesome things. That being said, I have had the immense pleasure to speak to Kobold Press’s Wolfgang Baur and Inkwell Ideas’ Joe Wetzel about a product they created that has not only amazed me but impressed me. Their creative minds have shuffled together to deal us the amazing, the stupendous, the inspiring Deck of Beasts and Sidequest Decks!
What are these items I speak of you ask? Well let me tell you dear Nerdarchy reader about a dark age in gaming where one would have to lug around entire books just to include one monster. These days, the dark ages if you will, your Dungeon Master would have to turn and reference things which could take up valuable time. As a Dungeon Master, I always wanted to show the amazing artwork detailing the monster they were facing.
Despite my illustrious ability to spout adjectives with prolific prose, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Well this is where the Deck of Beasts comes in.
Making a Pact with Warlock Patreon from Kobold Press
Since 2012, the Kobold Press imprint has produced some of the best-received third-party content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Their biggest release – both in terms of sheer size and tabletop roleplaying game culture penetration – is the Tome of Beasts. The 433-page book of monsters is a staple on the shelf of countless D&D players, as iconic and indispensable as the Monster Manual for many Dungeon Masters (myself included).
The material produced by Kobold Press runs the gamut and truly includes something for everyone who plays D&D. Everything from a complete campaign setting to new schools of magic, Game Master guides, the 2017 Ennie Award-winning Kobold Guide to Plots and Campaigns and the recently released Prepared 2: A Dozen One-shot Adventures for 5th Edition offer valuable resources for D&D DMs and players.
But if even all of that isn’t enough, esteemed game designer Wolfgang Baur and the team at Kobold Press launched a new project designed to give even more cool material on a regular, ongoing basis. The Warlock is a Patreon-fueled project in the form of a booklet containing new maps, monsters, character options and more. You can find out all about it and pledge your support here.
Gen Con 50: Live Stream Your Game with Maze Arcana’s Expert Help
Rolling dice? Roll that camera!
Gen Con 50 celebrates gaming history with a milestone for North America’s largest tabletop game convention.
“How to Live Stream At Home: the Hands-on Approach with Maze Arcana & Blackmagic Design” gives gamers the tools and knowledge to become part of that rich history and share their own unique experiences with the vibrant, growing tabletop game community.
A seminar and two workshops are open for registration. The events from some of the most popular and professional live streaming tabletop gamers partnered with leaders in the professional studio equipment industry aim to empower others to reach out and connect with the greater community.
Participants have chances to win thousands of dollars in giveaways including video cameras, technical studio equipment and applications over the course of the events, too. Check the links ahead and at the bottom to preregister and make sure you have a spot in these events.
Q&A: Starfinder RPG from Paizo Inc.
2017 is a huge year for tabletop roleplaying games. Rich and rapid growth of the industry has ushered in a new golden age for what we all know is the greatest hobby in the world.
Or perhaps it’s a space age. With all the space fantasy and science fiction themed RPGs entering the marketplace, it might be more accurate to say tabletop RPGs are the greatest hobby in the universe.
Leading the fleet of these myriad cosmic game enterprises, Starfinder is set for launch on Aug. 17 at Gen Con 50 where the hardcover version drops, with the PDF version of following in September. Preorders are open now, so you can head over to Amazon here and get your copy of Starfinder reserved.
Nerdarchist Ted had an opportunity to playtest the game in a live stream event run by Owen K.C. Stephens, game designer and developer for Paizo. If you missed that event, you can still watch the VOD on WebDM’s YouTube channel. And in the video above Nerdarchist Dave welcomed Stephens to the live chat to talk about Starfinder as well.
Here on the website, we had a chance to pose some questions to Rob McCreary, a senior developer at Paizo Inc. and founding member of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game development team. McCreary also holds the distinction of being the first author in the Starfinder Adventure Path line (among many other distinctions in his career!). Incident at Absalom Station kicks off the Dead Suns adventure path and is available for preorder now, with a scheduled release date of Sept. 5.
Elven Tower Maps a Course Through D&D Content Creation
Derek Ruiz – or Derek von Zarovich as he’s widely known to fans on the internet – is an 2017 Ennie Award nominee for best website. A year ago he was an English teacher. With the flip of a coin, he launched Elven Tower and now “maps” his way forward to continued success as a content creator for D&D and other RPGs. In August, Elven Tower celebrates its one year anniversary. Along with his Ennie Award nomination, Ruiz won the One Page Dungeon contest earlier in 2017 with his entry “Where are the Villagers?”
“I had this idea. I’m going to do something with the internet – start a website or something. I had two options, because this is going to be out of love. This is going to be something that I enjoy. Either it was going to be something about D&D, or it was going to be about science. Believe it or not I just flipped a coin, and I said okay, this is going to be about D&D.” – Derek Ruiz
Web DM Talking D&D and RPG Gaming (What Else?!)
Nerdarchist Dave made a pact with patron of the internet and welcomed Jim Davis and Jonathan Pruitt from Web DM to the Nerdarchy live chat. Braving the possibly haunted wing of the hospital where he works, Pruitt joined his friend and co-host Davis to talk nerdy about D&D.
As content creators, Pruitt and Davis got started by seeking to fulfill a need they felt was missing. They dive into the history of Web DM, what inspired them to create their YouTube channel and how it all came together. The Web DM guys and Nerdachist Dave connected over their mutual astonishment when they learned there was an internet audience hungry for D&D discussion.
D&D Adventurers League Community Manager in the house
Nerdarchist Dave and Assistant Web Editor Doug, coming off of Origins Game Fair, welcomed D&D Adventurers League Community Manager Robert Adducci for a live chat. The Nerdarchy team at Origins met Adducci and many other great people there, and were happy to have him join us to talk nerdy for an afternoon.
Adventurers League is the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons organized play program. It offers a way for people to get involved in a larger campaign and community. Previously limited to in-store play, the program has widened to include conventions and even home games – as long as the DM abides by Adventurers League rules.
These rules are essentially the standard D&D rules. There are a few elements specific to Adventurers League play designed to maintain a consistent experience across the board. That way, Adventurers League players know what to expect no matter where they take their characters and log sheets for Adventurers League games.
Nerdarchy Talks Shop With TL Frasqueri-Molina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDHBR90gfu8 If you like Nerdarchy’s daily livechats (or even if you haven’t seen much of them and are curious), you absolutely do not want to miss out on watching Nerdarchist Dave’s interview with TL Frasqueri-Molina. She is the Senior Enterprise Project Manager at Legendary Digital Networks...
Pixelscapes gets psychedelic with D&D monster art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwEd5KoR-0&t=2736s Jen Gagne of Pixelscapes stopped by the Nerdarchy live chat with Nerdarchist Dave to talk psychedelic D&D monster art, drawing, sculpture and of course gaming. She’s an amazing artist, unafraid to be bold with her color selection, and she’s been gaming for a really long...
Matt Mercer of Critical Role talks Tal’Dorei with Dungeon Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eXwQ8oWcZ0
Dungeon Life’s Todd Kenreck was one busy journalist at Wizards of the Coast’s Stream of Annihilation June 2-3, 2017. On his Twitter feed, Kenreck shared that he was able to score 29 interviews with various D&D dignitaries, including the inimitable Matthew Mercer, actor and Dungeon Master for Geek and Sundry’s Critical Role.
Jeff Mach talks steampunk and geek culture with Nerdarchy
Jeff Mach creates geek events like Steampunk World’s Fair
Jeff Mach from Jeff Mach Events stopped by for a Nerdarchy live chat to talk about conventions, steampunk culture and creating strange, wonderful new homes for people whose interests lie outside the norm. As one of the east coast’s largest creators of unique events for non-normal people, Jeff Mach Events runs the world’s largest indoor Renaissance Faire, Wicked Faire, Steampunk World’s Fair and more.
Wayward Leather puts Designs on Nerdarchy Live Chat
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O50YCw_lqAc&w=560&h=315] Nerdarchists Dave and Ted welcomed artist and craftsperson Mellie Z. to the Nerdarchy live chat to talk shop about her fantasy-themed leatherwork creations. Mellie hand-crafts fantastic pieces for display, wearable garments and accessories, bags and "monster boxes." [caption id="attachment_19924" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mellie Z. creates handmade, fantasy-themed...
Stream of Annihilation highlights what’s fantastic about D&D
It’s no fluke that an enormous and continually-growing slate of streaming game play has emerged alongside 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. When Greg Tito joined Wizards of the Coast’s marketing team a couple of years ago as communication manager, adding more streaming programming to their schedule was one of his goals to expand the audience for D&D.
Satine Phoenix is living the nerdy dream
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ5Hts-8VQY&w=560&h=315] Nerdarchist Dave got three special guests for the cost of one when he welcomed Satine Phoenix to the Nerdarchy live chat. Hanging out on her birthday from her home/studio in sunny Los Angeles, Phoenix shared her morning chatting live and answering questions. Nerd culture...