What is Gamefound and Why Haven’t I Heard of It?
If you’re only into RPGs and not into board games there’s a pretty big chance you might not be familiar with Gamefound. Sure, there have been a handful of RPG related projects who have used their Pledge Manager tool after their crowdfunding campaign but until today they have never had an RPG on their platform to crowdfund. Before we dive deeper into things let’s look at Gamefound as if it were a character in your favorite RPG and look into it’s Session Zero.
Giving Thanks for Critical Role’s Undeniable Impact
Critical Role‘s Campaign 2 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and while Critters like me eagerly await news about Campaign 3 I thought I’d look back and consider all Critical Role has done for me personally. Worry not — I am going to avoid spoilers for those not caught up yet.
Working at Games Workshop US
I’m back! The semester is over and I’m free for the summer! Two years of PhD studies down and three more to go! As I’ve written before, in addition to TSR and Chessex I worked for Games Workshop US (GWUS) from 1994 to 2003. During those years GW changed significantly. When I started, GW used the three-tier distribution system like every other manufacturer. In 1995 that changed as GW started selling direct to retailers and also started an aggressive store opening program in areas where there wasn’t any retailers carrying GW merchandise. By the time GW and I parted ways it had become a behemoth, having multiple warehouses across the country as well as multiple sales offices, and a retail chain of over two dozen stores in the US alone.
5 Reasons Dice Goblins Make the Best D&D Players
Dice Goblin is a term that has emerged within the Dungeons & Dragons community to describe any player who hoards dice like a dragon hoards gold. For some the term rings like “hoarder” but many wear the title as a badge of honor. If I’m being honest I’m much more of a dice minimalist myself. I like to have my dice in neat rows with only a single set for any game at a time. Call me a D&D neat freak. I was recently thinking about dice goblins and if hoarding dice is really so bad a practice. In so doing I came up with five reasons dice goblins could be viewed as the best players to have in a D&D game.
Does the Power of 5E D&D Characters Eclipse the Game’s Original Intent?
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take a look at a social media thread about the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons experience from a “self-parody account” that tagged Nerdarchy. The thread presents a fun topic for consideration and discussion. Do the onramps to great power for 5E D&D characters reflect a community and rule set much different than the creators of the game’s original vision? It’s a deeply abstract notion to explore. So let’s get into it (a little bit anyway — I’m not writing a master’s thesis here).
Diving into the Evolution of Tabletop RPGs
I couldn’t be more excited going into our new Dungeons & Delving campaign at Nerdarchy Live. The premise is a dungeon delving reality game show where our characters are treasure hunters. This fascinating premise comes from the mind of our own Nerdarchist Ted. The hype is real and it’s gotten me thinking about the premise itself and why we’re seeing an influx of nontraditional content in the streamed gaming community for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Why D&D Wizards Don’t Wear Pants
In many fantasy styled games magic users including wizards, sorcerers and warlocks tend to wear Wizard Robes while adventuring. But when I think about the logistics of adventuring into jungles, swamps, catacombs, underground caverns, dragon lairs and vampiric castles I am left feeling a robe may not quite be the most practical form of attire. So why do magic users not wear pants? Well for one has anyone ever looked up a wizard’s robe and lived to tell about it, or rather admitted to the deed? No, probably not. But we all know those wizards are NOT wearing pants.
How Hogfather and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Offer Hope for 2021 and Beyond
Recently on our second channel Nerdarchy Live Nerdarchist Dave and Nerditor Doug talked about comedy in tabletop roleplaying games. Since I’ve written my own comedic fantasy book and the genre niche is my jam I simply had to talk about it. Talking about comedic fantasy reminds me of one of my favorite movies of all time, which also happens to be a holiday favorite, Hogfather. Or as I like to call this movie — How Death Saved Fantasy Christmas.
Tabletop Roleplaying Game Expectations in 2021
The year winds to a close and reflecting on time passed naturally comes to mind. Later this week you’ll see Nerdarchists Dave and Ted’s thoughts on 2020 and Nerdarchy’s highlights from the year. I’m also looking ahead to 2021. For a lifelong nerd and now full time nerdy content director focused on tabletop roleplaying games I spend a lot of time thinking about the hobby professionally and personally. When I look ahead to the future of the TTRPG industry what I see is tinted with shades of what I hope emerges along with what I can assume is a reasonably informed view. So let’s get into it.
The Nightmare Before Critmas Part 2
All things considered 2020 wasn’t too shabby for the Nerdarchy crew. We continued to grow across the board from Nerdarchy the YouTube channel to right here on the website where the quality and quantity of content increased dramatically. We started a second YouTube channel for our longform and live video content at Nerdarchy Live. Our Patreon got a needed refresh with more benefits for supporters and we’re super excited about the refined game content we produce every month and Nerdarchy the Newsletter evolved into a vibrant weekly dispatch with a huge subscriber list. Nerditor Doug (me) celebrated a one year anniversary as a full time employee while staff writers Robin and Steven became more involved in creating new content. Later this week we’ll be publishing our year end retrospective so keep an eye out for it but for now we’ll continue a tradition started last holiday season. So I’ll give you back over to Steven for the Nightmare Before Critmas Part 2. — Nerditor Doug
Silent Night RPG
As I write this the sun has set on the shortest day of the year — Winter Solstice. (For my friends of the Goddess: have a peaceful solstice.) My semester finally ended with a flurry of papers (the last being thirty pages long.) Now it’s a waiting game. So now, what to write about? Hmm. Last year I wrote about the Deities & Demigods book I received for Christmas decades ago. Shall I write about the many different ways St. Nick has been adapted for D&D? Been done. No, instead I’ll write about April Fool’s day.
Enjoy 5E D&D and Help Kids with Muk’s Guide to Everything He Learned from Tasha
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything released not too long ago and it’s causing a splash for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players. The eponymous wizard granting her name to the latest official 5E D&D book also made an impression in the Dankwood home of the adorable goblin who returns to Dungeon Masters Guild in a wonderful new book Muk’s Guide to Everything He Learned From Tasha. So let’s get into it.
Write the RPG You’ve Always Wanted During GamoWriMo — the NaoNoWriMo Spinoff for TTRPG Nerds
It’s November, which means National Novel Writing Month — also lovingly referred to as NaNoWriMo. Last year, Dael Kingsmill proposed a twist on our classic NaNoWriMo called GamoWriMo. The premise of NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write at least 50,000 words of a novel in a single month. GamoWriMo’s challenge was similar: take the niggling idea for an RPG campaign that just won’t leave you alone and get it to a playtest worthy state before the end of the month. Both challenges emphasize getting words on a page as opposed to immaculate quality.
Crafting your 5E D&D Gelatinous Cubes Encounter
Hello and greetings. I apologize if I tricked you into thinking this was about fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons table preparation. Nope! this is another crafting idea from the mind of Nerdarchist Ted. I was at the store looking for a new cat tree. Despite not seeing the tree made of carpet for my cats to destroy in the clearance aisle I saw a game that looked like it used tiny plastic cubes. I instantly thought of gelatinous cubes. It was worth investigating as a potential new fun crafting project for my 5E D&D games.
Learning from Fourth Edition’s Brazen Overhaul for the Future of 5E D&D
Dungeons & Dragons needs an overhaul akin to the brash changes made in fourth edition D&D. Got your attention, yet? Good. My introduction into the world of D&D proper came when I began playing midway into 4E D&D. As such, I fully admit it might be my nostalgia talking but I pride myself a bit on being able to look at things I remember fondly with a critical lens and reassess my own enjoyment. (Looking at you, Pokemon anime.) While by no means perfect in its own right, 4E D&D streamlined many extremely complex and wordy concepts from third edition (grappling rules being a prime example). It also dared to reskin much of how the system was worded and refine its emphasis on elements that had fallen by the wayside a bit, most notably combat.
Some might say the renaming and rearranging were core components of why 4E D&D was so poorly received, and well… fair. I think there’s something to be said for overhauling a familiar system with the goal of making it better. The very fact they did such innovative things with the system should be lauded in itself even if it wasn’t ideal, because growth is achieved through failure and the failures of the MMO style combat-focused 4E D&D ushered in the more roleplay-heavy 5E D&D. So let’s talk about some ideas for renaming and retheming that might make the world’s greatest roleplaying game even better!
