Wendy’s Deserved Better! A Retrospective Look at Feast of Legends RPG
Does anyone else remember that time Critical Role did a special episode sponsored by Wendy’s – yes… THAT Wendy’s? How about this one: do you remember Feast of Legends – the TTRPG made by THAT Wendy’s? For whatever reason, a lot of people in their audience got really up in arms over Critical Role’s stream of this obscure RPG, to the point that the voice actors ended up taking down the video altogether the following day in 2019.
Does Experience Gain and Character Progression Ruin 5E D&D?
At the crux of nearly every roleplaying game are the notions of experience and gaining levels. The Level Up appears in tabletop RPGs, video games and in the case of Evermore even a theme park! Even the term Level Up is ingrained into our vernacular. However, recently I was thinking about leveling up progression and experience and how the whole things works in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and it got me to thinking maybe, just maybe, leveling up and experience are holding back our beloved 5E D&D.
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!
A Little Rant About Stupid Armor
An example of not-so-stupid armor.
Stupid armor
Hey, nerds, today we’re going to talk about something stupid. Specifically, stupid armor.
There are a few quick ways to get my jimmies rustled, and putting a character in a skimpy outfit and trying to claim it’s somehow battle armor is one of the big ones. There is a time and a place for drawing something kind of outrageous and enticing, and what is supposed to be full plate is not that.
What’s going on at the movies?
Gaming Elitism Isn’t Dead
This probably isn’t news to you, but no matter how many times we sit down and have the discussion of “this is a game and there isn’t a wrong way to play it,” there are still going to be people who will be glad to tell you exactly how you’re having fun wrong. Most of what I end up seeing personally are hardcore roll players getting upset because people aren’t min-maxed.
Top 10 Things I Hate As A Gamer
Alright, it is personal gripe time as I have a a few things that are on my grey matter in light of a few friends of mine complaining to me. Here is my top 10 things I hate as a tabletop RPG gamer. This may be things the players do, or just things I hate to do in general. This is not to say this list (done in no particular order) won’t work for another table, or that they are inherently wrong, but that they get my goat when I see them. I highly encourage constructive advice and learning of your gripes in the comment section below. Let’s jump in, shall we?
Dungeons & Discourse: Digital Media
As Nerdarchist Dave has mentioned in the past, the staff writers here at Nerdarchy.com have really started to gel. We’re putting together a module for Geek & Sundry’s International Tabletop Day that I think is fantastic, and we have a lot of great discourse, a majority of which is just for us. We share our perspectives with each other, elicit help, or provide suggestions. Sometimes we just talk about whatever. I think what makes it the best is that, even if we vehemently disagree with each other, or it’s a couple of us railing against the world, there is a genuine respect that allows us to know everyone is actually trying to listen to and understand each other, even if all we did was take a merry-go-round.
Secrets of Nerdarchy revealed! You won’t believe it!
Would you trust being at sea with this shifty lot? The Nerdarchy crew, from left to right, Ted, Dave, Ryan, and Nate, all aboard for the Fan2Sea Comic Con Cruise.
Last week the entire Nerdarchy crew set out to sea for the Fan2Sea Comic Con Cruise. That’s right. Ted, Dave, Ryan, Nate, their family and friends, the whole shebang, they’ve up and left everything behind to go play at pirate. With Frank Miller.
In Role Play, Description isn’t Always a Good Thing
These are dice. They decide things in RPG combat, but they don’t describe the combat. Maybe we could learn from this.
The most dreaded words I can hear from a game master are, “Describe your attack.”
I’m not talking about describing complex character actions. That I understand. If the game master needs explanation on how one of my characters is trying to perform a certain act, especially an unusual one, that makes perfect sense.
No, I’m talking about the rather mundane, usually involving combat.
My character steps into a fight, swings his or her weapon. I roll dice. The weapon hits. I go to roll damage and …
