D&D Beyond Publishes Inaugural Post by Lead Writer James Haeck
Coming on the heels of their recent announcement of hiring James Haeck as lead writer under content manager Todd Kenreck, D&D Beyond published their first post of this new endeavor on Monday, March 5, 2018. Along with staff writers James Introcaso and Mike Shea, DDB will begin producing written content on the site to compliment the wonderful video content produced by Kenreck. The first post to usher in the new featured content takes a look at one of fifth edition’s most often discussed and debated class features – the Beast Master ranger archetype.
D&D Beyond Goes Beyond ‘And Beyond’
Whether you use the digital toolset’s robust free resources, went all-in with a Legendary Bundle and Master Tier subscription, or remain skeptical of the whole affair, D&D Beyond is without a doubt part of the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons culture and conversation. Here at Nerdarchy, we are big fans and advocates of DDB. We use it for our games in-person and live streamed, for research and reference with its fantastic search features and filters, for tinkering with homebrew creatures, items and spells, and basically everything. Don’t get us wrong – we still cherish our physical books, dutifully adding them to our bookshelves and flipping through them in equal measure. But as DDB continues to evolve, the already indispensable resource establishes a firmer foothold with the upcoming mobile app, the fantastic video content from Todd Kenreck and, most recently, the announcement of a writing team to create even more D&D content.
Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons Kickstarter is Live
The art of Dungeons & Dragons has been inspiring us for decades. Whether it’s the iconic image of a Viking warrior battling a dragon from the classic beginner box or the more modern depiction of heroes facing off with powerful giants or even just a favorite image from the Monster Manual, these images have shaped the way that all of us approach and play the game. Every picture tells a story, but every picture also has a story behind it, an artist’s vision that we rarely get to see or hear about. Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons is an upcoming documentary that will let us see that vision and hear those stories, and it’s being funded on Kickstarter as I write.
Eldritch Lairs: Adventures for 5th Edition
New from the design minds of James J. Haeck, Jerry Leneave, Mike Shea and Bill Slavicsek, is Eldritch Lairs! This is a 5E supplement from Kobold Press designed with eight short adventures for characters level 4-8. The adventures are built as standalone arcs but can always be worked into existing homebrew campaigns. Eldritch Lairs contains Pit of the Dust Goblins, Crypt of Green Shadows, Under the Devil’s Thumb, Blood Vaults of Sister Alkava, Carrion Shrine of Qorgeth, The Leystone of the Indigo Star, Palace of the Wind Lords, and the Undying Tournament. Creatures featured in the adventures can be found in the fifth edition SRD, except where noted as referenced to the Tome of Beast from Kobold Press.
ConCoction Welcomes Nerdarchy as Featured Guests for D&D Events
Attention Nerdarchy community!
You’ve heard Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch talk about it in the Saturday Quests & Adventures live chats and read about it here on the website – Nerdarchy is headed to Ohio for Cleveland ConCoction! Northeast Ohio’s fan-run, volunteer-run convention celebrates all things sci-fi, fantasy and gaming. ConCoction returns in 2018 to the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio, on March 9-11.
The RollPlay Roundtable Discussion: Part 2 with Matt Colville, Matt Mercer, Adam Koebel and Mike Mearls
In October of last year, itmeJP gathered together some of the best known names in the Dungeons & Dragons community and put them in a video call roundtable together to talk shop. Adam Koebel moderated the conversation between Matt Mercer, Mike Mearls, and Matt Colville. Topics ranged across many different aspects of the game: criticisms, advice for Dungeon Masters, why we play the game, and many more.
Strongholds & Streaming Kickstarter from Matt Colville Raises the Bar
Just over two years ago, John Wick’s 7th Sea: Second Edition Kickstarter smashed through the barriers of roleplaying game potential, becoming the first campaign of its kind to surpass the $1 million mark. Among contemporaries in the RPG space, consistent hits from Monte Cook Games and Richard Thomas, along with extraordinary successes from Evil Hat Productions, Modiphius, Kobold Press, Frog God Games and others illustrate the possibilities of crowdfunding. And with the meteoric launch of Strongholds & Streaming, the first Kickstarter project from Matt Colville, we will almost certainly see the bar raised even higher.
The Best Time to Be a Nerd: How Amazon and Twitch Make It Easy
With the Amazon purchase of Twitch in August of 2014, many eyebrows were raised in confusion and fear the mega-corporation would tarnish the platform. Many nerds, geeks, and gamers found Twitch to be a safe haven where they could watch their favorite streamers play video games, interact with communities, and engage in the sphere of geekdom in all its flavors and colors. And with the introduction of Amazon into the picture, people believed that safe haven would disappear into the aether to be replaced by profit margins and the ever-reaching hand of big business.
But now as we enter 2018, it’s clear over the past four years the platform has been bolstered, not bloodied, and the geek community has more opportunities to not just survive, but thrive, in the modern world.
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes Reveals Conflicts of D&D Multiverse
We can thank Wizards of the Coast senior director Nathan Stewart and franchise creative director Mike Mearls for revealing the next fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book during the Fireside Chat on the D&D Twitch channel Friday, Feb. 2, 2018. And today we got the official announcement from WotC about Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes!
D&D Welcomes Kate Welch as Game Designer
Way back in November 2017, Wizards of the Coast announced their search for a game designer to join the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons team. Countless hopeful candidates the world over threw their hats, resumes and CVs in the ring for this nerdy dream job. And on Jan. 18, 2018 we found out who earned this incredible position.
D&D Beyond Gets Unearthed Arcana Content
Hello! Nerditor Doug here with Nerdy News.
Unearthed Arcana playtest material for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is now available on D&D Beyond.
Blood Hunter Class by Matt Mercer comes to D&D Beyond
A bit over 2 years ago the Nerdarchy crew got together and playtested the blood hunter class for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We had a blast playing high-level D&D characters while checking out this third party character class by Matt Mercer of Critical Role.
For those of you who are not familiar with him, Matt Mercer has done a few nerdy thing recently.
He is the Dungeon Master in the Geek & Sundry web series Critical Role, along with several other voice actors. The show’s first campaign went on for over 100 episodes until its epic conclusion, with numerous one-shots and special events on the way there. Critical Role’s new campaign just started last night, Jan. 11, 2018. New episodes are live streamed Thursday night at 7 p.m. pacific on Twitch and Project Alpha. He has a campaign book called Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. He also does voice acting, among other things.
Nerdarchy Dice App Dev Shares Insights Into Our Dice Roller App
DriveThruRPG Sponsors Nerdarchy and Saves You Money on RPG Stuff
Nerdarchy is proud to announce a terrific sponsorship from DriveThruRPG – the largest RPG download store! Since 2001, DriveThruRPG has been a premiere online marketplace for digital and print-on-demand roleplaying games. Even more, the expanded family of sites makes comic books, card games, fiction and more available with ease. With DriveThruRPG as a sponsor, we can now pass along great deals to the Nerdarchy community.
Gazing Into Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons
Whether you started playing Dungeons & Dragons out of the original woodgrain-colored box and the three little brown booklets inside or you’re new to the hobby and go completely digital with D&D Beyond, before you make a single die roll, you’re drawn in by art. From Greg Bell’s Doctor Strange “inspired” mounted warrior on the original 1974 box cover to Tyler Jacobson’s depiction of an adventurer battling King Snurre on the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, fantasy art’s history and influence on D&D is woven into the fabric of the game.
The stories behind the art, helping to create the worlds we play in, are the focus of the new documentary Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons from the team of X-Ray Films and Cavegirl Productions. The film profiles artists who contributed to the rich world of fantasy D&D art and features insiders, designers, writers and fans sharing the impact of art on their games and lives.
