Mastering the Art of D&D Character Creation: Navigating Common Pitfalls
Dungeons & Dragons is not just a game; it's a universe of boundless creativity, storytelling, and character development. Inspired by Neal Litherland's thought-provoking piece on the Improved Initiative blog, let us delve into the nuanced world of D&D character creation. Our mission? To navigate the...
10 Fresh D&D Character Flaws to Jazz Up Your Gameplay
Alright, fellow adventurers! Everyone loves a character with a bit of zest. And since you're here, you're definitely on the hunt for ways to inject a bit more personality into your character. Well, hold onto your 20-sided dice, because we’re diving deep into 10 brand-new...
The Art of Campfires in Dungeons & Dragons: More than Just a Resting Point
Awesome D&D Players Know the Power of a Campfire Video https://youtu.be/PEtxJRU3q7I Greetings, fellow adventurers! In the vast realm of Dungeons & Dragons, where mighty dragons soar and dungeons await to be explored, a simple element like a campfire can often be overlooked. However, seasoned players and Dungeon Masters...
What’s Really Going on With One D&D?
The paradigm shifts once again! Set aside all the crunchy calculations and simultaneous calls of nerfing and power creep. Something else is taking place through Wizards of the Coast’s move towards the One D&D experience. During our recent live chat discussing Unearthed Arcana 2022: Expert Classes we touched on parts of the latest playtest reminiscent of earlier editions of the game. Several people watching along called out stuff bringing to mind third and fourth edition, which for at least one commenter felt exhausting and an oversimplification. In my estimation something deeper than mechanical callbacks seems to be happening and that’s what’s got me fascinated. Let’s get into it.
Book of Ebon Tides Holds a Dark Mirror Up to Your D&D World
The concept of other dimensions overlapping the real world captured my imagination decades ago with an RPG called Wraith: The Oblivion and in my D&D setting this holds true. Like the Dungeon Master’s Guide describes the Feywild and Shadowfell exist in parallel to the Material Plane, occupying the same cosmological space but distorted and exaggerated (in my setting they’re combined into a singular Dreaming World to mirror the Waking World or Material Plane). Despite presenting a compelling dynamic with very little exception neither the DMG nor any other official material really explores any of this space. Book of Ebon Tides from Kobold Press, like so many other titles in their library, represents a terrific grab bag of ideas to help make your shadowy fey realm exciting, engaging and unforgettable. Let’s get into it.
Make NPCs Essential in Your D&D Games
In my games I have seen characters develop long lasting relationships with NPCs. Nerdarchist Dave’s dwarven wizard Uthen-Gar crafted a magic item as a gift for the elven librarian who initially looked down on him for being a dwarf. I felt it was a rich relationship built over years of game play. That same dwarven character found a wife, even though we did not play out a romance, and became wed before the campaign was over. While romance can happen we developed that dwarves often wed as political arrangements to strengthen the clan. It was not originally planned that way but that’s how it panned out and it was awesome! I have had non-player characters on my mind and I’m interested in exploring concepts surrounding them from both the Dungeon Master and player perspectives.
Tome of Heroes from Kobold Press is My Kind of Campaign Resource
Later this very evening Nerdarchist Dave and I plan to focus on Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel for this week’s Monday Live Chat. For a very brief preview during our meeting this morning I expressed how campaign settings hold very little interest for me. In contrast I’ve been pouring over Tome of Heroes from Kobold Press the last couple of weeks and I’m pointing at books like this as exactly the kind of resource I cherish when it comes to my own fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Let’s get into it.
Recognizing How 5E D&D Characters are Not Regular People
Salutations, nerds! I’m having a debate right now with one of my friend groups about why everyone in a Dungeons & Dragons world isn’t a wizard if wizards are so powerful. If people in your world can blow up a quarter of a city all at once with giant balls of fire and wipe out whole armies ten why does everyone not do this? Because the barrier of entry for being a high level spellcaster is prohibitively high for most people. Then why are so many D&D player characters spellcasters? Because D&D player characters are not regular people.
5E D&D World of Monsters — Beasts
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted picked up a video series called Nerdarchy’s Guide to D&D Monsters. We launched this series a few years ago with aberrations but one thing led to another and yadda yadda yadda we’re revisiting the topic now. These video guides cover tips for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players on what to expect and how to manage things when a particular creature type shows up in your campaign setting and adventures. I dig this series personally because a theme like this makes a great jumping off point. Here on the website I take the topic in a different direction and ask what if beasts are the only type of monsters in your 5E D&D world?
Exploring RPG Character Strengths and Flaws as Two Sides of the Same Coin
Salutations, nerds! Today I’m writing about your tabletop roleplaying game character’s greatest strengths and biggest flaws and how sometimes it helps to have them come from the same place. I don’t mean where you put your highest and lowest stats but instead your character’s personality.
Make Your Game More Interesting with Unusual Races in D&D
Race has always been a core part of Dungeons & Dragons and fifth edition D&D is no exception. I’ve often heard arguments go both ways about whether or not a Dungeon Master should limit the racial options players can choose from. On the one hand players argue anything in an officially published source should be usable in any setting. They contend limits aren’t fun, they want to use the mechanics listed in their favorite sourcebook for a given race or even how limiting what race players choose from is a manifestation of racism (harsh!). On the flip side DMs who argue for limiting race options often have ideas for vibrant and specific worlds they’ve built. In these situations DMs often contend the limit of race options gives the game world more believability and immersion.
RPG Ideas — Parasites
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is parasites, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of parasites our fully funded Mage Forge project nears completion but it can still benefit from the nutrients provided by your support. And you’ll get a huge collection of magic items in return! In our recent update we shared the Spirit of the Mage Forge encounter to pull together community inspired ideas and build on them while adding some fresh takes and more dynamic elements for better player engagement and story potential. Learn more about Spirit of the Forge and how to get your FREE copy here! You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
RPG Ideas — Cliffhangers
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is cliffhangers, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of cliffhangers we’re trying something new in this week’s newsletter. You’ll find the same content as usual except we’re saving some from each of the three editorials as Nerdarchy.com exclusives. You’ll find links below leading to the website post for more. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Set Healthy Boundaries in Your RPG Experiences
Running RPG sessions is intense. It’s a labor of love for your players — at least it is for me. However, for all of my joking about loving to tantalize players on the brink of their characters’ deaths the confidence is often a sort of mask I wear to hide the truth of my anxiety. Before I begin I need to stress that if you’re struggling with severe mental health problems please seek help. This post is not a replacement for therapy or medication or even coping skills. This is meant to be an honest discussion.
Nerdarchy on D&D Gnoll as Playable Race by Nord Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqT4FZ4bEgk In this 12-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore Dungeons & Dragons races to play in your game. Nord Games has a book called Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde for fifth edition D&D. In there are stats to play...
