The Case for Half-Dragons as a Playable D&D Race
There can be no denying that dragons are a huge part of D&D. After all, they’re half the name. Most of the time they function as adversaries: a monster to slay in order to save a princess or town. In a few cases, good-aligned dragons can function as mentors or allies to a party of adventurers. However, interest in playing a character of draconic descent must have increased in recent years, because the last three editions of Dungeons & Dragons have had playable races of draconic descent, with the dragonborn even being featured in the fourth edition and fifth edition Player’s Handbooks. Dragonborn have continued to be a popular selection for many players. But their inclusion as a mainstream race has always baffled me, because even before they were introduced, there was another great candidate for a playable D&D race of draconic descent: half-dragons, the children of true dragons and their mortal lovers.
Feats of Inspiration – D&D character building from a single feat
It may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not a huge fan of feats in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. I think these variant D&D rules work, albeit better with specific D&D character building guidelines, but ultimately I greatly disliked feats in D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder and these aren’t enough of a step up for me to enjoy them. However, in an effort to enjoy every aspect of the game and maybe even give some character inspiration to others, I’m going to go through some of the feats in D&D and develop some characterization around them.
Add Beauty to your D&D World with a Custom Character Option
D&D Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls has got creative fever! The co-creator of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons already streams his creative process during the Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour on Twitch, pulling back the curtain to show how subclass options for D&D character classes are created and developed. And recently, on Twitter he shared a creation particular to his own home campaign — the Beauty Domain for clerics. Adding a custom character option like this can enrich your own D&D world too.
Roleplaying an Eladrin Like a Fey Trickster in D&D
Of all the new elf subraces in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, eladrin are the most mystical and mysterious. As a subrace of elves that make their home in the Feywild, the eladrin are the closest a player character can get to playing a fairy in D&D. They are described as being capricious and changeable, and their ability to change seasons reflects this. This can make roleplaying an eladrin a challenge. However, if one looks to the original lore that inspired the Feywild in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, then roleplaying an eladrin as a fey trickster can be both fun and rewarding.
Buff is the Stuff for D&D Support Characters
I figured it out, y’all. The secret to a satisfying session of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, especially a live stream D&D game, and more especially still a live stream D&D game with people you’ve never played with before. Fair warning, it’s not a scientifically proven method or meticulously playtested concept. And it’s definitely not a fully-realized comprehensive guide. But it is based on observations from a non-zero number of live stream roleplaying games I’ve been involved with as a player, Dungeon Master and engaged viewer. So, pretty cerebral, thinktank-level stuff on playing D&D support characters and options to buff the party. Indulge me while I attempt to take the Help action to aid your next game.
Defense of the Appeal of Drow Player Character
In the world of Dungeons & Dragons clichés, there is perhaps no more universally reviled archetype than the chaotic good drow ranger. Once upon a time, drow were the evil counterpart to elves, raiding surface cities and living in a matriarchal society that worshipped the Queen of Spiders. Then came RA Salvatore and his incredibly popular character Drizzt Do’Urden, the first drow in the Forgotten Realms to throw off the mantle of evil forced on the drow and attempt to redeem himself and his heritage. Drizzt’s popularity lead to a drow player character boom inspired by or modeled on Salvatore’s work and the increased appeal of drow overall. So called “Drizzt clones” have become so cliché as to be outright banned by many Dungeon Masters.
Underprepared D&D Players Miscast My Cantrips
The longer I spend wading through the waters of Dungeons & Dragons on social media, the more I find being a Dungeon Master who makes preparations is a little more rare than I initially thought. Everyone has their own means of having fun, but I can’t roleplay comfortably without ample notes, spreadsheets, and clear understanding of a rules system. Lots of psychology to unpack there… but now is not that time! Now I must explore my commitment to D&D as a lifestyle game. I spend sometimes 8 hours writing for a session. Underprepared D&D players who come to the table over the course of months and still don’t know basic functions of their character, commonly used core rules, or which die is 8-sided really miscast my cantrips.
Warlocks in D&D miscast my cantrips
I heard some rumblings here and there for awhile, but a recent video by Dawnforgedcast has forced me to sit down and contemplate on the weird class that is the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons warlock. In the video he presents the issue that the reliance many warlocks have on eldritch blast is repetitive and even boring, purposing a fix action to raise other warlock cantrips a little higher on the effectiveness scale, to give a bit more incentive to use them. After my viewing of the video, sitting in contemplation and paying special attention to warlocks at my table, I believe I’ve come to a conclusion. Eldritch blast did nothing wrong. Hear me out, maybe these one-hit wonders are working just as intended.
Is a Pacifist Character in D&D Fun or a Drag?
Nerdarchists Dave and Ted are talking about playing a pacifist character in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and if you know me, I’m not one to shut up during a divisive conversation. While they’re tackling the question of how to play a non-damage wizard head on, I’ll be going into why you would, should you and dabble a bit on what I believe can be an engaging way to be a less direct spellcaster. It’s not all fireballs after all.
Top 5 Reasons to Live Stream Your D&D Game
The Nerdarchy live stream fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer game Ingest Quest campaign wrapped up the other day. Episode 12 “Something New” came to a close and we bid bon voyage to the culinary explorers traveling the crystal sphereverse in search of the most exotic cuisine. The characters were weird and met equally unusual entities along the way. They fought some monsters, visited some other dimensions and consumed — and prepared — heaping helpings of extraordinary food. It was my first time running a live stream game. I had some observations and thought I’d share my top 5 reasons you should live stream your D&D game. If you’re on the fence or considering your own live stream RPG show, maybe it’ll convince you to give it a shot.
Delving Deep on D&D Dwarves with Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
The Nerdarchists are back into Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes and we’re talking about those bearded cannonballs, dwarves of Dungeons & Dragons. If you read my elven article, you know I prefer my humanoids to be very alien compared to humans and dwarves are no exception. What do you get when you combine long-lived, stout, stubborn, and beardy? Well, I’m not sure about you, but let’s dive into D&D dwarves and see what I get.
Building a D&D Character Soup to Nuts From Farmer to Folk Hero
Today’s D&D focuses a lot on one shots or West Marches or Adventurers League, and these are fine. However, this can sometimes leave characters with an empty void where once would be story and personality creating a delightful persona. Today I want to borrow some of your time to help you correct this. Let’s focus on bringing a D&D character to life and look at how I recommend building a D&D character. Whether a first-time player or a veteran, I find this method makes a good platform for an evolving character, something that can grow, change and shape itself as you play it.
Getting the Most out of D&D Elves with Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
The Nerdarchists continue their dive into Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, this time pouring over the lore of the ancient and wise Dungeons & Dragons elves. A lot of interesting information within the Tome of Foes in regards to those weedy long ears got me thinking. So while Nerdarchists Dave and Ted delve into the text on what Wizard’s of the Coast has put in place for elven lore, I want to explore what I believe it must mean to be one of the D&D elves and how it effects the world around them.
RPG Character Types and the Sliding Scale of Tactical Characters vs. Heroic Characters
Salutations nerds! Today, I want to talk about RPG character types, in a way that directly lines up with playstyle. See, a lot of the players I know fall into patterns, somewhere between a couple of polls, and now that I’ve noticed I can’t help but find it kind of fascinating. I’m talking, of course, about tactical characters and heroic characters. They’re both awesome.
Crafting in D&D miscasts my cantrips
There are a lot of odd trends and desires within the tabletop roleplaying game hobby and I think that comes with the territory of imagination and group storytelling. One of these odd trends, and a crazy common request at my table, is the idea of player-controlled crafting rules. Within Dungeons & Dragons, a game with the obvious design intent of exploring dungeons and battling dragons there is an overwhelming cry from thousands of players around the world for more robust crafting rules. I want to explore and generate conversation on why I believe this might be and why I have such a hard stance against crafting in D&D.
