D&D Player traits – Backgrounds and the dreaded Background Uploader
There are many traits players can bring to the table that are less than desirable. From the edgelord who always starts in the corner not talking to anyone, to the non-adventurer playing an adventure-focused game. These traits can be tiresome. I put forth that in your D&D games, the trait that deflates a session, and maybe even a character as a whole, the fastest is the Background Uploader. In this article, we’ll explore what makes a Background Uploader, diagnose maybe why it is they do what they do so well and then, to end on a positive note, we’ll talk about ways to avoid it to include a cool background idea.
5 Tips for Avoiding RPG Frustration
Hello folks. Your friendly neighborhood nerd here with some thoughts and tips for gaming during the summer. When you start a Dungeons & Dragons or other RPG you don’t always have a concept for timeline. The length of a game or availability to play can change drastically depending on players, work, school, or other things that could affect play. I’m here with 5 tips to help you with avoiding frustration that can come with gaming during the summer.
D&D Character Creation is More Than Numbers and Abilities
Developing an interesting character for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons can be tricky for some, especially those newer to the RPG hobby. What I’ve found over the years is that interesting characters come not from the big stroke events of their past, but instead the small habits, looks and decisions attributed to your character. D&D character creation involves making mechanical choices certainly, but beyond the numbers and abilities there’s a character waiting to be revealed.
Top 3 Most Overlooked Cantrips for D&D
Greetings and well met fellow dorks, welcome to the Forge, courtesy of Nerdarchy’s hospitality. Today we have for you just a quick post about those fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons overlooked cantrips that tend not to get picked. Be it they seem underwhelming or, to some players, they’re not combat relevant so why bother?
Hoof It Over to Unearthed Arcana for Playing Monsters in D&D — Centaurs and Minotaurs
It’s tough to think about fantasy without the image of fantastical beasts and foes of legend coming to mind. The mighty minotaur and the mysterious centaur are just two of these creatures brought straight from myth to our tables. The Unearthed Arcana exploring and even updating these monstrous races for those interested in playing monsters in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons has come out and while Nerdarchists Dave and Ted are reviewing the document, I figured I’d take the chance to talk about these interesting creatures and a couple of experiences I had with centaurs and minotaurs in gaming.
Descriptions Over Dice: Roleplay Character Actions Before You Roll Play
Hello! Nerditor Doug here to welcome guest posters from Dork Forge to the Nerdarchy family. Dork Forge are “a righteous, funny, and super humble group of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventurers with killer memes.” The folks at Dork Forge stream games live on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. central on Twitch, with VOD on YouTube. They also have their own website with articles and video archives. This post comes to us from Dork Forge co-founder and Dungeon Master Tom Ball. Tom tackles a great topic that can trip up a lot of players from veterans to those new to the RPG hobby — how to roleplay character actions when the player themselves isn’t an expert. Using description in front of rolling those dice can enrich a character’s actions when it comes time to make that crucial check.
Only Human: Reskin D&D Playable Races for All Human Campaign
Many campaign settings strive for a more human-focused style but this often turns away many players as they see the lack of fantastic races as limiting character options. This is mechanically true if you get rid of all these races and do nothing to compensate for their absence. Often this is done through having cultural archetypes become replacements for distinct D&D playable races. Another way to accomplish this is to simply reskin character races as human cultures from your all human campaign setting. In this way, the standard assortment of D&D playable races are still available but appear and play like variations of humans.
Player Agency and Cooperative Stories Make a D&D Game Belong to Everyone
Its a very common phrase in the roleplaying circles that its “the Dungeon Master’s Game.” As with most aspects of this hobby, its not always so cut and dry. In your D&D game, you might find infusing some player agency through cooperative storytelling might get a you a new level of engagement from your players. This player agency can take many forms, to include working together with your players to collaboratively create the setting and world.
D&D Etiquette from Metagame to Manners
We decided to do a video response to an article over on the Jimmi Waz Ere website. We copied the article below for convenience, as well as our thoughts on the 10 Things You Need to Respect About D&D Etiquette video. By all means if you like Jimmi’s article click the link below to take look at the articles he’s got on his site and show him some love by sharing and commenting on the original article.
Is There a Best Way to Build a D&D Party?
We had recently did a series on Playing D&D without Filling Party Roles. We did a video for each party role and how play without them both as the Dungeons Master and a player. As a follow up we thought we’d combine some of the lessons we took away from that series as well as go into the opposite direction.
Tilting on the Axis of Alignment in D&D 5E
Some would argue alignment no longer has a place in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. No matter where you lie on alignment it has been and will be, for the foreseeable future, a part of D&D. We had better get used to it because it’s here to stay. Alignment is a moral reference point we as players use to guide our actions and make sure we are sticking to the concept we have laid out. As important as the Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws are, the core concepts of law vs. chaos, good vs. evil and all of the gray area leaves room to play there within.
Players Corner: A Brand New Resource for D&D Players
Players Corner is a resource for the players at the table, where you can chime in to the Nerdarchy community. Players Corner is a collaborative article to discuss matters affecting players of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Many D&D products and resources are targeted towards Dungeon Masters, often created by DMs. I will be approaching topics from the player’s perspective to talk about player content, character options and go over what kind of things players can get up to in their downtime to keep the progress of their characters moving forward.
Stream of Many Eyes, a Rubber Chicken, and You — Memorable Campaigns for D&D
A cult strives to bring their dragon goddess into the world to wreak havoc. Demons from the Abyss invade the Underdark. Evil elementals build a powerbase in an ancient temple. A vampire holds sway over a cursed land. Giants compete to establish a new cosmic order. An archlich inflicts a terrible curse upon the world. Great campaigns all around. Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players around the world have saved the multiverse from these threats countless times. And the upcoming Stream of Many Eyes will reveal the next campaign for adventurers to tackle. But it’s the How and not the What that makes these memorable campaigns.
Dungeon Master the Art of Running a Great D&D Game
I thought what I would do for this guide is share with you the lessons I’ve learned when it comes to being a D&D Dungeon Master. I’ll get to work on some other blogs like this very soon. One of which will be on the Prisoner Dilemma. I’m still in the midst of making a video on my YouTube channel for getting started with roleplaying, which should hopefully be out soon. Anyway, on to the show!
Be Classy: Some Thoughts on D&D Party Roles
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to take a moment to talk about party roles and classes, specifically doubling up on them within the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party. I have seen a lot of trouble crop up regarding two people in a party wanting to play the same class. Particularly in fifth edition D&D, this is not as much of a problem as it sounds like it is, especially when you go into the situation with a little bit of good will.
