It’s All Right for Your RPG Characters to Change
Recently I’ve run across two situations as a Game Master I believe are worth sharing with a wider audience. First, one of my players came to me concerned he had not played his character’s personality correctly during a recent fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons session. Second, a player in a different campaign (one in which I play and am not GM) came to me worried his character had done something out of character.
Getting started with tabletop role-playing games online
If you’re like me, by now you’re familiar with playing tabletop role-playing games online. Gamers have been playing Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs online since the birth of the Internet, though the last few years has seen significant growth in this area. This is...
When is it okay to Voice Disagreement with the Game Master?
Arrows are flying. Swords are swinging. Blasters are blasting. And suddenly your character goes down in a fight because of what you perceive to be a stupid ruling from the game master.
Your blood boils and your temperature begins to rise. What you want to do is curse and yell at the game master, informing him or her just how much of an idiot they really are. Or maybe you want to break into the middle of the game and argue about how the game master’s ruling was bad or unfair.
The Mystery Your Missing in D&D 5e…
Hello fellow Nerdarchists, Hope to see you all having awesome game sessions! In this article I wanted to address the common problem that a lot of game masters have trying to keep their players engaged by using the elements that are at the core of the RPG and that is… Mystery!
I have been recently tasked with running a large group of new gamers and teaching them the game of the newer Dungeons & Dragons 5e. So, with more players added I found it hard to keep each player involved on a personal level as well as how to keep the game sessions intriguing. I wanted to share with you a few tricks I learned about how to use Mystery as a tool to keep everyone happy and having a good time. On a side note, I usually don’t feel comfortable running a game for more than five players so with seven players it has become a bit of a challenge. So let’s get started…
First, I in general character backgrounds are normally a great way to engage players, but when you have seven people at the table it can become a bit overwhelming. Luckily for me my custom game world “Dark Myth” had a built-in way for me to deal with this being a Time Line. The time line in a game setting can be an easy way for players and DMs alike to quickly and easily come up with back stories to link things together. Also it can leave quite a bit of room for mystery such as “Why, did the war start in the first place?” or “Who is the spy” and many more. Questions like these can lead to a whole plethora of time-line related mysteries to keep gamers on the edge of their seats!
To Game or Not to Game?
Hello fellow Nerdarchests, I hope to find you all having a great time. I wanted to address an issue some [caption id="" align="alignright" width="350" class="zemanta-img"] The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (TV special) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] of us might have and that is trying to run multiple games...
Player Tips – Adding More Class to Your Class – Blood Hunter
Yes I lied last week when I said I was finished . Sorry about that. But we received a bunch of comments and requests to do this for Matthew Mercers Blood Hunter class. Last week we did do the last class in the Players handbook, the Wizard.
So today we are breaking off from the official, PHB classes, and focusing on the awesome class made by Matthew Mercer. I am sure that most of you know this legendary name in table top RPGs. If you do not know who he is feel free to search it out.
The Blood Hunter was created and off of the Witch hunter played by Vin Diesel so how many names can we jam into one article? Now Nerdarchy played a game play testing this class and its three archetypes. You can check out that video here.
If you are unfamiliar with the class there is a pay what you want copy at the DMs Guild here. The Blood Hunter goes further than heroes to defeat the evil, they become that which they fight. The class comes with a stigma and there is some role playing built into the class, but of course you can play it as you see fit.
Player Tips – Adding More Class to Your Class – Wizard
And with this we have a wrap. Last week I covered the warlock with the Player tips adding more class to your class. Today I finish the series with the last class in the players handbook: the Wizard.
Wizards come in all shapes and sizes. They wield the power to change the world. You will find many great heroes across the worlds of D&D that are wizards but you can probably find just as many if not more so as Villains. You see because they get to have all that power it takes a strong moral character to wield it properly.
So beyond the idea of power what is a wizard. A wizard is one who possesses a mind capable of memorizing many facts and symbols. They have spent hours and hours studying strange things that make normal people bored or sick. Some of their simple spells might not be too hard to memorize but as a Wizard unlocks new levels or power or spells those spells could be pages and pages worth of material that they need to commit to memory.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Warlock
Well my friends you have made it to successfully to another Friday. It is time for some more player tips, Adding more class to your class and this time I am going to tackle, arguably the crowd favorite class, Warlock. Last week we talked on the Sorcerer, and you can read about it here.
The warlock has the ability to do things all because a Faustian bargain made with a ‘dark’ power. Well that is stretching it a little. There is nothing that says it has to be a dark power and in fact with the Unearthed Arcana the pact of Light warlock looks like it is designed for good guys.
The sorcerer is born with power and the warlock makes bargain to get it so in that they are the same that they do not have a lot of time spent in there back story where they are trapped in some kind of training mode. So because of this they too have a lot of time free to enter a lot of story into it.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Sorcerer
Greetings and Happy Friday. Today we will delve deep into the Sorcerer class. Last week we did a player tips, adding more class to your class with the Rogue. If you missed it you can read that article here.
So first we look at the sorcerer and see what it really means to be one. A sorcerer is one who is blessed with magical power. It is something they are born with. A warlock makes a pact with a being of significant power. A wizard studies and learn with a tedious amount or work and memorization. A sorcerer just is magic.
That statement means several things. One we have to look at the origination of that power. As of now we only have chaos and dragons in the Players handbook and the storm from an unearthed arcana as sources of where this power comes from.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Rogue
Today we are going to get sneaky and talk about rogues. If you missed last weeks article where we added more class to your class Ranger you can check it out here.
So how do you add more to class to your class rogue? Well other than cleric I find that it is entirely possible that rogues off the next in diverse possibilities. If you have been playing a while you might see it but you also might not. Most classes do not have the ability to offer so many possibilities across the alignments other than a difference in personality.
So let me offer up this player tips. Rogues exist on every side of the law and are your specialist within the D&D worlds. Now since they all get sneak attack it does not always make sense but you can play these concepts with ease. You want to exist as law enforcement? Sure you can go warrior but where are you going to get all you skills from? You want to go as an explorer, say an Indiana Jones? He is a perfect fit into the rogue class.
So the next time you are feeling like playing a sneak there is no need to look solely at the petty thief with his only goals being that of wealth. Look to the broader spectrum. You can play a character who at the surface looks boring and blends in with society but when it is time to put on the hat and whip fits in there just as perfectly.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Ranger
Last week I delved into adding more class to your class with the paladin. You can read about it here. Today however we are going deep into the forest with the Ranger. The ranger is one of my favorite class as I am an outdoors kind of guy. Perhaps Because Strider was so powerful that D&D in early editions made it hard to be one but what ever it was the fact that in 2nd Edition you could not just play a ranger made it an impactful class.
With the last several iterations of Dungeons and Dragons they did away with stat requirements to qualify for a class and 5th Edition too away all restrictions. So now those choice classes are ripe for the picking.
So ranger, the class that typically is more at home in the wilderness than in a city. So when making a ranger character there are questions you need to ask. What does it mean to be a ranger? Did you grow up in the wilderness? Did you leave civilization because the people there lied to you and harmed you a deep way? Do you have a connection with nature you do not understand? How did you get started along this career path?
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Paladin
I am back on track with the series. Last week I drifted away talking about The Conan RPG you can read about it here. And the last article in adding more class to your class was the Monk. You can read that article here.
Adding More Class to Your Class – Paladin!
So today’s’ player tip on adding more class to your class is the mighty Paladin. Of all the classes that Dungeons and Dragons have offered over the years I feel that there is something special about the paladin. In Second edition you needed ridiculous stats just to take a level of paladin. Back then I had many dreams of playing one but rarely if ever had the stats to make the requirements.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Monk
It is that time again to explore the depths of your class and Today we are going to explore the Monk. Last week we examined the fighter, if you missed that one you can check it out here.
So what does it mean to be a Monk. You are disciplined and studied. There are two sides to the Monk character in Dungeons and Dragons. You are usually in good physical condition, at least for your stats and to some extent you are spiritual. Let us look at each of those.
To be trained to the level that you can perform the feats a 1st level Monk can do you need to have spent years mastering this craft. You have the knowledge to be a weapon, You have hardened your body and mind in a way that few can posses. All of this by the time you are 1st level. The true masters have the ability to literally pull off what many would say is impossible. That is the realm we are talking about physically.
To be able to do these feats of physical perfection one needs to be centered and content with who they are. All Monks look within and without for balance and connectivity. Some might believe in the gods while others try to claim that they do not exist. But whatever direction you take it is usually with concrete and logical evidence. While Monks in 5th edition no longer need to be lawful there is a pattern to their thought and rarely is chaos helpful.
Adding More Class to Your Class – Monk
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Druid
Happy Friday we made it through another week so that means it is time look again through the window and see what cool new ways that you can play your class in Dungeons and Dragons. Last week we looked into adding more class to your class, Cleric, you can check out that article here. Today we are going to get wild and talk about the Druid.
How do You Add More Class to Your Class – Druid?
The druid as is presented so far in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition has two distinct options. The options are circle of the land and circle of the moon. So far based on what I have seen the druids of the land tend to build their spellcasting characters and either rarely use their wild shapes if at all. If they do use them it for exploration and or stealth. The druids of the moon tend to walk around as people and use their wild shapes for combat. Their spells then are used for healing and exploration.
Player Tips – Adding more Class to your Class – Cleric
Welcome back to another series of mine. Last week we did a player tip to spice up your bard. You can read about that one here. Today however we are going deep into faith and are going to ramp up your cleric.
Now the Cleric is a tricky one because the religion that a character follows can literally put them anywhere on the character spectrum. Clerics can be melee fighters or spell casters. It is all dependent on what your stats are and what god you worship. So how can we add more to an already limitless option.
To do that I say lets do something that will be fitting to the game you are playing and play something that you have not done before. If you are already used to playing a very martial cleric try the other side. If you are more used to playing the stand in the back and heal, go martial.
