Tales from the Shadows Dares D&D Adventurers to Tread the Twisting Paths of Shadow
I’m just going to come right out and state Kobold Press is the best third party publisher of material for Dungeons & Dragons. Their brand of D&D fits right in with my own approach to the game and whenever I get my hands on a new title of theirs I always find lots of stuff for my games. Recently I shared my thoughts about their Book of Ebon Tides and in this post I’m looking at its companion title Tales from the Shadows. The former already had me feeling excited to explore the Shadow Realm (what I call the Dreaming World) in my own games and the latter makes it even easier with 14 adventures playable separately or in sequence. Let’s get into it.
Can 5e Races Be as Interesting as Classes? In Rule of Chaos, the Answer is Yes!
By guest poster Brave Alice Studios
For most 5e players, the race of their character is an important question in character creation. You have some set characteristics and gain some feats. And after that, your race normally stays the same from 1st level all the way up to level 20. All further customizations of your character are done on class level.
Experience Your RPG Sessions Like Never Before
By guest poster Brave Alice Studios
Your imagination is our limit. “Brave Alice” studios, announced today that their 3D World-Builder/Virtual Tabletop, RPG Stories, is coming on Kickstarter on the first of September and for Alpha Testing via Steam this autumn.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Backgrounds by a Factor of Three
I know, it’s crazy. Nerditor Doug wrote so many of these but now I’ve taken over, at least for this one. Backgrounds in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have so many criteria so we get to see how they all stack up. But like usual we are going to look at the backgrounds and evaluate them three different ways and see which of these fan created backgrounds you want to add to your 5E D&D game.
WizKids Throws its Hat (and Various Other Pieces and Parts) into the Kitbashing Ring
Ever since the release of plastic miniatures during the release of third edition Dungeons & Dragons I have loved collecting, using, painting and then kitbashing figures. If you are not familiar with kitbashing it has its foundation in model cars and airplanes long before us nerds who roll funny shaped dice decided to give it a go. Kitbashing means taking parts from one kit and adding them to another or salvaging parts from even outside a kit to make the model you imagine. A super famous kitbash you might not be aware of is the Death Star for the original Star Wars movie. It was put together with model kits used in new ways and new angles to give the Death Star its iconic look.
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay Watching the Monsters Roll Your Way
When I am preparing my session material I like to see what new things I can add to the game. Is there a fun mechanic I would like to explore, an amusing hazard I can add or a location I have not used at all or in a long time that will be engaging for the players?
Capture Those Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Vibes with This FREE Indie RPG
We here at Nerdarchy love tabletop roleplaying games from granddaddy Dungeons & Dragons to underappreciated indie gems like Quest and Animon Story. We love Pathfinder, Cypher System and so many more. Every once in a while we encounter something we just have to talk about. This is the case with Legend of the Forgotten Ballad by cueinn on itch.io.
Activate Beast Mode for Your 5E D&D Games
Penny Dragon Games invites fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players to live on the wild side with Bergin’s Book of Beasts, a 5E D&D supplement featuring over 200 new beasts plus beast themed subclasses for all your adventurers. This fully funded project already unlocked a bunch of beastly stretch goals and shows no signs of slowing down. An awesome resource for players and Dungeon Masters alike Bergin’s Book of Beasts is packed with tons of great material to unleash your inner beast. Let’s get into it.
Journey Over the Troll Bridge and Keep Magick City from Falling into the Lava Below
Hot on the heels of an amazing new tabletop roleplaying game one of the most creative people we know came up with another super fun RPG and it’s available right now. Creature Curation’s Brian Colin put together a brand new game called Over the Troll Bridge, a minimalist OSR (Old School Renaissance) inspired RPG for 1-7 players. Brian developed the game with his kids Wyatt and Ruby, with art by Carey Drake.
Scaling Up Your D&D Game to Giant Proportions
Giants have been a part of Dungeons & Dragons since the beginning of the game. I have always struggled with giants. They did not come up a lot early in my game play and when I watched the old ’80s D&D cartoon giants were much more massive than they are listed as now. But whether giants are just over 10 feet tall or over 100 feet tall they are still ginormous and difficult to interact with in D&D.
Plunge Into the Wilds and Discover Warlock Lairs from Kobold Press
Our awesome friends from Kobold Press surprised me with an advance copy of their new Warlock Lairs: Into the Wilds book releasing March 20, 2022. This will absolutely find a place on my shelf within easy reach because it’s my favorite kind of material and Kobold Press crushes it every time. Warlock Lairs: Into the Wilds contains 19 (wow!) short quests featuring discrete locations with strong themes, unique challenges and engaging story elements you can drop right into your Fifth Edition campaigns. Let’s get into it.
Ember Roc and Other Monsters of Tal’Dorei Inspire New Characters and Adventures
Tal’Dorei Reborn recently released and if you managed to get your hands on a copy from the wonderful people over at Critical Role’s Darrington Press you’ve seen a bunch of new monsters and their respective stat blocks for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. But enough of the book for now — you can hear more on this from us over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel.
Are You Already Playing Lacuna Part 1?
While tidying up my office I rearranged and curated my collection of tabletop roleplaying games on display. Doing so unearthed a small press RPG I discovered many years ago when the terrific Inception movie came out and I wanted to bring the dream heist espionage scenario to the game table. Lacuna Part 1 from Memento Mori Theatricks nails it with this wonderful indie RPG where players take on the roles of secret agents sent into a dream world where they encounter more than they expect and mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.
Flex Your RPG Muscles with the Fantastically Flexible Cypher System
Twice in the past I bounced off of Cypher System. The first time was at a convention a few years ago so I took it with a grain a salt. The second time I was invited to play in a live stream game and after a couple of sessions I bowed out. When Nerdarchist Dave pitched a Cypher System campaign for our Tuesday night group on Nerdarchy Live I was hesitant. But I’m so glad I gave it a shot because since then it’s become one of my favorite tabletop roleplaying games. Recently I started a new campaign with friends using Cypher System so having run it myself now I’m excited to share my impressions. Let’s get into it.
Wizards of the Coast’s Reveals Monsters of the Multiverse Details
Wizards of the Coast held a press briefing recently to share details about the upcoming D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set, which contains new printings of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and a new volume — Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. I’ve got a variety of details to share but I won’t bury the lede for the info a huge number of folks want to know. Monsters of the Multiverse releases for individual sale on May 17, 2022 and it will not be available through WotC’s digital partners like D&D Beyond until this date. Let’s get into it.
