Newest 5E D&D Unearthed Arcana Provides Path to Draconic Power
New playtest documents for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have been rolling out recently and presenting new options for characters to explore. Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Draconic Options is the latest one to continue the trend with new race options, which revamps the dragonborn and kobold races for players. Both of these, especially the former, have widely been considered weak options despite the great affection players hold for them. It’s also interesting to note the alternating approaches as either lineage or race. Along with these fresh takes on draconic races this Unearthed Arcana presents a handful of feats and seven new spells for 5E D&D. So let’s get into it.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Ranger Archetypes by a Factor of Three
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted have taken a shine to my posts over here looking at fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons homebrew content contributed to D&D Beyond. There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious. Since spring is in the air and I’ve been out working the garden this week I’ve got the natural world on my mind so today I’m focusing on the 5E D&D ranger. (Druids got their fair share already!) There are ranger subclasses in the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and outside of official sources there are countless Ranger Archetypes created by players all over the world. We put the finishing touches one of the the ones we’ve created just this past week and shared it along with a bunch of other new subclasses, spells, magic items and creatures. I’ve definitely got the 5E D&D ranger on my mind and I’ll pluck out the Top 10 homebrew Ranger Archetypes. There’s currently over 925 homebrew of them so let’s get into it.
Enter Aizendore’s Vault of Tragic Treasure — If You Dare
We are all familiar with the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Pop culture is a powerful thing, eh?) We see that guy — a “Top man” — carrying the Ark of the Covenant away, then the camera zooms out, revealing countless more crates stretching as far as the eye can see. “What artifacts are locked away in all those other crates?” We hear you ask. Today we are presenting you with our very own “Top man” and he too safeguards countless dangerous and deadly artifacts. His name is Aizendore, a formidable wizard and his Vault awaits.
Speak Your 5E D&D Truth as a College of Eloquence from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted master the art of oratory to discuss the College of Eloquence Bard College for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Storytelling potential from this Bard College from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything ranks high in my book like most 5E D&D subclass options beyond the Player’s Handbook. Over the lifespan of any edition of the game the character options tend to become increasingly niche. As my perspectives grow and change I’m refining how I view the relationship between storytelling potential and mechanics and I’m curious to discover where I land on the College of Eloquence so let’s get into it.
Come to that Fantastic Note with College of Creation from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted strike a cosmic chord to discuss the College of Creation Bard College for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. When it comes to storytelling potential this Bard College from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hits the ground running with extremely evocative introductory text. This flavorful section even folds some new lore into the D&D multiverse through the concept of the Song of Creation, which points to legendary draconic entities Bahamut and Tiamat as the first singers of this cosmic music. While my approach to 5E D&D starts with story more than mechanics I’m discovering the latter impacts my perspective more than it used to, at least as we continue these deep dives into the subclasses found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. So far they’ve all been oozing with storytelling potential but in many cases the mechanics either fall flat or illustrate power creep. I’m curious to see where the College of Creation falls so let’s get into it.
Form Doesn’t Meet Function for Path of Wild Magic Barbarians from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took a walk on the wild side to talk about the Path of Wild Magic Primal Path for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons barbarians. This unusual Primal Path is found inside Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Since my approach to D&D always centers on the story more than mechanics in 5E D&D the same as it did when I started playing the game with the classic Red Box whenever I check out new 5E D&D material from Wizards of the Coast, our own content or any other creators I’m most interested in how these characters, objects and places inspire the gaming experience. This applies whether I’m the Dungeon Master or not and my perspective often surprises people, these days mostly because of the sort of work I do. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced lots of exciting new subclasses to the 5E D&D and I’m gonna explore my own deep feelings about the Path of Wild Magic and what it brings to the table.Let’s get into it.
A Never Ending Parade of Characters and NPCs on NeverEnding
By guest poster Jamie Van Doren, Founder/CEO of NeverEnding, Inc
Dungeon Masters and players tend to have hundreds of character ideas living rent free in their head. And that’s just where they’ll stay unless you’re an artist or can afford thousands of dollars in character commissions. At least that’s how it used to be. NeverEnding is a brand new TTRPG company developing an entire digital tool box for DMs, players, streamers and storytellers of all kinds.
Make RPG Experiences Come Alive Through Finely Crafted Boxed Text
My personal Game Master style has been described to me as descriptive and evocative and this greatly pleases me. Whenever I play a tabletop roleplaying game the juice for me is imagining what it is like for a character existing in whatever settings and surroundings the game entails. So when I’m behind the GM screen it’s important to me to elicit the same immersive experience for the other players. Conjuring vivid imagery of people, places and things helps players put themselves in their characters’ perspectives and brings the world and the game itself to more vibrant life. The folks behind dScryb feel the same way and they’ve put together a terrific resource to help GMs free up their time and create a sensory experience to help set the narrative tone, introduce scenes and spotlight what is important in your worlds of epic fantasy.
Your 5E D&D Game is But a Dream with Fey Wanderer from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
My approach to Dungeons & Dragons always centers on the story more than mechanics. This remains true for fifth edition D&D same as it did way, way back in the day when I started playing the game with the classic Red Box and applies whether I’m the Dungeon Master or not. My perspective often surprises people, these days mostly because of the sort of work I do. So whenever I check out new 5E D&D material from Wizards of the Coast, our own content or any other creators I’m most interested in how these characters, objects and places inspire the gaming experience. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced lots of exciting new subclasses to the game and I’m positively enchanted by the Fey Wanderer Ranger Archetype and what it brings to the table. So let’s get into it.
D&D Dark Alliance Explodes with Fantasy Action
Dungeons & Dragons fans who just can’t get enough fantasy action at the tabletop can satisfy their craving for thrilling combat on June 22 when Wizards of the Coast launches Dark Alliance. This explosive action roleplaying game builds on the deep lore of the Forgotten Realms for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One Consoles and Xbox Series X|S. Dark Alliance features real-time combat and dynamic co-op gameplay against iconic D&D monsters. The game is developed by Tuque Games, which WotC acquired in 2019.
Candlekeep Mysteries for 5E D&D Players and Dungeon Masters Alike
The newest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book, which releases on March 16, is Candlekeep Mysteries. In this anthology of 17 adventures all of the adventure hooks for your 5E D&D characters come from books found in the Candlekeep library in the Forgotten Realms. We previewed what Candlekeep Mysteries contains here. Today I want to explore some ways for 5E D&D players to use these Candlekeep Mysteries adventures beyond the obvious ones the Dungeon Master has at their disposal. One of my favorite things Candlekeep Mysteries offers is the section on Candlekeep itself.
Attack of the 5E D&D Swarmkeeper Ranger from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
The ranger class really catches a lot of flak in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons over the vastness of internet discourse. Every Ranger Archetype since the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook like the ones in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything have attempted to fix these shortcomings. Essentially every Ranger Archetype since the PHB has done two things to greatly help the class. First they gain one additional known spell of 1st through 5th levels. The second thing is a way to deal more damage — typically an additional die per round. The Swarmkeeper is one of two new 5E D&D Ranger Archetypes introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Newest 5E D&D Unearthed Arcana Conjures Up Folk of the Feywild
Full transparency as I’m getting started with this at least a tiny part of my motivation is seeing if I can publish a post before there’s two or more Nerd Immersion videos on the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons playtest document Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Folk of the Feywild. Like Unearthed Arcana 2021 — Gothic Lineages this one presents new race options for 5E D&D. There’s a lot to unpack including a big detail from the last sentence I wrote. So let’s get into it.
Runey McRuneface is the Runiest Rune Knight fighter in 5E D&D
Every Monday evening we go live talking about a topic in the context of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and back in November we etched our thoughts in virtual stone discussing runes. At the time Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hadn’t yet been released but there’d been confirmation of pretty much all the new subclasses included in its pages. The Rune Knight fighter was one of these and I was very excited since the Unearthed Arcana version really captivated my imagination. During the live chat I mentioned how this Martial Archetype could fit very well with Kobold Press’s Deep Magic: Rune Magic so well since those abilities come from a series of feats. Since 5E D&D fighters earn more Ability Score Improvements — which players can substitute feats for with their Dungeon Master’s permission — I wondered just how many runes a Rune Knight fighter could acquire. So let’s get into it.
Confessions of a 5E D&D Twilight Domain Cleric
Every Saturday morning I play in a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game with a bunch of my internet friends. It started off as a Wildemount game where we ran through the Frozen Sick adventure included in the book. I wasn’t sure how long this campaign was going to last so I wanted to play a character who started off at 1st level with their subclass right away. In 5E D&D this means cleric, sorcerer or warlock. I hadn’t really played a 5E D&D cleric for more than a one shot at this point so I decided to play one for this campaign. At the time Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything hadn’t come out yet and the Twilight Domain was still Unearthed Arcana but I wanted to playtest it. So Tunk Girgunkil, variant human Twilight Domain cleric with an urchin background was born.
