Kobold Press Deep Magic: Elemental Magic Review
What’s up, nerds? We’ve got something awesome to talk about today, and I’m particularly excited to be presenting it to you because Deep Magic: Elemental Magic from Kobold Press is all about elemental spells and other supplemental material of that ilk for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Hyperlanes Classes: Sci-Fi for D&D
Following up a live chat and offline interview with Hyperlanes creator Ryan Chaddock and a look at species from the cinematic sci-fi ruleset fueled by the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons engine, we’re continuing on through the Hyperlanes corebook with Chapter 3: Class.
One of the best things about D&D 5E is the modular design philosophy. Stripping away all the class features, slots and so forth, D&D character classes are great framework to hang homebrew elements onto. I’ve had a lot of fun creating and playing with things like the barbarian Path of the Azure Primal Path and warlock Void Pact. There are six core classes in Hyperlanes, each with their own archetypes just like D&D. In fact, the class options in Hyperlanes are each built using one of the core D&D classes as a chassis. I’ve read through them all several times, ran a couple of sessions for players using them and certainly imagined more than one character I’d like to play.
Curious as to which ones?
Kobold Press Prepared 2 Adventure Collection: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures Copy
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as oppossed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as opposed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Kobold Press Holds All The Cards in Deck of Beasts
Kobold Press deals a winning hand with Deck of Beasts
Greetings Nerdarchy readers! Has anyone told you that you are awesome today? Well you are, and I believe that awesome people deserve equally awesome things. That being said, I have had the immense pleasure to speak to Kobold Press’s Wolfgang Baur and Inkwell Ideas’ Joe Wetzel about a product they created that has not only amazed me but impressed me. Their creative minds have shuffled together to deal us the amazing, the stupendous, the inspiring Deck of Beasts and Sidequest Decks!
What are these items I speak of you ask? Well let me tell you dear Nerdarchy reader about a dark age in gaming where one would have to lug around entire books just to include one monster. These days, the dark ages if you will, your Dungeon Master would have to turn and reference things which could take up valuable time. As a Dungeon Master, I always wanted to show the amazing artwork detailing the monster they were facing.
Despite my illustrious ability to spout adjectives with prolific prose, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Well this is where the Deck of Beasts comes in.
Shedding Light on Dark Arts Player’s Companion for 5E D&D
Normally I don’t like third party content, especially for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, but this week I found something not only amazingly well made, but well balanced for the most part.
Specifically I found the Dark Arts Player’s Companion presented by Jonoman3000. This product for D&D, found here, is something that hits a special place in my heart.
Specifically I have always loved the likes of Blade, Spawn, and Ghost Rider who meet the darkness head on with its own weapons in hand. So, if thee be not afraid, come and join me in the dark side with the Dark Arts Player’s Companion.
D&D Product Review: Limitless NPCs Vol.1
Limitless Non Player Characters vol. 1 from Limitless Adventures.
NPCs for any D&D occassion
Many a Dungeon Master has encountered a creative wall when it comes to creating interesting, believable nonplayer characters for Dungeons & Dragons. Some only need a brief description and a name, but others can become key points in a campaign setting. They give an identity and culture to the world of the game.
It can be a challenge, though – it’s hard to predict which NPCs your party will take interest in and seek out in future sessions, and sometimes you have to come up with an NPC on the fly when the session takes an unexpected turn. Enter Limitless Adventures’ Non Player Characters vol. 1. The book contains 100 pre-written NPCs with descriptions, stats and loot that can be put into any campaign.
The book organises NPCs into eight categories: ally, charge, contact, foe, hireling, merchant, sage, and quest giver. Some NPCs fit into multiple categories, so the book’s chapters are more broadly sorted into allies, contacts, foes, merchants, and arch enemies. Each character includes a name, a brief description, stats, treasure, and quest hooks that can be found for each under the Further Adventure subtitle.
Product Review: Monopoly Gamer Puts Nintendo Twist on Classic Game
Is it weird that I simultaneously feel offended, as a gamer and nerd, to be blatantly pandered at and almost assuredly going to get it? https://t.co/Y9wfRieKBK
— Joshua Brickley (@OriginalRubahak) June 28, 2017
When I first heard about Monopoly Gamer, I rolled my eyes. “Yet another cheap shot at gamers to buy Monopoly for the 50th time with a dumb gimmick,” I thought to myself. It’s not the first time a company slapped “Gamer” onto a product in a cheap attempt to sell a few more products. (Full disclosure: I did end up buying one some time later, with some personal disgust in my heart, but I couldn’t pass up the color scheme.)
At first glance, it’s just Monopoly with plastic Mario figures instead of generic metal ones, and coins instead of money. Plus, they’re adding IRL downloadable content by means of extra figures you can buy. Commence even deeper eye roll. However, as ashamed as I am of myself, that was enough for me to buy it.
Spider-Man: Homecoming Review (Spoiler Free)
[caption id="attachment_22415" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Spider-Man climbs the Washington Monument in Columbia Pictures' "Spider-Man: Homecoming" [Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures][/caption] Class in session for a review of Spider-Man: Homecoming Hey, guys, Professor Bill of Comic Book University and I saw "Spider-Man: Homecoming" twice… because comic books! Spider-Man is one...
Origins 2017 – game convention from a new perspective
Attending a game convention is not new territory for me. Fresh off of Origins 2017 in Columbus, Ohio, the gaming juice runs at an all-time high and I’m pumped to plow forward with gusto on as a fan of tabletop roleplaying games as well as a savvy up-and-coming Nerdarchy aide-de-camp.
My first game convention was, coincidentally, Origins Game Fair back in the early 90s when civilization was at its peak. I’ll never forget inadvertently joining a world championship tournament of Diplomacy, having never played the game. For about an hour I had my opponents thinking I was some kind of savant, making bewildering moves they’d never seen. Then they realized my cluelessness and my stint as a global leader quickly ended.
Nord Games unleashes Revenge of the Horde on your D&D game
Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde from Nord Games offers an awesome resource for incorporating a variety of monstrous races into your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game. At nearly 200 pages, the book presents creature options for bugbears, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, orcs and more. The book is available through Nord Games in PDF and hardcover options, for $15-45. In addition to the D&D version, there is a Pathfinder edition, too.
Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch backed the Kickstarter campaign, and you can watch their Nord Games-sponsored flip-through video above. In addition to the hardcover book, they received the reference deck, all five encounter builder decks and 258 pawns featuring the new creatures from the D&D book.
IDW D&D Comic Book – Frost Giant’s Fury
Hey, guys, Professor Bill of Comic Book University and by my name, you can probably tell that I kind of like comic books. I review a lot, and one of my current favorites is one that may appeal to every Nerdarchist. The comic in question...
D&D 5E initiative from the Mike Mearls AMA gets a look from Nerdarchy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNpLHTHLKWo&w=560&h=315]
During a May 15 Reddit AMA with Mike Mearls, lead designer of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, he mentioned how the D&D 5E initiative system bugged him and shared a house rule method he uses for his own games.
Critter Compendium brings D&D monsters of the past into the present, with creative new creatures
Critter Compendium by Tobias Beis is a collection of monsters for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, available now as a PDF through the Dungeon Masters Guild for $15. The hefty book presents a wide variety and number of creatures from earlier D&D editions converted to the current ruleset, along with original creations that includes artwork by the author. With 135 entries and appendices describing additional creatures and templates, Critter Compendium has enough creatures to populate several campaigns across the whole gamut of challenge ratings.
