D&D Ideas — Name Days
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is name days, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of name days if you thought your last holiday get together was awkward you ain’t seen nothing yet because things could get messy in Dinner Party. The truth about your character’s painful, embarrassing or otherwise personal information comes to light for fellow adventurers to learn along with 54 other dynamic scenarios in Out of the Box. Find out more about it here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Magical Phenomena Materialize from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players received an adrenaline shot with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything injecting a huge number of new subclasses and character options. Like its predecessor Xanathar’s Guide to Everything the latest sourcebook includes a wealth of material for Dungeon Masters too. The back half of the book segues into a resources blending concrete rules with guidance for incorporating fun and engaging content into 5E D&D games. Layering adventures and encounters with these elements brings new dynamics to campaigns and this time around I’m taking a closer look at Magical Phenomena. So let’s get into it.
Customize Your 5E D&D Game with Character Options from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dive into the front half of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Like Xanathar’s Guide to Everything he latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book splits the difference with about half of the content pertaining primarily to player character material and the other half resources for Dungeon Masters. The modular content in this book is dense! The DM tools drew my attention first but the most recent examination put a notion in my mind and I’m curious to see if the Character Options holds any water in this regard. So let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Phantom Rogue from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything contains a variety of new material for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons not the least of which includes subclasses for each 5E D&D class. One of my personal favorites is the Phantom, a Roguish Archetype to allow communication with the spirits of the dead in order to enhance the rogue’s capabilities.
Master New 5E D&D Feats from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Some of the earliest marketing for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons back when it was still the D&D Next playtest phase touted the modular nature of the upcoming new (and still current) iteration of the game. I’ve always felt this was a fantastic way to frame 5E D&D. As the edition matured over the last few years it’s been terrific to watch this approach blossom through each new book release. Now with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything one of the Ur modules of 5E D&D gets a major boost with the addition of 15 new feats taking character customization to a whole new dimension. So let’s get into it.
Master New 5E D&D Maneuvers from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons characters with a warrior vibe of any stripe can discover a lot to love inside Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. All the new subclasses available for 5E D&D players create amazing new opportunities for some really fantastic characters. Not to be outdone by all the magical possibilities a more grounded approach to interaction with 5E D&D experienced a groundswell of cool new options not the least of which are seven new maneuvers adding variety to a warrior’s repertoire. So let’s get into it.
Master New 5E D&D Fighting Styles from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted toss around ideas about a particular kind of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduces tons of fantastic new character options including a few perfect for realizing a character capable of slinging projectiles to deadly effect as a Thrown Weapon Fighting master along with some other really awesome new 5E D&D Fighting Styles. So let’s get into it.
Behind Every Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Sidekicks Stands a Great Adventurer
Adventurers in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons games I’ve run are no strangers to sidekicks whether they’re hired help, apprentices, spelljamming vessel crew or something else. I dug sidekicks when they were introduced through Unearthed Arcana, made their official debut in Dragon of Icespire Peak and most certainly in their expansion found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. The sidekicks material in the book provides wonderful guidelines for incorporating these helpful creatures into your 5E D&D games. So let’s get into it.
Cyborgs and Robots Take Over 5E D&D through Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
I want to talk about cyborgs, robots and machines in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons (oh my)! The new Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has everything! Well, it has a lot. Reading through the new 5E D&D subclasses I had some initial thoughts I shared on my YouTube channel and I promised to talk more about them.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Grung Grappler
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take grab onto a small idea for a grung grappler Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The 5E D&D Tiniest Wrestler CBG holds on tight to this concept from character creation to 20th level while the special NPC or creature version inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game stands tall in the center of the arena as a main eventer. So let’s get into it.
Parleying with Monsters in 5E D&D Reveals the Power of Social Interaction
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is officially released! Like countless others around the world I poured through the new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book oohing and ahhing over the fun new character options, my imagination awhirl with possibilities. (We’re already talking about twists and turns for our characters when we revisit Those Bastards!) In the coming weeks we’ll surely create plenty of videos and posts right here exploring what’s inside but there’s one section of the book I absolutely love above all others and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into Parleying with Monsters. So let’s get into it.
What Do Your Unearthed Arcana Subclasses Say About Your 5E D&D Character? Part 5
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted do what they do and pour over the latest Unearthed Arcana 2020 — Subclasses, Part 5 for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This new playtest document presents two new subclasses for 5E D&D. Way of the Ascendant Dragon monks revere the power and grandeur of dragons while Drakewarden rangers use their magical connection with nature to form an enduring bond with a minor dragon, a drake. Dave and Ted cover the subclass specifics in the video and here I’ll look at these 5E D&D playtest subclasses with a mind towards what sort of characters they might represent. So let’s get into it.
5 Ideas to Spice up Your RPG Character Backstory
If I’m being honest I’ve absolutely been That Guy who shows up to a tabletop roleplaying game session with several pages of backstory for my character. In all fairness these times are few and far between and the pages are usually full of narrative instead of exposition, but still Backgrounds are the life blood of your RPG character’s introduction. The events that shaped them up to this point help inform how you portray them and their introduction to the rest of the party. After musing on backgrounds, I wanted to share some ways that GMs I’ve played with have spiced up background elements in games I’ve been a part of. So, let’s cover five ways to make your character backstory more interesting!
Consider Your Character Backstory Before Your Next RPG Experience
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share their thoughts and perspective on the essentials of backstory for a tabletop roleplaying game character. A terrific post from Tribality got the wheels turning on approaching a character backstory not so much as a narrative piece of fiction detailing the events leading up to the adventuring life. Instead a great character backstory functions as a resource to inform game play in the present tense. So let’s get into it.
Does Experience Gain and Character Progression Ruin 5E D&D?
At the crux of nearly every roleplaying game are the notions of experience and gaining levels. The Level Up appears in tabletop RPGs, video games and in the case of Evermore even a theme park! Even the term Level Up is ingrained into our vernacular. However, recently I was thinking about leveling up progression and experience and how the whole things works in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and it got me to thinking maybe, just maybe, leveling up and experience are holding back our beloved 5E D&D.
