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.
Top 5 Ways to Stop Your RPG from Getting Boring
It’s not unheard of for Game Masters to experience what authors refer to as a “sagging middle” and grow tired of preparing material for the same world time and again for players. And players may become frustrated when they hear a GM say they don’t really prepare and instead let players run with things, or become jealous when a GM states they’ve over prepared while you’re struggling to keep things engaging. None of these need be the case! Let’s discuss five ways to avoid a boring middle of your tabletop roleplaying game campaign.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Deadshot Archer Sniper
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take aim at a longtime audience request for an expert archer Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Long range mobile specialists focused on archery is a personal favorite combat strategy of mine so this CBG holds a special place in my heart. The 5E D&D Deadshot Sniper CBG hits the bullseye with all the resources in their quiver from character creation to 20th level. And the special NPC or creature version inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game incorporates a bit of flair from one of my most beloved character types from a previous edition, which was a lot of fun to develop for 5E D&D. So let’s get into it.
5 Favorite 5E D&D Characters
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted take a cue from a fellow YouTuber and share tales of adventurers — and more specifically adventurers — past. It’s indulgent, it’s fun and it’s introspectively interesting to take a long view back at all the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons characters who’ve solved puzzles, talked with other characters, battled fantastic monsters and discovered fabulous magic items and other treasure. And since they got to do it in the video I’m gonna do the same thing right here. A huge roster of 5E D&D characters took up the adventuring life in the last six years and from the group I culled my top five favorites, hopefully each with a little nugget of usefulness to you but certainly a hefty load for me. So let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Fey Court Mage Slayer
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dispense with mirth in favor of misery for a long awaited Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This CBG honestly felt like an oversight on our part. With over three dozen of these things we were frankly shocked when we noticed there weren’t any characters focused on combatting spellcasters (at least not without copious amounts of magic themselves). The 5E D&D Mage Slayer CBG rams through this deficit with grim efficiency to neutralize and take out filthy mages from character creation to 20th level. And as always we create a special NPC or creatures inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game. So let’s get into it.
Meet the Jinxed Mutant of Moon Rises
Nerdarchy’s brand new live play series is called Moon Rises. Utilizing Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System, the story is set in the science fantasy post apocalypse of our own Earth. Our intrepid heroes must help the charismatic leader Unic Hopebringer in reclaiming Manhattan to rebuild it as New Manhattan. We interviewed the cast of Moon Rises to get some insights into their characters, the world and the TTRPG system breathing mechanical life into this alien yet familiar world. Today, let’s talk about Blue, the mutant monkey, and his player Nerdarchist Ted!
Meet the Deep Diver in Moon Rises Cypher System Live Play
Moon Rises is Nerdarchy’s brand new live play series of Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System! Set in the science fantasy post apocalypse of our own Earth, the heroes must help the charismatic leader Unic Hopebringer in reclaiming Manhattan to rebuild it as New Manhattan. We interviewed the cast of Moon Rises to get some insights into their characters, the world and the TTRPG system breathing mechanical life into this alien yet familiar world. Today, we’re sitting down with the player behind the ancient astronaut with a psychic twist! Today we’re talking about the tanky deep sea diver with an alien wetsuit!
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Mysterious Hypnotist
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted mysteriously mystify minds while coming up with a Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. During one of our weekly live chats one of the viewers made the suggestion for a snake charmer CBG we felt inspired to oblige. Certainly there’s enough spells in 5E D&D for any sort of spellcasting character to beguile others with magic but what really intrigued us are the numerous class features capable of clouding minds. This Hypnotist CBG aims to incorporate our favorites into a single character focused exclusively on mucking with minds. Along with the player guide detailing the journey from character creation to 20th level we create special NPCs and creatures inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game. So let’s get into it.
Meet the Psychedelic Astronaut in Moon Rises Cypher System Live Play
Moon Rises is Nerdarchy’s brand new live play series of Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System! Set in the science fantasy post apocalypse of our own Earth, the heroes must help the charismatic leader Unic Hopebringer in reclaiming Manhattan to rebuild it as New Manhattan. We interviewed the cast of Moon Rises to get some insights into their characters, the world and the TTRPG system breathing mechanical life into this alien yet familiar world. Today, we’re sitting down with the player behind the ancient astronaut with a psychic twist!
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Indomitable Defender
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted don the heaviest armor they can find for a new Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. People seem to really love any topic touching on Armor Class for 5E D&D and a whole bunch of comments on an older video discussing AC asked for a bonafide CBG. New character options and changes to some things since the original video came together for the Indomitable Defender combining fighter and wizard for a character with supreme focus on protecting themselves and their allies behind an unstoppable AC. Along with the player guide detailing the journey from character creation to 20th level we create special NPCs and creatures inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game. So let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Mystic Seer
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted indulge the latter’s love of puns and come up with the latest Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. We tend to get a good amount of interaction and feedback on CBGs so I thought this would be a terrific opportunity to walk you through the process and highlight ways you’ll find these useful for your 5E D&D experiences whether you’re a player or a Dungeon Master. After creating so many of these guides we’ve gleaned some unexpected insights ourselves. The Mystic Seer combines the cleric and wizard into an unusual multiclass character with a strong narrative arc to their advancement. In addition where we typically create a generic creature stat block to go along with the player guide this time around we present a specific NPC ready to drop right into your game. So let’s get into it.
Meet the Lovable Lug with a Dark Past and His Tasty Giant Crab Companion in Those Bastards 5E D&D Live Play
Missing constellations, infernal plots and all the sibling feels are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in Those Bastards, our live play fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game streaming on Tuesdays 8-10 p.m. eastern on our second channel, Nerdarchy Live. We got the players and Dungeon Master together to share about the game, their characters and themselves.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Pride Warrior Leonin
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted feel the magic and hear the roar, discussing the best class for leonin in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Leonin let loose on the 5E D&D scene by way of Mythic Odysseys of Theros, an exciting addition to the multiverse from the planes of Magic: The Gathering. Leonin are lionlike humanoids and in the lore of M:tG developed a culture strongly valuing honor and religion. The leonin of Theros developed differently in terms of culture, making a conscious effort to separate themselves from other races and largely abandoning deity worship. As the second and most recently catlike humanoid official 5E D&D race option it seems to me people gravitate towards leonin over tabaxi and all viewers of the video left lots of great comments with their own leonin character ideas. I got caught up in the fun too so I thought I’d share some of them here and create a very special leonin NPC you can drop right into your game too. So let’s get into it.