Unearthed Arcana — Heroism Paladins and Eloquence Bards
The round of Unearthed Arcana playtest content with new subclasses for each class in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons has come and gone. D&D players had opportunities to read through them, discuss them and playtest these new D&D subclasses, and provide feedback to the D&D design team through surveys. On the Nerdarchy YouTube channel we’ve got videos about each of the Unearthed Arcana playtest packets for these new D&D subclasses too. I always like to imagine how new content adds to a D&D campaign, and also speculate on what sort of product playtest material could be part of down the road. So let’s get into it with the Oath of Heroism paladin and College of Eloquence bard.
Is Necromancy Evil in D&D?
It’s that time of year, when you hear Spooky Scary Skeletons about half a dozen times before you get tired of it. That got me to thinking about skeletons and necromancy in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Back in the old days, paladins were always lawful good, and necromancers were always evil. But the times, they are a’changin’ and now we’ve got the Grave Domain cleric, the Shadow Magic sorcerer, and others with this definitively dark, necromantic theme, but they’re much more ambiguous on whether their powers are “evil,” as such. What’s more, we’ve got clerics all over the place using necromancy spells like spare the dying, revivify, and such for the good of all. So, that begs the question, “Is necromancy evil in D&D?”
Real World Adventure Hooks for D&D — The Bones Await You
When you hear “Chapel of Bones” you probably think nercomancer. It’s at least in your surface thoughts. But there is a real Chapel of Bones in Portugal where the interior walls and columns are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones. The 16th century Franciscan monks who built the place meant to represent the concept of life being transitory best summed up by the motto memento mori. The bones of the chapel are very literal reminders of death. But I don’t see any animated dead or other signs of necromantic shenanigans.
5 Ideas for Your Halloween Adventure
Halloween is fast approaching! Finally! The one time of year when grown-up nerds can cosplay without fear of judgment! It’s also a prime opportunity for some festive tabletop roleplaying game Halloween adventures. With loads of nightmare fuel in our favorite books by Wizards of the Coast, Kobold Press and more, we’re just about set. All we need is to build a framework to unleash these delightfully dreadful monsters. In this week’s RPGtube video, I’ve shared 5 session prompts to keep your players on the edges of their seats! While good monsters and a good plot can make a fantastically frightful session, I’ve thought of 5 ways to immerse your players just that little bit more!
Unearthed Arcana — Twilight, Wildfire and Onomancy
Unearthed Arcana is flowing like elven wine! New playtest stuff for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in the free Unearthed Arcana documents get all the D&D nerds excited. We’ve been enjoying the steady stream of cool new toys to wonder about, and the most recent share from Wizards of the Coast presents three new subclasses for D&D — Twilight Divine Domain for clerics, Circle of Wildfire for druids and Arcane Tradition Onomancy for wizards. Imagining how new content adds to a D&D campaign is always a lot of fun so let’s get into it.
Games Within Games — Skill Challenges and Minigames in D&D
We’ve been talking a lot about tools in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons around the Nerdarchy HQ lately. The topic was the focus for a recent weekly live chat and newsletter, and came up again during a later live chat too. One set of D&D tools in particular — the gaming set — inspired our upcoming monthly Patreon rewards too. Rolling Bones is all about games within the games of our D&D campaign settings and adventure worlds. Our talk and writing about tools and gaming sets got me thinking about minigames in D&D in different ways. So let’s get into it.
Worldbuilding Society and Class Prejudice in D&D
Firstly, I should clarify that when we discuss “class” in this post, we’re talking about the character class mechanic in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, not social class as it exists in our world. The character class system is an integral aspect of roleplaying games whether tabletop, video games, or whatever. That being said, have you ever stopped to think about what a class would look like in a story?
Should You Include Queer Characters in Your RPG?
It’s Pride Month, and I love it! For those who maybe aren’t as familiar, Pride Month is a time when Queer people (or people part of the ever-growing LGBT+ community) the world around celebrate love, life, and happiness. It’s a time of rainbows and good vibes and all that other stuff.
A couple of notes before delving into this article:
- I’m coming at this topic from my own perspective as a Queer person who loves tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs, for short).
- I’ll be using the term “Queer” (with the capital “Q”) to reference the LGBT+ community in its many contexts.
With the increasing visibility of Queer people in our society, the question for many Game Masters inevitably comes up, “Should I include Queer characters in my worldbuilding?” Rather than tell you you’re a jerk if you don’t or try to convince you why you should, let’s have a frank discussion about the reasons you might or might not want to take Queer people into consideration when it comes to your RPG worldbuilding.
How Background Enhances Your D&D Character
The notion of your D&D character having a background is integral to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. It grants you a precious few skill proficiencies, and a combination of tool and language options. While background was a part of 4E, it wasn’t nearly as prominent or impacting as it to your D&D character in this edition, and I think the reason for making background such a big deal is directly related to the attempt of 5E to harmonize mechanics and roleplay.
How Character Introductions Can Make Your D&D Game Epic
As Game Masters it’s our job to facilitate fun! Players have fun when they get to impact the story in a meaningful way. Often, when a player makes a new character, they think about who this character is and how great they are and so on. In my experience, every player usually has some sort of idea about how they would introduce their character such as particular circumstances or roleplaying. Character introductions really set the tone for each character, especially when it comes to more roleplay-heavy parties, like those I’m used to. An introduction or first impression can really make or break a player’s initial passion for their character.
Is Resource Management in D&D Metagaming or a Matter of Perspective?
Over the weekend there was a conversation on Twitter that really got me thinking. Titan Gaming asked RPG players how they decide when to cast their characters’ highest level spells. The proceeding conversation included terrific insights and perspectives from a handful of people and stayed on my mind for the next couple of days. So when it came time to sit down and get something written I felt like it was worth exploring what else there is to unpack. D&D spells are an expendable resource, and spellcasters have a multitude of things to consider when choosing and casting them. But they’re not the only ones. Every class has some form of resource management in D&D — some much more than others — and choosing when to expend these resources can involve a number of considerations. Whether a player holds back the good stuff for the inevitable dungeon boss, leads into an adventure with shock and awe, or waits for the right narrative moment to unleash their power, is resource management in D&D a form of metagaming? Let’s get into it.
D&D and Roleplaying Games Through Critical Illness
I have been a gamer since the age of 14 when I could understand the rules in the old second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. I’ve played through many editions of D&D without a thought, enjoying the ability to take on a new role or create a new world. Here unfortunately is where things take a drastic turn. On April 18, 2016 I was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer, which at current date is at stage 4. A lot of people have asked me how I dealt with it, what did I do, etc. I kept gaming. I ran Savage Worlds and D&D games. I also played in D&D and Pathfinder games. I’ve had the good fortune to play in games here on Nerdarchy not to mention unMade Gaming.
Introduction of Transgender Narratives in 5E D&D
I’ve been discussing the inclusion of trans narratives in 5E D&D games via NPCs with people for a while now, and there are a few points that come up very frequently in discussions with Dungeon Masters. Many of them are very willing to include trans people but are not sure how to go about doing it — How do you include trans identities into lore and worldbuilding? I’d like to discuss some of the most common questions and thought processes DMs have that may be preventing them from tackling trans narratives, as well as providing some solutions as a starting point. This is a topic that has a lot of elements to it, so I won’t be able to cover everything in just one article, even if I tried, so please don’t expect this to be comprehensive and complete. It’s only intended to be a start.
Player Agency and Why Some Curses Are Total Garbage
I promise you I’m not finished talking about Dungeons & Dragons villains, but something came up this week that requires my immediate attention and I will get right back to those as soon as I’m done with this one. Yeah, we’re going to talk about player agency in 5E D&D. I can hear people groaning already. The thing is, player agency has kind of lost its meaning in the midst of all of these discussions about it and I hear it used incorrectly as often as I hear it used right.
D&D Player traits – Backgrounds and the dreaded Background Uploader
There are many traits players can bring to the table that are less than desirable. From the edgelord who always starts in the corner not talking to anyone, to the non-adventurer playing an adventure-focused game. These traits can be tiresome. I put forth that in your D&D games, the trait that deflates a session, and maybe even a character as a whole, the fastest is the Background Uploader. In this article, we’ll explore what makes a Background Uploader, diagnose maybe why it is they do what they do so well and then, to end on a positive note, we’ll talk about ways to avoid it to include a cool background idea.
