Navigating the Surface: Survival in a Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy World
In the world of Aether Skies, the surface is more myth than memory—a cursed, overgrown graveyard full of ruined cities, forgotten gods, and things that don’t stay dead. While the floating cities drift safely above the clouds, the world below festers in darkness, twisted by...
Gladiators, Racers, and Rogues: Non-Combat Challenges in TTRPGs
How to make skill-based, narrative-driven encounters as thrilling as combat. Tabletop RPGs are often defined by their combat mechanics—but what about the high-stakes, high-tension moments that don’t involve a single sword swing? [caption id="attachment_28702" align="alignright" width="192"] Arguably the most famous mul in D&D lore, Rikus was a...
Dreamscapes and Nightmares: Designing Memorable Dream Realms
I love diving into characters dreams when I play D&D and other tabletop RPGs. It is a clear way to bring out back story and work on those charcter goals and plot points. And at times it can even [caption id="attachment_59059" align="alignright" width="232"] The ogre magi...
Races of Resistance: Creating Unique Playable Races for a Gritty Setting
How to Build Grounded, Adaptable Species for Darker, Wilder Worlds In gritty, post-apocalyptic, or chaos-wracked settings, traditional fantasy races can sometimes feel out of place. Elves who live for 700 years and perfect art forms don’t always mesh well with rusting spires, toxic rain, and mutant-hunting...
Building Floating Cities: Worldbuilding in the Sky
In a world where magic keeps cities aloft and the ground below is teeming with horrors, worldbuilding doesn’t just mean mapping streets and markets—it means rethinking gravity itself. Floating cities in Aether Skies aren't just marvels of arcano-engineering, they are pressure cookers of political tension,...
Chaos Magic and You: Designing Unique Magical Mechanics for Your Campaign
Chaos magic introduces an element of delightful unpredictability to any tabletop RPG campaign. It upends player expectations, sparks creative problem-solving, and can shift a carefully orchestrated scene into unexpected chaos. Inspired by the Under the Dome campaign, where chaos magic shapes much of the world,...
Exploring the Aether Skies: A World of Magic, Espionage, and Horror
Starting in the near future Nerdarchist Dave will be returning to the world we started making years ago for a campaign on the channel. We have three videos talking about it already on the channel with more to come. We also did a full fledged...
Faction Wars: Integrating Gang Politics into TTRPG Gameplay
How Gang Rivalries Shape Player Choice, Storytelling, and the World of Crystalia In many tabletop RPG settings, factions act as power players in the world’s social, economic, and criminal ecosystems. Whether they’re noble houses, religious sects, corporate overlords, or underground crime syndicates, factions provide conflict, intrigue,...
Post-Apocalyptic Roleplay: Building a City Like Crystalia
Creating a vibrant, self-contained city for your post-apocalyptic tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) campaign requires a careful balance of exploration, societal tension, and intrigue. Inspired by the dome-covered metropolis of Crystalia from the Under the Dome D&D campaign, here are actionable insights to help Game Masters...
The Karthid – The Tideforged of the Black Tides
If you have been following the channel for a bit you would know the direction of the things that Dave and I are working on. My big push right now is building out some great content for Under the Dome. This is a post apocalyptic...
Capture the Classic Spelljammer Feel in Your 5E D&D Games
Spelljammer is coming to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons! For years 5ED&D has expanded into Magic: The Gathering worlds, Critical Role’s Exandria and even universes like Rick & Morty and Stranger Things. However, some classic settings like Dark Sun and Planescape have yet to make an appearance. It occurs to me there might be those who aren’t familiar with Spelljammer so let’s talk about how to get the feel for the setting and how it might be used in my own campaigns.
Dragon Armies Wage War in D&D Direct Dragonlance Trailer for 5E D&D
https://youtu.be/DE69_iKAWIs The D&D Direct press kit material related to Dragonlance included only this teaser trailer. After the live streamed public event and private press events related to the astonishing deluge of announcements we'll have more details. The standout feature for me in this trailer is the...
D&D Direct Announces WizKids Spelljammer Figurines Including Gargantuan Astral Dreadnought
https://youtu.be/Isd_OhDF6_8 Coinciding with the announcement at D&D Direct about Spelljammer for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons there a whole bunch of incredible new miniatures and figurines from WizKids. This highlight video evokes strong Thor: Ragnarok vibes, which I'm totally on board with for a Spelljammer campaign. The...
D&D Direct Announces Spelljammer Confirmed with Astral Adventurers Guide, Boo’s Astral Menagerie and Light of Xaryxis
https://youtu.be/rPfsTlxJh9o When I saw the D&D Direct press kit for the first time the astounding variety of folders no doubt containing awesome 5E D&D content barely registered because not far from the top of the list Spelljammer snatched my attention right away. Now this is how...
5E D&D World of Monsters — Beasts
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted picked up a video series called Nerdarchy’s Guide to D&D Monsters. We launched this series a few years ago with aberrations but one thing led to another and yadda yadda yadda we’re revisiting the topic now. These video guides cover tips for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players on what to expect and how to manage things when a particular creature type shows up in your campaign setting and adventures. I dig this series personally because a theme like this makes a great jumping off point. Here on the website I take the topic in a different direction and ask what if beasts are the only type of monsters in your 5E D&D world?
