Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep Revealed for 5E D&D
That mystery book for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons showing up on Amazon recently now has a name — Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep. According to the official D&D website this epic Critical Role campaign asks adventurers — can you change fate?
Penny Dragon Games Unleashes a Horde of Horror for Halloween
By guest poster Ben Doherty, founder of Owlbear Press
*Inhales* Ahhh… Can you smell it? The sweet stench of decay? That magical time of year draws close. The leaves are falling from the trees. The dead are rising from their graves. Halloween, like a werewolf stalking in the moonlit night, is almost upon us. And you’d best be prepared. Stock up on supplies — bobbing apples, candy corn, and plenty of pumpkin spice — and barricade yourself inside, whether it’s a suburban home, a cabin in the woods, or your recently deceased estranged uncle’s castle. It’s time to get the gang together, formulate a survival plan… and play some D&D.
Mag of Holding Haunts Your 5E Games with Gothic Horror Just In Time for Halloween
Penny Dragon Games added another title to their Mag of Holding series, following up on Frozen Wastelands and Pirates & Seafaring with Gothic Horror. This collection of encounters, creatures, curses and lore makes a fantastic asset for any Game Master and with the Halloween season upon us it’s the perfect thematic content for Fifth Edition players.
Top 5 Official Campaign Settings for 5E D&D
Here at Nerdarchy we love our fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The system is fluid and elegant, allowing for play in a variety of different settings. But maybe you’re new to the RPG hobby and you’re just not sure where to start when it comes to a campaign setting. While we tend to like our own homebrew settings, building an entire world can be a daunting task — especially for someone who’s just picked up a book and a set of dice for the first time. But don’t let your knickers get in knots; we’re here to help.
Quest RPG is Perfect for a Live Roleplay Stream and You’ll Never Guess Why
Recently on Nerdarchy Live we completed Ingest Quest 2, hosted by our own beloved Nerditor Doug. Quest RPG was the system powering our romp through culinary weird space and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit skeptical of this new system. However by the end of everything, I think Quest RPG is one of the best systems out there for running an entertaining game stream. Let’s explore some takeaways from the game and what Quest RPG does really well to make itself an ideal system for roleplay heavy groups and thus, conducive to a great stream game.
5 Random Tables to Avoid Boring 5E D&D Characters
Too many times I’ve begun a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign with the phrase, “You meet in a tavern…” and given zero thought to what the player characters might be doing in the tavern in the first place. I never gave thought to why the druid who doesn’t drink would be in the tavern at all. Last night after our game of Ingest Quest 2, Nerditor Doug, Nerdarchist Ted and I had a conversation about gaming groups and how to make D&D characters more interesting.
Embracing the Core Principle of Quest RPG Makes a Guide’s Life Fun, Rewarding and Easy
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share their experience and a general overview of playing Quest RPG. I fell in love with this whimsical RPG a while back and when my turn in the hot seat came around on our Tuesday night games at Nerdarchy Live I couldn’t wait to Guide the group through creating a story with Quest RPG. In the video the guys discuss their impression of the game from the player side of things and mention their curiosity about the nuance of being the Guide — Quest’s iteration of a Game Master. I’m the Guide for the group in which they play and as a follow up to the initial thoughts I shared after first discovering this wonderful RPG I aim to do so right now. Let’s get into it.
Advancing Your 5E D&D Franchise with Acquisitions Incorporated
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons’ campaign setting books do a masterful job providing all the tools and resources players need to create unique experiences within each particular environment including inspiration, encouragement and guidance for developing your own ideas. My favorite book of the bunch — Acquisitions Incorporated — expands tremendously on the concept of running a business included in the 5E D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. Let’s get into it.
Enduring the Elements of Weather Adds to Immersion in Your RPG Experiences
Get your ponchos and snow boots ready because we are about to get wet as we brace for all sorts of inclement weather. The one aspect of roleplaying games that always keeps me coming back for more is the opportunity for creativity. The opportunity to create worlds, characters and entire universes is really awesome. With these opportunities the weather is a factor I personally do not see frequently in games. Attention Game Masters — this is the perfect way to lead to a TPK. Just kidding about that, but adding weather elements is a way to spice up your game. Match the weather to the environment and see what happens. Descriptive weather can add to the story and immersion of your game without any additional mechanics added.
Show, Don’t Tell, Your Tabletop Roleplaying Game Character’s Fear
Salutations, nerds! I’ve got ideas about roleplaying to share once again and this time I’m touching base on fear rather than anger. These two in particular popped out at me because they’re the ones I’ve noticed people hesitate most to get in there and play out. Of course it’s easy to say “I’m afraid” but roleplaying fear without being a ham about it is a whole other matter. How subtly you can get away with roleplaying fear depends on the length of your campaign and a party’s awareness of one another. Without farther ado let’s get into some basic tips and tricks for roleplaying fear.
Animon Story is an RPG Love Letter to Pokemon, Digimon and Beyond
Animon Story is a tabletop roleplaying game love letter to fans of Pokemon, Digimon, Temtem, Monster Rancher and dozens of other monster raising games. This game lets players create a Kid Character and a partner monster and it’s everything I wanted in a Mon RPG! In fact I’d argue Animon Story is the best tabletop RPG you’ve never heard of.
Show, Don’t Tell, Your Tabletop Roleplaying Game Character’s Anger
Salutations, nerds! The topic of this post is roleplaying emotion in tabletop roleplaying games. Like everything else the depth to which you go into your roleplaying depends a lot on your group and what your particular campaign is focuses on but I know a lot of players who have a rough time finding the middle ground between simply stating, “My character is angry” and decapitating someone. Mind you, decapitating someone is fine if the situation calls for it. But let’s get into a few of the ways you can show your character is starting to get a bit ticked off before we get there.
These Shoes Were Not Made for Adventuring
One component many adventures fail to take into consideration is the importance of proper footwear. It is generally assumed you have boots on, which sure, in a general adventuring setting could work. But where are the details, the creativity? Ah, yes, I see you are wearing boots to your adventure. Please excuse me while I cheer with joy at the creativity level. (Joking. I take fashion to an entirely different level in RPGs.)
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Expands What 5E D&D Can Be
A press briefing early this week gave Wizards of the Coast an opportunity to share details about the three new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons books slated for release in fall 2021. Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos gives 5E D&D adventurers a chance to play students at an incredible magical school and the five unique colleges comprising Strixhaven University, drawn from the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering. Characters explore the setting over the course of four adventures, which can be played together or on their own. The book also includes a poster map showing Strixhaven’s campuses on one side and location maps on the other. Let’s get into it.
Wild Beyond the Witchlight Whisks 5E D&D Adventurers to the Domain of Delight
During a press briefing earlier this week Wizards of the Coast shared lots of details about one of the three new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons books slated for release in fall 2021. Wild Beyond the Witchlight takes adventurers from the Witchlight Carnival to the Feywild and is designed for 1st-8th level characters. This book comes with a poster map showing the carnival on one side and the Domain of Delight Prismeer on the other. Chris Perkins, senior story designer for Dungeons & Dragons, revealed some whimsical secrets about the first official 5E D&D Feywild adventure so let’s get into it.
