How to Have a Session Zero for Your Tabletop Roleplaying Game
Hail, and well met! In continuing one of my favorite pieces I’ve written for the site here. I’ll be elaborating more on the concept of starting a tabletop roleplaying game campaign once you’ve solidified your premise, which is a fun exercise in and of itself. Nerdarchy has mentioned this in several of their videos concerning Game Master advice, and I’ll be giving you guys my thoughts on the matter. That’s right! We’re talking session zero.
Why You Should Gift Adventure Modules This Holiday
It’s that time of year
For gifts, merriment, and cheer!
Suppose you have a nerd in your life?
What should you get them? Maybe a knife?
An Invitation to the Winter Court
Salutations, nerds! They’re having a fancy party in Fairy and you the patrons have been cordially invited. Today I want to talk about the December Patreon content going out on the Dec. 5. Surprise! It’s a Christmas Party in the Winter Courts. Within you will find some cool party favors like masks of glamour to wear to the festive party and a dueling cane, a few fierce pixies and constructs, some fun denizens of the Winter Court and 7 new Winter Spells, as well as a map and small adventure at this Winter Court Soiree.
The Gingerbread Gang Joins the War in Christmas Village
Are you looking for holiday themed adventure? Would you love to send the Mouse King, Krampus or evil snowmen at your players but having a hard time finding just the right miniatures to use? Please allow me to introduce to you The Gingerbread Gang, part of an amazing assortment of awesome miniatures to add to your tabletop roleplaying games through the War in Christmas Village line.
Khorvaire Schmorvaire — This is the Coolest Thing About Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed an overview of Eberron: Rising from the Last War for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The Eberron campaign setting remains hugely popular, since it was first introduced for third edition D&D. Everybody loves warforged, and artificers, and dragonmarks and elemental airships. But my favorite thing about Eberron only shows up in a few paragraphs at the end of Chapter 2: Khorvaire Gazetteer. Y’all can have Sharn, Breland, Droaam and the Mournlands. I’ll take Xen’drik.
Specialized Gear Like The Mandalorian in 5E D&D
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted shared their insights on the best tier 1 spells for the brand new official artificer class for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The artificer in 5E D&D has undergone a lot of playtesting, with several versions presented through Unearthed Arcana. With the release of Eberron: Rising from the Last War the artificer firmly found a place as the first official new character class for 5E D&D outside of those found in the Basic Rules and Player’s Handbook. But it’s not only players who get to have all the fun with the new artificer class. One of the new creatures in the book gives me a great idea for an ongoing bounty hunter campaign inspired by The Mandalorian and there’s a Challenge 0 entry with a lot of potential. I’m looking at you, magewright.
Making a Low Magic Campaign for 5E D&D Work
Hail, and well met! Today I’ll be exploring something I’ve recently been asked about an awful lot lately through Discord — the concept of a low magic campaign in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The idea of a low magic campaign has been around for a while. It’s talked about enough in the D&D community for the creators of 5E D&D to discuss it from time to time. It’s mentioned in the 5E Dungeon Master’s Guide and was even mentioned as a possibility for 5E, back when it was still D&D Next, and the creators could only speculate on what 5E D&D was going to look and feel like even with the tremendous amount of playtesting for the new edition.
Dreams and Nightmares for the Lord of Dead Dreams in 5E D&D
When we revamped the Nerdarchy Patreon in early 2018, one of the biggest changes we implemented was our Patreon rewards structure. Previously there were individual support levels giving access to more of our monthly rewards. We had Mage Forge, Monster Menagerie, Friend or Foe, Terrible Terrain and Lost Lore rewards. These digital packages included new magic items, monsters, NPCs, encounters and player options like spells, backgrounds, races and subclass options respectively. We took a big step and combined everything into a single product, giving supporters at the $2 level and above early access to our new Fifth Edition products before they get added to Nerdarchy the Store. We launched this new initiative with Empusia, Curator of Souls. And in celebration of International Tabletop Day we put it in the store for free. (It’s still there!) We’ve continued to create full color digital products every month since. And while our design skills have improved since then — both in terms of game design and layout — one of my favorites remains the Lord of Dead Dreams. This was our followup to the free launch title. Since it’s been about a year and a half since creating it I thought it would be fun to look back and see what new ideas come to mind.
Playing an Anti-Hero Like The Mandalorian in 5E D&D
With The Mandalorian Chapter 4: Sanctuary streaming now on Disney+ we are halfway through the first season of this amazing series. Thankfully season 2 is already ordered. Between chapters of the show here on the website we’ve been exploring and developing ideas for a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons bounty hunter campaign. For each installment we’re taking inspiration from various books created by Nord Games. In my home game group I’ve been putting these ideas into practice along with players in our 5E D&D bounty hunter campaign and so far we’re all loving it and having a fantastic time. After watching Chapter 4: Sanctuary I knew immediately which Nord Games product would help next. Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde feels like the perfect fit. So let’s get into it and see how the book will help ramp up the action, tension and drama of our bounty hunter campaign for 5E D&D. (Still no spoilers.)
Conquistadors Take to the Field from Hero Forge!
You know me as the guy who loves miniatures. If you have been here before then you know having options with your minis is the best way to go. Hero Forge is a custom miniature creation company where you can design a mini to your own specifications. You can then have your custom miniature printed in the material of your choice or purchase the STL file and print as much as you like on your own 3D printer. And with the holidays in full swing, Hero Forge offers the perfect way to share the joy of creating custom miniatures with all the adventurers in your life.
Orcs Invade Hero Forge!
Hero Forge offer loads of options for use in creating miniatures for your favorite tabletop roleplaying games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Whether you use it to make your player characters, your special NPCs or your mighty villains, no other miniature service out there is able to give you the variety or flexibility as Hero Forge. With their newest release we are seeing a direction offeing players some cool options and giving Game Masters out there supreme customization with humanoids. They now have orcs available on the site. So if you want a killer Orc Headhunter as a player character or a mighty chieftain for the adventurers to fight or take down, we now have the capability to craft and print this amazing staple in tabletop gaming.
Dangerous Combat Like the Mandalorian in 5E D&D
When season one of The Mandalorian ends following chapter 8, I’ll be a sad Disney+ viewer. I subscribed to the new streaming service only to watch this show. Incidentally The World According to Jeff Goldblum keeps me coming back, too. Even though I’ve got to wait one long week between chapters of The Mandalorian, I’ve been keeping the bounty hunt going at the gaming table. Right around the time the show premiered I’d gotten a copy of Ultimate NPCs: Skulduggery from Nord Games. Never a greater wretched hive of scum and villainy had I come across for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. A 5E D&D campaign immediately formed. The players loved it, I loved running it and we’re keeping it going. Nord Games helped created the seedy underworld with Skulduggery and engage the players through interesting encounters with Wandering Monsters. After Chapter 3: The Sin, I think Critical Hit Tables for Players and Critical Fail Tables fit the tone for this dangerous and complicated, Mandalorian inspired bounty hunter campaign. (Still no spoilers.)
Are You Ready to Assimilate the Vargarian Collective in 5E D&D?
Eberron: Rising from the Last War released! For those who aren’t familiar, Eberron is an arcanepunk setting with a brand new book for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Arcanepunk as a genre focuses on magic with a twist. In the case of Eberron, the twist is magical technology, AKA magitech! Magitech is an amazing way to inspire fantastical wonder and alien mystery into your world. By assimilating (no pun intended) elements of science fiction into our fantasy we build something new, something… more intense that hits the grandiosity of fantasy while still amping up the science fiction suspense. However, there’s something else I want to talk about when it comes to 5E D&D narrative, but rather than introduce it in the traditional sense, indulge me while I make a point through narration.
Your Custom Card Deck Helps Dungeon Draw Build a Creator Community and Marketplace
I’ve been watching the promotional video and pouring over the details for the Dungeon Draw | RPG Cards Kickstarter. My mind reels with the possibilities. Cards have long been my favorite kind of accessory for tabletop roleplaying games. Many of my favorite types of games are card based in general. Curating a deck of cards to enhance your own RPG campaigns sounded pretty cool. Custom cards, even better. Creating your own RPG cards whole cloth, now we’re getting somewhere. Becoming part of a creator community and marketplace for designing and sharing your custom cards, decks and artwork for others? You really are cooking up a little scheme here, aren’t you Dungeon Draw?
Please Allow Me…
Hail and well met! I’m Sophie, and I’ve been invited to contribute to this esteemed community. I know — big deal. So, let me tell you my qualifications. Well, to start with, I’ve been playing hobby and tabletop roleplaying games since 1977. I started Dungeons & Dragons with the basic “blue box” edition back in 1978. That means I have dice older than some of you. Probably most. However, it’s not just that I’m older than the Nerdarchy guys, I also spent 13 years working in the gaming community.
