Kickstarter Korner Oct. 2017, Week 3
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat and generally just hang out and talk nerdy with the Nerdarchy community.
In the description of each weekly video, Nerdarchist Ted compiles a list and links to all the videos and website content from the week. But he also shares a selection of cool Kickstarter campaigns. As an avid Kickstarter supporter, he’s happy to share his favorite RPG and gaming-related Kickstarters with you, the Nerdarchy community. Enjoy!
Voice Acting In Roleplaying Gaming for Everyone
Voice acting in gaming
I have been cast for an upcoming voice acting gig, and this made me think of how this applies to gaming. At first glance I noticed the only one who gets into this at many tables is the one who runs the game. Though with the rise of broadcasts and live streams of gaming such as Maze Arcana and Scarlet Sisterhood, this is going away a bit but the question is why you should put in the amount effort needed to bring a character to life?
Marvelous Phile: Marvel Super Heroes RPG Live Game Play Chat is Good Karma
Hey, guys, Professor Bill here and it’s time to start off the Marvel Super Heroes Roleplaying Game the right way by revamping the old Marvel Philes that used to run out of Dragon Magazine. We’re going to call this the Marvelous Phile (to avoid copyright).
So let’s talk chat participation (because my editor, Doug, is the boss and he promised torture if I didn’t obey. (Do you think he reads these?) [EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, Prof. He does ;)]
Kickstarter Korner Oct. 2017, Week 2
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat and generally just hang out and talk nerdy with the Nerdarchy community.
In the description of each weekly video, Nerdarchist Ted compiles a list and links to all the videos and website content from the week. But he also shares a selection of cool Kickstarter campaigns. As an avid Kickstarter supporter, he’s happy to share his favorite RPG and gaming-related Kickstarters with you, the Nerdarchy community. Enjoy!
D&D Worldbuilding – Getting Players to Help with RPG Creation
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel, there’s a whole playlist of videos devoted to tips, advice and insight for worldbuilding. Creating a setting for your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign – or any tabletop RPG – is an exciting part of the game for many players. Even if you use an established setting like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance or Dark Sun, the people, places and events in your game shape the shared imaginative space and make it unique.
Dissecting the X-Card Controversy
Very recently, the controversy over the X-Card was brought up again. For those not in the know, and I was one of those up until it was recently brought up in our writer’s chat, the basic premise is a system where roleplaying or simulation game players can silently signal the subject at hand is making them uncomfortable, usually in the form of index cards with an X prominently marked on it, that they can tap or raise. While the subject was recently rebroadcast in a vlog, a very cursory Google search has brought up a debate about it that existed at least two years ago.
Kickstarter Korner Oct. 2017, Week 1
Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat and generally just hang out and talk nerdy with the Nerdarchy community.
In the description of each weekly video, Nerdarchist Ted compiles a list and links to all the videos and website content from the week. But he also shares a selection of cool Kickstarter campaigns. As an avid Kickstarter supporter, he’s happy to share his favorite RPG and gaming-related Kickstarters with you, the Nerdarchy community. Enjoy!
Worldbuilding: Fantasy Currency
Hey nerds! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about coinage and currency and how they relate to worldbuilding. In Dungeons & Dragons, we pretty much accept that ten copper pieces are a silver piece, ten silvers are a gold, ten golds in a platinum and we leave it at that. It doesn’t matter, most of the time, where you are, the same coins still apply. [EDITOR’S NOTE: But what about poor, forgotten electrum, the US half dollar coin of D&D? Read on…]
Anyone who’s ever traveled abroad in real life, though, and had to go through the awkward song and dance of having their money exchanged for local tender knows that isn’t true at all. Of course, we don’t bother tinkering with that in D&D most of the time because it’s not really the focus of what we’re doing and for most campaigns – it’s going to be way too distracting to be worth it. But for things like fantasy fiction and the rare campaign that gets down to a lot of roleplay and the brass tacks of the world you’re in, this can be a really nice touch.
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures Copy
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as oppossed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as opposed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Geek and Sundry GM Tips with Satine Phoenix…and Nerdarchy!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztH7NtxVl2M[/embed] Thanks to so many awesome Nerdarchy fans and supporters, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted were able to make it out to Los Angeles earlier this year to appear on GM Tips with Satine Phoenix. The Geek and Sundry program features different Game Masters each week tackling...
Pay-to-Play RPG Paid GMs: Are You Worth It?
What would you pay for a Game Master?
Almost every tabletop RPG requires a GM, yet when it comes to constructing a group the dreaded question is “who will run it?” Many players are put off by the role of GM, whether they are new to the hobby, they don’t want to manage the expectations of others or they prefer to control a single character. I know there are notable exceptions; I am someone who prefers GMing to playing a character, but that is a rare exception. Even I want to step out of the place of control and experience someone else’s world from time to time. In the event that you are a player who cannot find a facilitator I ask, what price are you willing to invest for paid GMs?
Dark Sun Ever Mindful of D&D Psionics
Like Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch mention in the video above, psionics has been a part of Dungeons & Dragons since 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. In the interest of utmost accuracy, the supernatural power of psionics were first introduced to D&D in Eldritch Wizardry, a 1976 supplemental rulebook for the original edition. Also of note are the other now-iconic facets of D&D included in that 60-page digest: the druid class, demons and demon lords like Orcus and Demogorgon, mind flayers, and artifacts like the Rod of Seven Parts and Axe of the Dwarvish Lords.
With those bits of long forgotten secrets behind us now, let’s turn our clairsentience to the future. Based on hints and bits of information shared through social media and in interviews, a fifth edition D&D iteration of Dark Sun is almost certain.
We’ve already got the mystic class available through the Dungeon Master’s Guild, giving D&D players the opportunity to utilize the awesome power of psionics in D&D 5E.
Now we only await the introduction of the sun-scorched setting of Dark Sun.
Unusual RPG Character Builds Tell a Story All Their Own
Years ago, in my great grandfather’s time, the emperor sent out citizens to colonize the wild lands and expand the Empire.
This is how we came to live north of the wall. There we found and settled lands that were more fertile than any the empire had ever seen. The game was plentiful, the water clean, and the soil rich.
We flourished, growing from a settlement to a village growing to a bustling town with every family having its own land.
And then the Greenskins came.
Ten Things DMs Should Know About the PCs in Their Game
Hey nerds!
As the Dungeon Master it can be a chore sometimes to keep the action moving, and many of us want to give each PC a shot in the spotlight by picking on them individually.
That can be difficult though, if you don’t know much about them. I’m not talking AC or hit point totals, though, I’m talking about backgrounds, preferences – generally the fluffy bits.
So today, we’re going to talk about ten things you can ask your players about their characters that make for good points to pick at when it comes to tailoring sessions specifically for them.
I’m going into this assuming you already know to keep it even and get around to everybody, and that playing favorites is bad.
If we’re all on the same page, then here come the questions.
