Why Spell Casters Are Sexy
When first being introduced to DnD you will find a variety of classes that are presented before you and at first what draws attention to you might be something that suits your sexual orientation, masculine or feminine if you will. Most women might be more drawn...
It’s time for a 5th Edition D&D Unearthed Arcana book
[caption id="attachment_14051" align="alignright" width="430"] The original Unearthed Arcana book by Gary Gygax for First Edition Dungeons & Dragons.[/caption] Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons has been around for more than a couple of years now. Since its inception, it has been obvious the game’s publisher Wizards of...
Four Reasons We Think You’ll Love Open Legend
Four Reasons We Think You’ll Love Open Legend
Written by: Ish Stabsoz
We know that RPGs are a dime a dozen, and that you can find a system out there for almost any type of game you want to play – and that’s exactly why we are so honored to have a chance here on Nerdarchy to talk to you about why we think you’ll love Open Legend. In this post, we’ll explore the reasons we created Open Legend and talk about why we’re so excited to share our game with the roleplaying community.
It plays like D&D but with more creative freedom
Open Legend was born out of a frustration with a game that we grew up with, a game that we loved (and still do), but, ultimately, a game that held us back from achieving the stories we wanted to tell. It was in the midst of 4th edition D&D that we began experimenting with the home brewed system that eventually became Open Legend. Our experience with 4e was the same as a lot of hardcore D&D fans: it felt too restrictive.
Obviously, we aren’t trying to bash D&D. It’s a great game for players and GMs who want to tell fantasy stories with recognizable tropes and archetypes. And with the strides that fifth edition has taken, D&D is perhaps the best game to achieve that goal in the industry.
But Open Legend was born out of a desire to let players tell any story at the gaming table that they had read in a book or seen in a movie. We didn’t want restrictions like pre-determined class abilities to prevent players from creating the character they’d always dreamed of seeing in action.
We think you’ll love Open Legend because even though it isn’t D&D, it still plays a lot like the roleplaying game that introduced most of us to the hobby. We love what games like Dungeon World, FATE, and Cypher have done to challenge the expectations of how a roleplaying game feels, but we also realize that not everyone is looking for that sort of paradigm shift. A game of Open Legend still feels a lot like D&D. You still roll for initiative, combat is still conducted turn-by-turn and blow-by-blow, and hit points are still the primary indicator of your character’s health.
Character Progression – Awarding Experience and Rewarding Players
There are about as many different ways to handle character progression as there are role-playing systems, but most commonly they revolve around one tantalizing resource – experience points. It might go by different names or work differently from system to system, but at the end of a session most players are excited to rack up some XP. Loot and items may come and go, but XP is a permanent reward, one which drives the game forward and works as a proverbial ‘carrot on a stick’ for your players.
So how, as GMs, do we hand out this resource? Some GMs meticulously calculate exactly
how many points each character receives, while others eschew the XP system entirely and
give out levels at narrative milestones. There’s no right or wrong way to handle character
progression, but it is important to make sure that whatever method you’re using is right for
the players in your group, and that everyone’s on board.
Keep track of it all with Digital Character Sheet
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Nathan Thurston, the creator of Digital Character Sheet, in order to learn about his product. Instead of me telling you about it, I thought I’d let him fill you in. My questions for him are in bold, followed by his answers.
What exactly is Digital Character Sheet?
Digital Character Sheet is software that replaces or supplements a Tabletop RPG player’s character sheet. It was created out of a desire to break away from the sometimes hard to fill, awkward form-fillable PDF character sheets, and provide a more elegant and sensible avenue to store character information.
Tabletop Roleplaying Games – Cypher System by Monte Cook
Tabletop Roleplaying games have been around a while. In the last years many different games have
English: Monte Cook at the 2007 ENnies. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
been made. Some have fallen and and others have thrived. The hobby of sitting around a table and rolling funny shaped dice is possibly the biggest it has ever been.
Some might say that is because of Monte Cook, and other game designers like him. Nerdarchy had the pleasure of interviewing him just the other night and it was a REAL pleasure to do so. Monte Cook has been designing games since he was in college and, if my math is correct, approaching 30 years, designing in the industry.
The Cypher System is a tabletop roleplaying game built on the back of other games, also made by Monte Cook. Numenera was first and was highly acclaimed for its approach and unique fantasy setting. Next came The Strange. This used the core mechanics from Numenera but offered a new setting and different options for character creation designed for that specific world.
It then occurred to Monte Cook that not everyone wants to play in a specific setting and the core rules that these system used could be expanded upon to make a system that was setting universal and in addition could handle any genre of tabletop roleplaying games.
And so The Cypher System was born. The Cypher System offers things that many other games do not and truly rivals the other games as you can make anything you want.
Major Advantages of the Cypher System
Arcknight: Flat Plastic Miniatures – Gaming options
Many of you out there like to have hordes of options when it comes to visual items to add to your gaming 
options. 3d minis comes in several options or styles. Usually you can get pre-painted plastic miniatures but these are usually blind purchase and the cost winds up being around $4-$5 a piece higher if you are going to just grab them off of ebay.
You can go away from the blind purchase and go for the unpainted miniatures. Here you can see exactly what you are getting and wind up paying a better price per mini but if you want them looking good you have to assemble and paint them yourself.
However what if that those prices or options are not to your liking. Well you could go and grab some cardboard pawns. The flat packing pawns with bases offers smaller storage and usually come in packs so you know what you are getting. Always handy.
I have been in games where these pawns are used and while they are great the paper minis are subject to the hazards of spills. When the excitement is high the chances of something getting knocked over or be subject to pizza fingers.
Here is another option for you. Arcknight offers flat plastic miniatures. These amazing miniatures are printed double sided so that you can actually have a front and back. If you are playing with more realistic rules and need to know which way a character is facing you will have that option. The artwork is really great with loads of character options.
Heroforge – Custom Miniatures for your Tabletop RPG
There is a wide variety of miniature lines out there. D&D and Pathfinder both have their fully painted 
ready to go miniatures and for many hero choices they work just fine of you can find a reasonable facsimile. And then you have several other lines that make miniatures including Reaper Miniatures and their Bones line. They are great but they come unpainted and in some cases un-assembled.
For those of you that are unaware Heroforge offers fully customized minis that are 3D printed made to your exact specifications. And they are not limited to designs just for your D&D game. Heroforge offer Custom Miniatures for your tabletop RPGs for fantasy, western, sci-fi, modern and East-Asian themes.
Not only that but you can fully customize it in a way that blends these elements together should your specific character need that. When you go to their site: www.heroforge.com you are presented with a body that you can change the race, make it male or female and dress/equip it with all manner of gear and accessories.
The detail on your choices is amazing. you have the ability to alter on a sliding scale the facial expressions, the muscle tone and every body dimension you might want, height, weight, curves, booty, bust, waist and build. These choices alone make your model more custom than anything else that I have seen.
Star Wars The Force Awakens – Beginner Game Review – More in the Box than You think
Hello fellow Nerdarchist and Star Wars enthusiasts. It is ground breaking time here at Nerdarchy. We 
have been blessed with getting an advanced copy of the Force Awakens beginner game from Fantasy Flight games. It is not even available to pre-order and we already have our copy. This is a first to get a review copy from a major publishing house like Fantasy Flight Games, so a big Thank you to them.
Dave and I each have our own copies of each of the other box sets. You can check out the reviews I did on them here: Star Wars Edge of the Empire beginner game, Star Wars Age of Rebellion beginner game & Star Wars Force and Destiny beginner game.
Taken from the website:
Enjoy all-new adventures in the Star Wars universe with The Force Awakens™ Beginner Game!
The perfect entry into the Star Wars roleplaying experience for players of all skill levels, The Force Awakens Beginner Game introduces a complete, learn-as-you-go adventure that carries you from the sands of Jakku deep into the heart of a mystery that could change the course of the galaxy.
Note: Unlike our other Beginner Games, The Force Awakens Beginner Game will not be followed by a new Star Wars RPG game line. Instead, it draws upon the core mechanics shared by Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™, Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™, and Star Wars®: Force and Destiny™. Players interested in continuing their Star Wars adventures can do so through any of these fully compatible systems.
Titanic Miniatures for your Tabletop Roleplaying Game
Not everyone uses miniatures when you game but many of us do. How amazing is it when the DM places 
an amazing model on the table and the mini is so much bigger than the party. Do you worry that this is the time that the DM is finally going to bring you down?
Imagine how much more terrifying it will be when the mini is of colossal size. Yeah those of us playing 5th edition know that they have removed this size category from the game but gargantuan is only limited by your imagination. I for one love the large size.
I am a proud owner of the Collosal Red Dragon released by WOTC all those years ago. You can Grab one here. The red dragon is big enough that a standard size mini fits in its raised claws. I typically display it that way for humors sake. Dragons are a staple of the D&D game and any fantasy tabletop roleplaying game. With that it is always great to have that looming threat that you can drop that mini on the table.
Until recently there have not bee many options other than this colossal red. Either you had to have something that was a reasonable facsimile or you had to do painstaking work to make your own. Based on the conversations with many gamers and DMs over the years there are far fewer DMs out that that take the time to make individual minis of that size to use as a single encounter. even if they think that they will get to use it again later. Do not get me wrong your crafters are out there. I have seen some spectacular work, but in our diverse niche you are not the norm.
Blast from the Past: Star Frontiers
[caption id="attachment_11744" align="aligncenter" width="776"] My original Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn books and maps.[/caption] A little history [caption id="attachment_11746" align="alignright" width="320"] The original Star Frontiers Referee's Screen.[/caption] In the early 1980s, the world seemed suddenly crazed for everything science fiction, especially space opera. Star Wars had been around for...
The (Historical) Problem with Fantasy Coinage in Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) and the dozens of other games that draw inspiration from it are obviously fantasy. This fact does not stop at the elves, dragons, and magic either. While DnD picks and chooses elements of history to incorporate into its mechanics and lore, it outright rejects other parts.
For example, many pieces of the armor that various editions of DnD present are accurate enough for a game but others, such as studded armor, both never existed and would not have been beneficial had they existed (that, however, is the subject for a different article).
Another one of these less than historically accurate examples is the various coinage these games have presented over the years. Before I begin, I ask that the reader understand that the phrase "historically accurate" refers to the historical parallels DnD draws with real earthly history.
Although the game is obviously fantasy, it is set in a world bound by many of the same societal values and ideas we humans have had regarding such topics as the value of goods, services, and most importantly for this article, metals.
Firstly, DnD would have been greatly weakened by a historically accurate monetary system. Historically, money was not built on the modern system Americans use today (10 pennies equals 1 dime, 10 dimes equals 1 dollar etc.) Additionally, while American currency does not always transfer directly to other nations currency, theirs also tend to be based on a metric like system.
The TOP 10 most common Mistakes made in D&D 5e
Hello, fellow Nerdarchests…
I recently found this blog talking about mistakes made in D&D 5e. You can find the original article on the Dungeon Master’s.com or by clicking- here. I wanted to share some of the 
highlights as well as give some people insight on good things to know to make their games run smoother. Hope its helpful.
If you’re like me you’ve been playing D&D a long time and 5e is not your introduction to this wonderful game. And if you’re like me you haven’t read every single page of the PHB and DMG. You’re an experienced player, you know what’s what. You rely on your experience and looks stuff up when you need to (good luck finding it in the PHB index).
However, as I play with more and more new players I find that many of the rules I thought were the same in 5e as they were in previous editions are not exactly the same. Many are quite similar but because I hadn’t taken the time to look them up I was doing things incorrectly. That’s not to say these errors broke the game, but if I’m doing things in a way that is contrary to the actual Rules As Written (RAW) that may cause confusions and lead to arguments in real life. Better to get it right and share that knowledge with others who didn’t know.
So to help all those experienced players like me who haven’t read the rule books cover to cover, I’ve compiled a helpful list of common mistakes I’ve seen or done when running or playing 5e D&D. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it covers the most gross violations and misconceptions. And to assure you that everything I say in the article below is correct, I’m even going to site page references from the PHB as applicable.
1) Surprise!
Repeat after me “There is no such thing as a surprise round in 5e.” Don’t believe me, look it up. The first round of combat can function differently than normal if some creatures (friendly or hostile) are surprised. This is usually based on who’s hidden and who’s not, but there are other factors. Don’t even get me started on the Ambuscade action Rangers get in the Unearthed Arcana article. That’ll just make your head hurt.
(PHB pg. #189)
2) Initiative
Two players and a monster all roll the same number on initiative. Who goes first? In previous editions ties were settled by the Dex modifier or Dex score. In 5e that’s not the case. When players get the same result on their initiative check, it’s up to them to decide amongst themselves who goes first. The Dex score, the Dex modifier, and even the number on the d20 are all irrelevant. They just talk it out and decide. Of course if they can’t decide then they can roll off or find some other way to settle the dispute. Likewise if a bunch of monsters get the same result the DM can decide what order they go in.
Now I remember reading somewhere that when the DM and players tie the players ALWAYS go ahead of monsters. I’ve scoured through the PHB and AL Players Guide and I can’t find that written anywhere. Maybe it was something that was in the D&D Next play test? In any case, I’ve been applying this rule since 5e was launched and it’s worked very well. If anyone knows where this “rule” came from, please let me know in the comments below.
(PHB pg. #189)
3) Movement
Movement has changed (for the better) in 5e D&D. You can now move throughout your turn. You can move, attack, move some more, attack some more, move again, attack again using your bonus action, and move even more. You’re no longer forced to do all your moving at the beginning or end of your turn. Break it up into 5 ft increments and use them when you need to. Just be sure you understand how opportunity attacks work (more on that below).
One other thing about movement is the Dash action. This replaced the double-move common in previous editions. Think of movement in 5e as a pool of steps. When you take the Dash action you get more steps added to your pool. So a Rogue can use their cunning action to Dash as a Bonus action (adding to their pool) and then use their action to Dash (adding to their pool again).
(PHB pg. #190)
4) Bonus Actions
Many players who came from 4e liken bonus actions to minor actions. Although they are similar, they are not the same.
◾You cannot downgrade your action or your move to take a second Bonus Action. You get one bonus action per round; that’s it.
◾Many bonus actions can only be taken when you do something specific with your action. For example, if you make a melee weapon attack with your action, you can then make one off-hand attack as a bonus action. You cannot make the off-hand attack if you do something else with your action, like Dodge or drink a potion. (PHB pg. #189)
5) Opportunity Attacks
The 5 ft step or shift is no longer a thing in 5e. If you back away from an enemy, moving out of their threatened area then that enemy can take a free swing at you (what we like to call an opportunity attack). Once inside a monster’s threatened area (usually all squares adjacent to that enemy) you can move freely wherever you want as long as you remain within their reach. So if you’ve got the speed you can literally run circles around an enemy and they will not get an opportunity attack. Remember that in 5e each creature only gets one reaction so if they take an opportunity attack against you they won’t get one against your ally when he runs away. Unless the enemy goes between you and your ally, then you’ve got a problem.
In 5e fewer things provoke opportunity attacks than in previous editions. For example, if you stand up from prone, an adjacent enemy does not get an opportunity attack. And if you make a ranged attack, an adjacent enemy does not get an opportunity attack – however, you do have disadvantage on the attack roll.
To Game or Not to Game?
Hello fellow Nerdarchests, I hope to find you all having a great time. I wanted to address an issue some [caption id="" align="alignright" width="350" class="zemanta-img"] The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (TV special) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] of us might have and that is trying to run multiple games...
Review: Challenger, a free role-playing game
The cover of the Challenger RPG.
In the early days of tabletop role-playing games, mainly meaning the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, there was a certain amateur charm and excitement to the products. The artwork was decent, but not quite up to professional levels. The writing was personal, not full of corporate speak, with the occasional error. Even the rules were somewhat questionable, fairly simple but not always making sense.
The Challenger free role-playing game reminds of those days.
Obviously an amateur work, though a work of love, the Challenger game is written as if one of your gaming buddies was sitting across a table from you while excitedly telling you about his or her latest creation. The rules are simple, especially by modern standards, but they still seem to get the job done. The focus is upon rolling fewer dice so the role-playing aspects of the game can shine through, all while working hard to present a
