2015 gamer gift suggestions for the holidays
By the time you read this, Hanukkah will have passed, but Christmas and Kwanzaa and other holidays are still more than a week away, which means there is still time to purchase presents for your favorite tabletop role players and other gamers. But what to get your friends? Rulebooks and dice are the easy answer, but likely your pals will already have those. If you want to get them a different type of present, check out some possibilities below.
Something chocolate this way rolls
Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e The Paladin
Hello fellow Nerdarchists, Art here. I’m back with the next installment of my series Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. If you missed my previous article on the Monk just click HERE.
Today we are upholding our vows with…the Paladin!
AS always I’d like to talk a little about the class and its’ uses in multi classing. First I think the paladin can be the most effective “Tank” in the game due to the new content in the Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide with the Oath of the Crow Paladin class path. Being able to force opponents to attack only you can be quite a strong ability. When multi-classing you can combine the Paladin’s ability to smite with other class features to create some insane damage combos as I’ll give you a few here. Also the Paladin can be a great healer with their “Lay On Hands” abilities to keep other characters up in a fight even if its only healing for a few points at a time just to get them up and out of danger. It also lets the Paladin be very hard to kill due to their ability to cast Cure Wounds as well, combined with their Lay on Hands. Now on with the builds…
Liven up your role playing games with music soundtracks
Players and game masters alike often look for ways to spice up their role playing games, to perhaps add a little atmosphere. Music can be essential to such a quest, providing background sound to keep play on an even keel or highlighting adventurous moments with a boost of adrenaline.
Longtime gamers likely will have their favorite tunes, but those new to the hobby might be wondering what music goes best with a session of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Traveler, or any number of tabletop RPGs. Also, with the holidays upon us, you might be looking for some gift ideas for your favorite gamer.
I have found that soundtracks often provide excitement and variety to gaming sessions. Obviously music is a subjective matter, much like deciding upon a favorite role playing game, but over the years here are a few soundtracks that have proved quite successful at my gaming tables:
Conan the Barbarian
Celebrate the upcoming Holidays with Star Wars
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="350" class="zemanta-img"] English: Opening logo to the Star Wars films (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] Hello and Happy Monday from us here at Nerdarchy. As we are about to move into December and all the holidays and potential time off from School and Work, why...
Remembering all my D&D and gaming pals at Thanksgiving
Here in the U.S. we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, a holiday in which we go shopping, watch football and eat way too much. Oh yeah, and we give thanks for the good things in our lives. As part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this year I...
Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e (The Cleric)
One quick note, this article come after the release of Sword Coast Adventures Guide, so my article will contain builds including content from that book as well. If you missed my last article on the Bard click HERE to take a look. Today we are going to prey to the gods with… The Cleric
I’d like to start with a quick overview of the Cleric so I can clear up a few issues with the class as a whole.
To start off, the Cleric as a class falls off at eighth level due to the class features only coming from the domains themselves. There is no base class feature at later levels. Also, the ability to cast Revivify as a third level spell removes most of the need for Raise Dead. With this I feel that the Cleric when multi-classed with any other primary spell caster is the best option sense the multi-class spell slot chart on page 165 of the Player’s Guide still allows for the same amount of spell slots needed to cast higher level heals and party buffs. With that explained let’s get started.
Multi-class Character – The Cleric
Cooperation Versus Character – Player Tips for Your Gaming Table
Loud footsteps echo through the stonework halls as you pursue the fleet goblin. The breath comes heavy and hot in your lungs as you round a corner and, without warning, there he is. A dead end! You have the jewel thief dead to rights. He throws his dagger to the ground with a clatter.
MARLENE (playing Warner, the paladin): “All right, give it up. You’re all out of options.”
JEFF (the Dungeon Master, voicing the goblin thief): The goblin cringes, then lets out a long breath, his eyes downcast. “Okay. Okay. I don’t have the Egret’s Emerald on me, though.” His eyes brighten slightly. “We can make a deal though. If I show you where the emerald is, I’ll leave town. I was just trying to get out from under the Guild anyway. Just don’t turn me in. They’ll kill me in jail.”
Do you Cooperate at Your Gaming Table
Review – Revolution: Virtual Playspace
With the growing popularity of online tabletop gaming, more and more game masters and players are turning to sites and software for digital virtual playspaces in order to boost their fun and the gaming experience. Most of these virtual tabletops include a variety of extra functions, such as dice rollers and campaign managers and messaging and more, but to my knowledge all focus upon a two-dimensional environment.
Not so with Revolution: Virtual Playspace.
Mad Max Fury Road & The Dark Fantasy Art Influences of Brom
Furiosa’s black war paint beside Brom’s painting from 10 years prior.
So I may lose nerd cred here, but I was only just able to see the fantastic, nitrous injected film that was Mad Max Fury Road this past weekend. I don’t feel I can add much to the discussion of the cultural significance of the film, but there is one unique slant regarding the visuals that I might offer.
Fury Road explodes like an oil tanker flame-throwered and jack-knifed into the desert wastes at 60 mph with rich, detailed costumes, weapons, and vehicles- I was simply floored by how visually extravagant this film was! The many muted tones of the film giving the few instances of vibrant color an incredible punch!
It was full of dark fantasy imagery coupled with something else- maybe call it a “Rust Punk” aesthetic with all of it’s super-charged, lethal, heap of junk vehicles. For those less well-versed in dark fantasy imagery, it tends to have a more threatening and fetishized look about it. The first name that comes to mind when I think “dark fantasy” is: Gerald Brom, or to many, just simply Brom.
Playing RPGs with New Gamers
Greetings Nerdarchist Ted here and if you are a regular visitor to our site you will know that today should be a Goblin comic. But Nerdarchist Ryan celebrated Star Wars day with a great comic so we actually launched that one on Monday.
So that shifted my usual articles back a day. So here we are with me on a Wednesday.
New players at your role playing game offer an assortment of challenges as well as an assortment of boon. Now sadly I am not talking about Epic boons bestowed upon you when you reach 20th level but they are advantages never the less.
Player tips for new players in a Role Playing game
Unearthed Arcana — Eberron for 5E D&D
Unearthed Arcana — Eberron is out and it’s time for Nerdarchy to weigh in. If you haven’t downloaded the free PDF from Wizards of the Coast grab it here.
Top 5 D&D Campaign Settings
Hello and well met. I’m here to discuss my top 5 picks for D&D campaign settings through out my 30+ years of the game. First and foremost we will be skipping Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. I find these to be the most generic of D&D campaign settings. They could literally be anyone’s homebrew game. Oh wait, Forgotten Realms was Ed Greenwood’s. Nothing against those settings it’s just there isn’t anything really different in them. The only reason Forgotten Realms is interesting at all is because of the amount of detail that has gone into it, with tons of authors having written in that setting. Even with all of that it strikes as being incredibly generic. Personally if I’m going to play in a generic setting I’d rather just run my own homebrew.
Top 5 Tabletop RPGs to Play Before a Zombie Apocalypse
Nerdarchist Dave here to give you my Top 5 Tabletop RPG Games to Play Before The Zombie Apocalypse. This is going to be a list of games I haven’t gotten a chance to play, a little bit about the game and why I want to play them.
Rune Stones and Rune Transportation in Tabletop RPGs
Hello Nerdarchy fans. Today I want to talk about a potential house rule you can add to your tabletop roleplaying game like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons — rune port transportation. Many of you have played video games that used way points or some form of magic portal allowing easy travel and access to other areas of your realm. Essentially that is what we’re exploring. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept this would be a sigil or glyph created on the ground imbued with magic allowing one to magically travel to another such location.
How to Find a Gaming Group for Tabletop RPG Games
Hey folks Nerdarchist Dave here to talk about the age old question: how do I find a gaming group? This can be super easy or a Herculean task especially among us tabletop RPG gamers. Let’s face it, inside the gaming community there are more socially inept people than you can roll a d20 at. I feel like can say that, being one of the inept. I personally have always gotten anxiety when placed in large social gatherings with people I don’t know.
