D&D Ideas — Seasons
Bonding in Your Roleplaying Games
Expanding your horizons is a tried and true method to spark inspiration, fight burnout, and generally become a better-rounded creator. There are some game mechanics you’ll encounter whether you’re playing or running a roleplaying game that, with a little tweaking, can become useful tools in many different roleplaying scenarios. I like to call them pocket mechanics. Little game mechanics to keep in your pocket for any occasion. One example of these are bonds from Dungeon World by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Bonds are a useful roleplaying tool and a mechanical way to reward players for engaging in character interaction.
Roleplaying Spell Effects 2.0 — Cheaper and Pre-Cut on Kickstarter
Dealing with combat in roleplaying games offers a number of challenges. Once you pull out the battle grid and miniatures some of the issues go away, but whether you are playing theater of the mind or using a grid there will always be arguments about how spells effect the area. When you do so playing theater of the mind, that will have to be between you and your Game Master. But if you are using a battle grid I have the perfect solution — the Roleplaying Spell Effects 2.0 Kickstarter from Arcknight.
D&D Quest Starters by Character Class — Fighter and Monk
Welcome back. Or welcome, if this is your first foray into D&D Quest Starters. The thought behind these ideas is to give simple little scenes that offer roleplaying, a skill challenge or both, for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons characters based on their character class. These things can take five minutes and can be great to give a player whose character does not normally step into the limelight and allow them to shine, or at least encourage them to roleplay their character. Only you know what each of the players in your game are capable of as well as what is going to interest their characters. The advice here is designed to be generic but these ideas can hopefully inspire you to encourage your players.
D&D Ideas — Aquatic Adventures
Campfires Aren’t Just for Character Intros Anymore!
Campfire Writing Software is a tool for writers. It’s phenomenal for tracking everything from characters, to major plot lines, to world building, and more! I was provided a free copy to review, and boy, do I have thoughts. Spoiler alert (in case the article’s title didn’t give it away), I loved it! If you want to watch me go through it initially and get my raw thoughts, you can watch this week’s RPGtube video on my channel!
Kickstarter Korner — May 2019
If you are looking for RPG related Kickstarters you can invest in, look no further than the sampling of recommendations below. You might find the idea of “investing in” a Kickstarter amusing but that is what Kickstarter is really about. You invest in the company and the product so it can become a thing. There are many companies out there that know if a product kicks, then it is a viable product. I also know there are many people who are hesitant to back Kickstarters with too many “What if?” questions.
D&D Ideas — Lairs
Welcome once again to the weekly Nerdarchy Newsletter. This week we will delve into lairs for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Bad RPG Stories are Only the Beginning!
Writers and Game Masters have a ton of things in common. A writer’s main goal is to tell a good story to entertain their target audience and sell a profitable amount of their work. A GM’s goal is to facilitate fun through a good story and entertain their own target audience — the players. Because of these similarities, GMs can learn a lot from studying good storytelling tactics. In this week’s RPGtube video, I discuss my top five tips for GMs, as coming from the perspective of a writer.
D&D Quest Starters by Character Class — Cleric and Druid
If you happened to have missed part one, D&D quest starters are designed as small scenes or quick skill challenges meant to get some roleplaying in. Maybe you use these when you feel a character needs to be put in the spotlight. Maybe you wrote story plot about one of the characters and you do not want to leave the others out. Bring in some quest starters and allow the roleplaying to begin. These can develop into larger stories if all involved like where the story is going but they can also be a simple one and done conversation. This series is organized by character class, and last time I did a large intro and knocked out bard and barbarian. So today we are going to look at a couple more. Do you have faith?
D&D Ideas — Nightmares
WALIAC No. 2 — Five Easy Dungeon Room Pieces
Hello! In We All Live in a Castle No. 1 Goblin Chief, Lackey, Troll, Rascal and the Maker arrived at their new home. But before this abandoned castle can truly be a monster lair, these dungeon denizens will have to pick their rooms. It ought to be a simple, fair and equitable process right? These are fictional fantasy comics telling the story of five allies on a quest to live in a castle and have their lives illustrated. Use the navigation bar under the title to check out the WALIAC No. 1 and enjoy WALIAC No. 2 — Five Easy Dungeon Room Pieces below.
How Background Enhances Your D&D Character
The notion of your D&D character having a background is integral to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. It grants you a precious few skill proficiencies, and a combination of tool and language options. While background was a part of 4E, it wasn’t nearly as prominent or impacting as it to your D&D character in this edition, and I think the reason for making background such a big deal is directly related to the attempt of 5E to harmonize mechanics and roleplay.
Curse of Hollow Hills – Undead Miniatures on Kickstarter
From the people of Crippled God Foundry, allow me to present the Curse of Hollow Hills. Dungeons & Dragons, or let’s face it any fantasy roleplaying game, would not be the same without hordes of undead. It is that fear of a fate worse than death that can scare the normal mortal into staying in town. It takes a brave adventurer — or a foolish one — to brave the trials and tribulations of the monsters out there. And the undead are one of those. Curse of Hollow Hills is a miniatures project of fantasy heroes & undead monsters. If funded, it will include a collection of up to 50 original sculpts (including future stretch goals), inspired by the most iconic undead creatures of fantasy novels, RPGs & tabletop board games.
D&D Ideas — Artifacts
Welcome once again to the weekly Nerdarchy Newsletter. This week we are talking about artifacts — uber-powerful magic items that can reshape your D&D campaign world. But before we dive into that, an update on the Facebook page. I’ve regained access, but I wouldn’t say control. The forces of evil are still listed as the owners of the page. I’ve got it unpublished but not deleted. These people won’t have to be subjected to the nonsense that has been going over there. I’m convinced I won’t be booted off the page by these evildoers again. We are fighting to get it back before we initiate the self destruct mechanism. We are leaving that for the last resort.
