Dungeon Crate Unboxing – June 2018
Hello fellow gamer. Or are you also a nerdy collector? Here I get to share what’s inside the subscription box, in this case an unboxing of great stuff from our friends of at Dungeon Crate. I have been getting these since box No. 1 and I am surprised at how many Dungeon Crate boxes that is over the years. I actually saved a large number of them and have used them to store nerdy things in and the treasure chest feel is pretty cool.
Buff is the Stuff for D&D Support Characters
I figured it out, y’all. The secret to a satisfying session of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, especially a live stream D&D game, and more especially still a live stream D&D game with people you’ve never played with before. Fair warning, it’s not a scientifically proven method or meticulously playtested concept. And it’s definitely not a fully-realized comprehensive guide. But it is based on observations from a non-zero number of live stream roleplaying games I’ve been involved with as a player, Dungeon Master and engaged viewer. So, pretty cerebral, thinktank-level stuff on playing D&D support characters and options to buff the party. Indulge me while I attempt to take the Help action to aid your next game.
The Dungeons and the Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons: Wind Dragon Lairs
I can’t be held down friends. You thought I was going to keep it going on the chromatic spectrum for introducing a dragon, but here we go doing a pivot to elemental dragons enclosed in the wonderful Tome of Beasts. While I have a deep love for the chromatic dragons, I do find them a bit restrictive at times. Because they are so iconic and interesting, it feels wrong to step outside their prescribed niches. The additional types of dragons and drakes in the Tome of Beasts allow for not only a wider range in dragon types and D&D dragon lairs but built-in personalities running a much wider gamut. Let’s roll into the bullies of the sky: the wind dragons and wind dragon lairs.
Kickstarter Korner for July 2018, 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!
Waterdeep Dragon Heist Brings New Icons of the Realms from WizKids
Announced during the Stream of Many Eyes were the books Waterdeep Dragon Heist, and Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage. We get to look forward to a cool city-based adventure as well as an awesome megadungeon before the year is out. But this article is not here to talk to you about that.
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #47 – “The Stray”
Out of the Box introduction
If there is one thing consistent with nearly every campaign I have played or Dungeon Mastered, at least one player will try to turn something (if not a lot of things) into either mounts or companions. There seems to be a little of “the collector” in all of us, but in these players the collection of creatures or things is king. It can be hard to either justify or facilitate such players, as their choices may be neither logical nor timely. Circumstance and choice often work against these players. Even worse, some groups always have the player who seeks to stir the pot and sabotages such efforts.
Powerful Potions and Mutated Trolls Await Within Wyestone Horror
Another month comes with it another wonderful Nerdarchy Patreon reward. For July 2018, Critical Hit Publishing brings us a wonderful supplement by the name of The Wyestone Horror. This document is packed with interesting items, new monsters, and a great adventure appropriate for a spooky one-shot. Let’s go into some of the aspects I really enjoyed about this Patreon reward and where it has legs beyond just the one-shot held within.
Defense of the Appeal of Drow Player Character
In the world of Dungeons & Dragons clichés, there is perhaps no more universally reviled archetype than the chaotic good drow ranger. Once upon a time, drow were the evil counterpart to elves, raiding surface cities and living in a matriarchal society that worshipped the Queen of Spiders. Then came RA Salvatore and his incredibly popular character Drizzt Do’Urden, the first drow in the Forgotten Realms to throw off the mantle of evil forced on the drow and attempt to redeem himself and his heritage. Drizzt’s popularity lead to a drow player character boom inspired by or modeled on Salvatore’s work and the increased appeal of drow overall. So called “Drizzt clones” have become so cliché as to be outright banned by many Dungeon Masters.
Underprepared D&D Players Miscast My Cantrips
The longer I spend wading through the waters of Dungeons & Dragons on social media, the more I find being a Dungeon Master who makes preparations is a little more rare than I initially thought. Everyone has their own means of having fun, but I can’t roleplay comfortably without ample notes, spreadsheets, and clear understanding of a rules system. Lots of psychology to unpack there… but now is not that time! Now I must explore my commitment to D&D as a lifestyle game. I spend sometimes 8 hours writing for a session. Underprepared D&D players who come to the table over the course of months and still don’t know basic functions of their character, commonly used core rules, or which die is 8-sided really miscast my cantrips.
MCU’s Failure Can Be Your Infinity War D&D Campaign Success
More Marvel Cinematic Universe talk within the honored halls of Nerdarchy. As I scribe away on scrolls and interdimensional glyphs, I ponder on the MCU films in D&D terms and how the limitations they had could easily be fixed at the gaming table. Let’s explore what I believe to be the largest weakness of the collective movies and how you can take advantage of the MCU’s failure to infuse a clever narrative arc and create your own Infinity War D&D campaign. Oh, fair warning, super minor Infinity War spoilers.
The Dungeons and the Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons: Black Dragon Lairs
There are two aspects of Dungeons & Dragons history that I love to include as often as I can in my campaigns. I find dungeons so important to D&D that it’s rare I will run even short arcs without them. The iconic nature or sheer power that comes with introducing a dragon into the narrative and the reaction you get from players when they find out there are rumors of a dragon… To me, these separate are wonderful, but together make for the set piece that brings D&D to firing on all cylinders. Let’s explore the different D&D dragons and the lairs they might make in a world where dungeons are reality. Let’s start out with one of my favorites: the Black Dragon.
Kickstarter Korner for June 2018, Week 4
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!
Congratulations to the Origins Game Fair 2018 Origins Award Winners
Origins Game Fair 2018 may be over, but the tabletop gaming fun continues onward and there’s plenty of awesome games to play before Origins 2019. A selection of those awesome games are winners of the 2018 Origins Award, presented June 16, 2018 at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. The Origins Awards are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design for outstanding games in the industry. Winners in each category are voted on by members of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design and presented at the annual Origins Game Fair.
Creating a Beholder Lair and Bringing Beholders to Life in D&D
Monster talks at Nerdarchy?! I’m there. Illithids and beholders in Dungeons & Dragons are super iconic and really weird foes for your players to be pitted against. Both of these creatures tend to be Underdark denizens, but its not unheard of for beholders to create lairs closer to the surface or in some instances, near or within cities. I have quite a bit of experience with beholders, so I’d like to walk you through my method for bringing D&D beholders to life and making their alien nature really shine through creating a beholder lair that its mere existence is a puzzle for the players to deal with.
Frog God Games and Friends Humble RPG Bundle Up Dungeons, Hordes & Horrors
I’m not one to use published adventures. Often preferring to write my own content, infrequently making minor exceptions. A new Humble RPG Bundle has been launched by the very generous Frog God Games and their creative friends at Kobold Press and Troll Lord Games. This one is all about 5E adventure modules and has a slight lean towards spooky going-ons and monsters. I’ve read through most of these modules in the bundle and they are up to the incredible quality standard Frog God Games has always shown. While I’ll probably never run one of these modules start to end, I will have so much content to comb through, pick out and repurpose that these products will likely give me hundreds of hours in enjoyment. Let’s hop into these Frog God Games adventures and I’ll pull out some of my favorites I think everyone will find useful.
