Speak With Dead #29: Dark Lord Problems
Each week, our resident necromancer Maxillae the Mad takes time from her busy life as a alchemist and practitioner of death magic to offer her unique insights and advice to denizens of any world or setting. At the bottom find out how you can Speak with Dead and ask your questions of our necromancer with the answer. Until then, welcome to the crypt!
Spice Up Your 5E D&D Dwarves with Ring Magic from the Kobold Press Deep Magic Series
Into the Deep Magic once again my friends. Kobold Press is killing it with their deep magic series. This time we have little magic for 5E D&D dwarves. It’s all about enchanting rings to draw on arcane power.
Dungeon Master the Art of Running a Great D&D Game
I thought what I would do for this guide is share with you the lessons I’ve learned when it comes to being a D&D Dungeon Master. I’ll get to work on some other blogs like this very soon. One of which will be on the Prisoner Dilemma. I’m still in the midst of making a video on my YouTube channel for getting started with roleplaying, which should hopefully be out soon. Anyway, on to the show!
D&D Party Roles Does the Striker or DPS Role Really Exist
Our running D&D games without filling party roles series wraps up with the striker or DPS role. We’ve already covered Tanks, Healers, and Controllers. Now that we close in on the end of the series we can reflect on what it means to play without the striker role in the D&D party.
Get Your Peepers on the New D&D Adventure During the Live Stream of Many Eyes
In 2017, Wizards of the Coast ushered in the year’s extraordinary new campaign, the Tomb of Annihilation, with the incredible Stream of Annihilation live event. Not to be outdone, this year WotC unleashes the Stream of Many Eyes to unveil late 2018’s new adventure story!
Be Classy: Some Thoughts on D&D Party Roles
Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to take a moment to talk about party roles and classes, specifically doubling up on them within the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party. I have seen a lot of trouble crop up regarding two people in a party wanting to play the same class. Particularly in fifth edition D&D, this is not as much of a problem as it sounds like it is, especially when you go into the situation with a little bit of good will.
All The Comforts of Home! Tips and Tricks for D&D Halfling Creature Comforts
The halfling race in Dungeons & Dragons is most often defined by an appreciation for home and a need for the sanctuary of creature comforts. To many other races, even elves, this often lends to halflings being looked upon as soft, needy, or unfit for the world at large. Halflings of course, will tell you this is quite correct and also completely wrong. For this diminutive race home goes well beyond their well appointed under-hill dwellings. A halfling’s home will always be in their heart and no matter where they go the will have a part of it with them. Moreover, these small gregarious folk have the gift of creating a community wherever they may be and, more importantly, with anyone they grow close to. In this regard, an adventuring party can become a surrogate family to a halfling travelling far from home.
Kickstarter Korner for April 2018, International Tabletop Day Edition
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...
Engaging Players around the RPG Table is a Group Effort
For a Game Master running a session for a group of players, whether it’s fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Kids on Bikes, Weave or any of the wonderful roleplaying games out there (and there’s a lot, for any taste!) the key to success around the table is engagement. We hear that word a lot in the RPG space, and engaging players is a frequent topic for GMs seeking advice and tips. What exactly does it mean, and how do you do it?
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #42 – “Empty Chair”
Out of the Box introduction
I cannot speak for others, but I grew up with a lot of superstitions. My mother was very superstitious, but I cannot say if it was a factor of her generation, age, culture, or what have you. All I know is that I inherited many of these superstitions, and it may have lead to my own world view. Some of them I inherited were forgotten until unlocked by an action, word, or reference. One such occurrence recently unlocked this forgotten lore.
Making a Villain of the Warlock with a Little Help from our Friends
Warlock is probably one of the most popular fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character classes. It didn’t come into existence as a character class until the later part of 3.5 D&D. Fourth edition D&D made it a core class in the fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: According to April’s And Beyond live stream with D&D Beyond lead Adam Bradford, warlocks are the No. 1 most created character class over there.]
By My Beard! Tricks and Items for D&D Dwarves Beards
Say the word “dwarf” to a fantasy fan and the first thing that likely comes to mind is their opulent beards. Throughout the majority of fantasy literature and roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, dwarves are immediately identified with the follicle splendor of their facial hair. What follows is a brief collection of ideas for ways in which dwarves might use or augment their beards. While background information and D&D mechanics have been provided this is more to provide easy inclusion in a game. Feel free to alter the game mechanics to suit your style of play.
Deep Magic: High Elven Magic for 5th Edition with the Kobold Press| Review
Over on the Nerdarchy YouTube Channel we’ve been reviewing the Deep Magic series from Kobold Press. Elven High Magic is our tenth one in the series. We have a handful left to go complete the Deep Magic series. Quite few have been also reviewed here on the website by various Nerdarchy staff writers.
Playing D&D Games without All the Party Roles is Out of Control
Jumping back into playing D&D without filling out all the party roles we’re taking a look at the controller this time, typically a role filled only by wizard in D&D games. Up until the launch of 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons it was either wizard or druid exerting control on the battlefield, and later came the sorcerer. You could always get some control from your cleric too, but that means they won’t be laying down the healing during your D&D games from them.
D&D Character Delve – Goliath Oath of the Ancients Paladin for RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road
It is time for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build. This time we will look at Maala, the Oath of the Ancients goliath paladin character I played in episode four of out RPG Crate sponsored game, Adventures on the Open Road: A Knight’s Tomb. Maala is a D&D character built on one major concept, the bearded woman. As a fan of American Horror Story I wanted to play a character like Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates). All decisions from that point on centered around what it meant to be a woman who is outside her culture, in a world where she does not fit the prescribed ideal of femininity.
