Mixing It Up at Cleveland ConCoction
The crew is back home, recovered from daylight savings time and the wonderful experience at Cleveland ConCoction where Nerdarchy was the featured guest for gaming, reinvigorated and ready to keep rockin’ and rollin’. We want to give a huge thanks to Tony and the rest of the organizers and volunteers from the convention who reached out to invite us there, the Bertram Inn and Conference Center for providing great accommodations and facilities for the convention, and all the fans and nerdy folks who attended. We had a great time!
5E Midgard Heroes Handbook from Kobold Press Awaits the Bold
The kobolds at Kobold Press have done it again! The Midgard Heroes Handbook for 5th Edition is already available from the Kobold Press store, with physical copies starting to arrive in the hands of gamers this week. This 216-page hardcover book contains everything a player needs to create a character for the Midgard campaign setting and features the same top quality content we’ve come to know and trust from Kobold Press.
D&D Heads to Space with Spelljammer Live!
You’ve heard us talk about it. You’ve read posts here on the website about it. You’ve seen recorded gameplays of it. On Friday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m. eastern you can see us play it live! The premiere of our newest live stream game will take a party of adventurers into fantasy space with Ingest Quest, a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer campaign.
Kickstarter Korner for March 2018, Week 2
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. (Except this week, while the crew was away as featured guests at Cleveland ConCoction!)
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!
Performing Mechanics Surgery on Your D&D Game
There comes a point in every Dungeon Master’s experience with Dungeons & Dragons when they think to themselves “I wish fifth edition did X better” or “I wish fifth edition had rules for X”. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, fifth edition D&D is by no means a perfect system. But recognizing that and wanting to remedy it for your specific group are two different viewpoints entirely. You can begrudgingly admit the faults in the mechanics of the system and carry on, all the while realizing what you want to achieve isn’t explicitly written. Or you could work on the problems you see in the context of your individual game and try to fix them.
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #36 – “Ouroboros”
Out of the Box introduction
Critter Corner: Discussing Episode 7 of Critical Role
Welcome you to the next installment of musings and thoughts on the new campaign of Critical Role, Geek and Sundry’s mega-popular live stream gameplay starring Matt Mercer as Dungeon Master with a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing D&D. New episodes live stream every Thursday at 10 p.m. eastern on Alpha, Twitch and starting with campaign 2 on YouTube as well.
Pathfinder Second Edition – The Revision of Paizo’s Giant
Big news is a bit of an understatement – this week Paizo has come out saying that a new edition of their beloved Pathfinder will be out for test play by August 2. I had always wondered when this would come. Pathfinder has run first edition for a staggering teb years. I’m not 100 percent on this but I don’t know of another game company that has had an edition run that long. Many have asked why now? Is the company in trouble? Is fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons 5E rising to be too much of an RPG juggernaut?
D&D More Sorcerer Options and Builds for a Magical Day
Hello fellow nerds, nerdettes, and gamers. This is Kenneth Woody coming at you with another sorcerer guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. In this guide, we’re going to be taking a look at the possibility of a D&D melee sorcerer build and the pros and cons associated with it. So, grab yourself a drink, and let’s get down to business shall we.
D&D Beyond Publishes Inaugural Post by Lead Writer James Haeck
Coming on the heels of their recent announcement of hiring James Haeck as lead writer under content manager Todd Kenreck, D&D Beyond published their first post of this new endeavor on Monday, March 5, 2018. Along with staff writers James Introcaso and Mike Shea, DDB will begin producing written content on the site to compliment the wonderful video content produced by Kenreck. The first post to usher in the new featured content takes a look at one of fifth edition’s most often discussed and debated class features – the Beast Master ranger archetype.
The Return of Rappan Athuk: Reborn for 5E on Kickstarter
There’s a vast underground network of tunnels, caverns, halls and ruins. There are evil monsters, wicked traps, and devious tricks waiting to disembowel or otherwise harry ill-prepared adventurers who wander in. Hope is a foreign term to the grizzled veterans who approach the entrance to the limitless depths. They’ve abandoned the word in favor of more appealing ones, ones they’ve come to be fond of.
Combat. Glory. Treasure.
This is Rappan Athuk. This is the Dungeon of Graves.
Pillars of the RPG Craft: An Introduction
The number of tabletop roleplaying game systems in the modern era astounds me. Variety abounds throughout the mechanics, settings, and systems that have been published by big names and indie developers alike. But they all have certain pillars in common. In my opinion, the aspects of an RPG that form the foundation for all those that have been, that are, and that have yet to be developed are: Action, adventure, and association. Some games may focus on these pillars with greater or lesser emphasis. But I think it’s fair to say that these are the core elements that constitute an RPG experience.
Kickstarter Korner for March 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!
Worldbuilding: World Anvil is a Haven for Writers and Homebrew Content
Last month I looked at three realm worldbuilding and homebrew programs and websites and among those was World Anvil. In the article I had looked briefly on the site and looked at it impressed with what was there but said it need a few other options. After the article was posted Dimitris from World Anvil reached out to me and said that those features where there and I had missed them. The reality of it is, that from the time I had sent the article Nerditor Doug to when it was posted the site had doubled in content and functionality. Doubled in less than 2 weeks. I have dealt with campaign software and programs and sites for at least 5 years now in creating homebrew adventures and world settings and never has one expanded this rapidly. Having spoken with Janet and Dimitris from World Anvil and given that they are celebrating World Anvil’s four month anniversary, I thought it more than fitting we revisit this fantastic site and give the proper attention it deserves. So, sit back, relax, and let’s look at the gasworks that is World Anvil.
