Open Legend RPG character build – Roz Rakheta
Open Legend character build from concept to gameplay
As a relatively new staff writer for Nerdarchy.com the opportunity to join my colleagues William C. (aka Professor Bill from Comic Book University), Megan R. Miller, Nerdarchy.com editor-in-chief Ty Johnston and Nerdarchist Ted in a weekly live stream game run by Nerdarchist Dave is phenomenal.
Not without trepidation I quickly agreed. The game is a wholly new system for me, for one, and for another I’d never played a tabletop roleplaying game online before – let alone live streaming!
Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #3: Ascension
It is a widely known fact that life comes in many shapes, forms and varieties. The lifeforms in fantasy add to this melange. However, we tend to see those fantasy creatures as certain “accepted” forms. The mythologies of the world, too, add to this list of accepted forms. Nearly all ancient races had some form of a giant, dragon, vampire and ghost. Some of those forms have made it into Dungeons & Dragons nomenclature. Modern movies, comics, and other fiction have certainly gone to some length to further break the back of this limitation, but there are still many more steps to walk on that journey.
What I would like to do here is take something from mythology and the D&D universe and further alter it, to expand its range and variety within the game. Not only that, but I would like to add an element back from earlier fantasy that seems to only exist in the realms of horror now. There was a time when Fey were feared as they might abduct children and place changelings in their place. Elves were notorious for that. Redcaps were more common (now introduced in Volo’s) and were murderous little cretins. Sprites, Pixies and Brownies (no, not made of chocolate) were dangerous little tricksters. The Feywild was a dangerous place where time is fluid and unpredictable, as were its residents. Their motivations were (and still are) alien to mortals.
E49 YR1- Bullywugs the Frog Legs That Bite Back |Dungeons and Dragons Monsters Podcast
Episode 49 of Nerdarchy the Podcast Year One Closing on number 50 of the podcast. Today we have another monster edition. We will be delving into the swamps for this to discuss the bullywug. I first fell in love with this monster from the Dungeons and Dragons...
Matt Mercer of Critical Role talks Tal’Dorei with Dungeon Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eXwQ8oWcZ0
Dungeon Life’s Todd Kenreck was one busy journalist at Wizards of the Coast’s Stream of Annihilation June 2-3, 2017. On his Twitter feed, Kenreck shared that he was able to score 29 interviews with various D&D dignitaries, including the inimitable Matthew Mercer, actor and Dungeon Master for Geek and Sundry’s Critical Role.
RPG: Playing by Post
The roleplaying community is typically populated with people who have strong tabletop roots. This isn’t surprising. After all, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game. However, using dice and a rules system in meat space around a gaming table isn’t the only way to roleplay. There are a great many people who play-by-post instead.
E48 YR1- About the Elves |How to Build a Campaign World| Game Master Tips Podcast
Episode 48 of Nerdarchy the Podcast Year One We jump back into this episode with a little world building. This time we look at D&D elves in our campaign world. We have some cool ideas for elven kingdoms that we've yet to really explore with in...
Jon Heder’s lesson in design elements for role play
Barbarian duck. Art by Stephen Prescott (deviantart user stephenartist)
Episode 99 of Critical Role may have irrecoverably changed my perspective of role playing games forever. Well, that’s not 100 percent sure. Jon Heder, who is coincidentally from my home town, made my favorite D&D move I’ve ever seen. He took Path of the Duck Totem Warrior. That’s right, instead of Bear, Wolf, or any other standard Totem, he went with Duck, which I assume he worked with Matt Mercer to custom make. My mom and I talked about it, and we kinda figured that being from Oregon played a role in him wanting to be a Duck, because there are tons of other ridiculous animals that he could’ve gone with. But the point is that he chose to do something ridiculous, and ridiculous it was. Not only was it ridiculous, but he used the opportunities to largely squander them. One of his skills was Commune with Ducks, which he used to get completely useless information.
A TTRPG GM is like a Swiss Army knife
GM tools for adventure – you only need a few
My TTRPG group keeps me on my toes as a GM. Comprised of adults, all of whom have varying degrees of adulting to do, our get-togethers are infrequent. It averages out to about twice a month on Sunday evenings. Within that group, everyone has varying schedules for work, family responsibilities and so forth. This results in a flexible group makeup on top of everything else. That last part usually isn’t a problem, as PCs can fade into the background or remain on their spelljammer ship while the present players form an away team.
But what happens when a particular character is important to the story for that session? Maybe the previous session ended on a cliffhanger or dramatic moment and a character’s absence would be awkward Or you as the GM simply aren’t prepared to continue your usual campaign?
E47 YR 1- Nate World Builds For New Players| Game Master Tips Podcast
Episode 47 Nerdarchy the Podcast Year One We delve into one of Nates campaigns for this GM tips. This is a game was running for players that aren't Nerdarchy. Matter of fact he is the only nerdarchist in that game. https://soundcloud.com/david-friant-458990853/e47-yr-1-nate-world-builds-for-new-players-game-master-tips Nate World Builds For New Players| Game...
Nerdarchy the comic book! Issue No. 1
Face front, True Believers! In addition to his mild-mannered position as a Nerdarchy staff writer, William C.‘s alter ego is that of Professor Bill. In this other guise he runs Comic Book University, a YouTube channel dedicated to all things comic book. You may also recognize him from the recent live streaming game at Nerdarchy’s YouTube channel. Thursdays at noon EST, Professor Bill takes on the great power and great responsibility of acting as Judge for a game of Marvel Super Heroes RPG.
E46 YR1- D&D 5e Archer Builds Hitting the Mark | Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Podcast
Episode 46 of Nerdarchy the Podcast Year One This time we delve into a 5E D&D character build suggestion from a viewer for this episode of the podcast. https://soundcloud.com/david-friant-458990853/e46-yr1-dnd-5e-archer-builds-hitting-the-mark-dungeons-and-dragons-5th-edition D&D 5e Archer Builds Hitting the Mark | Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz21HghRfCc 5e D&D Archer Builds Hitting the Mark...
Creature Symbiosis is an Underutilized RPG Tool
Symbiosis is an amazing thing within nature. Symbiosis is defined as the “interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.” Now how does this work within Dungeons & Dragons (as well as other games)? Well, amazing Nerdarchy reader, symbiosis is something that both players and Dungeon Masters can use to fill their world with amazing, multilayered experiences that will blow your players’ minds. Below I will be listing a few situations of symbiosis that are already in Dungeons and Dragons, and a few I think would work well within it.
The clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris (known from the Walt Disney/Pixar cartoon Finding Nemo). Photo is from a coral reef near the Japanese island Sesoko and taken 2 m below water surface. In the background is the giant carpet anemone Stichodactyla gigantea with which the clownfish forms a symbiosis. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Dating advice for nerds
Hey, guys, Professor Bill of Comic Book University here and I’m going to say a few pretentious things here. I’m talking about dating advice for nerds.
Mayim Bialik and Jim Parsons portray Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon Cooper on the CBS television series “The Big Bang Theory.” Both nerds, and proud of it.
When I was in school I was a pretty popular guy. I was tall, went to the weight room after school daily, I was on the track and field team for shot put, discus, and cross-country, and I never knew what the “friend zone” was. Still, on the down low, when I thought no one was looking, I would go to the comic book store.
Now make no mistake, if a nerd walked into a sports store with a bunch of jocks from school that nerd would get the strangest looks imaginable; that, “you don’t belong here” look. I got that look when I walked into the comic book store.
No, I will not write your book for you
Writers hear it all the time, especially fiction writers. “Hey, I’ve got a story idea for you!” Really? How nice. Often the person with the story idea is only trying to be helpful, but other times they have dollar signs in their eyes. For that second type of person, words to this nature usually soon come spewing forth, “How about I give you the idea, you write it and sell it and we split the profits?”
E45 YR1- Dungeons and Dragons Monsters Double Feature Podcast
E45 Nerdarchy the podcast Year One Time for another double feature. This time we combine a Dungeons and Dragons Monsters vid and Terrible Terrain vid to make a nice long podcast. https://soundcloud.com/david-friant-458990853/e45-yr1-dungeons-and-dragons-monsters-double-feature D&D Death Knight Bring Your Doom |Dungeons and Dragons Monsters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoQFppGa0jk D&D Death Knight Bring Your Doom |Dungeons...
