What’s Really Going on With One D&D?
The paradigm shifts once again! Set aside all the crunchy calculations and simultaneous calls of nerfing and power creep. Something else is taking place through Wizards of the Coast’s move towards the One D&D experience. During our recent live chat discussing Unearthed Arcana 2022: Expert Classes we touched on parts of the latest playtest reminiscent of earlier editions of the game. Several people watching along called out stuff bringing to mind third and fourth edition, which for at least one commenter felt exhausting and an oversimplification. In my estimation something deeper than mechanical callbacks seems to be happening and that’s what’s got me fascinated. Let’s get into it.
Nerdarchy on 5 Best Feats for a Gloom Stalker D&D Ranger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_b11DVlrTc In this 9-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the best 5E D&D feats for the Gloom Stalker Ranger Archetype. The conversation begins with Dave and Ted taking a look at the Gloom Stalker to determine what makes them different from...
Tales from the Shadows Dares D&D Adventurers to Tread the Twisting Paths of Shadow
I’m just going to come right out and state Kobold Press is the best third party publisher of material for Dungeons & Dragons. Their brand of D&D fits right in with my own approach to the game and whenever I get my hands on a new title of theirs I always find lots of stuff for my games. Recently I shared my thoughts about their Book of Ebon Tides and in this post I’m looking at its companion title Tales from the Shadows. The former already had me feeling excited to explore the Shadow Realm (what I call the Dreaming World) in my own games and the latter makes it even easier with 14 adventures playable separately or in sequence. Let’s get into it.
Attention! The Stars are Right to Start Playing Achtung! Cthulhu with a FREE Misssion
Despite discovering the works of H.P. Lovecraft as an adolescent in the 1980s during the same period I became an RPG enthusiast it’s been that long since actually playing a game inspired by those stories. I don’t remember too much about Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu RPG other than evocative investigators like Antiquarians. Today I came across a reminder it’s been far too long since playing a Lovecraftian RPG when I saw how Modiphius Entertainment released a free mission for their Achtung! Cthulhu game.
Nerdarchy on DM Tips: This Doesn’t Make You a Bad Dungeon Master
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNq8jpcjXu4 In this 16-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore the idea of taking an intermission while being the Dungeon Master of a game of D&D. The conversation begins with Dave and Ted sharing the inspiration for this video. Game designer Anthony...
Creating a PbtA Playbook — Driver for Zoo Mafia RPG
Welcome to the Zoo. Today I’m creating the Driver — another Playbook for Nerdarchy’s first roleplaying game, Zoo Mafia RPG. Our Zoo Mafia RPG Quick Start is now live and available for free through the Zoo Mafia Newsletter. The Quick Start includes four Playbooks for the Button, Grifter, Lookout and Safecracker. We’ve also posted another Playbook here on the website we’ve renamed the Goon. We’ll continue to develop new Playbooks here and then add them for our Patreon supporters in addition to the regular rewards over there. You can become a Patreon supporter and snag the Goon Playbook here.
Making D&D Memes and GIFs Round-Up Vol. 8
Time for D&D and RPG memes and GIFs. You can go back and check out Round-Up 7 here. We did a better job of creating memes for other TTRPGs. I might have gone a little crazy with Zoo Mafia RPG memes. Sorry not sorry! I've...
D&D Ideas — Races
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is races, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of races we put together a collection of five racing teams, two backgrounds and semi-sentient vehicles with guidelines for incorporating arcanotechnological vehicles along with a high-octane race straight from Nerdarchist Dave’s Under the Dome campaign. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
Nerdarchy on D&D XP: Should This Sacred Cow End
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ct8skvufaU In this 17-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted ask the question does fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons need experience points anymore? We don't know any Dungeon Masters or D&D players who are using it in their games. The conversation begins with...
Nerdarchy on 5 Best D&D Feats for a Battle Smith Artificer 5e
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAuXWZj1u4 In this 9-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore feats in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons for the Battle Smith Artificer Specialist. The conversation begins with Dave and Ted taking a look at the Battle Smith Artificer Specialist in general and...
Making D&D Memes and GIFs Round-Up Vol. 7
Another week another round up of D&D Memes is here. We have a few for other roleplaying game memes as well. You can check out Round-Up Vol. 6 here. This round-up is light on the other RPGs but we'll work on getting some more of...
Wizards of the Coast Launches Educational Initiative with Teaching Materials, Afterschool Club Kits
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, a new D&D starter set releasing Oct. 4, provides a fresh pathway for players to begin their journey with the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game. Wizards of the Coast marks the occasion with another enterprise aimed at bringing even more people into the community of more than 50 million fans. With this new initiative WotC will provide Dungeons & Dragons-themed classroom materials for teachers across the country to add to their curriculum. These educator resources provide a platform to use D&D for social activities and educational learning.
Wendy’s Deserved Better! A Retrospective Look at Feast of Legends RPG
Does anyone else remember that time Critical Role did a special episode sponsored by Wendy’s – yes… THAT Wendy’s? How about this one: do you remember Feast of Legends – the TTRPG made by THAT Wendy’s? For whatever reason, a lot of people in their audience got really up in arms over Critical Role’s stream of this obscure RPG, to the point that the voice actors ended up taking down the video altogether the following day in 2019.
Nerdarchy on Are These D&D Dragons in the Real World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAhdhFPo6qw In this 14-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore a real world animal and ask: Is this a Dungeons & Dragons dragon? The volcano snail might be the world's closest creature to a D&D dragon. The conversation begins with Dave and...
D&D Ideas — Keys
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is keys, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of keys our module Trip to the Planar Zoo includes a very special set of Keys of Danger, each one a magical wand and together capable of opening the gates to a blissful oasis — if the adventurers can survive the Humanoid Exhibit! You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.
