Simplifying Distances for Theater of the Mind in 5E D&D
We love some fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons here at Nerdarchy, and we love streaming over on Nerdarchy Live. Part and parcel with streaming comes a need to adjust things and make them more cinematic for an audience. While minis are great they kind of bog down a stream if you’re not really skilled at multitasking or have a huge production team like Critical Role. As such we use theater of the mind, which comes with its own challenges.
Find Roleplaying Inspiration On Your RPG Character Sheet
It all started when our Tuesday night RPG group started a new campaign with me at the helm. For my turn in the Game Master seat I chose to run Quest, an all around favorite of mine. It’s a wonderfully streamlined and narratively focused roleplaying game. One particular standout from the rulebook describes the nature of each character’s abilities, which direct players to “Think of your abilities as ways to take control of a scene.” Acknowledging this concept in a deeply meaningful way changed how I look at RPGs for the better so let’s get into it.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Sewer Ninja
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted fulfill a request from someone in the Nerdarchy community to create a Assassin rogue/Gloom Stalker ranger multiclass character build for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Instead of going with some of the obvious choices we decided to come up with something a bit more unique with the race for our 5E D&D Sewer Ninja. We were also thinking about the upcoming release of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for a character who would be fun in an urban adventure campaign setting. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Construct Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Like clockwork I’ve found my way to the construct creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it’s in terms of golems, modrons or anything else made instead of born I’m taking you up close and personal with some 5E D&D creatures probably made by an artificer or a wizard.
D&D Ideas — Culture
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is the culture, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of culture in the frozen tundra of Kredgefur’s Belt myth and magic greatly inform the lives of clan culture including the power of fate to affect outcomes — like the rise of a new Frost King. You can get the Nerdarchy 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.
Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Magic Items by a Factor of Three — Armor
Wow is there a tremendous amount of homebrew content for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons found at D&D Beyond. I’ve gone over all the 5E D&D schools of magic, subclasses for every class, feats and several other categories of content and now it’s time to start tackling magic items. Starting at the alphabetical top I’m looking at all the homebrew armor for 5E D&D. You’ll find over 20,454 of these at DDB. We get a kick out of checking out the 5E D&D content folks come up with and sharing their homebrew creations. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) Let’s get into it.
Expand Your Roleplaying Through Heritage and Culture in 5E D&D
If you want to stir the pot with the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons fandom then bring up the topic of race and watch the opinions flow. Race is a core mechanic of 5E D&D and while some prefer the term lineage (see Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) the two terms are used interchangeably within the community. The way I like to run D&D games, I view any mechanic as having a direct influence on the story and likewise I believe every mechanic’s existence ought to be justified by a story element. Race is just one of these areas so let’s break down character race, what it means, and how to use it more effectively in your 5E D&D games.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Flesh Render
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took inspiration from a community supporter to create a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build around the inflict wounds spell. The Flesh Render delved too deeply into both the arcane and divine workings of the multiverse, which drives them a bit mad and we found great appeal in this concept for a 5E D&D character. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Celestial Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! It’s time for a look at celestials in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, by which I mean angels. Sort of. You’ll see what I mean when we start cracking into them but suffice it to say, another day another 5E D&D creature type.
D&D Ideas — Creepy
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is the creepy, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of creepy the beetles, centipedes and other deep living creepy crawlies creep adventurers out during an encounter with an insectoid knight and the horrendous creature tormenting it. You can get the Nerdarchy 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.
7 Small Scaries of 5E D&D
A while back I wrote a beefy post about the chonkiest bois in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. As a follow up I looked at the deadliest Tiny 5E D&D creatures. For some reason or another the latter began showing up in the top posts over the last week or so and I thought perhaps folks might be curious about creatures who fall between the two extreme ends of the size spectrum in 5E D&D. The title for this post clues you into where I’m starting for a closer look at the monsters of more moderate size. Let’s get into it.
Wayward Masquerade Expands the Dragon Bagons Hoard with LGBTQ+ Pride Dragon Dice Bags
Watching the trailer on Kickstarter for the new Dragon Bagons series I couldn’t tell at first if I was watching a witty wordless indie film with a comical twist or if it was actually the advertisement it’s designed to be. Watching our main character travel across the fantasy landscape to find new dragons made me smile many times, seeing where each of these little LGBTQ+ Pride dragons were found. When I say the new Dragon Bagons on Kickstarter are fierce, BEAR in mind that’s coming from a proud Queer man (wink, wink). Wayward Masquerade has already delivered on a number of delightful dice bags and the new Dragon Bagons series looks to be every bit as amazing.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Scaled Skald
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted had an enlightening visit from Kraul the Lizardfolk as a special guest who helped explain how unorthodox character builds for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons can become fun, effective characters to play. The Scaled Skald character emerged through a combination of unexpected class and background choices when we set out to illustrate how 5E D&D characters are much more than a collection of optimized numbers on a character sheet. Let’s get into it.
Dissecting the 5E D&D Beast Creature Type
Salutations, nerds! Are you ready to unleash the beast? Well, neither am I, but I am at least ready to unleash an examination of the beast creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Beasts in 5E D&D are basically mundane animals. These are the kinds of creatures druids look to for their Wild Shape feature.
Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Library Agent
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted fulfill a community request for a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who dutifully carries out their responsibilities as a librarian adventurer. The Library Agent is a 5E D&D character who procures lore and protects a sacred library and museum of arcane wonders. Late returns won’t be tolerated by this crusader of academia and easily accessible collections of materials, books or media. Let’s get into it.
