How’s your Shoe Game? | Tool Time with Cobbler’s Tools in 5E D&D
A staple of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, tool proficiencies seemingly conflict with the prevalence of skills, so where do they fit into the game? That’s exactly what we’re here to discuss in this new series of articles! Please note: tool proficiencies and how to use them are less defined in the 5E D&D rules than skills. As such the options and explanations presented here might differ from how your own Dungeon Master treats tools and tool proficiency. On top of that, any DM can adjust rules to fit their own table at their discretion, so check with your DM if you have specific questions about how they deal with tools in their own games. And with all the necessary caveats out of the way, let’s horn in on cobbler’s tools!
Monstrous Mutations and New Froggy Feats for 5E D&D
Looking for a creepy abomination or an ultimate big bad sure to strike horror into your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players? Then the swampy Muckwuggle is just what you need. While reading up on Muckwuggle, the Frog God from Nerdarchy the Store I got more eldritch horror vibes than my dark fantasy loving soul knew what to do with. While this content has everything to get you started on your dark fantasy trek into the swampy planar wastes, I’ve devised some feats I think compliment this beautifully. The best part of these 5E D&D feats is each also contains an optional detriment, called a bane, or perk called a boon. This allows them the versatility of being used as blessings for evil followers and servants to the frog god or wretched curses for its enemies.
Wizards of the Coast Announces Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for 5E D&D
DND Live 2020: Roll w/ Advantage is live and in the tradition of Wizards of the Coast’s annual announcement celebrations, the next campaign storyline was announced during this year’s event, which live streams from remote locations while participants continue to stay safe by staying home during the COVID-19 outbreak. For this year’s community celebration D&D teamed up with big personalities in the entertainment world to create a star studded event for the most worthy of quests. DND Live 2020’s live play games, announcements and panels taking place throughout the event raise money for Red Nose Day to help children affected by the global pandemic.
Miniatures: The Mini-Mes of Tabletop Roleplaying Games
Miniatures have been part of Dungeons & Dragons since before it began. In fact, D&D started as a miniatures game! It’s true! Originally it was a fantasy miniature wargame written by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson called Chainmail. Eventually spells and heroes were added and a way for those heroes to improve and it became the basic D&D of the mid 1970s, which has evolved into the game we all know today. Miniature war gaming goes back to at least 1913 when H.G. Wells published a book called Little Wars. They were his rules for playing miniature wargames. This post is going to be about miniatures, but not a history per se and not a how to or anything. This column is about what it was like for a preteen to discover miniatures via D&D and how the tabletop roleplaying game, miniatures and kid grew up together. There will be a bit of history in this piece so my primary sources are DnD Lead (a great resource for the early stuff) and Lost Minis Wiki, which has a lot more pictures and not as much history. Those sources are listed at the end. Yes, grad school has made me paranoid about citations.
Meet the Storm Herald Fire Genasi with a Destiny in Those Bastards 5E D&D Live Play
Nerdarchy has a new streamed game for you to watch! Those Bastards is a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign streaming live on Tuesdays 8-10 p.m. eastern on our second channel, Nerdarchy Live. A gaggle of half siblings, all with the same constellation birthmark, search for answers regarding their father, themselves and the mystery of disappearing constellations in the sky. As they venture into deep dungeons and face deadly monsters their destinies converge on more questions than answers. Even if they live to find the answers they seek, will they wish they never had?
5E D&D Worldbuilding Insights from New Mythic Odysseys of Theros Subclasses
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share their thoughts on the two new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons subclasses inside Mythic Odysseys of Theros. College of Eloquence bards and Oath of Glory paladins bring new options for players tied to the themes and concepts of the new 5E D&D campaign setting. If I’m honest it was surprising there aren’t more new subclasses included with MOoT. Circle of Stars felt like a surefire piece of the Theros puzzle! On the other hand if it shows up in a future product more closely tied to the stars (like Spelljammer?!) or a Feywild campaign adventure you won’t find me grousing about it. In the meantime, since I enjoyed thinking about how curating the playable races for characters can become a resource for campaign creation and worldbuilding why not apply the same principles to subclass options?
Balancing RPG Verisimilitude Against We’re Still Playing a Game, Right?
Helping to run a small business dedicated to tabletop roleplaying games puts me in a position to think about RPGs. A lot. While I consider myself far from an expert game designer or theorist I’ve got to assume writing, editing, planning and considering these games leaves me with at least a little insight and today I want to share a profound moment from my RPG experiences. A while back I wrote about how the best RPGs let you know clearly up front what the game is about. The post found traction and stimulated good conversations. The idea for that post came after reading an early backer version of Vaesen — Nordic Horror Roleplaying and you can check it out here. I bring it up because this post also comes from ideas inspired from the same rule book. One small sidebar in one of the mysteries included with the game changed my whole perspective on verisimilitude and reminded me the importance of remembering we’re still playing a game. So let’s get into it.
5E D&D Worldbuilding Insights from New Mythic Odysseys of Theros Playable Races
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted continue exploring Mythic Odysseys of Theros for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This time they take a close look at the new races for character options in the campaign setting. Up until now in my own games players have been free to create characters with very little restriction. But with the inclusion of Supernatural Gifts for characters adventuring in Theros there’s been a shift in my thinking. Let’s get into the new races in MOoT and touch on how it changes perspective on what to include and exclude when it comes to creating a setting, worldbuilding and running a campaign in 5E D&D.
Maximum Apocalypse the RPG Post (Apocalyptic) with the Most
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted destroy your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaigns with five different apocalypses. But there’s another tabletop roleplaying game that looks at these apocalyptic scenarios and scoffs! Maximum Apocalypse earns the title because characters drop into a world not only post apocalyptic but the aftermath of all the apocalypses (apocalypti?) AT THE SAME TIME. You’ll draw on every survival instinct and trick you can imagine in the face of 11 distinct apocalyptic perils taking place simultaneously. Think you’ve got the grit, determination and savvy to live through kaiju attacks, robot uprisings, zombie infestations, economic collapse, the Rapture and six other threats to all existence? Then read on…
D&D Ideas — Evil
Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is evil, which we discussed in our live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST and talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of evil, Friend in Need is one of the most evil encounters in Out of the Box! Say what you will about Abyssal demons or ancient curses, a mimic outhouse is downright heinous am I right? This and 54 other dynamic encounters ready to drop right into your game come straight Out of the Box here. You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy, by signing up here. Our new channel Nerdarchy Live experienced second strong week. Jacob Budz from XP to Level 3 stopped by along with five other Live Chat Revivified guests and we started a live play D&D campaign! Those Bastards brings our private team game to the internet. Learn more about Nerdarchy Live and how to make sure you don’t miss a thing right here.
Meet the Shadow Sorcerer Big Brother of Those Bastards 5E D&D Live Play
Nerdarchy has a new streamed game for you to watch! Entitled Those Bastards this fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign streams live on Tuesdays 8-10 p.m. eastern on our second channel, Nerdarchy Live. The premise is a gaggle of half siblings, all with the same constellation birthmark, who search for answers regarding their father, themselves and the mystery of disappearing constellations in the sky. As they venture into deep dungeons and face deadly monsters their destinies converge on more questions than answers. Even if they live to find the answers they seek, will they wish they never had?
Playing D&D in the World of Avatar: The Last Airbender
I just blew though the Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix in about four days and really enjoyed this television series. If you are looking for a great TV show to binge I cannot recommend this strongly enough. To me it is clear the creator of this is a fan of Dungeons & Dragons with all the hybrid animals, which has always been a classic D&D staple originating with the owlbear. The challenge in running a D&D game in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a heavy on unarmed martial combat. This is easily fixed with characters either taking a level in monk or taking the feat Tavern Brawler. (The name of the feat does not mean you are limited to bar fights.) We should not get attached to how things are named unless it take us down a hole we cannot escape from. So let’s get into it further.
From Spelleater Minotaur to Path of the Spelleater Barbarian for 5E D&D
Mythic Odysseys of Theros is out for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and Greek myth is the name of the game! My housemate and I have been talking for a while about what sorts of third party supplements might fit nicely into a Theros campaign and we came up with several. In Nerdarchy the Store you can find Horris, the Horned Lord. Horris is a labyrinth keeper and minotaur with the power to turn magic back on those who wield it. As a labyrinth dwelling minotaur, what better place to stick this? Horris the Horned Lord contains a one shot encounter introducing spelleater minotaurs. This adventure takes less than ten minutes to read through and it’s easily adapted into any campaign setting. As I read through the adventure I got thinking, suppose there were individuals who might follow in the hoofsteps of Horris? What would that look like? Thus was born the Path of the Spelleater, a barbarian Primal Path for 5E D&D.
5E D&D and League of Legends Cross Over in D&D Beyond’s Dark Tides of Bilgewater
A new source book for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons presents not only a new setting to explore but an exciting new direction for D&D Beyond, the creators behind this League of Legends crossover with 5E D&D. Legends of Runeterra: Dark Tides of Bilgewater launched fully integrated over at DDB through a partnership with Riot Games. Lead designer and editor James J. Haeck from the DDB team along with designers Makenzie de Armas, Celeste Conowitch Todd Kenreck developed and created this sourcebook for the scoundrel’s paradise of Bilgewater, a place where everything is for sale and fortune favors the bold, for the 5E D&D ruleset. Let’s see what’s inside.
Supernatural Gifts of Theros Spark 5E D&D Storytelling
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted bestow Supernatural Gifts on heroes from Mythic Odysseys of Theros, the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons official release. The new Theros campaign setting reimagines mythological tales from our own world’s Greek tradition and arrives for 5E D&D from Wizard’s of the Coast’s other huge game Magic: The Gathering. Gods of Theros exert tremendous influence over the setting from the cosmology down to the commoners living in the poleis (cities) of the world. Most assuredly the lives of heroes intersect with gods, starting with character creation where they receive Supernatural Gifts to help them achieve their goals.
