Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Party Animal

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore how one person’s poison is another’s passion for a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character who focuses on creating and using alchemical enhancements. The Party Animal is a 5E D&D character who loves a good time. Establishing themselves as a purveyor of mood altering or enhancement substances is just as important as saving the multiverse or whatever. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Party Animal

Every CBG we create considers the journey as much as the final outcome. We aim to present a guide suitable for any level of 5E D&D play whether you’re pursuing an epic campaign from start to finish, starting beyond 1st level or choosing a character for a one shot. Then we take those concepts and develop an NPC or creature version of the character build for DMs to incorporate into their games. All of this gets packaged up and laid out in a PDF you can find over at Dungeon Master’s Guild. We’ve got dozens of pay what you want products at DMG, many of them best sellers so if you want to check those out start with the Party Animal here.

All about the character story

Each CBG starts with a character concept sticking to a particular schtick, from the Mind Breaker’s psyche crushing smites to the Party Animal’s alchemical prowess for enhancing the abilities of themselves and others. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. At every step of the way we considered options for producing various substances both magical and mundane.

For us it’s important to consider who these characters are as individuals and why they follow these particular paths. One special thing to note with this CBG is while we always aim to make the journey to 20th level as practical as possible — none of these characters “come online” after an awkward slog through many levels — the Party Animal has their schtick on lockdown by 7th level when they become a bonafide Alchemist artificer. From this point the rest of the way to 20th level their selection of substances expands in scope and power.

The Party Animal is unique among what is now a collection of over 60 CBGs. Based on feedback and research we determined these are often the most popular videos and content we produce so we decided to put more emphasis on them and expand the concept. To this end we’re continuing the path beyond the DM’s Guild and into our monthly Patreon rewards where we’re developing Out of the Box style encounters based on the creatures and NPCs in these modules. The Party Animal represents our first step in this transition, which is adapted from material we’d been working on separately.

Here’s the deal. You’ll still see videos with a breakdown and walkthrough of the character build and ideas for Dungeon Masters on how to incorporate the concept in your games as an NPC. Next you’ll find posts just like this one with some behind the scenes peeks at developing and designing each module. Finally you’ll discover encounters spotlighting these NPCs and creatures along with customized maps and packaging these together with our usual collection of 5E content like new magic items, monsters, feats, subclasses and more through our monthly Patreon rewards. Supporters there at any level will receive these rewards and since we publish them directly on the Patreon page even new supporters can get instant access to dozens of modules. We’ll also be creating a VTT package of resources including the map and tokens for these new creatures. Learn more about all these benefits here.

Elandra Faen NPC for 5E D&D

Full disclosure — the NPCs and creatures we make in CBGs are some of my favorite bits of 5E D&D content to create. We step back and look at the character build to find the standout features that feel like signature abilities. The juice! From there we consider what sort of person or people would possess or gain these abilities and build a stat block around them. More often than not the section of a CBG For Dungeon Masters presents a generic creature.

Like this entire module Elandra Faen is a bit different than our usual CBG creatures. Developed months ago by whole team and spearheaded by Robin Miller’s writing this NPC is intended to introduce a wide array of alchemical substances through her multidimensional Shop of Dark Delights. Because of this scenario the Party Animal CBG was designed backwards, with the player character version inspired by the NPC instead of the other way around.

The final package we’re putting together for our Patreon supporters’ November rewards includes these alchemical substances along with Elanda Faen’s Shop of Dark Delights and all this entails. The stat block you’ll find in the DM’s Guild version gets an upgrade through Elandra’s access to those substances, which makes her Thrown Needle attack a lot more versatile — and dangerous!

Dark Bargains. The price tags on her goods are always strange costs — things that should not be able to be traded for goods and services. The color of one of your eyes. A memory. A voice. And all of these things she uses to tether herself to this plane of existence.

“Thrown Needle. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) piercing damage and 22 (4d10) psychic damage and the target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw to avoid one of the following effects (Elandra Faen’s choice):”

If your next 5E D&D game needs an adventurer who can navigate through tense social interactions and intense combat scenarios — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Party Animal Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — Elandra Faen is a fragment of The Bliss. She took her name from a half-elf as part of the price in a negotiation. It’s not clear whether having a physical body is even something natural to her. Learn more about The Bliss and Elandra Faen here.

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here