Tag: dungeons & dragons 5th edition (Page 1 of 9)

Shadowdark - Better than the Dungeon Master's Guide?

The Dungeon Master’s Guide Sucks but Shadowdark’s Got Your Back

08/08/2024 / / 0 Comments

One of the things I realized a long time ago, but Sly Flourish article “How to Survive a Digital D&D Future” really cements, is that Wizards of the Coast will never release the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) that DMs need. No, I’m not talking about one that will “teach them how to DM,” which the current one does, and which the next one is arguably going to do better. Teaching how to DM is great, but you also need to provide tools for a DM to identify and create good content for their game. People crave exciting games, filled with fun content.

I’m talking about having a DMG that’s packed with the tools necessary to generate a campaign and a dungeon top to bottom in a format that goes beyond vague advice and stylistic choices. I’m talking about procedural dungeon and campaign creation. Procedural NPC creation. Procedural adventure and encounter table generation. One with tons of evocative ideas that show DMs how to turn that content into good, fun content for the players to engage with.

What I’m really talking about is all the nifty tools that Shadowdark just won multiple ENNIE Awards for doing. Let’s take look.

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Adventure Tracker for D&D 5E and Shadowdark

Try This Adventure Tracker for Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowdark In Your Game Sessions

11/16/2023 / / 2 Comments

Right before the pandemic, I purchased a slew of tools geared towards optimizing my Dungeons & Dragons game sessions. Among them were a whiteboard GM screen with clips, Inkwell Ideas’ 5E Creature Decks and Deck of Beasts, Pathfinder Pawns, and so much more. Then the pandemic torpedoed the use of most of those things, so I really leaned into going digital. This included taking a multi-day intensive course on organization over at Johnn Four’s Roleplaying Tips. That really expanded my Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets campaign management skills, and helped me reorganize almost every resource I use.

As I’ve gotten back into both in-person and online remote play more often in recent months, I realized I could leverage a much more robust — and still streamlined — way of managing each game session’s encounters. Hence my new Adventure Tracker, which has a lot of really handy features specific to any Dungeons & Dragons or Shadowdark, but applicable to any OSR or D&D-adjacent game. Read on to learn more!

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Treasures Just Beyond - O5R GM Hack
Treasures Just Beyond - O5R GM Hack

Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack

06/30/2023 / / 0 Comments

Powered by the OGL, inspired by the OSR

Ever run a 5th Edition game and wonder where an important GM-facing rule is? Ever design a dungeon-crawl and grimace when all the PCs can see in the dark unaided? What are torches for in this edition, anyway?

Throw out your game master guide* and use this instead! Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack is here for you!

Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack is a super handy, 28-page reference guide and crawling-rules compilation formatted to be printed out as an A5 booklet: just open it in Adobe Acrobat, select Booklet, print, and staple! (You’ll want a long arm stapler: buy, barter for, or steal** one today!)

It compiles the best, fastest route to getting PCs playing in that “old-school” style where light, inventory, and careful exploration matters. On the GM’s side, it’s got all the hazards, trap rules, and object interaction mechanics you’ll ever need. Plus, it features robust social interaction and exploration rules, as well as some new twists on monster rules, all packed into a super-useful, reference-friendly layout.

In these pages, you’ll get killer new “house” rules and references like these:

  • Full dungeon-crawl, hex-crawl, and even settlement-crawling rules utilizing Event Dice.
  • Extremely-simple-yet-robust social rules using old-school reaction rolls.
  • PC defense rolls: Players better pay attention even if it’s not their turn!
  • Old-school morale rules, as well as simple rules and guidelines for boss monsters and minions.
  • Updated procedures dungeon, wilderness, and settlement “turns” that fit on a single page!

With Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack, everything you need to give your 5th Edition games that old-school feel, and run it smoothly, is right at your fingertips!

*Don’t throw it out! It’s got all the cool magic items in it, and vaguely okay downtime rules!

**Don’t steal stuff!

Cover image by Dean Spencer. All Rights Reserved.

Pay What You Want on itch.io and DrivethruRPG!

Enter The Nerdom logo
Enter The Nerdom

Discussing Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs with Enter The Nerdom Podcast

05/30/2023 / / 0 Comments

Quick update, and hopefully the first of many new ones to come!

On May 17th I had the amazing opportunity to join Chad Cook, Stan Moroncini, and Watson Bradshaw on the Enter The Nerdom podcast to discuss all things Dungeons & Dragons, and even a bit about the broader tabletop roleplaying game industry. We discussed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the different editions of D&D from both a mechanics and historical perspective, White Wolf and their World of Darkness games, and much more!

Click to check out Enter The Nerdom Episode 12 – Rolling for Initiative or listen at all of your favorite podcast services!

Make sure to subscribe and rate to hear more about various facets of nerd cultural from this crew and their amazing guests, including subjects as far ranging as how to join the Star Wars-themed 501st Legion charity group, recent wrestling events, anime fandom, and much, much more!

Actual Play Incoming!

Stay tuned to Enter The Nerdom, because this week we’ll be doing a Dungeons & Dragons actual play! We’ll be joined Dan Mason, their go-to-guy for wrestling, anime, and more, as well as our fearless leader in a comic book discussion group known as the Reading Rainbros!

Using 5E Backgrounds in Knave
Using 5E Backgrounds in Knave

Knave: Using 5E Backgrounds to Determine Starting Gear

01/12/2022 / / 0 Comments

Since the launch of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, one of the features I’ve enjoyed the most is Backgrounds. These archetypes are a fun and simple way of differentiating characters outside of the mechanical rigor of classes and lineages, and they tie characters to the game world. They might tell us what your character’s occupation was before embarking on a life of adventure, or tell us where they are from or how they were raised.

Knave is a beautiful, elegant OSR system that is getting a 2nd Edition over on the Questing Beast Patreon. One of the things I’ve been tinkering with is adding 5E Backgrounds to Knave. Doing so provides two interesting facets that can change up how character creation works and how the game plays out:

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