In a couple weeks, we’ll be releasing an article that is the sum of an enriching interview I had with James Haeck, lead writer for D&D Beyond. As is custom for my collaborations, as a thank you, I asked James what he’d like to see as far as a theme for a subclass. His answer was hinged on the idea of a paladin more in … Continue reading Sacred Oath: Oath of Clarity
We’re back from our hiatus! However, we’re bringing a long some new changes that will be pretty important. We’re making these changes to better fit our needs and goals as creators while trying to “level up” our game as far as the TTRPG writing and publishing sphere goes. First, The Mage College’s articles here on the website will be vastly different. We’ll still post here … Continue reading The Mage College: The Reckoning
Running a website by yourself is hard, and when you do it for long enough, you really only know how to do just that – run it by yourself. Add in a mix of sudden design work in the form of commissions and design work while trying to acclimate new team members into the mix. Then balance a patreon while still figuring out all the … Continue reading Charting a New Course: Summer Holiday and New Directions
This article was written by a younger Archmage Derek back when the Mage College was still on Blogspot. Take it away past Derek! (Art: Alhammerret’s Archive by Richard Write, Wizards of the Coast) Blast from the Past You’ve decided to play a Battle Master Fighter. Kevin, your table’s optimizer says, “Oh, well at least isn’t Champion, because that would be really boring.” At this point … Continue reading From the Archives: Re-skinning and Roleplaying Part 1
You’re drifting off to sleep in your bed, when suddenly you startle and get the sensation of falling. Your eyes shoot open, and and your heart is pounding. You’ve just experienced a hypnic jerk, but whether or not you realize it, your body just experienced what might be considered the real world precursor to psychic damage. Some TTRPG and D&D players are often confused by … Continue reading Magical Musings: Psychic Damage
Otters are huge. Well, they’re pretty small. Unless, they’re a giant otter, then they can be about 1.8 meters (approx. 6 feet) long. That’s neither here nor there, what we mean to say is, otters are a popular critter on the internet, and our friend Ky, a talented artist and streamer in the D&D community, is maybe the biggest fan of the entire Mustelidae genus … Continue reading Otter-luke’s Irresistible Cuteness: Otters in 5e
The other day, the magically talented Critical Bard pointed out that if there are fallen aasimar shouldn’t there be some sort of celestial tiefling subrace? Well, who are we to not deliver on the possibility, especially as tieflings are one of the favored race options at the Mage College. So we present to you the Ascended Tiefling subrace, following the pattern of the Tome of Foes … Continue reading Ascended Tiefling Subrace
The answer to this question is a complicated one. We have to look at what “playing wrong” means. Unfortunately, the English language doesn’t like being very exact in its use of adjectives, so we have to make do with specifics. There’s a few different directions this question can go, so let’s be specific. You can play a tabletop roleplaying game wrong. How you manage to … Continue reading Can You Play a TTRPG Wrong?
(Waterdeep: Dragon Heist cover, Tyler Jacobson, Wizards of the Coast) Every so often on Twitter, you see the complaint get aired, “My villain got killed in the first act,” or something like, “My BBEG died in the second encounter! They were so cool though!” These grievances are shockingly common. Sadly, plot armor is not something that adds a bonus to AC. In fact, plot armor in … Continue reading Diabolical Plans: Running Villains Like Badasses
Base classes are difficult to design in 5e. In no way does it mean that it is impossible, but there are a few big hurdles to overcome if you decide that you want to design your own base class. If you have spent more than three minutes on DMsGuild, you probably have noticed that there are so many community created base classes out there. Some … Continue reading Base Class Basics: Building Your Own D&D Class
