Maybe you know some people like me — nerds, happily embracing their hobbies that were once considered abnormal but are now mainstream enough they sell out arenas.
Most who read this blog are here for the dungeons and the dragons. Communal storytelling with dice and friends is what unites us. You probably already have the core elements of the games you love, but your family still wants to get you things over the holidays that stretch from late November to early January. Pass them this guide.
- Almost all links are direct to the supplier or to Bookshop.org. When you can, shop locally and/or directly.
Our hobbies and communities grow with support.
For the experienced roleplaying game fanatic
First off, expand their Appendix N. The Tolkien-esque stories that founded fantasy RPGs are well known. There’s so much more available now.
The Hunger and The Dusk volumes 1 and 2 (Bookshop links) tell tales of romance between orcs and humans fighting aliens in a world that’s dying. G Willow Wilson wrote other stories as well, many which fit a fantasy motif, but none apply directly to D&D like The Hunger and The Dusk.
Lev Grossman’s works like The Magicians and Bright Sword take familiar tales (Narnia & King Arthur) and twist them up. Also on my TBR pile are Children of Blood & Bone, The Fifth Season and Brigands & Breadknives.
Expand their 5e games outside of Wizards of the Coast. Your RPG nerd friends already buy themselves the official D&D products they want. But you can help them incorporate wider tales.
- Labyrinth Worldbook from Kobold Press as part of Tales of the Valiant a 5e system.
- Game Master’s Guide from Kobold Press is one of the best collections of advice and subsystems (so I’ve heard). I don’t have either of these yet.
- Worlds To-Go: The Elysians and Crafting Heritages, Cultures and More: Worldbuilding from Homebrew & Hacking both feature sections by me! These focus on A5e as the base rules, but work well in your D&D game, of course.
- Making Enemies from Keith Amman is his latest guide to better monsters for fantasy games. As usual Keith focuses on expanding stat blocks into tactics, but in Making Enemies he gets into how to build those stat blocks for several systems.
Try other games! Talk to your friend and see what they already have or where their interests lie. There are a lot of other popular RPGs out right now. While Daggerheart and Draw Steel are supported by some of my mutuals on Mastodon. The one that intrigues me the most is the forthcoming Plotweaver system. It is the engine behind the Cosmere RPG and supports political stories beyond what D&D does.
Twilight:2000‘s update is a fun read of the classic post-nuclear exchange apocalypse game that helped me consider the Army. Song of the River Prince is a more cozy fantasy. With light mechanics and tales quite different from the high fantasy of D&D.
You can always get your geek new dice (Artisan Dice are my dream) or support a mapmaker (Deven Rue or Dyson Logos are two I enjoy) in their name. Or order a custom map. Someday the World of the Everflow, Telse and The Ferments will get custom maps. My favorite dice box maker is Elderwood Academy. A gift card to Hero Forge works too.
There are other options, but those are some of my favorites.
For the newbie
While the Tales of the Valiant Starter Set is below $15, get it. Or, stick to the WotC products because your nibblings or friends’ kids don’t want the off brand stuff. I grew up with the Odyssey video game system and Gobots. I get it — sometimes finances mean support how you can.
But when the price isn’t significantly different get;
- Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club if they are into Stranger things.
- Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set for those that aren’t. Both of those are designed to welcome new people to D&D.
The battle boards from Beedle & Grim’s look great for a not-quite newbie or someone who consistently plays the same class. I’m currently running an Artificer, and Rogues are my second most played class.
And for those who want to be a newbie DM, Return to the Lazy Dungeon Master is the best collection of simple advice to focus on the players, their characters and empowering their story options.
Those shopping in the Renton area should support Shane’s Cards & Games, Wizard Keep Games and Mox Boarding House.
For flavor dorks
My preferred geeky coffee is Found Familiar. My current favorite is Fae Magic. My preferred geeky tea is Friday Afternoon Tea. It helps that they’re local-ish too. A friend recently tried Many Worlds Tavern. I’m looking forward to a flavor report.
For coffees in the South Sound area, I recommend Campfire, Bluebeard, and Boon Boona. I swing by Macadons and Common Ground for sweets.
Beer people should head to The Brewmaster’s Taproom. My go to wine shop is All Things Wine and when in Walla Walla I support Tempus (we’re in the club), Sleight of Hand (also in SoDo), Balboa and Echolands. If you ever tour the dub-dub send me a message. It’s a fun town for those that love flavor experiences.
For finer liquors I enjoyed a taste of The Dalmore recently and would love more. It was a rare scotch that my non-peaty-preferring wife would enjoy with its softer, luxurious mouth feel.
Straightaway cocktails are the best packaged cocktails for people who want smaller servings on hand.
For soccer fans in the Puget Sound
If your soccer friend doesn’t read Sounder at Heart they must. It’s another place I write. There’s a special on annual support right now at 20% off.
Reign tickets are cheaper than Sounders tickets and you’ll be supporting the best women in the world. For the Sounders fans that don’t have tickets get the two-pack. Avoid getting Men’s World Cup tickets at the current pricing unless your budget is quite a bit bigger than mine.
Not from the local area? 1996 Designs makes excellent large brick people of your favorite American soccer teams.
For being prepared without being a Prepper
Working around emergency and crisis managers is reminding me of a few ways to be prepared.
Have a plan when the emergency happens. Know your neighbors and the organizations that will help when disasters happen, because they will happen. A communications system that involves receiving alerts from multiple sources is vital — that should include a radio, as well as your local alerts system and free services on social media. Have backup power, even light solar for portable devices is helpful. You need at least three days of food and water, but if your budget of money and space allows a week or two that’s better.
SHARE AND HELP OTHERS as part of your plan.
- Portable Emergency Weather Alert Crank Radio – ER50
- 65W Power Bank w/ 15W Solar Panel by Grid Doctor
- Costco emergency food kits
- Support active NGOs with a history of success that empower locals — Team Rubicon and World Central Kitchen for example.
I also keep an Amazon list for my family that lives well away. People can also decide to support the website.
None of the above products or services pay me except Sounder at Heart, the website I founded and ran from 2008 to 2019 and rejoined in 2022, Factal (and those linked resources are free to the general public) and the two supplements mentioned in line paid me a one-time commission.
