d&d

[Disciple of Sagan]

Oh fer...What kind of munchkin game do you play?

I was known back in high school as "The walking, talking Dungeon Master Guide" because I could rattle off the top of my head anything related to the Dungeons & Dragons rule books.

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

[Fiji]

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

meh, their loss

[Disciple of Sagan]

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

meh, their loss

Thanks Fiji. <hugs>

You wouldn't be a fellow RPGer by chance?

[screwtape]

I was known back in high school as "The walking, talking Dungeon Master Guide" because I could rattle off the top of my head anything related to the Dungeons & Dragons rule books.

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

Of course you didn't, but that's not what I'm talking about.  What self respecting gamer would have "20th lvl Wizard/Cleric 20/Loremaster 10/Archmage 5 with a divine rank of 18" as a possible outcome of their game?  What kind of power-gaming munchkinry is that?  Blah. 

[Disciple of Sagan]

I was known back in high school as "The walking, talking Dungeon Master Guide" because I could rattle off the top of my head anything related to the Dungeons & Dragons rule books.

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

Of course you didn't, but that's not what I'm talking about.  What self respecting gamer would have "20th lvl Wizard/Cleric 20/Loremaster 10/Archmage 5 with a divine rank of 18" as a possible outcome of their game?  What kind of power-gaming munchkinry is that?  Blah.

"Mystra" (the Goddess of Magic) is a deity from the Forgotten Realms setting. Those are her stats from the "Faiths and Pantheons" rulebook. She seemed like she could kick other god's arses, which is why I submitted her. 

The highest level I ever got a character was a 12th lvl human Fighter named Aria Amberhawk. She truly prodded buttocks with her two weapon fighting skills. _{Gawd, I am such a geekette.}

[screwtape]

I was known back in high school as "The walking, talking Dungeon Master Guide" because I could rattle off the top of my head anything related to the Dungeons & Dragons rule books.

Yeah, I never got invited to all of the cool kids parties.

Of course you didn't, but that's not what I'm talking about.  What self respecting gamer would have "20th lvl Wizard/Cleric 20/Loremaster 10/Archmage 5 with a divine rank of 18" as a possible outcome of their game?  What kind of power-gaming munchkinry is that?  Blah.

"Mystra" (the Goddess of Magic) is a deity from the Forgotten Realms setting. Those are her stats from the "Faiths and Pantheons" rulebook. She seemed like she could kick other god's arses, which is why I submitted her. 

Ahhhhh!  I thought this was your character!  I'm an opinionated hardass when it comes to dnd.  And most other things.

[Disciple of Sagan]

Ahhhhh!  I thought this was your character!  I'm an opinionated hardass when it comes to dnd.  And most other things.

Nah, I was a vanilla 12th lvl human Fighter named Aria Amberhawk.

My last gaming group was great because we all were against power gaming. Ah, the good old days...

I eventually lost interest once WotC released D&D 4th edition after I had spent close to $500 on version 3.5 rulebooks. Meh.

[screwtape]

I eventually lost interest once WotC released D&D 4th edition after I had spent close to $500 on version 3.5 rulebooks. Meh.

Nothing says you have to play 4e.  I tried it and hate it.  I'll not give wotc another dime.

I've not really played in about 10 years.  But I've been thinking about it a lot lately.  I am considering using AD&D as a starting point and redesigning it to suit me.

[Disciple of Sagan]

I've not really played in about 10 years.  But I've been thinking about it a lot lately.  I am considering using AD&D as a starting point and redesigning it to suit me.

That's about the same amount of time since my last group. Truth be told, if it wasn't for my working nights I would consider dusting off my trusty 20-sided dice and find a local group to join (if there were any... D&D seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur in my neck of the woods, southern Connecticut).

[One Above All]

I've never played D&D, but I've considered it. What's it like?

[Disciple of Sagan]

I've never played D&D, but I've considered it. What's it like?

The short answer: It's basically a pen and paper role playing game where you create a swords and sorcery themed character (such as a warrior, wizard, cleric or thief), then you and a few other friends are taken on a verbal adventure by someone acting as sort of a storyteller/referee (called the "DM"; short for "Dungeon Master". Your roll dice to determine outcomes of battles with monsters and such. Your character then gains experience and treasure as he/she slowly grows in power.

What makes it truly fun is to "get in to character" and talk and act like you would envision your character would.

[screwtape]

(if there were any... D&D seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur in my neck of the woods, southern Connecticut).

They are there.  You just need to look under rocks to find them.  But they are there.

I've never played D&D, but I've considered it. What's it like?

Mutual fantasy.  LIke when kids play "pretend" only with rules for resolving conflict.

[One Above All]

The short answer: It's basically a pen and paper role playing game where you create a swords and sorcery themed character (such as a warrior, wizard, cleric or thief), then you and a few other friends are taken on a verbal adventure by someone acting as sort of a storyteller/referee (called the "DM"; short for "Dungeon Master". Your roll dice to determine outcomes of battles with monsters and such. Your character then gains experience and treasure as he/she slowly grows in power.

What makes it truly fun is to "get in to character" and talk and act like you would envision your character would.

Do you get as many choices in actions as you can imagine? Or are they limited to a dozen or less choices, like in computer RPG's? I assume each game you play is separate from all the others, right? As in, if you play a game with a few of your friends and acquire some kind of treasure and/or level up, then play a game with someone else, does your character goes back to level 1, or whatever the starting point is? What kind of items and monsters are there? Player types (you mentioned warrior, wizard, cleric, and thief)?

[Fiji]

You wouldn't be a fellow RPGer by chance?

I would have if I'd had access to kindred spirits, but this being Belgium and my home town being particularly christian, there were no such follies to be pursued. I got my RPG-ing from the likes of Bard's tale on the trusty old C64. Loved me the hell out of that one. And of course M:TG.
I have since veered off into the direction of writing games ... Star Trek, a geopolitical game, a fantasy game and as the fellow in my avatar picture can attest, wrestling RPGs.
Never did get to enjoy D&D. *quiet sob*

[Lukvance]

Me want to play D&D !
What about one with Sagan as the LM?

[wright]

I've played most versions of D&D, plus Call of Cthulhu, Champions, Loremaster, Space: 1889, R. Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk 2020 and Mekton, and the various editions of Traveller[1]. I'm a lifetime paper-and-pencil type.

Lately I've been getting interested in a very fast-moving generic system called Savage Worlds. The particular campaign I'm in now is a Weird West setting: a post-Civil War US where magic has returned to the world. My character is an apocalyptic-sect preacher who thinks he's calling on Yahweh's power to heal his friends and smite zombies. But the Game Master has a nasty sense of humor and might be setting me up; have to wait and see.

In my experience, it's more the people than the game system that makes a roleplaying session fun or not. A good GM (Game Master) can make even badly written / edited game mechanics work. Players too, by immersing themselves in their characters and just being polite, friendly people can bring a dull setting to life. Conversely, a GM intent on forcing the game towards a certain outcome at the expense of fun will ruin things for everybody, and rude / disruptive players can distract and derail others' enjoyment. My experiences have been mostly of the first kind, fortunately.

1.	The SF roleplaying game, no relation to our esteemed forum member. As far as I know.

[shnozzola]

I've never played D&D, but I've considered it. What's it like?

Here's  D & D, from the view of a twelfth level aged druid.

Dungeon Master (DM):   Do you open the door?
Party, led by the ranger:  Yes, we open the door.
DM:  Roll for surprise.
Party, magic user:   We roll a natch 20.
DM:  You do have surprise.  You see a hooded figure in front of a chest, it is beginning to read off of a scroll.  There is a purple light coming from beneath the hood.  There is something writhing at his or her's feet.   What do you do?

[Lukvance]

Ruuuuun

[Traveler]

I found my current gaming groups through meetup.com. It took a few tries before I found a group with similar gaming style to mine, but you can find some good groups out there. Ironically, one of my groups is giving ADnD 2nd edition a try right now. Talk about stepping into the WAY back machine!!! LOL

We played a one-shot to get the feel of things and might tweak some rules and start up a longer term campaign later this summer.

[wright]

^^^Haha! Talking about 2nd Edition always makes me think of a line from the webcomic Something Positive: "You're so cute when you nerd-rage! Tell me again how THAC0 ruined D&D for a decade!"

Good luck with the new campaign, Traveler.

[shnozzola]

Ruuuuun

"Don't run, Luk," screams our elf, Pixiestix.  "Oh ye of little faith.  I shoot a poison arrow directly into the purple light,"  says the elf. 
DM:     "What do you do, druid?"
Me: " I'm running with Luk, I believe we are facing the wraith that commands this castle!"
DM:   Ranger Rick?
Ranger Rick:  " + 4 sword towards the wraith's feet at the snake."
DM:  " Are you sure it's a snake? - it has started raising up!"

[Lukvance]

"use your arrows from over here ranger" *still running

[Disciple of Sagan]

Holy hit dice, Batman! So many fellow gamers here! <geekgasm>

Do you get as many choices in actions as you can imagine? Or are they limited to a dozen or less choices, like in computer RPG's? I assume each game you play is separate from all the others, right? As in, if you play a game with a few of your friends and acquire some kind of treasure and/or level up, then play a game with someone else, does your character goes back to level 1, or whatever the starting point is? What kind of items and monsters are there? Player types (you mentioned warrior, wizard, cleric, and thief)?

I apologize for this brief response; I'm posting from work.

Usually, you play with the same group of people. My old group had 11 players, and we would get together every Saturday for a 6 hour marathon session. Your character's progress is carried over to each new adventure for as long as you want to continue to play as that particular character. As for the choices your character can make during your turn, it's pretty much how shnozzola describes it.

As for character choices, in "normal" D&D you can be a human, elf, dwarf, halfling (think hobbits), half elf or a half Orc. Each race had their own strengths and weaknesses. The you pick what class you wish to play, with Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Rogue being the archetypes, with sub classes that give you further customized roles, such as a Ranger (a woodsy Fighter type) or a Druid (a tree hugging Cleric).

I found a YouTube video that helps to explain things:


I'll respond to everyone else later. THAC0! Priceless!

[Disciple of Sagan]

They are there.  You just need to look under rocks to find them.  But they are there.

My local comic book shop used to have a bulletin board for players looking to form/join a group, but ended up getting rid of it right around the time that D&D Online hit the PC.

I also used to play online at "Garic's City"', which was a post-based version over on the WotC Forum before that, too, became defunct.

Was AD&D your first exposure to the game? I'm showing my age when I admit that I remember when D&D Basic and Expert editions 1st came out (in the pink and blue boxes with the creamsicle orange dice).

I got my RPG-ing from the likes of Bard's tale on the trusty old C64. Loved me the hell out of that one.

I loved Bard's Tale! They rereleased it for PC a couple of years ago. I was also addicted to the D&D game "Pool of Radiance" for the C64.

I've played most versions of D&D, plus Call of Cthulhu, Champions, Loremaster, Space: 1889, R. Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk 2020 and Mekton, and the various editions of Traveller[1]. I'm a lifetime paper-and-pencil type.

1.	The SF roleplaying game, no relation to our esteemed forum member. As far as I know.

Ahhhh, memories. I remember playing Champions and Traveler along with Gamma World and Boot Hill.

In my experience, it's more the people than the game system that makes a roleplaying session fun or not. A good GM (Game Master) can make even badly written / edited game mechanics work. Players too, by immersing themselves in their characters and just being polite, friendly people can bring a dull setting to life. Conversely, a GM intent on forcing the game towards a certain outcome at the expense of fun will ruin things for everybody, and rude / disruptive players can distract and derail others' enjoyment. My experiences have been mostly of the first kind, fortunately.

You couldn't be more right. Our DM from my last group was an excellent storyteller who had a knack for always keeping us on our toes and rewarded players who stayed in character.

We did have one power gamer in the group that we ended up kicking out after being repeatedly caught fudging dice rolls.

[Disciple of Sagan]

^^^Haha! Talking about 2nd Edition always makes me think of a line from the webcomic Something Positive: "You're so cute when you nerd-rage! Tell me again how THAC0 ruined D&D for a decade!"

Remember this? 

[Lukvance]

Magic Missile ! lol great memories.

[Disciple of Sagan]

I found my current gaming groups through meetup.com. It took a few tries before I found a group with similar gaming style to mine, but you can find some good groups out there. Ironically, one of my groups is giving ADnD 2nd edition a try right now. Talk about stepping into the WAY back machine!!! LOL

We played a one-shot to get the feel of things and might tweak some rules and start up a longer term campaign later this summer.

I'll give meetup.com a look. Thanks for the info!

I think I gave all my AD&D rule books to my sister years ago after I started playing 3rd edition. I'll have to see about getting them back....

Magic Missile ! lol great memories.

Yeah, that one's a classic.

[eh!]

I don't get any of this. i just worked my childhood away doing my bit to keep the family business afloat then left home early to help fund my sister thru college.


i no zero of the pop culture of mine or any era...just work.




i always see this kind of biz the thing of  lazy/loafers.


We weren't the cool kids we were the violent realists and would have ruined your game.

[screwtape]

Do you get as many choices in actions as you can imagine?

That is how it is supposed to work, yes.  The DM[1] determines the plausibility of your actions if they are not covered by existing rules and dice may or may not be rolled to determine the outcome.

I assume each game you play is separate from all the others, right?

It depends what the DM allows.  I generally do allow other characters into my game but they may lose some equipment in the transition if they are out of balance with my current players.   

1.	dungeon master