Dungeons and Dragons

[Oldschool]

For anything related to Dungeons and Dragons.


A couple of posts in the Dawn of Hawklor thread got me wondering about crossover campaigns.

How many folks have played non swords and sorcery RPGs? My own perspective and that of many other members are with D&D. Mine the earliest version then and mostly 1st edition.

The main group I gamed with also played Boot Hill and Gamma World and I remember the Dungeon Masters Guide had a section devoted to crossover campaigns. We took inspiration from that and had a few crossover campaigns but as our interest in the other games/settings waned (and relatively quickly) so did our crossing over. Boot Hill seemed harder to mesh with D&D or it may have been that it wasn't as developed a system or we just weren't into it as much as Gamma World.

We did run Barrier Peaks and more than once and I still have the module.

I also seem to recall TSR having a few other sci-fi rpg's, a cloak and dagger rpg and a organized crime one although I don't recall actually playing them.

I'm guessing those recollections come from other players or groups. Like most of us I'm guessing, I had a core group that I played with for the most part but most of us had "contacts" in other groups that were usually tied to older or younger family members. Or other schools as our group and most others I imagine were mainly built around classmates/schools. And occasionally we'd venture into each others groups and a every once in a while during summer breaks a few groups would get together and have our own version of GenCon.

What about a Srythian crossover/time warp adventure? By looking at Scout's avatar and reading a few recent posts I'm guessing he'd be up for it.

[zmflavius]

I haven't actually played any D&D but I read a web-comic which is basically StarWars being played as a D&D campaign in a world where Star Wars doesn't exist.

http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0001.html

[Oldschool]

ROTFLMAO........... just read the first page/episode so far and "Ten foot laser pole...." - LOL.

Thanks for the link Zm - definitely rep worth as I'll be reading more and bookmarking it.

[Oldschool]

Lol...... I'm just on episode four and I love it already - lol. Also I just quickly glanced at the DM of the Rings link and it looks good as well.


Folks you gotta check out that link. :D

EDIT: For the 1st edition Dnd'ers if it ain't already this oughta set the hook. "Oh God, it's Tomb of Horrors all over again." LMAO.......

Edit2: And folks if you check it out don't overlook the running commentary below the paneled pages, sound familiar anyone - lol.

EXCELLENT Zm and thanks for passing that along.

[zmflavius]

The first time I read it, I cracked up.

Of course, not having played very much D&D, a lot of the jokes flew past me.

I remember one slide about grappling rules, and I was wondering what I was missing until I read the commentary.

I'm still not sure why the grappling rules are special.

[Oldschool]

Well they're special in that they're different from the "regular" combat system. But I'm guessing (as I haven't got to that episode yet) the page is about the fact that most players and DM's hated the grappling rules as they were pretty complicated and time consuming - 1st edition at least.

[spencer]

I will check out the link a bit later, but I have played lots of games...I started out with some of the Avalon Hill war games like D-Day and Guadalcanal and I think that there was a game by AH called Might and Magic or something like that. Then I got into Basic D and D and soon after that, the 1st Edition AD&D. We played that for a very long time, several years and went through many modules....Against the Giants is probably still my favorite...We also branched out into other games like MERP (Middle Earth Role Playing) and Champions ( a fantastic super hero game) I was the Grey Knight there. That's probably about all, though I think we also played TMNT, which is a much better RPG than it was a movie or a cartoon.

Edit: I forgot to add we did Dragonlance for a good time and Forgotten Realms as well.

[texlaw1992]

I actually enjoyed reading through modules when I was younger and therefore would buy and read modules for other fantasy settings even if I didn't play them. So I read several modules for Boot Hill and Gamma World, as well as Top Secret (the spy game) and Gangbusters (the gangster game). I also played and ran parties through Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and played a little bit of Star Frontiers (billed as "D&D in space," although I never got into it). I also played Travelers (a lot of fun) and a related sci-fi game with similar themes to Travelers whose name I cannot recall.

I was never much into tabletop games, but I did play a lot of "Third Reich," the WWII strategy game. I also played a little bit of Squad Leader.

Anyway, fun stuff at the time.

[Badstench]

Ten years after I finished High School, I met a girl who remembered me from High School days.

Said she: "You were one of the 'In Crowd'."

I looked at her bemused. "The 'In Crowd'? What does that mean?"

"You were one of the popular people. We envied you."

To this day, I think exactly the same thing about another set of people. Isn't that a funny thing?

The reason I tell you this is.... I was friends with a cool bunch of people at high school, and we played Dungeons & Dragons.

And I was the catalyst!

It was something I enjoyed; a continuation of my reading habit that encompassed fantasy stories.

In America, if you are a member of the football team, you are one of the "in crowd"?

In New Zealand, being a member of the school rugby team is next to being placed on a pedestal. It's like being called a "jock".

So, my penchant for fantasy games (role-playing) wasn't "cool". What made it cool was.... well... we'd sit around the table and roll the dice and argue about the results, then send someone out for alcohol.

My point is this.... it was fun!

[texlaw1992]

Not all D&D in high school was fun and games though (by the way Badstench, kudos to your fellow countrymen for helping the poor boy with the injured dog).

My friend, who was also our DM, worked at a hobby shop when we were in high school. The hobby shop had a room in the back where we met for our weekly gaming sessions. My friend convinced the hobby shop owners that they should start carrying D&D products, and since the group was there at least once a week, we bought a lot of them. The shop made a nice profit and my friend got a raise and a promotion.

Unfortunately, after a couple of months the "usual suspects" (you know who they are) came into the store and began denouncing the D&D products as "satanic." The owners got nervous and pulled all the D&D stuff, so we took our business elsewhere. The store's revenue declined and my friend was fired.

Not sure if there's a moral to the story as such, but I've never heard of anyone else who was fired over D&D.

[Doolipalally]

Not all D&D in high school was fun and games though (by the way Badstench, kudos to your fellow countrymen for helping the poor boy with the injured dog).

My friend, who was also our DM, worked at a hobby shop when we were in high school. The hobby shop had a room in the back where we met for our weekly gaming sessions. My friend convinced the hobby shop owners that they should start carrying D&D products, and since the group was there at least once a week, we bought a lot of them. The shop made a nice profit and my friend got a raise and a promotion.

Unfortunately, after a couple of months the "usual suspects" (you know who they are) came into the store and began denouncing the D&D products as "satanic." The owners got nervous and pulled all the D&D stuff, so we took our business elsewhere. The store's revenue declined and my friend was fired.

Not sure if there's a moral to the story as such, but I've never heard of anyone else who was fired over D&D.

Sad story! Always a pity when those 'usual suspects' kick up a fuss without bothering to wonder whether they know their posteriors from their arm joints.

Have to say I'm a bit wistful about the idea of playing D&D in high school. I went to a girls' school and never found anyone else who was even remotely interested.

[Elrond]

Tex, your friend made a suggestion that raised profits in the store. The owners made a decision that reduced profits. Now, that has me wondering who should have been fired!

[Doolipalally]

Tex, your friend made a suggestion that raised profits in the store. The owners made a decision that reduced profits. Now, that has me wondering who should have been fired!

Very good point!

[Badstench]

Badstench opens himself up for abuse....

Dooli noted:
I went to a girls' school and never found anyone else who was even remotely interested (in D&D)

Did you see the birthdate entry for February 13? Barbie went on sale for the first time in 1959. Seems a good alternative for you 'chicks'.

Badstench ducks for cover

[Oldschool]

Oldschool never one to be left out jumps into the fray....

Badstench opens himself up for abuse....

Dooli noted:


I went to a girls' school and never found anyone else who was even remotely interested (in D&D)Did you see the birthdate entry for February 13? Barbie went on sale for the first time in 1959. Seems a good alternative for you 'chicks'.

Badstench ducks for cover

Who said she didn't engage in the "chick alternative" albeit with a D&D theme. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7A-Xw2tZTk)

Oldschool runs for it while pointing at a stationary Badstench.

[Badstench]

That would be "Barbierella"?

hahahahahaha... jeez, I crack myself up!

[texlaw1992]

Ok Badstench, that was cute.

Dooli, your preaching to the choir with respect to my friend. I think the business wound up folding a few months later. That's what happens when you listen too much to the "usual suspects."

Further to Dooli's comment, I mentioned in an earlier thread that at least when I was in high school, most gaming groups never had more than one female member (oddly enough, I actually still remember the name and appearance of the lady in our group). I can't even imagine an all female group, though it's great that female participation in gaming has increased a lot since I was in high school. Did anyone else have women in their gaming groups back then (let's say late '70s to mid-'80s)?

[Doolipalally]

I'm being lofty and dignified and refusing to comment on certain people... :D

Would like to know the answer to texlaw's question!

[Elrond]

Would like to know the answer to texlaw's question!

Referring you here (http://www.srythforum.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=13), Dooli, you can see that only 9 people might be able to answer that question based on time criteria :p And I do not qualify!

[Young Ned]

There was one girl in the group I gamed with a few times in high school. I'm pretty sure all the guys in the group had crushes on her -- I certainly did -- but only one of them married her. Thirty years later, they're still happily married. Damn him... ;)

[Zedalion]

Just to chime in kind of late;

I'm a huge RPG nerd, and D & D, while I've played in many games and even run a few, is certainly not one of my favorites. Let's see, I've played/run:

Shadowrun, Legend of the Five Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Space Opera, Serenity, Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Rifts, Lone Wolf, Paranoia, Pendragon, Champions, Deadlands, oh, and probably more I'm not thinking of right now.

So, umm...yep. Pretty big nerd right over here. (blushes)

[Doolipalally]

So, umm...yep. Pretty big nerd right over here. (blushes)

Somehow I think this forum is one of the places you don't have to blush when acknowledging nerd-dom :)

[Badstench]

The obligatory lone girl of my D&D group was Anne. She moved to England years ago, got married , had kids, got divorced, then found me on Facebook within the last few months and we've been having a good 'ol catch-up!

Let me see... non-fantasy RPG's I can remember were Top Secret, Gamma World, and Boot Hill. I think these were all TSR inc products. I never played any of them.

One RPG I did try a couple of times was Call of Cthulhu... a horror/detective styled game where the biggest threat to ones character was being driven insane.

The GM of our group who controlled that game was very intelligent, highly imaginative and quite ugly-in-an-interesting-sort-of-way. I heard through the grapevine that cancer got him a year or so ago.

[Oldschool]

I'm being lofty and dignified and refusing to comment on certain people... :D

Would like to know the answer to texlaw's question!

No members in my regular group although occasionally we would game with a few (3 if memory serves) different ones from other groups. And occasionally female acquaintances would sit in and watch. Notice I said acquaintances and not girlfriends - those sit ins would invariably lead to the former never materializing into the latter.

[texlaw1992]

The lady participant in our group was not particularly attractive, but my best friend from high school (who moved back to Texas a while ago, and we do stay in touch) swears he's convinced that his older brother had his first "experience" with her. Anyway, she's never come to our high school reunions, but I'm sure she's doing ok wherever she is.

I'd be interested in anyone (including Elrond) posting their experiences with respect to female gamers, regardless of the time period. It would add more perspective.

[spencer]

Well, since you asked. Our original group was three males...so we had one DM (not GM, mind you, DM!) and the other two of us ran three characters each. Then our group expanded adding more males, I think we got up to seven or eight at one point...and most of us would make it to the library most weekends to play....we did get two females in after we had been playing about a year...they were sisters and both were very cute, iirc (oooh, first time I've used that one)...That campaign lasted until I graduated from HS in 1983 and then we branched out to the other games that I previously mentioned. The two ladies I have reconnected with on Facebook...one is married and still is pretty attractive and her sister is divorced and has had some pretty unfortuante health issues...anyway, most of us had crushes on at least one of them and our fearless DM was roommates with the younger sister for a year in college...to the best of my knowledge it was a platonic arrangement as they both had significant others at the time...

[Elrond]

I'd be interested in anyone (including Elrond) posting their experiences with respect to female gamers, regardless of the time period. It would add more perspective.

The reason for not posting is that there is no experience to post. We were an all-male group.

[Oldschool]

Well my experience was very limited in that the few that I did game with were regulars in other groups. As I said earlier occasionally we'd have girls sit in with our group. As far as I can remember they did so because they were dating regular members - I don't recall any of them being there strictly to play. Also I should clarify that during that time none of us (that I recall) were interested in serious relationships. That was probably as good a reason as any for those acquaintances not developing into serious girlfriends.

Like Badstench we didn't have the stereotypical gaming stigma to worry about, although we did take occasional flak about it. Mainly when someone(s) would miss a big game or mainly the party afterward because of gaming. While our school had their cliques none of them were very exclusive as everyone intermingled pretty freely and often. Especially during extracurricular activities, more so for the unofficial ones.

[Oldschool]

Anyone remember my current avatar?

http://www.totalbullgrit.com/images/keepborderland.jpg

[Needle]

I'd be interested in anyone (including Elrond) posting their experiences with respect to female gamers, regardless of the time period. It would add more perspective.

My first or second year of college I played with a (somewhat older) group that included two women. One was the wife of the DM, the other was the wife's friend. They were both great players and could often come up with some creative solutions to problems. However, their "d20 chops" were mediocre; the dice gods did not favor them. What was hilarious to me was the first session that I played with the group when the two women were not there. The energy of the party was completely changed; the guys turned up the geek amp to eleven (as Nigel Tufnel would say). Sadly, I've known many women (mostly writers) that would excell at D&D, but the stigma was just a little too much for them. On the postive side, I notice in my local gaming store that a few girls have taken up the hobby. Perhaps, with video gaming being part of popular culture, the times are a changin'...

During grad. school I was housemates with a guy that always played female characters, but that is something different altogether...

[Mak]

B2 The Keep on the Borderlands - Special Instructional Module written by Gary Gygax

I think this is the culprit for introducing most players to Dungeons & Dragons - and killing them in nasty, imaginative and fun ways in the Caves of Chaos. At least it was for me. After a series of famous last quotes and a string of ill-fated characters, we even managed to prevail - or so we thought. Turns out a little something I had picked from the Chapel of Evil Chaos was cursed and... -rolls eyes-

[texlaw1992]

TSR/WOTC subsequently came out with "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands" - an interesting take on the original. It supposed that previous adventurers had wiped out the Caves of Chaos, but they had become repopulated over the years. The Temple of Evil Chaos had become an organizing force to overthrow "Koriszegy Keep." Worth checking out if you liked the original B2.

[Oldschool]

Just stumbled across this on YouTube.

Very interesting documentary about D&D titled The Dungeons & Dragons Experience shown originally at Gen Con. It's broken up into 7 parts which all appear to be on YouTube.

The Dungeons and Dragons Experience (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c8vhub_vMI)

And here's a couple more documentaries - well actually trailers.

Uber Goober (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2zlI2qali4)

Life With the Dice Bag (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1grq4nRE-A)

[Oldschool]

Dang it......

I was trying to find a vid or at least a teaser or trailer for Dave Arneson's Dragon's in the Basement but no luck. Found several mentions but no vids.

All of these documentaries feature early developers and many of the interviews were done at various Gen Con conventions.

[Oldschool]

The resurrection discussion in the "Hot Screaming Death" thread got me thinking about other D&D "applications".

And I've never played anything but 1st edition so that's my perspective.

Anyhoo..... instead of resurrection per the clerical spell what about reincarnation per the druid/magic user spells. For non DnD'ers reincarnation brought you back as another creature.

Several times we had players buy the farm when a player character or npc cleric (or one of high enough level) wasn't available to resurrect said party members. However usually a magic user (and the occassional druid) was available that was high enough to cast reincarnation.

And we didn't use the creature charts in the Player's Handbook as it was somewhat constrictive especially the Druid's version.

So how 'bout getting reincarnated as a Tzaril, Goblin, etc....

And did anyone else have experiences playing as or with a Lizard Man, Centaur, Bugbear, etc.....

Definitely made things interesting especially when interacting outside the party.

[smv1973]

In the DDO game resurrection does have a stat penalty that is time based. The death penalty lasts for 1 minute.

[texlaw1992]

Nobody in my gaming group really cared for druids, but someone described this experience to me.

The party had run into a bunch of undead and everyone was killed except the druid. The druid, being unable to resurrect, attempted to reincarnate the party. They came back as a pixie, a centaur, a gorilla, and something else. They planned to kill themselves and try again when several wights attacked and drained the druid down to 3rd level, so they had to stay that way. Sadistic DM (lol).

Someone came up with a supplement to the D&D rules where you could roleplay monsters. I even remember reading one such adventure in Dungeon magazine (I think you were bugbears or something). It was interesting.

[Young Ned]

The party had run into a bunch of undead and everyone was killed except the druid. The druid, being unable to resurrect, attempted to reincarnate the party. They came back as a pixie, a centaur, a gorilla, and something else. They planned to kill themselves and try again when several wights attacked and drained the druid down to 3rd level, so they had to stay that way. Sadistic DM (lol).

Haha, good one. :) This seems like an appropriate time to repost this link on the subject of sadistic DMs (http://speakwithmonsters.badgods.com/comics/mm-earseeker). (Warning: some foul language.)

[Oldschool]

There was a supplement that had prerolled npcs with items that also had actual player characters. Many of those pcs belonged to Gary Gygax and other TSR staff/contributors.

And I recall there was a few reincarnated player characters among them with some nice "bios" as well as equipment lists. A lot of it was, as with most campaigns I'm guessing, non-standard. Also there were a few reincarnated characters I specifically recall a Lizard Man and a Centaur. Iirc it was called Rogues Gallery.

Several of the pcs that were listed were also characters that were often listed in the back of modules from Gen Con conventions.

[Young Ned]

This cartoon isn't specifically about D&D, but it's a comment on games like WoW that were inspired by D&D:

http://apocrypha.badgods.com/posts/buddhistrpg

[Oldschool]

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/big/big-smiley-004.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/free-big-smiley.php)

BUMP!

[demojan777]

Nobody in my gaming group really cared for druids, but someone described this experience to me.

The party had run into a bunch of undead and everyone was killed except the druid. The druid, being unable to resurrect, attempted to reincarnate the party. They came back as a pixie, a centaur, a gorilla, and something else. They planned to kill themselves and try again when several wights attacked and drained the druid down to 3rd level, so they had to stay that way. Sadistic DM (lol).

Someone came up with a supplement to the D&D rules where you could roleplay monsters. I even remember reading one such adventure in Dungeon magazine (I think you were bugbears or something). It was interesting.

The book that was all about playing monstrous PCs in D&D 3.0/3.5 d20/OGL (the main game played from 2000-2007) is called Savage Species (http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Species-Monstrous-Characters-Supplement/dp/0786926481/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298614550&sr=1-1).

I've played D&D since I was 11 (I'm 33 today), when I got the original red box for Xmas, and soon afterwards the 2nd Edition AD&D Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and about 4 binders worth of Monstrous Compendiums. I always had to be the DM, since no one else wanted to, so I never got to "play" really, except for NPCs and monsters.

After that I played Robotech, BattleTech, MechWarrior, Shadowrun, RIFTS, Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, pretty much anything anyone would play with me (the only thing nobody else would run, only play, was AD&D, so I ran that, but all my other friends would gladly trade the GM chair for the other games; I guess AD&D was just too complicated for them, but that still doesn't make sense because the Palladium RP system is more complicated IMHO).

I didn't find a stable, steady group of gamers to play D&D with until 2002, and we still play to this day, every weekend (I run one campaign one week and alternate with another in the group who runs the other campaign, so I get to GM and play), except when family/holiday/sickness keeps us from playing as most of the group is married with children now.

In 2002 we all played D&D 3.0, then early 2003 Wizards of the Coast changed everything to D&D 3.5 because 3.0 was "broken", and then in 2007 Wizards of the Coast decided that 7 years was too long for one version of D&D and decided to bring in 4th Edition. My gaming group all read the new 4th edition Players Handbook and every one of us decided that it was not what we wanted, however I found out that a different company, Paizo, was continuing to keep the original D&D game alive and extend the life of D&D 3rd edition with their own RPG called Pathfinder, so we just kept playing 3.5 until Pathfinder came out in late 2009.

I am currently GM-ing a Pathfinder campaign, and if anyone doesn't know what that is it's a current up-to-date version of tabletop D&D that is published by a different company for those of us who wanted to continue playing D&D instead of the WoW-clone that WoTC came up with for D&D 4th Edition: anyone interested here is some info (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG) from the publisher, and here is some info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinder_Roleplaying_Game) from Wikipedia, and this is pretty much why (http://www.retrojunk.com/forums/index.php?view=posts&fid=1&tid=33832) my gaming group prefers it over D&D 4th Edition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%26D_4th_Edition#Dungeons_.26_Dragons_4th_edition ); namely, we can still play a living game and use the thousands of dollars worth of gaming materials we've purchased over the past 10 years without them being "incompatible" or "out-of-date" and having to spend thousands of more dollars to play a completely new incompatible version.

As for other types of games, I play Sryth and World of Warcraft, and recently loaded Planescape: Torment and I'm playing that as well (that is a very fun, silly, creepy game!).

[Badstench]

I don't understand how people can consider Dungeons & Dragons to be too complicated... unless the Dungeon Master (DM) made it so.

I started with AD&D. Even the 1st edition rules weren't sacrosanct. As Gary Gygax said, Dungeons & Dragons is a game of the imagination; the rule books are merely guides. They exist as an aid to the creation of the game, not as rules set in stone.

I once DM'ed a scenario of 2nd level characters (3 players) where the worst monster was a giant spider (just an overgrown household variety). When the players figured out all the clues that led them to the spider (which someone stomped on) and cleared the web away, they found the ultimate clue.

No one died, no one got poisoned, no one worked up a sweat. The trick to working through the scenario was asking the players to 'think'.

They had examined every inch of the mansion to that point, and the last clue caused one of them to shout... "Oh, shit... I know who did it!"

How did he know? Because every clue I'd given them was an ingredient to a spell known by the magic-user of the party.

The play of that game lasted two hours. At the end, my friends all agreed, it was a jolly good adventure.

It was a classic Whodunnit, with the suspects including a jealous wife, an embittered butler, a business rival, a love interest, and a disposessed relative.

Agatha Christie would have been proud.

So would Keddin

[Oldschool]

Excellent point Badstench and I think DJ mentioned "it" as well in another post.

It's about role playing NOT combat, treasure, level up rinse and repeat which seems to be what a lot of the newer changes entail. Of course that's at a quick glance and not very informed as I'm a first edition fan.

And we did expand on and deviate from the, as you so ably put it BS, fundamental rules somewhat. We sometimes used fumbles and criticals, had some of our own character class and racial tweaks, etc.... etc.... etc.... but we'd spend more time doing other things than actual combat.

Take the module most folks love to hate (not actually but it gives the desired dramatic effect ;)) - Tomb of Horrors. Very little combat but one helluva module and probably on most folks "best of" list.

And truth of the matter I think a lot of changes are just for marketing purposes similar to why professional sports teams here in the US change logos/uniform designs every so often. So you'll have to buy new stuff to stay current.

[demojan777]

I don't understand how people can consider Dungeons & Dragons to be too complicated... unless the Dungeon Master (DM) made it so.

I started with AD&D. Even the 1st edition rules weren't sacrosanct. As Gary Gygax said, Dungeons & Dragons is a game of the imagination; the rule books are merely guides. They exist as an aid to the creation of the game, not as rules set in stone.

I completely agree, and often simplified things in combat to keep the action going (I still do today, although rules lawyer players like to try to bog things down by disputing things with me; I just say "I'm the GM, it works this way right now because I say so, email me about it later," and we move on).

I came into the game when it was AD&D 2nd Edition, which didn't have it's own Monster Manual (at least not until they tried "repackaging" the game in the late 90's), it had a bunch of separate pieces of three-hole-punched paper called Monstrous Compendiums that you had to collect and put into various 3-ring binders. The core rulebooks, Player's Handbook and DMG, were the main hardcover books unless you wanted to play in a certain setting.

We didn't have the pleasure of a Friendly Local Game Store (what we call in the industry an FLGS) in the Las Vegas area when I was younger to buy 1st Edition stuff, we could only buy what was sold in the Walden-books and B Dalton's and at The Game Keeper stores in the malls (FLGSs started popping up during a D&D hiatus when I didn't run or play the game, but because of the success of White Wolf and Magic: The Gathering in the mid-90's there was now a market for gaming, so I had access to 1st Edition stuff but no reason to buy any of it because none of my friends played it, plus I still had my 100s of $s worth of 2nd Edition stuff so if I did find friends to play with I knew how to DM with it so, there you have it).

I think that 2nd Edition AD&D was far more complicated than 1st Edition. TSR had kicked out Gary Gygax and sued him for every new game he came up with.

There were rules for every little stupid thing, and the emphasis was more on rules than role-playing (despite the claims to the opposite in the DMG).

For someone who had only played the stuff from the Red Box (1980s-early 1990's intro set which was simplified and very bare-bones fun stuff that all my friends started with because that's what I started them with) to look at the 2nd Edition rules, I can see how they were intimidated, and going "by the book" character creation to the uninitiated was a 5-6 hour ordeal.

I, however, was able to study the rules for days and days until I developed a step-by-step streamlined system whereby someone could create a new character of any level in 30 minutes to an hour, and usually had multiple players doing so at the same time, and kept combat rules as simple as possible (players told me what they wanted to do on their turn, I had them roll, it either worked or didn't, natural 20 was crit, natural 1 was fumble, and their consequences were cinematic more than random), so that we could have new PCs and finish at least 1 dungeon, maybe 2, in a session (3-day weekends in middle school were always sleepover all-nighter events where we would just RPG and not sleep until the night before we had to go back to school when we all went home).

So, to sum up, I didn't have the benefit of even access to any of the 1st Edition D&D/AD&D books at all when I was growing up, and the 2nd Edition books scared my friends who were all about FASA's d6-based systems and couldn't NOT go by the rules-as-written ever to just have a good time, so the burden, when we wanted to play D&D, always fell on me.

I really wish I DID get to start with 1st Edition, so that I could experience playing as a kid instead of always being the DM, but I get to play tomorrow so it all ended up OK.

[texlaw1992]

I started playing in the 6th grade with first edition and my first module, as a first level fighter, was "Tomb of Horrors." How did I survive? Fortunately I just sat back while all the high-level players in the group did everything (we had a dragon, a half-giant, and some other classes). My guy eventually became 10th level and served as a stand-in for the Viscount of Verbobonc (listed in Greyhawk as a 10th-level fighter) when I DM'd "The Village of Hommlet."

I never knew there was a 3rd edition of D&D until I played the "Baldur's Gate" games on the PS@ and Xbox (the "Baldur's Gate" computer games were 2nd edition, which didn't seem all that different from first edition).

There's a game shop near my college called Nan's. The proprietor has carried D&D stuff since 1974. He has a lot of fascinating stories.

[darkrkngl]

I started in AD&D in college, though the group I was with wasn't too smart about their approach. I had rolled well enough that I dual classed my half-elf into a fighter/mage for the varying resistances. While exploring a lost gnomish underground settlement/R&D we came across a group of goblin blacksmiths who didn't notice us due to their work. I wanted to take them out partially due to character backstory, but also for the loot. Feeling that unarmored surprised goblins would be about the right difficulty for a group of level 2 characters. The rest of the group didn't want to attack them since they weren't directly opposing us, so I backed down. Later, in the same dungeon, we came across the goblin village settled at the base of a set of giant steps each 10 feet across and 10 feet down with ladders being the only way to get to the village. after they noticed us, pulled down some of the ladders and started shooting at us, THEN they wanted to go attack the goblins and are surprised to hear that I want to move on.

[Drashika]

I'm assuming many players on here have played the game at least once. I came in at second ed. moved up to 3rd, then found my home at 3.5. I've played fourth a number of times and find it to be less that satisfying, despite a few general improvments (like at wills for spellcasters, and I LOVE minions). Am I alone here?

[Badstench]

As you can see by the merging of your post with this thread, you are definitely not alone Drashika. In fact, quite a few players of Sryth now play the online D&D game.

For myself, I remember the first time I encountered D&D and was curious enough to buy a the basic box set, which included the module, "The Village of Hommlet".

I didn't know any other people who played D&D until a friend admitted he was interested in it (in those days, D&D was considered a game for nerds and No-Mates, and no one in their right mind wanted to be tarnished with that brush).

I didn't actually start playing until the 2nd edition AD&D rules arrived in the form of hardback books (Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual).

That was a looooong time ago.

[Oldschool]

Yes and there's a social group as well. Although like the other social groups most discussions seem to go to open forum which is fine.

I'm strictly "Oldschool" first edition, lol. While time and my memory has the timeline a little foggy I and some of what became my regular group got into it courtesy of another players older brother's group. They were into Chainmail and the original "whitebox" set of 3 corebooks along with several other supplements.

When we started playing ourselves we started with the red and then blue basic and expert sets - that's one of the reasons we broke off into our own group. Around the same time iirc the actual hardback Advanced Dungeons and Dragons stuff started coming out and we quickly switched to it.

Also just as a note I merged Drashika's thread with an older existing D&D thread which needed a bump anyway. :)

[Oldschool]

Ninja'd by Badstench.

And let me offer some clarification re: editions that I've often got confuzzled on which just came to me somewhat recently. By the way, Badstench may not be confuzzled but I've often got twisted about edition history especially with the boxed sets as iirc they came out about the same time as the hardback books. Also there have been different boxed editions and different editions sometimes came with different modules.

Seems the Basic and Expert Boxed sets are actually Dungeons and Dragons and the hardback books comprise Advanced Dungeons and Dragons which makes sense once one thinks about it.

The first set of hardbacks are actually 1st edition.

[texlaw1992]

I'm one of those who's been playing a lot more online D&D since the latest installment of Rhaknar's Mad ended. I finally have in-game money, good parties with which to adventure, and a good guild. I've been mentoring some new players lately - it's fun.

Like OS, I learned first edition. My first module as a first level fighter was the brand-new Tomb of Horrors (I was with a bunch of high-level characters who did the work, obviously). There's a store in town whose owner has carried D&D items since 1974 - haven't seen him in years (if he's still alive), but he was a real wealth of information.

Edit: Right, Nan's - did you go to school in the US TC? I thought you were Australian.

[Tetracapillactomist]

There's a store in town whose owner has carried D&D items since 1974 - haven't seen him in years (if he's still alive), but he was a real wealth of information.

Nan's, right? ;)

[Oldschool]

Oughta post this in the Giggle Bag but it does say Hit Points. Plus I know we have our fair share of Monty Python fans.

http://thevomitingdragon.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/194139237_895452f8c6_o.jpg

:)

[Tetracapillactomist]

Yes! My favourite bit - or one of them... :D

"Come on!..."

Great still too, beautiful! (Well, a handful of missing limbs notwithstanding... :))

(Although depth of field should have been lower, and the distant castle far more out of focus, or off farther to the left - now who's 'pedantic,' OS? ;) Oh, well, a common enough affliction, that, shared by many... :))

[Drashika]

ROFL @ OS pic

[Chareos]

Yes! My favourite bit - or one of them... :D

"Come on!..."

Great still too, beautiful! (Well, a handful of missing limbs notwithstanding... :))

(Although depth of field should have been lower, and the distant castle far more out of focus, or off farther to the left - now who's 'pedantic,' OS? ;) Oh, well, a common enough affliction, that, shared by many... :))

Ooh pedantry my favourite :) It's not a castle TC it's a tournament tent and thus in perfect proportion to the scene lol :D

(Now to wait for this to come back and bite me on the arse/ass (delete as applicable)) ;)

[Tetracapillactomist]

Is it now? :D Been a few years, couldn't tell (its clearly slanted walls did not phase me in the least after Krak des Chevaliers :)).

Not at all, Chareos - serves me right, for picking! (Pickers become fair game for picking, when caught picking themselves, in my phair philosophy. ;))

Well, and continuing in that vein, I'd still change the composition slightly, or the depth of field (using a wider lens, increasing the aperture, whatever needed), as detailed there... :p

But I take no issue with the proportions. :) Whether a tent, and close at hand, or castle-fortress far in the distance, the proportion is what it is, right? :) Unless it becomes a wee teeny Playmobil castle right by their feet, three of them at that point, apparently - Cleese is still standing! :D Then it becomes another story... :)

Now be a good 'un, OS, find us a good shot of the the VICIOUS RABBIT rampaging! :D (Or the March Hare handing out tokens, that'll do too! I want to see Matt in that suit!!! :D)

[edit] Chareos, don't delete a word! Nor others! Censorship depresses me at best, whether self-imposed or otherwise... I know it's sometimes necessary, and I do censor myself, but in principle, still an ugly, deplorable practice...
Anyway: my smileys and 'grinnies' are sincere. :) Don't be guided by my avatar, I don't bite ... um... well, maybe...
All right, time for a bit of that self-censorship in order to stop myself from meandering straight onto shaky salacious ground... I have a freely associative, roaming mind which pays no heed to decorum sometimes... and at other times, far too much, being reticent more often than not, maybe to the bored disappointment of others.
Well, freedom might be an illusion, I'll leave it at that. :)

[Oldschool]

How's this for Sryth relevant?

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/8625/vorpalbunnyzj7.jpg

Disclaimer: Author not responsible for killer rabbit content from any potential GM "surfing osmosis". :cool:

Here's a full version, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg

They shoulda listened to Tim the Enchanter, lol.

Killer rabbits you say. Fact (http://www.narsil.org/index/peopl/jimmycarter/killerrabbit) or fiction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter_rabbit_incident)? You decide. ;)

So as not to completely derail the thread since this is the Dungeons and Dragons thread here's the 1st edition version.

Check out Al-mi'raj under Fiend Folio, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons_1st_edition_ monsters#TSR_2012_-_Fiend_Folio_.281981.29

Blame TC he asked/encouraged me. ;)

[Tetracapillactomist]

I am to blame, as always. :D Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. :)

But that rocky maw leads to dungeons, I can tell.

Dungeons & Bunnies.

:D

Thank you OS... (Wanna see the bunny though... Or MH in an MH suit... :))

[Oldschool]

Once again the "stuff" that's sometimes jogged loose can be a bit bewildering.

Nearly forgot about this one which took a bit to google. Anyhoo....

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/dungeons-and-dragons/monster-manual-two.php?page=6

TC don't know who the previous owner was, but I hear Tallys acquired some more gear and is readying another limited time collection (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZFl8CYHhZlE/SYoj2BpuGII/AAAAAAAAABQ/-fnPwa_4kGw/s320/BunnyArmor.jpg).

[Tetracapillactomist]

First link: WAAAHH!!! Going to keep that as reference for times I am really bummed! :D What's with that running commentary, OS? I just about fell over reading it... :D Obviously not genuine (I hope! :)), but close enough that it could be! :D

And the armour?!... Bwilliant! That's... amazing and disturbing at the same time! It's really good!

Here's a bigger version of it (your link came up as something of a thumbnail/sig size):

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZFl8CYHhZlE/SYoj2BpuGII/AAAAAAAAABQ/-fnPwa_4kGw/

What is it from? :)

[Tesability]

I've never actually gotten to play Dungeons and Dragons, or anything similar. I've wanted to, but I could never actually find a group. Unfortunately, even if I had, I'm not hot about being around so many people at once, so...

The only way I'd get to play D&D is if it was done somehow over the net or by playing DDO (which I need to start playing again...I miss my monk.)

[Drashika]

D&D has honestly been one of the greatest ways to pass the time for me. I have been playing (both as a DM and player) for quite some time now, and I have seen it as nothing but a great time. I have introduced the game to many, and all loved it. Even those who aren't "the type" greatly enjoy it. The modern RPG wouldn't exist without it [as many (including this game) use elements, if not rules from the game]. I have seen people go from hopelessly introverted, to becoming, not only comfortable in their own skin, but a few even became very socially active. With the right group/storyteller you can easily lose hours in the thrill of the game. I strongly urge you to do some research, thumb through some books, look for a group, and try it out. If the amount of people discourages you, a good DM will work one-on-one with you until you feel comfortable enough to branch out, if at all, which is fine too. Any questions you have about the game, this is obviously a good place to ask, as there seems to be a number of seasoned players here. Good luck Tes!:)

[Tesability]

Actually, I somewhat fibbed, I tried with a group twice. One was a Mechwarrior game that the GM allowed me to play a draconic race of my creation that actually fit the RP (and the character was balanced out so that she was neither too weak or too strong at any point. In fact some of her traits made for some...interesting problems, aka using lightning breath on a machine that's powered by electricity. I really hope we get this RP going again, because it was two years since the last time we RPed and the time before the one time I popped in was five years prior. (I had my dragon plushie at the time, which the design was based off of, so I could 'animate' my character's actions during the RP. :3) I actually knew well all but one member in the group, so I was comfortable RPing and getting creative in the process.

The other group attempted three different RPGs in a weekend, Shadowrun, D&D, and Vampire/Werewolf campains mixed into one. (I got permission to play as a kitsune, and got extra powers I wasn't planning on asking for! I just wanted to shift into a fox instead of a wolf! XP) Unfortunately, this group had a lot of veteran players and they were eyeing me and one other lady in the group. At least I had my BF with me at the time, or that could have gotten bad fast. I also wasn't familiar with this group, either.

[Tetracapillactomist]

First part of your account sounds good and comfortable, second part uncomfortable and not so good... stick with the first group, you seem relaxed with them, and able to enjoy the game, have good memories of that.

The muse is... well, adorable. Cookie theft... :D I'd give a cookie again, but there's a so-called 'rep limiter,' and it won't allow me, at the moment... (I tried before.)

[Drashika]

Yeah, I agree with Tetra. I wouldn't even have anything else to do with that other group. There are so many good ones out there. Though, getting a group of people together (no matter how small) can often be challanging. What with work, school, and life in general...lol

[Tetracapillactomist]

Right! Not to mention all the precious cumulative hours spent on eating, sleeping, all that 'necessity-drudgery!' Another lifetime piddled away, just like that!

:D

[Badstench]

Habits die hard.

I was a one-time player of the pen & paper version of AD&D. What really intrigued me about the game was the realisation of my imagination... I could extend my fantasy into the lives of players.

Time and circumstance saw roleplaying games put aside. Friends went that way and this way. The world wide web morphed into the internet, the internet developed into a world-wide phenomenon.

And suddenly, we had Facebook and Myspace and instant communication.

We had, and have, the world at our finger-tips.

Knowledge is just a keyboard away.

And this is my point... that too much knowledge made available without learning is detrimental to you and me. The Wiki is a dangerous resource.

When fact and figures are handed to you on a platter, do you ever stop and query the validity of the information? Or do you take it for granted?

What we were taught, what we know, what we hope for... this can be simplified by the terms Past, Present and Future.

And simplify it further... the Past doesn't matter. Time is a one-way-street with a sign that says, "U-Turns Not allowed".

The Present is what it is... the reality of life.

The Future is merely an extention of the Present.

For the individual, tomorrow is a risk. Next week is an aspiration. Next year is a wish.

So says Badstench. He's keeping it real.

[Tetracapillactomist]

Habits die hard.

I was a one-time player of the pen & paper version of AD&D. What really intrigued me about the game was the realisation of my imagination... I could extenuate my fantasy into the lives of players.

Time and circumstance saw roleplaying games put aside. Friends went that way and this way. The world wide web morphed into the internet, the internet developed into a world-wide phenomenon.

And suddenly, we had Facebook and Myspace and instant communication.

We had, and have, the world at our finger-tips.

Knowledge is just a keyboard away.

And this is my point... that too much knowledge made available without learning is detrimental to you and me. The Wiki is a dangerous resource.

When fact and figures are handed to you on a platter, do you ever stop and query the validity of the information? Or do you take it for granted?

What we were taught, what we know, what we hope for... this can be simplified by the terms Past, Present and Future.

And simplify it further... the Past doesn't matter. Time is a one-way-street with a sign that says, "U-Turns Not allowed".

The Present is what it is... the reality of life.

The Future is merely an extenuation of the Present.

For the individual, tomorrow is a risk. Next week is an aspiration. Next year is a wish.

So says Badstench, who goes by the real name of Kori. He's keeping it real.

What's going on, Koriri... Is everything all right?
(Maybe that's a silly question... or a rhetorical one, I don't know...)

(As for the information handed on a platter: always questioning, And even if obtained otherwise, not so readily, always doubting... at least in the back of my mind. Always room for one question mark...
Well, that's just me, and I can't help being me, most days... even my imagination is 'just me,' any 'RP' activity is 'just me...'
Made-up characters: just me. :)
Can't step out of my skin, can't sever the connection, can't leave it behind, can't ignore it if I try... :')

Can't escape any reality without risking to have it come back and bite you in the arse or crash on top of your head...

You extend your personality outward, others do the same... Waves cross one another, ripples amplify or cancel each other - constant change.
Then, some facts and feelings might settle in, they gain some ephemeral, 'temporary permanence...'

"Strange World?" Don't know... The world's no 'stranger' today than it was yesterday, or two billion years ago, I suppose... but our minds can be...

Strange and wonderful... And we can even be at odds with ourselves...
It's an odd world that can exist inside our heads... :)

Rambling... Not apologising for it, only stating the obvious, saying I'm aware... Acknowledging. :))

[texlaw1992]

Tesa, I had started an earlier thread about female D&D players which you might find interesting (I'll leave it to OS to necro).

Speaking of killer rabbits, has anyone ever seen or played the roleplaying game based on the movie "Watership Down" where your characters are, yes, rabbits? I saw it many many years ago, but never played it.

Edit: Thanks OS, but I'm referring to a discussion of female D&D players in our high school groups. The thread you posted wasn't it.

[Drashika]

I've actually seen that one, Tex. Though I found myself too poor to pick it up, so I havn't tried it.

[Oldschool]

Tesa, I had started an earlier thread about female D&D players which you might find interesting (I'll leave it to OS to necro).

Tex didn't find a thread you started per se, but I didn't do an exhaustive search either.

But I did recall a discussion along those lines and came up with it from this thread and one from another.

Are either of these them? If not I'll try a wider search.

http://www.srythforum.com/showthread.php?p=14042&postcount=17

And this one starts with a question by Dooli, http://www.srythforum.com/showthread.php?p=24510&postcount=11

[Drashika]

I am working on a family history for a character I am going to be playing in a 4th edition D&D game my buddy is running. I was planning to go back a few generations with about a paragraph detailing each family member. My question is, how should I format it to make it look both accessible and somewhat professional for easy reference? Does anyone know of any good (free) programs that could help me?

[Doolipalally]

If you want to do a full family history, there are various free genealogy packages out there. Some of them are reviewed at http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm

[Drashika]

Thank you, Dooli! I downloaded one of the programs you linked and it seems to be working great! Rep!

[Doolipalally]

Good to know! Actually, reading through that lot got me interested in having a go myself - I hadn't thought of using genealogy software in the context of character creation, and it might be just the thing for a project I'm thinking about. Which one did you go for?

[Tesability]

That sounds like an excellent way to plot out character history as well as have easy future access to it. I might have to try this at some point. :3

[Drashika]

I went with the "Family Tree Legends". It's quite useful. You start with someone (in my case my character) and move your way back with parents, parents of parents, and so on. There are features such as birthday, date of death, hometown, and where they died. There is an option for notes, (which is where I am putting brief character bios for each one) significant markers (like adoption, baptisms, and so on), even divorce and marrage. There is, not only an info mode (where you insert all the data), but an actual 'tree' you can look at and navigate. It is quite easy to use, though I am streamlining everything. I don't feel like figuring out stuff for extended relatives or even siblings...lol

[Badstench]

Good information Dooli. I'm wondering how I can adapt this for a timeline