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[hoverX]

looks like i'm going to play my first game of 4e next weekend. I've decided to bite the bullet and join a group of local players.

 

[Blackace]

I would love to find a good group to sit in with again. Been a long time since I played a good PnP RPG..

 

[Freezer Rat]

You know, I have to wonder why so many people found the old 2nd edition so hard to play. I always thought it was one of the easier systems to learn aside from V:tM if you just took the time to read the Players Handbook. Although I will admit the system is ripe for abuse, so a group of smart players can turn a campaign into a nightmare for the GM to run in a real hurry unless he cracks down on dirty player tactics.

 

[hellclerk]

God, how did I miss this thread? I've hopefully got an IRC based game starting up soon in 3.5. That's gonna be fun, but what I've really done in the past few months is branch out, I've looked into WoD, Unisystem, and all that, but I think my favorite system is the d6 based system of Maid RPG. Despite how creepy it is to play as a meido, I've really taken to the system and have been thinking of adapting it to a point-buy universal system. Would anyone here be interested in helping me develop and playtest such a creation?

btw, I hate 4e. It's not that I think it's a bad game, I just don't click with it. After DMing a campaign last year, that kind of makes sense for me...

 

[Zod the Bear]

Anyone have any experience using Google Wave to run an online game? I'd heard rumblings awhile ago that it could be useful for that, and just got an invite the other day.

 

[hellclerk]

Anyone have any experience using Google Wave to run an online game? I'd heard rumblings awhile ago that it could be useful for that, and just got an invite the other day.

Yeah, I gave it a shot. I think I prefer IRC because of how the channels are separated, but it works, if a little oddly. It's really cool to see people's post show up in real time, but I think there needs to be some more exploration before I'm used to it.

Any takers in the d6 homebrew system anyone?

 

[BattleMonkey]

You know, I have to wonder why so many people found the old 2nd edition so hard to play. I always thought it was one of the easier systems to learn aside from V:tM if you just took the time to read the Players Handbook. Although I will admit the system is ripe for abuse, so a group of smart players can turn a campaign into a nightmare for the GM to run in a real hurry unless he cracks down on dirty player tactics.

It wasn't hard to play, it was archaic game design. Lot of pen and paper rpgs (which there was countless different games even back then) had more intuitive rule systems. One of the biggest hurdles of D&D is that to play right you really had to have read a big ole players handbook, while most games on the market only require a GM to have read the rules, and it is quickly taught to players.

Many of the game design elements were not intuitive and just game terms/numbers that didn't lend themselves well to sense of what the rules represented. Lot of ideas and restrictions placed upon players were for game purposes but lacked logic. "Oh you can't use that weapon because your playing such and such"..... "my smart ass dude can't figure out the pointy end goes into the bad guy?". And of course you got stuff like THACO which just was needlessly bloated rule system for combat that slowed things down greatly and was overly complex when it was so much simpler to do and has been in later editions.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

DM of the Rings

http://shamusyoung.mu.nu/images/comic_lotr2.jpg[img]
[img]http://shamusyoung.mu.nu/images/comic_lotr14.jpg[img]


Makes me think of one D&D session when our party was in a cave, separated, and one of our mages decided to search for the "One Ring". He found it, put it on, turned his clothes invisible and found he couldn't take it off. He then searched for the "Two Ring", at which point the DM knocked him out to stop his idiocy.

 

[BattleMonkey]

DM of the Rings

http://shamusyoung.mu.nu/images/comic_lotr2.jpg[img]
[img]http://shamusyoung.mu.nu/images/comic_lotr14.jpg[img]


Makes me think of one D&D session when our party was in a cave, separated, and one of our mages decided to search for the "One Ring". He found it, put it on, turned his clothes invisible and found he couldn't take it off. He then searched for the "Two Ring", at which point the DM knocked him out to stop his idiocy.[/QUOTE]

Never split the party!

 

[Freezer Rat]

And of course you got stuff like THACO which just was needlessly bloated rule system for combat that slowed things down greatly and was overly complex when it was so much simpler to do and has been in later editions.

I can agree with this, the combat system as it was could be a nightmare. My group just disregards THAC0, and uses a simpler 'we both roll, whoever rolls highest wins' system. As for weapon restrictions, that is one of the reasons we stuck with 2nd ed. It forces you to be more creative with your class, and figure out how to overcome basic limitations. Not to mention just because a mage can't wield a sword as well as a warrior, doesn't mean he can't grab one and give it the old college try when his back is against the wall. (Which, oddly enough, is how we killed Strahd in Ravenloft one session.)

 

[BattleMonkey]

I can agree with this, the combat system as it was could be a nightmare. My group just disregards THAC0, and uses a simpler 'we both roll, whoever rolls highest wins' system. As for weapon restrictions, that is one of the reasons we stuck with 2nd ed. It forces you to be more creative with your class, and figure out how to overcome basic limitations. Not to mention just because a mage can't wield a sword as well as a warrior, doesn't mean he can't grab one and give it the old college try when his back is against the wall. (Which, oddly enough, is how we killed Strahd in Ravenloft one session.)

Well see your taking things a bit to a level of home ruling here, but lot of people play to the letter of the rule which is where the game often broke down. For game design it made some sense but it also was a very restrictive game in the sense of actual roleplay, and was a game more inclined towards being a glorified board game.

Though some say the same now about 4th because of dependence on miniatures and such for gameplay and over simplification, but nothing really is taking away from the freedom of universe aspects and it's always up the GM. Though I like 4th edition for D&D specifically compared to past versions, it is not really a system I particularly like. I much rather play many other different rpg settings/rule sets.

 

[besada]

I just restarted my gaming group. We had our kickoff game with a new campaign (Hero System Occult Detectives) last week. I was rusty, but it all came back by the end of the game.

Any other GM's get hoarse by the end of the night when they run?

 

[Synth_floyd]

I heard a while ago that the D&D company was going to make some kind of software for 4e that would combine chat, dice rolls, maybe music and graphics and some other nifty things and make it easy to people to play D&D over the internet. I guess that never happened?

 

[ultron87]

I just restarted my gaming group. We had our kickoff game with a new campaign (Hero System Occult Detectives) last week. I was rusty, but it all came back by the end of the game.

Any other GM's get hoarse by the end of the night when they run?

I've never been able to get my group to go for any longer than 2-3 hours so I've never had to talk enough to get me hoarse. But who knows, maybe one day I'll make a very shouty NPC.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I just restarted my gaming group. We had our kickoff game with a new campaign (Hero System Occult Detectives) last week. I was rusty, but it all came back by the end of the game.

Any other GM's get hoarse by the end of the night when they run?

Depends on how much talking and laughing done during the session but yea have had many hoarse throats after long game nights.

One of the worst was after a night of 'Unknown Armies'. The group I had was one of the best (and I miss them so much) and we all were hardcore roleplayers so we would all really get into character and often found ourselves talking in story more than any combat or such. Hours of heavy storytelling, character interaction and probably too much beer and I was losing my voice.

Good times.

I heard a while ago that the D&D company was going to make some kind of software for 4e that would combine chat, dice rolls, maybe music and graphics and some other nifty things and make it easy to people to play D&D over the internet. I guess that never happened?

Yea it still has not come out yet. With them releasing new book every two months adding new rules and options all the time, I think they are making it harder on this program to ever take off.

 

[Freezer Rat]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe in the first few pages of the players handbook it states outright that the rules laid out in the book itself are a guideline on how to play. Home ruling is to be expected in every campaign for every system, because not everyone likes every system how it is. People who play to the very letter of what is written in the book are just limiting themselves on how far they can take the game which mostly defeats the purpose of any PnP RPG.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe in the first few pages of the players handbook it states outright that the rules laid out in the book itself are a guideline on how to play. Home ruling is to be expected in every campaign for every system, because not everyone likes every system how it is. People who play to the very letter of what is written in the book are just limiting themselves on how far they can take the game which mostly defeats the purpose of any PnP RPG.

To be fair I've never seen a rpg system or even miniature table top game that did not acknowledge house rules. But it's simply a matter of fact that many players do not like to diverge from rulebooks for many reasons such as having different play experiences or knowledge of rules from others. Organized game groups or event run games will usually not deviate from the letter of the rules though. There is also the thing that house rules can often create contradictions in other rules later on and often do, which require further house rulings and it avalanches into a completely different beast eventually.

Thing is, if your going to house rule the heck out of a system like D&D, then why are you even playing D&D if the rules obviously are not to your liking? I had a friend who detested D&D but there was folks in our group who enjoyed the universe, so he ended up using a system he liked and simply set it in the D&D universe. Believe it was a variant of one of the old Babylon 5 rpg rule sets that he modified to create a faster and more realistic feeling D&D setting.

 

[HatterMadness]

I'm happy to see so many people spitting on 4e

And yes, i still play. I may not be able to find my "Perfect group", but it's still fun... i'm not even sure my perfect group exists. But it's a nice thought.

 

[krypt0nian]

I'm happy to see so many people spitting on 4e

And yes, i still play. I may not be able to find my "Perfect group", but it's still fun... i'm not even sure my perfect group exists. But it's a nice thought.

How odd. Just play the edition you like and don't spit on anything. Hell the online community for 4E are some of the best people I've come in contact with since the net started. Probably since now you can play something other than a wizard at high levels and matter.


Oh and fake snark out of the way, here's a new Surface video for playing DnD.

http://vimeo.com/8211657

 

[BattleMonkey]

People acted the exact same way when 3rd edition came out. ZOMG the shit! I'm sticking to 2nd!

 

[WanderingWind]

I really wish there was like, a big chatroom or something where I could give this a shot. I never played in school, because I was too into girls.

Now, I'm married and have plenty of internet porn. I got time to learn me some D&D...

 

[besada]

I really wish there was like, a big chatroom or something where I could give this a shot. I never played in school, because I was too into girls.

Now, I'm married and have plenty of internet porn. I got time to learn me some D&D...

Learn the basics and then drop in at a local gaming/comic convention. We used to run beginner games for people all the time.

 

[WanderingWind]

Learn the basics and then drop in at a local gaming/comic convention. We used to run beginner games for people all the time.

Does not exist, unfortunately.

 

[Kinitari]

Huzzah, second D&D session is going to happen tonight - looks like I might hit level 2! So excited. Question though - our Dungeon master isn't actually experienced with D&D whatsoever (the guy who has played it before is instead our tank) - and he needs help with a few things. I can help him with most, but the one thing I am not sure about is how to... generate items for sale in town - and how to go about selling your excess items to vendors.

1. Do I just use the full list of purchasable items available?

2. Is there a random item generator I could use that would be level appropriate?

3. Do we sell back items at 100% their value? 50%? 30%? I know it's encouraged to make your own modifications, but I don't know what might break the game.

I am also thinking about downloading some DM helping app for him, tossing it on my netbook, and setting it up in front of him. Anything anyone recommends? I just downloaded the 'masterplan' program, and I am going to try it out quick - maybe that has everything I need!

 

[BattleMonkey]

Selling back items that are in good condition usually nets a person about half it's original value unless the characters can haggle... that is just kind of a norm most people use but it's always up to GM to present you with what kind of vendors your dealing with. They might offer you less or more depending on various things. If an item is brand spankin new you could say someone could attempt to haggle for it's full value. If the item was actually used by someone or a creature you take it from, it's probably best to assume it shows obvious wear on it and your going to not be offered much for it.

If you don't have the D&D DM screen for your DM, then it's obviously a good investment usually with lot of important charts in one spot.

 

[Dr Dang3r0us]

Does anyone in the Marietta Ga area have/ want to have a casual game that could use one more? I'm married so I can't always put in tons of hours, but it would be fun to get into it again. PM me with details.

 

[nodle]

I would love to play, I haven't played this type of stuff since high school.

 

[krypt0nian]

http://www.penandpapergames.com/ is a decent resource, as well as Meetup.com.

I've had luck finding one great prospect and between us we are hitting up the above sources and have 12 emails out to other guys/girls. We're shooting for weekly/bi-weekly D&D 4E games.


I'm also playing with Maptools and Skype as a way to hook up with my old groups that is spread out across the country now. They've all expressed interest in playing. But damn Maptools has a learning curve! :lol Great little app for free though!

 

[krypt0nian]

Gaming group search update:

So I've hooked up with another lapsed gamer who wants to host at his place, complete with Mancave and supportive wife. He's ex secret service and currently FBI, so very cool guy. Total geek but you'd never know it by looking. D&D, Shadowrun, Star Wars under his belt mainly.

Meetup.com just delivered 2 more very likely players and what looks like a full time DM that's available on the day we want to play and sounds very motivated by her emails. She's hyped on 4E so we should be set.

We're planning on all meeting for drinks Friday night to see if we click, and may be playing by next Saturday!

 

[soco]

good luck kryptonian!

i'm actually playing on valentines day! everyone that needed approval got approval from their SOs. yay!

then afterwards i'm going to dinner at a friends place to kill off his relationship with the guy he's been talking to.

Spoiler

not really, but the guy got pissed because he assumed the two of them were going to be doing something.

 

[krypt0nian]

good luck kryptonian!

i'm actually playing on valentines day! everyone that needed approval got approval from their SOs. yay!

then afterwards i'm going to dinner at a friends place to kill off his relationship with the guy he's been talking to.

Spoiler

not really, but the guy got pissed because he assumed the two of them were going to be doing something.

Ah sweet! Its funny with our host as his wife was the one who suggested this as lately he's been all work and no play makes johnny a dull boy.

And fun drama to the 2nd part! LOL

 

[Evlar]

Never split the party!

Heh. The group I am DM'ing was split into four parties for the past several sessions before I managed to pull them back together last Sunday. I think it's worthwhile to allow diverging storylines in city settings to reinforce the sense that the world does not revolve around the player characters, as long as the players are willing to put up with downtime while I work through each little sub-plot with the different parties. This group really likes individual expression and exploration so it works for them. It's a royal pain in the neck to prepare for.

Even so I can't let it go on too long or boredom becomes a chronic problem, so force 'em back together and follow up with a few sessions of good old linear dungeon-crawling hack'n'slash.

 

[Amakusa]

I just picked up Player's Handbook 1 and 2 on sale. There seems to be a good group playing at my local shop and i live in a big city so i'm sure there are plenty of players in my area.

Who on Gaf still plays? or started playing again recently?

My friends running a 4th Ed game on Saturdays now, he just revamped his World. Very Good DM, he's been running since DnD 1st

 

[krypt0nian]

Well slap me around and call me Shirley!

Looks like we have an honest to goodness bi-weekly DnD game setup. Funny thing is we've been corresponding with a guy and girl from Meetup.com who in the end turn out to be BF/GF and have Saturdays open! LOL

Talk about the stars converging. Cool people overall. FBI agent, graphic arts girl, and IT manager. No oddballs in the bunch. Well not too odd anyway.

She's planning to be full time DM with 2 of us dropping in to give her a break now and then. And the FBI guy is hosting so we're golden. Even his wife is behind his playing!

We're meeting for beers tonight to set some things in stone and should play next week.

Too damn hyped.

 

[krypt0nian]

Very cool DM supplies video a buddy made - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vhD2c0Y18k

 

[hoverX]

Well slap me around and call me Shirley!

Looks like we have an honest to goodness bi-weekly DnD game setup. Funny thing is we've been corresponding with a guy and girl from Meetup.com who in the end turn out to be BF/GF and have Saturdays open! LOL

Talk about the stars converging. Cool people overall. FBI agent, graphic arts girl, and IT manager. No oddballs in the bunch. Well not too odd anyway.

She's planning to be full time DM with 2 of us dropping in to give her a break now and then. And the FBI guy is hosting so we're golden. Even his wife is behind his playing!

We're meeting for beers tonight to set some things in stone and should play next week.

Too damn hyped.

That's cool. i've yet to make it to a game. i'm considering joining living forgotten realms as it's near my office. i've had contact with a few groups but haven't joined any yet.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Heh. The group I am DM'ing was split into four parties for the past several sessions before I managed to pull them back together last Sunday. I think it's worthwhile to allow diverging storylines in city settings to reinforce the sense that the world does not revolve around the player characters, as long as the players are willing to put up with downtime while I work through each little sub-plot with the different parties. This group really likes individual expression and exploration so it works for them. It's a royal pain in the neck to prepare for.

Even so I can't let it go on too long or boredom becomes a chronic problem, so force 'em back together and follow up with a few sessions of good old linear dungeon-crawling hack'n'slash.

It's gamer dependant, so many games though go horribly wrong when parties are split up. Having some down time and individual moments with specific characters, but some people can't handle it or you get stuff like certain players annoyed at being left out as you tend to another players "adventure". Players doing something stupid without back up, and everyone pulling in random directions pulling away from the actual game storyline.

It's not easy to do hence most people frown on doing it outside of downtime situations or very short bursts. Some players though can handle it better than others though it always seems like theres someone in the group who does not appreciate it.

 

[krypt0nian]

What we've done in the past when you need to split the party (NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY!) is have a videogame or some quick and easy board/dice game handy for the other folks so they have something to do while we handle the individual groups. Also keep the separation to 15-20 mins max.

Barring that one DM provided a pretty tough logic puzzle for everyone that if solved, gave them xp or a minor bonus to their next battle. On the honor system so no check solutions via smartphone.

 

[Gattsu25]

Never played a PnP before

I own the main sourcebooks for Shadowrun 3E and 4E, though...


edit: Oh fuck me! They're selling the 1E in pdf for $8

 

[hoverX]

Never played a PnP before

I own the main sourcebooks for Shadowrun 3E and 4E, though...


edit: Oh fuck me! They're selling the 1E in pdf for $8

I own the 4e rulebook for shadowrun as well. would love to play but can't find anyone.

 

[CzarTim]

I always have wanted to play, but never have had enough friends.

 

[Kinitari]

My D&Ding is still going strong, surprised really at how much my friends are enjoying myself (some of them are not even the gaming type) - I think it has a lot to do with our party dynamic, we don't take everything so seriously, but we take it seriously enough that we enjoy ourselves. Our DM also makes everything really sexually charged, our buddy who died (first permadeath!) made a new leader, and at one point during the role play of hiring him on, the DM made him roll for penis size - I don't even know how we got to that point, but it actually played a pretty important part in the story... (he rolled a 14).

Anyhoo, I am going to attend SpellStorm! It's some sort of table top convention (mostly D&D 4e) - it's only in it's second year, but it should be fun. I figure it will be a good opportunity for me to play some tables with people who ACTUALLY know how to play D&D (me and my friends are sort of learning as we go along) - and maybe I can pick up some good play tips! I don't know whether or not I should roll a new character for it, play my actual character or make a copy of my character just for this event. I mean, if I play my current character, I would learn a lot but I would most likely end up at level 8-10 - and all my friends are still 2! So I would probably just play a copy of my character, and learn from my mistakes when building my real char.

 

[Ducarmel]

I learned to play while i was enlisted from my fellow shipmates last year and played every other week, since my discharge I have not played wish i could find a small group to play time to time.

 

[flyover]

My D&Ding is still going strong, surprised really at how much my friends are enjoying myself (some of them are not even the gaming type)...

Isn't that the truth? If you run your game well and have a good group of people, just about anyone can enjoy D&D. It's so satisfying when non-gamers join in, discover they have a knack for both the role-playing and gameplay aspects, and wind up being the most excited about the next session.

I'm fine with all D&D editions, though I like some better than others. The most fun ruleset for me -- as player and DM -- has always been the Moldvay Basic Set (supplemented by the Expert set at higher levels).

Lately, I've really been enjoying Labyrinth Lord, a clone of the aforementioned Basic Set. It's easy to get a game going quickly, and it encourages role-playing over the more recent D&D editions' micromanaging (though you can homebrew that kind of stuff in, easily enough). Best of all, the rulebook PDFs are free.

 

[timetokill]

Haven't played in ages, though I've been tempted to try out 4e a few times. I'd basically be a complete newcomer though, I never played all that much to begin with.

 

[krypt0nian]

Flyover the 4e books specifically encourage roleplaying and player created cooperative storytelling.
The false rumor that it's just number crunching is just that. There is no more roleplaying support in the Basic box than in 4E.

Drives me crazy.

 

[kai3345]

I've always wanted to play dnd. None of my friends play or are even remotely interested and I think all the groups around my area are either 18+ or not noob friendly

 

[krypt0nian]

I've always wanted to play dnd. None of my friends play or are even remotely interested and I think all the groups around my area are either 18+ or not noob friendly

Meetup.com came to my rescue

 

[krypt0nian]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388001

For those that missed it - Robot Chicken writers play D&D podcast series

 

[Kinitari]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388001

For those that missed it - Robot Chicken writers play D&D podcast series

Watching the first episode now! Tomorrow I have a Marathon play session from 9am to 6:30pm - Spellstorm table top convention HOOOO!!

I am psyched, I didn't realize I was quite this nerdy, I need to start having more sex to balance this shit out.