Dungeons & Dragons discussion

Post by **Grimmie** » November 18th, 2009, 15:58

I'm actually really looking forward to holding my own game.

How many people are interested in trying out a D&D campaign? It'll be my first time being a GM so I'm going to take my time and swot up on as much as I can before I launch it to 5punk. I'd also like a small group to start off with, just to find my feet. Maybe some 5punkers that aren't in the current SLA or SR campaigns?

I checked out character creation today and it seems simple enough, going to have a few goes at making some sample dudes to try out alone.

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 18th, 2009, 18:04

Technically I'm not playing SLA, and I'm probably going to drop one of my SR characters after these runs. It's just too confusing playing two games of the same system at the same time. Don't know which one it'll be though.

However, if new people would rather play without people like me hogging the game I'll hang back for a bit.

Post by **Joose** » November 18th, 2009, 18:20

Dog Pants wrote:

but also

Dog Pants wrote:if new people would rather play without people like me hogging the game I'll hang back for a bit.

Akiakaiu · Post by **Akiakaiu** » November 18th, 2009, 18:28

Since Rifts died the 5punky death I'd be in for some D&D goodness. Just say which edition's rules and I'm ready.

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 18th, 2009, 18:35

Yeah, sorry about Rifts. I had good intentions with that but it's just too much for my brain to cope with at the moment, running two games at once. Expecially when the Rifts rules are far more complimacated than I remember.

Post by **Joose** » November 18th, 2009, 19:04

Akiakaiu wrote:Since Rifts died the 5punky death I'd be in for some D&D goodness. Just say which edition's rules and I'm ready.

I think I have persuaded Grimmie to settle on the 3.5 rules now. Joy!

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 18th, 2009, 19:13

I'll throw together an Excel character sheet then. The ones I've found on the interwebs are far too complicated.

Post by **HereComesPete** » November 18th, 2009, 19:33

All of what Pants and Joose wrote about interested but more than willing to stand back to allow others to play.

Pnut · Post by **Pnut** » November 18th, 2009, 19:58

If i can get hold of the book I`ll probably give this a go. Is it a good 1 to start of with?

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 18th, 2009, 19:59

Should be. A lot of people do start out on D&D.

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » November 18th, 2009, 20:16

I have to admit I've always been intrigued by games like these, but am kind of worried that it involves things like math and being able to use 15 different reference books. In all, it looks very complicated. Am I wrong? I'd rather be told now before I decide to give it a go and having to give up halfway through because I lost interest/it's too difficult and can't keep track of what's going on.

Post by **Grimmie** » November 18th, 2009, 20:33

I get totally baffled by the rules of most games, but having read the first 15~ pages of the dungeon master book, and the first 6~ of the player book, it all looks a lot more simple than SLA or SR.

The only maths heavy bit is starting a character, and even then it's only addition. Once I'm more confident with how everything works and I've played around with stuff I'm more than happy to sit down on TS or Xfire and talk you through it step by step. I know how brain-numbingly hard these things can be when it's your first time playing one.

For the regular player, there's just a single book. It's a chunky bastard of a book, but from what I can see you can get away with reading maybe.. The first 30 pages of the book and then a couple smattered throughout (like, weapons and armour).

The <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/598322/D%26D/D% ... ">player's handbook is here</a> if you want a head start.
It's gonna take me a few months to set something legible up, so there's no great rush to make a dude just yet!

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » November 18th, 2009, 20:57

Considering I've got difficulties grasping the rules of monopoly, I think I'll give this a miss. Thanks for the explanation though.

Post by **Joose** » November 18th, 2009, 22:11

To be honest, you dont really need to understand the rules to play D&D. I never did when I played my first character.

Making a character is probably the most rules intensive bit for a player, and someone can walk you through that quite easily. The most complicated it will get for you is someone saying "would you like to be a barbarian, or a mage?", and they can do the maths/rules for you.

Once you are playing, its all "I want to stick him with my sword" and the like. With the amount of experienced people around here, you would never need to know how it works.

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 18th, 2009, 22:15

I don't want to seem like I'm trying to sway you, but the roleplaying aspect is more important than the rules really. You can pick those up as you play, and since the players are working together people will always help out (unlike Monopoly - I can't play it either). I've still very little understanding of Shadowrun. I'm sure Grimmie or another player could even create a character to your description for you. However, an understanding of what your character can do is useful, although again that can be picked up as you play. I remember starting playing (I was about 13 I think), and I hadn't a clue for months what I was doing. As I said though, the most important bit is the roleplaying, to be able to picture what's happening in your head. If you can follow the games that we're playing at the moment then you should easily be able to play, since playing gives you more direct involvement.

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » November 18th, 2009, 22:21

Might as well try it, at least I'll be able to out-nerd others by saying I played dungeons and dragons.

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 25th, 2009, 10:22

I've got my Excel character sheet to a state I'm happy with (0.8 now), and I've made about half a dozen different class and race characters. I'm going to create one of each just to make sure it works, but I've managed to eke the time down for creation to about an hour. There's a creation guide included, which I'll trim down and should help people a lot.

I'll link it here if people are interested, and I'd be interested in any feedback (since it's a beta).

I've found all the characters to be pleasantly different (I've never played some in any version) so far, and I've only got rogue, sorceror and lizard to go. My only criticism of the system so far is the board-game style combat system.

Post by **Grimmie** » November 25th, 2009, 11:54

Yeah, the grid system is putting me off a bit, will probably just make a vague map and come to a decision on hits and misses myself.
Drawing a line through a series of grid squares to see what targets are hit by a linear spell seems more trouble than saying "This dude was in the way. He's deep fried by your fireball now"

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 25th, 2009, 12:21

Yeah, I'd just use GM's discretion. Fannying about with grids and figures always struck me as a bit unneccessary in an RPG.

Akiakaiu · Post by **Akiakaiu** » November 25th, 2009, 18:13

Everytime I've ever played D&D I've never used the grid system. I can see where that could add an extra element when attacking (line of sight) but we just kinda played it however.

As for the excel sheet, I'll be waiting till closer to start for this one. As I know how things work here hehe and I'm not sure what class I want to play. So I'll wait till some others have made some characters till I decide on that.