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Dungeons and Dragons: Who still plays?

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Trurl

Banned
krypt0nian said:
If you're using the older alignments, I'd say you're closer to Chaotic Good, even though you're stealing. As long as you can justify the thefts according to your logic, I'd say you're still in the realm of "good" There have plenty of good thieves in literature, and if you balance the kindness and good deeds vs the stealing, I'd say you could make a good case for CG.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChaoticGood

Chaotic Neutral to me always felt like near schizophrenia. No compass plus random course corrections.


EDIT: hmm after reading Chaotic Neutral on TVTropes it may be correct as well..
Thanks for your input. I like the idea of chaotic good, but one person in the group in particular might bust my balls about not acting purely good.

Maybe I'll just refuse to talk about the issue unless the DM complains to me about it, haha. It would be one thing if I were just changing my character's nature out of convenience, but I have a very clear type of personality behind my actions. This type of rule mongering would prevent Lupin, Blackjack, Han Solo and a whole bunch of other great characters from being possible.
 
Trurl said:
Thanks for your input. I like the idea of chaotic good, but one person in the group in particular might bust my balls about not acting purely good.

Maybe I'll just refuse to talk about the issue unless the DM complains to me about it, haha. It would be one thing if I were just changing my character's nature out of convenience, but I have a very clear type of personality behind my actions. This type of rule mongering would prevent Lupin, Blackjack, Han Solo and a whole bunch of other great characters from being possible.

I love that alignment was tossed in the back closet in 4th edition. Maybe petition the DM to have a shifting alignment system for charas that aren't tied to a specific alignment like Paladins are.
 

Gorgon

Member
Snatched a copy of this baby on Ebay yeasterday:

pic521717.jpg


Published in 2000, unfortunately it didn't get very well known and the publishers wnt down. Fantastic game though, I've trying to get a copy for some time now.
 
besada said:
Some do, some don't. Some expect you to, and some get pissed. It helps to feel them out early and figure out whether they're the kind that cares much about their origin or not. If they type up a three page back story, you probably don't want to mess with it too much. If you make it cool, and in the end it makes the character deeper and more interesting, or gives him a new power, they usually don't mind.

As an example of how NOT to do it, we had a player who stole Ultra Boy's origin (flew his spacecraft through a radioactive space whale) basically. He discovered that he was actually delusional, and that his space ship was a card board box in his basement, and he was really connected to an ancient alien blood line that were all trying to murder him. He did not take it well.

Any player who allows you to give him selective amnesia is basically begging to have his origin retconned for fun and profit. When I build characters, I always leave about twenty points in mystery disads, because my co-GM really loves to monkey with origins, and it gives him a safe space in which to do it without turning my character into a freak.

Edit: I understand wanting to avoid the gritty darkness. Those games can really get ugly fast. I once found myself in one of those where the heroes eventually decided to snap the necks of the villains, stuff them in a washing machine, crimp the lid shut, and dump it in the ocean.

On the god origin, I fed him some New Gods info and he's running with it! A much better fit, I'd say than the standard Greek demigod thing.


Our one shot at a Supers game was Aberrant (blarg!) and we had a rough time of it. I want to show them how to have fun in a Supers setting. So far the group is hyped in prelim emails, and we're due to sit down and run character creates in a few weeks when I get home. Then it's a few combat run throughs together so everyone has a handle on the rules, and off to the races. Cannot wait! The Hero Lab character gen software has been invaluable! Highly recommended.

One nice surprise, I built our Aberrant charas in Mnm3e as a Villian group, and that's who the test combats are against. Perfect payback!
 

hoverX

Member
So i decided to drop out of a game i was playing in. I don't know if i'm just not into role playing games like i was as a kid or what? Perhaps it was the system (Earthdawn)? I don't know what. The people i were playing with were great but the sessions were really heavy into the roleplaying side of things and i was having a hard time getting into it. Our sessions were typically 6 hours with 1 or 2 short combat sessions mixed somewhere in there.
 
hoverX said:
So i decided to drop out of a game i was playing in. I don't know if i'm just not into role playing games like i was as a kid or what? Perhaps it was the system (Earthdawn)? I don't know what. The people i were playing with were great but the sessions were really heavy into the roleplaying side of things and i was having a hard time getting into it. Our sessions were typically 6 hours with 1 or 2 short combat sessions mixed somewhere in there.


Shitty. Maybe address the issue with your group? I'd say either suggest that maybe the combat balance be shifted? There may be more members that this would make sense for, and your GM should appreciate the feedback.

Or put your hat in the ring to run the next game? I hate to see someone drop out as a GM, I'd kill to hear issues before someone drops out.
 

besada

Banned
krypt0nian said:
One nice surprise, I built our Aberrant charas in Mnm3e as a Villian group, and that's who the test combats are against. Perfect payback!

Always fun. My co-GM loves to dig back into our gaming history. I've had my ass kicked so many times by my old characters. And we have twenty years of back history with which to be fucked. Nothing like paying for a mistake you made in your twenties two decades later.
 
besada said:
Always fun. My co-GM loves to dig back into our gaming history. I've had my ass kicked so many times by my old characters. And we have twenty years of back history with which to be fucked. Nothing like paying for a mistake you made in your twenties two decades later.


It's giving me an excellent exercise in character building. Plus it will be the best mind fuck! I cannot wait!
 
hoverX said:
So i decided to drop out of a game i was playing in. I don't know if i'm just not into role playing games like i was as a kid or what? Perhaps it was the system (Earthdawn)? I don't know what. The people i were playing with were great but the sessions were really heavy into the roleplaying side of things and i was having a hard time getting into it. Our sessions were typically 6 hours with 1 or 2 short combat sessions mixed somewhere in there.

The group might be a more roleplay heavy group who likes that kind of play. You often will find two different types of groups when it comes to rpgs, those who are roleplay heavy and rarely touch the rules or combat, and then you have groups that are basically non stop combat with very very little actual roleplaying. It's hard to find groups that sit in a middle ground.
 

hoverX

Member
krypt0nian said:
Shitty. Maybe address the issue with your group? I'd say either suggest that maybe the combat balance be shifted? There may be more members that this would make sense for, and your GM should appreciate the feedback.

Or put your hat in the ring to run the next game? I hate to see someone drop out as a GM, I'd kill to hear issues before someone drops out.

I don't think it's the game, it's me. I just don't look forward to playing enough. The GM is doing a great job (better than the groups last GM) and all the players are great too.
 

besada

Banned
krypt0nian said:
It's giving me an excellent exercise in character building. Plus it will be the best mind fuck! I cannot wait!

We forgot a character once -- had a "Baby Phoenix" moment -- in hell. Literally twenty years later he showed up and punished us repeatedly for leaving him trapped in hell for twenty years. The shock on our faces when he showed up must have been almost worth the wait for the GM.
 
besada said:
We forgot a character once -- had a "Baby Phoenix" moment -- in hell. Literally twenty years later he showed up and punished us repeatedly for leaving him trapped in hell for twenty years. The shock on our faces when he showed up must have been almost worth the wait for the GM.


That is insanely cool. Hell we felt guilty for forgetting a main NPC storyline for a week. Until Eva, our Paladin reminded us that we had left the people we came to save in a cave.

Oops.
 
2011 Origins RPG award nominations announced!

http://originsnews.wordpress.com/20...nnounces-37th-annual-origins-awards-nominees/

Best Roleplaying Game
DC Adventures – Green Ronin Publishing
Designer: Steve Kenson

Dragon Age, Set 1 – Green Ronin Publishing
Designer: Chris Pramas

The Dresden Files RPG  - Evil Hat Productions
Designers: Leonard Balsera, Jim Butcher, Genevieve Cogman, Robert Donoghue, Fred Hicks, Kenneth Hite, Ryan Macklin, Chad Underkoffler, Clark Valentine

Fiasco – Bully Pulpit Games
Designer: Jason Morningstar

Gamma World RPG – Wizards of the Coast
Designers: Rich Baker, Bruce Cordell

Best Roleplaying Supplement
A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide (A Song of Ice and Fire RPG)  - Green Ronin Publishing
Designers: David Chart, Joshua Frost, Brian Kirby, Jon Leitheusser, Anthony Pryor, Robert J. Schwalb, Owen K.C. Stephens

The Dresden Files: Our World (The Dresden Files RPG) – Evil Hat Productions
Designers: Leonard Balsera, Jim Butcher, Genevieve Cogman, Robert Donoghue, Fred Hicks, Kenneth Hite, Ryan Macklin, Chad Underkoffler, Clark Valentine

Advanced Player’s Guide (Pathfinder RPG) – Paizo Publishing
Designers: Judy Bauer, Jason Bulmahn, Christopher Carey, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal Maclean, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K. Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, Lisa Stevens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, Vic Wertz

Sixth World Almanac (Shadowrun RPG)- Catalyst Game Labs
Designers: Jason Hardy, John Heifers, John Dunn

Sunward: The Inner System (Eclipse Phase RPG) – Posthuman Studios
Designers: Rob Boyle, Brian Cross, Adam Jury


I really enjoy all 5 RPG noms, but I have a hard on for the DC Adventures game and it's good to see it recognized.
 
Just started playing in a 3.5 game. Playing a true neutral human druid, aiming for Master of Many Forms.

My backstory is that I was a wolf, and the leader of my pack, up until about 3 months ago, when a goddess transformed me into a human. The rest of the pack except my mate abandoned me, and my mate is now my animal companion.

Roleplaying this is extremely fun. There's a pretty big group playing, so my character is under the assumption that he's going to be the leader of this pack now. I have an insanely high spot check for 1st level, so when I spotted the Rogue trying to steal some party loot for himself and he was unrepentant, I tried to kill him for betraying the rest of his pack. If another guy hadn't rolled higher initiative than me, I would have succeeded in killing him, too.

Now the rogue is plotting to kill me in my sleep, so I'm alternating watches at night with my animal companion.

I love this game.
 
Back with my regular gaming group after 6 months in Florida and it was sooo good Saturday night.

Dropped into a 5 month old Shadowrun campaign and it went super smoothly as our GM had been name dropping me as a master infiltrator for the last two months and my rep paved the way. Did a museum heist for some arcane tablets, and then an infiltration of the United Center in Chicago to root out a net spider so our Matrix guy could take over their systems and give us access for a hit on the guy running blood combats in the DMZd stadium.

There is nothing better than a crazy, creative, stable gaming group and I hugz them so much.
 
Heads up - Dungeons and Dragons Daggerdale is out on xbox LIVE this Wednesday and PSN early June. Old school hack and slash loot whore paradise set in the Forgotten Realms.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
Looking forward to that.

speaking of which, my damn players keep on wanting to roll character from Shadowfell, Dark Sun or Eberron. I say no, and then they whine.

I think I'm done DMming for them.

I am DMing encounter's which is really laid back and fun.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Had my first 4E experience yesterday, and I was the most badass Bard ever. It was a sanctioned event at GenCon and I was part of a 4th level party of six that included a twinstriking ranger with hammers, a warforged fighter, a shaman, a sorcerer, and another fighter. And I kicked ass. In the final battle against a Kraken I did about 200 damage to its 300 hp, as well as keeping the party topped up on healing. We were all cracking up by the end, the DM was like "so how does it feel to have the Bard being your striker?"
 

Staccat0

Fail out bailed
Okay, sorry for the bump... but I'm going craaazy
I have been anting to play D&D for years. Maybe my whole life. I've played several times, but have never gotten a campaign together.
Listening to the penny arcade podcast really inspired me to get into it, but years later and it just doesn't seem like its going to happen.
My schedule is too insane for a group of strangers and I am pretty nervous about getting mixed up in something too hack and slash OR RP heavy.
I would like to get a game together with my friends, and I fear ts a tad beyond their nerd levels to get anyone ACTUALLY interested.

So,
Aside from the official ones, are there any great D&D podcasts with actual gameplay?
-I've tried the Critical Hit ones, but the Larry the Cable Guy dude is ruining it for me.
-The Lost Tales of Ashrim podcast, has pretty lousy audio and the constant giggling is distracting. None of the people are funny, which is fine, but they are trying to be funny which sucks.
- I tried the D&D 4e Adventures Video Podcast, and after some guy made a Micheal Jackson "WeeHee! Sham-on-ah!" noise for the 50th time I was out.

Can no one recreate that Penny Arcade goodness?
The Robot Chicken ones were okay... I could deal with something like that.
Anybody?
Save ME! I need you heroes...

EDIT: BTW, much love to the guy above. I've always dug bards.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
Anyone here play encounters?
 
ChiTownBuffalo said:
Anyone here play encounters?
I've been playing them since the previous "season" (legacy of evvard) began in mid-May. My local shop runs two sessions every Wednesday. An early session that begins at 6:00 pm for kids and Tweens, this sessions sticks to encounters rules and scenarios that WoC setup. Then they run an "adult" session at 7:30 pm that sane core 4 people have been apart of since the around mid-February.

I play with the adult group and right now we're all running level 7 characters with 4E rules. Just started a new campaign this previous Wednesday that isn't part of the WoC encounters. I'm running a Warforged Battle Cleric and he's pretty damn awesome.

Before hearing about the Encounters program, I didn't play D&D at all. So if your interested, definitely get a hold of your local shop and go attend a session.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
Reluctant-Hero said:
I've been playing them since the previous "season" (legacy of evvard) began in mid-May. My local shop runs two sessions every Wednesday. An early session that begins at 6:00 pm for kids and Tweens, this sessions sticks to encounters rules and scenarios that WoC setup. Then they run an "adult" session at 7:30 pm that sane core 4 people have been apart of since the around mid-February.

I play with the adult group and right now we're all running level 7 characters with 4E rules. Just started a new campaign this previous Wednesday that isn't part of the WoC encounters. I'm running a Warforged Battle Cleric and he's pretty damn awesome.

Before hearing about the Encounters program, I didn't play D&D at all. So if your interested, definitely get a hold of your local shop and go attend a session.

Ha, no worries, I DM the Encounters at a gamestore.
 

dude

dude
RPGCrazied said:
I did when I was younger, but these days I need something more than Pen & Paper.
This is crazy. Whenever I play a video game RPG all I can think about is how much this pales in comparisons to real RPGs. I don't understand, what is more than P&P?



After a little break of a couple of month, we're playing again. I'm not the DM this time, which is nice. We decided to have a large degree of randomness in character creation, which was very fun (though it worked out against me as I have the lowest scores). It's nice trying to think of ways to make your character deal with whatever you rolled.
BTW, has any one tries the 2d10 or 3d6 as replacement for d20? We've been thinking of using that to create a bell curve, but don't want to make the game slower or more confusing...
 
Heading back down to Florida in a few months (until April) and I decided to get into Pathfinder finally since it seems to have a huge foothold in the Orlando area.

Are there quick start rules for Pathfinder? Any actual play podcasts anyone can recommend?
Kinda hyped to play, as I've gotten kinda burnt out on 4E.

Cheers! Off to Meetup.com again to scout out some fun people.
 

Vagabundo

Member
Staccat0 said:
Okay, sorry for the bump... but I'm going craaazy
I have been anting to play D&D for years. Maybe my whole life. I've played several times, but have never gotten a campaign together.
Listening to the penny arcade podcast really inspired me to get into it, but years later and it just doesn't seem like its going to happen.
My schedule is too insane for a group of strangers and I am pretty nervous about getting mixed up in something too hack and slash OR RP heavy.
I would like to get a game together with my friends, and I fear ts a tad beyond their nerd levels to get anyone ACTUALLY interested.

So,
Aside from the official ones, are there any great D&D podcasts with actual gameplay?
-I've tried the Critical Hit ones, but the Larry the Cable Guy dude is ruining it for me.
-The Lost Tales of Ashrim podcast, has pretty lousy audio and the constant giggling is distracting. None of the people are funny, which is fine, but they are trying to be funny which sucks.
- I tried the D&D 4e Adventures Video Podcast, and after some guy made a Micheal Jackson "WeeHee! Sham-on-ah!" noise for the 50th time I was out.

Can no one recreate that Penny Arcade goodness?
The Robot Chicken ones were okay... I could deal with something like that.
Anybody?
Save ME! I need you heroes...

EDIT: BTW, much love to the guy above. I've always dug bards.

There is a new officel podcast from PAX, I believe. I haven't see many decent DND podcasts, most of them seem cringeworthy.


krypt0nian said:
Heading back down to Florida in a few months (until April) and I decided to get into Pathfinder finally since it seems to have a huge foothold in the Orlando area.

Are there quick start rules for Pathfinder? Any actual play podcasts anyone can recommend?
Kinda hyped to play, as I've gotten kinda burnt out on 4E.

Cheers! Off to Meetup.com again to scout out some fun people.


You could have a browse through the pathfinder SRD:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

If you've played 3e it is pretty similar.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
Is anyone playing D&D Lair Assault?
 
Pretty burned out on 4E myself. Great system but a year straight has made it lose some luster. I think we're heading in a Pathfinder direction next which is kinda cool, as I've missed some of the old edition flavor.


Starting up a short term Serenity game this Saturday and I'm way hyped. Never played the system before (Cortex?) and I've been rewatching the Firefly series like mad to prep.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
I only like 4E because, because of ease of entry. Like roofies and wine coolers.

It's basically Final Fantasy Tactics.

of course the fucking drama club table at the place where I help DM has to fuck it up by insisting everyone speak in character voices. One of them is a bard, if she brings a lute, so help me I will throw dice at her.
 
ChiTownBuffalo said:
I only like 4E because, because of ease of entry. Like roofies and wine coolers.

It's basically Final Fantasy Tactics.

of course the fucking drama club table at the place where I help DM has to fuck it up by insisting everyone speak in character voices. One of them is a bard, if she brings a lute, so help me I will throw dice at her.


Oh I loved 4E and the cool tactics were a big part of it, but I'm a little burned out right now. I do like the concept of the hard dungeon runs of the new season of Encpunters though.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
I kinda sorta want to as well, just no way I can fit it into my schedule with the other nerdery I'm invovled in.
 
Wow, some people are naturally excellent GMs. Played a first session of Serenity today with a girl who had only run a game once before (a Pathfinder one shot) and it was up there with the best sessions I've ever played in 20+ years of gaming. Story driven laughs, note perfect Firefly Universe stuff, real plot drive, excellent NPCs, fast on her feet and clever as all fuck.

On top of it, we had two other in person players that were well immersed in the Firefly/Serenity Universe, as well as a girl skyping in from Fairbanks, Alaska that felt like someone at the table. It was my first time playing with a mixed group (real/virtual) and I cannot recommend it enough. It was like she was at the table, as the mike/cam was well calibrated, and the monitor she was on showed just her face/shoulders and was positioned where she would be at the table.

I played a bright eyed, silver tongued singing cowboy grifter/negotiator archetype and had a ball with it. I love being the social guy in games, as I'm really good speaking in character and quick on my feet.

Cannot give the GM enough credit and praise. I went in just having finished a week long marathon of the Firefly DVD set the night before, and she made it come to life for me in so many ways.

There is NOTHING like pen and paper roleplaying games. When it goes well, it can be another world come to life.
 

Vagabundo

Member
So it seems Monte Cook is back with WotC. 5e is definitely ramping up, maybe two years away I'd guess.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't like 3e, it is chock full of fiddly stuff that makes my game harder to run, but Monte is a good designer and there are some big things that need fixing in the 4e ruleset.

Anyway, it is interesting news.

And I've been hearing some great things about the recent WotC releases like Gardmore Abbey. It's got me thinking about running a game in the POL setting.

Announcement: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110920

And Mike Mearls has been spitballin' the past few months with articles about game design and, maybe, where things are heading for 5e.

Full list of Legends and Lore articles: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/archive.aspx?category=all&subcategory=legendslore
 

Ganhyun

Member
So, can anyone tell me about how well the Dresden RPG runs? I've never played the Fate system so I have no clue what its like. No one else in the area has it, and I don't want to put money into it without being able to see its application and such.

I've played D&D 3.0, 3.5, some 2nd, and 2nd edition WOD. I've also did a bit of DBZ, Shadowrun, and Cyberpunk.
 
Hugely excited by the Monte Cook news. I really feel that even though 4E combat for me was amazingly fun and tactical, the game would do well to have some of the AD&D DNA put back in. All of the signs of the last 6 months, various twitter posts about WoTC people playing AD&D, and Mike Mearles articles seem to point to this.

As to the Dresden RPG, I haven't actually played it but have heard nothing but good word from all my gaming people online. Gorgeous book(s) and did well at the awards this year.

Still heavily into Mutants & Masterminds 3E, and excited to pickup the hot off the presses Gamemaster's Guide that just hit. :D
 

dude

dude
This thread is long overdue for a bump. C'mon D&D-gaf, don't let this die.


I recently got the Fabled Lands RPG book (based on the AMAZING game books that you should all play, available on your iOS device.) and it's pretty great! I find it very similar to D&D, only without the bloat and bullshit. It's supposed to be played in Harkuna, the Fabled Lands world, but with some house rules I easily adapted it to my own setting.

If you can stand some bad art and grow inceasingly frustrated with D&D, you should definitley check it out. It has made gameplay much faster and smoother.


krypt0nian said:
the game would do well to have some of the AD&D DNA put back in.
I second that. I recently rebought the AD&D player handbook - And in my opinion it's still probably the best D&D book to date.
 
Aw man, the Pathfinder prepainted mini set coming from Paizo/Wizkids gets my monies this December. Or rather Santa's monies as that's what I'm asking for. Nice small set, and the commons are ultra useful.

http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/pathfinderBattles


hoverX said:
What does everyone think of pathfinder society? I was thinking of trying it out next week.

We should be back in the Orlando area later this month and I hope to give it a go then. Either that or jump into someone's Pathfinder weekly/biweekly game.
 
Ganhyun said:
So, can anyone tell me about how well the Dresden RPG runs? I've never played the Fate system so I have no clue what its like. No one else in the area has it, and I don't want to put money into it without being able to see its application and such.

I've played D&D 3.0, 3.5, some 2nd, and 2nd edition WOD. I've also did a bit of DBZ, Shadowrun, and Cyberpunk.

A bit late answering this question, but the Dresden RPG was great imo. I ran a homebrew setting game using the adjusted FATE system it uses. Works very well. Flexible, and relatively easy to learn.
 

marrec

Banned
I had a group going, every Wednesday. It was great fun, until the DM professed her undying love for me and tried to tell my Fiancee that her and I were destined to be together and she might as well just leave me now.

Needless to say, I'm in the middle of finding another D&D group. Any GAFers in the Pittsburgh area have a group going?
 
marrec said:
I had a group going, every Wednesday. It was great fun, until the DM professed her undying love for me and tried to tell my Fiancee that her and I were destined to be together and she might as well just leave me now.

Do you live in real life? I thought that kind of shit only happened in movies.
 
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