OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

such as what anybody here thought about the D&D Adventure game starter thing, good places on the internet to buy it, or any other things or advice i should have before getting into it?
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...core/863490000

[ December 10, 2003, 00:14: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

D&D is great. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Now if only I could find some people to play it with... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

well, why not try over the internet? IRC with the stats and maps on the forum? the DO forum could use the traffic. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

wait a minute...aren't i supposed to be looking for advice? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

try looking for a store in your town. i found one in mine, helped me a lot. where are you from narf? (dont say cheese)

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Vancouver. well, close to it. and that cheese stuff in my profile is mostly for laughs and nosy people.

but then again, i'm a nosy person. i look at new profile's.

[ December 04, 2003, 05:13: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

there are way too many roleplays going around vancouver, go google http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif seriously, open your city phonebook and look at the 'games' Category, you well might find something - i know at least three places in my city that sell D&D and/or similar stuff. and people who play can usually be found thru there

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Bah. D&D is about roleplaying with people, not with letters/numbers moving on a screen. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif You do not get any sense of atmosphere in chat RPing.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

yep, stole my post, you did fyron http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

local stores frequently have bulliten Boards (the cork kind, you internet addicted wisecrackers!) where notes can be posted for people seeking Groups and Groups seeking people.

Try experiencing different games besides D&D. the new rules are not horible as rules go, and are probably better than the old ones, but the system its self suffers from feat-creep with magazines and new supliments much the same way warhammer forces you to buy all the latest White Dwarf's and Codexes (codicies?) to keep up to date. plus, theres no bell curve on 1D20.

but this isnt the place for me to be a gaming nazi. the important thing is to have fun, and to do so face to face with real people. find a local store, try the yellow pages. as them about local Groups and players.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

I'm selling my 3.0 Players handbook, DMG, and Monster Manual. the 3 core books.
As well as a few extra books; the stronghold builders guidebook, arms and equipment guide, and savage species.
I'm also selling my 3.5 players handbook and the DMG (already with paper place holders taped in for DM use)

and since I'm in the best city in the world and hte only REAL city in Canada (*smiles and prepares to run for his life*)....

ok this was rambling... ignore it... unless you wanna buy my books.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

L, could you translate a few of those terms for me, please? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

*chases after E3 with a hammer*

any Online retailers anyone's used before? perferably with cheap shipping?

[ December 04, 2003, 15:46: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

not that I know anything about d&d but clerics are rather powerful now that they have expanded them past 7th level spells... And that anyone can use a cross bow now. And feats are kind of cool. and they fixed up that crap with dueling or multi class players

The current Version is quite nice.

But again I have no clue what I am talking about.

I would suggest you hit a local store and chat with the people working there.... Players guide will be needed to start.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Which ones?

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Spec-out: the specifications of the character, how its points are spent, its nature
Talk-work Rogue: think Dirk Benedict's character from the A-Team, 'Face'
Finger-work Rogue: think ninja-super-thief

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

thanks.

that link is funny. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ December 04, 2003, 17:02: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hardly...

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

I haven't played pen & paper AD&D in about ten years. I bought a couple of the 2nd Version books, but haven't kept up with it other than knowing that TSR is no more and that Wizards of the Coast now own the rights. too bad we live on different sides of the country, Fyron, or we could get a game going (I wonder if Tampa Gamer is lurking here and is a player also). And you're right; a computerized Version of the game isn't quite the same. I sure do miss the interaction of a good role-playing session. I always played a barbarian. Gotta love them.

[ December 04, 2003, 21:05: Message edited by: gregebowman ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

yes you did -_-

as for Inappropriate Character... imagine yourself a bard WITHOUT ALL THOSE FIGHTER THINGS that was thrown into a KILL ALL THAT MOVES game. that was a distaster, all i could do is sing http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

D&D is fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

well, depending on your singing, you could still do damage...

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

A Strong DM addresses feat-creep during character creation. It's not that hard to tell your players "We're using 3rd ed (or 3.5, which is pretty nice), so make your characters with the book, nothing else." The people who want to bring in stuff from elsewhere are the same power-gamers and rules-lawyers that cause you trouble later on in the game, but a good DM can keep them in line.

For your first character you may want to keep it simple and go with Fighter or Sorcerer, keeping more complicated classes like Rogue and Wizard for later, once you are used to the basics of the system.

Try to make sure your DM can run a game that takes advantage of the way you spec-out your character. Few things are as annoying as having a talk-work Rogue in a game with little-to-no role-playing and a group that expects finger-work out of you.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

I second Puke's suggestion to consider other RPG's besides D&D, because there is a much variety between them (and between different Groups), and different people have different tastes.

I refer to D&D as DuD, myself, but most of you know I have rare tastes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

PvK

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

well, i'm thinking of starting with D&D, simply because i know there's a 15$ starter box for it. but hey, if i happen to run into any other cheap stuff...

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Having played D&D for more than 20 years, here's my advice :

Don't bother to buy the rulebooks. Find yourself a good group first. That is so much more important. A good gaming group will show you all the game has to offer and will let you reach the point where you can read the rulebooks on your own (if you try to do it in the way that seems logical - buy the books, read the books, then go play - it won't work, trust me).

Gaming stores are good places to meet players. Down here, most of the employees play RPGs themselves, although in your region it may be different. Just avoid people who claim things like 'this system we play is the best ever' or 'our group is the best/oldest gaming group' 5 minutes after meeting you.

D&D is a good place to start because it's the common ground for all role-players, whether they like it or not. You will find some things in other RPGs that only make sense if you've played some D&D first and understood that system's strengths and weaknesses.

I wish you a good time !

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Yeah, I fully concur with Erax (I will still get you you sneaky Brazilian reprobate, yes you and your little dog too).

I have not played D&D for about 15 years, but what I do remember that it is the quality of the group you play with that dicatates the enjoyment you will get out of it. A good Dungeon Master (ref) is also essential

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

And watch out for teh guy who knows it all without cracking open a book. I seemed to have one of those guys in every group I've been in. They're also the guys who get sullen and pack up their stuff if things don't go their way. But as far as other games, I've dabbled in quite a few games back in the 80's, but the only ones I remember and still have the books for are AD&D, of course, GURPS (great system, but not exactly cheap with all of the different supplement books you'll need), Shadowrun and FASA's Star Trek rpg. OH, those were teh days. Maybe once my son is old enough (he just turned 3), he'll get involved in rpg's and invite dad to join in. One can only hope

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I've also been thinking of getting into D&D, but it'll be a year before I'll have the time due to the "career retraining" (aka school) I'm currently in.

In the past I've tried RP games at Origins and didn't like them. But in recent years I've been reading a buncha Forgotten Realms novels and have really gotten hooked on that whole universe.

The RA Salvatore novel "Spine of the World" has a 16-pg "Quickplay" D&D adventure at the end, presumably to give people like me (and maybe you too) a small taste of the D&D universe.

I'd like to get into D&D eventually. I'm not getting any younger, and it sounds like fun. I'm getting too old to hang around bars. Spending an evening with a group of fellow gaming geeks living in a fantasy world sounds quite appealing. That whole escapism thing.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Suggestion.. take your "D&D birth" in steps.

1 - Find a game
2 - Find out what system they are using ( 3.5 and 3.0 will be most common, as they are the current Versions)
3 - Get the players handbook for that particular Version
4 - Do not be a psion


ok that Last is just a personal thing. at low levels, psions are USELESS and die frequently. they are only really good in games where Mindflayers seem to pop up often.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Greg - Many good games have been released since the days of FASA's Star Trek. Check out Fading Suns, Ars Magica and (if you like feudal Japan) Sengoku. These are some of the most innovative / well-written / well-researched titles that have been released these Last few years.

The Star Wars D20 system is also quite good, after you get used to the idea of playing Star Wars with levels and classes.

GT - When I said 'group', I meant that as including the DM. He is the most important element of all, I know many people who hate D&D because they started playing with a lousy DM.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Which publication of Ars Magica do you favor, Erax?

That title has been passed around like an easy ugly girl.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

well, me and my brother have decided we like the light Version. unfortunatly, it doesn't contain any information on how to roll up your own character's or advance farther than level 2 and refer's you to the player's handbook for those. so, i guess i'll be looking for that. i figure once the simplified rules get easy, we'll move onto the hard one's.

thanks to all the people who replied.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

The rules in the Player's Handbook are not that complicated. There are just a lot. Just follow the book chapter by chapter to create a character; everything is presented in the only logical order to make your character (as some things HAVE to be done before others, naturally).

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

you can try the sparrow method - try playing AD&D straight away. I find AD&D more attractive than either 2nd or 3rd editions.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

'sparrow method'?

and on a side not, it looks like the soonest i'm going to get that player handbook is next week.

[ December 09, 2003, 23:53: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I don't know about that... the AD&D rules were rather rough and had a lot of silly things in them... like the psionics system. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif Though, I still haven't decided whether 2nd edition or 3rd edition is the better of the pair... I do have a lot of 2nd edition books and no inclination to shovel out 400+ dollars to buy all of the 3rd edition equivalents... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

"Sparrow Method - a strong kick out of the nest". As for your comment fyron, i cant realy say - i just realized i dont know ALL core AD&D rules, in my current campaign the DM is quite flexible so i might "missing" some of the worse stuff.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

ah. thanks.

might i request that any further D&D terminology come with a translation? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

sorry.
AD&D referers to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, which is an expansion of 2nd Edition, and for all i know a base for 3rd edition.

DM is the Dungeon Master, the person who runs the campaign.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

hey, don't worry about it. just remember, i'm a D&D clueless newbie. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ December 10, 2003, 06:17: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Umm... I think AD&D came out after D&D and was an expansion for it, and then 2nd Edition was the second edition of AD&D... 3rd being the 3rd edition of AD&D of course.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Yes, but sometime between the 2nd and 3rd edition they did away with the 'A' and went back to calling it D&D.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

well, i agree that 3rd edition is way better to get into, 2nd and AD&D are complex and stray from KISS principle, i just find that they give far more freedom in actions, at least thats the way my current campaign is. have i said that three times already? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif
And fyron, i might be wrong but isnt AD&D is a split-off of 2nd edition?

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Their was D&D which, at least in Oz, started with the Beniginers Red Box, Advanced Blue Box & Expert Green Box.
Then there was the AD&D Hard Back books, followed by the AD&D 2Ed Hard Back books.

Taera, can you explain the KISS principle.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

Third Ed. is best. It is refined, simplified, better.

If you haven't bought the books yet be sure to buy 3.5. The book is laid out better, more tables, more examples. A more mature product (not with reference to its audience, but its progression and development.)

[edit (sung): If you want it to be possessive, it's just I-T-S, but if it's supposed to be a contraction it's I-T-apostrophe-S!]

[ December 10, 2003, 12:42: Message edited by: Loser ]

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

(Oneupmanship eh? Okay, I can do that) In the begining, hmmmm call it '70 or '71 I think, there was a small A5 size (US equivalent) booklet, which became 3 booklets in a box. And then there was Greyhawk Manor and... After about 2 or 3 years it went fullscap / A4 and the imitators burst upon the scene with "Tunnels and Trolls" etc, and the more wierder ones. Anybody remember "Bunnies and Burrows", "Swords and Starships"? Then it went hardback and then it went re-write and AD&D... sometime 76'ish I think. (Somebody out there must remember the time line. I've still got the originals in storage back in England.)

For it's time AD&D was the way to go. No idea about now. The whole point of RPG's though (and I know Taera will agree with this) is not the mechanics, it's the role play. Any system can be used and cheated with. The story telling and teh fun of involvement in that story is what it's all about.

The KISS principle. "Keep It Simple, Stupid!"

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

narratio said it all

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

I always say this: It is all about the group you play with. Right now I have found a really good group (except for the fact that we can't go a single quest without getting into a fight with eachother) and find it much more enjoyable then any I have played with in the past.

I have enjoyed 3e D&D above all others I have played. I don't understand why everybody always needs or wants to buy all the supplements. Just glance through them at the store/borrow them from someone you know, and then buy the ones you really like.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

I certainly don't buy all the supplements. There are just a lot I liked. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif That, and have to put something on christmas/birthday lists for people...

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

This is the timeline as I know it : First there were the small booklets, called D&D and first released in 1976 or 77, with new booklets being released over the years (Castle Greyhawk, Blackmoor and so on). Then 'AD&D' (three hardback, large-sized volumes) was released sometime between 1979 and 1981. At the same time, D&D was completely rewritten to become a simplified Version of the game, with less options and cleaner rules.

For a long time, D&D and AD&D existed simultaneously; D&D went through several Versions, known as the 'blue box', 'red book', 'white book' and so on. AD&D kept expanding and eventually became 11 different hardback volumes, of which I own 6. The awkward parts of the rules were never rewritten, they were just added to.

Sometime around 1988, 2nd edition AD&D came out. It fixed many things but did not change the basics of the race, class and level system.

Then in more recent years, the old D&D was extinguished and 3rd edition AD&D was released, only it had been renamed D&D. I can't say much about it because I still play (which is almost never) under a mishmash of 1st and 2nd edition rules. However, I do play Star Wars D20, and if that is in any way similar to 3rd Edition, it means they have finally fixed the most irritating aspects of the original game.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I prefer to think of it as a beautiful woman who likes do demand expensive gifts - everyone wants her, but those she is with can't stand her for long.

My rules booklet is 3rd edition, but I have varous supplements and adventures from the 2nd to the 4th edition (including two Versions of the same supplement, what can I say) ... and I only played it twice.

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

oh how i dispise white wolf. i dont know if its because of the writers, or because of the players. i USED to think it was a cool idea, but it kept getting worse and worse as it was added on to, and as it became more and more popular.

how i try to forget that Ars Magica is a distant cousin... such a beautifle, well written, scholarly game is Ars. Fourth Ed. is available as a free download on the web, if you are interested. Go to the Atlas Games website and look for "Free Ars Magica"

Re: OT: am playing D&D light and am having fun
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Did you know they are killing off the enitre World of Darkness?

Yeah, they got tired of the complications and they're pulling the End of the World. I think God did that in the book from which Dave got my avatar.