Dungeons and Dragons

a reply to: Whoisjohngalt

Is this the link you're talking about?

D&D Starter Set

a reply to: eriktheawful

That is exactly the one! Its a great intro into the games and has everything someone would need to start playing. The campaign in it is pretty good too.
The only downside is that it comes with an abridged version of the rules, instead of the full on player handbook, but then again, i imagine they thought it would be easier to get people into the game with a few pages of rules and structure, rather than 100+ pages on things like how to determine the cost of armor for animals. Also a full on players guide would probably add about $50 to the cost.

a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

I haven't played the new Torment yet, but to be fair, they are all the same studio, no? PoE was their "out of retirement" release so sure I don't doubt it's not as polished as Torment or Tyranny, or probably even PoE2 for that matter.

But if you are looking for a spiritual successor to BG, you won't find it in those two to the same degree as PoE.

High strangeness - just before I opened ATS today I had a wave of nostalgia for my D & D days as a teenager (so long ago).
I started off with D & D & eventually joined a wargames club that had a large bunch of RPgers & played RuneQuest & Space Opera a lot. It was also the place I first saw the Illuminati card game. Good times.
I wonder if my old club is still going in some form...I'm off to the interwebs to see if I can find a game.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

A friend of mine just went to Origins in Ohio. originsgamefair.com...

So D&D is very much alive and kicking. If you're around some of the larger conventions. You can go and play a living campaign or some of the 1 shot games that are run.

Right now pathfinder and living arcanis are what you should look into. Pathfinder if you just want some regular d&d. Or Arcanis if you want something a bit darker.

I'm lucky my roommate, my girlfriend, and I all play. We run a game almost every night and rotate Dungeon Masters. Each of us runs a game so we all have responsibility as Dungeon Master and time to relax and have fun as a player character.

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
Does anyone still play pen and paper games?

I've always been attracted to D&D. I grew up playing RPG video games, but my attraction turned into something special when someone gave me a computer game called Baldur's Gate.

It is a game based on AD&D 2nd edition, and from what I can tell it does a darn good job of reproducing the experience. I played this game religiously as a young teen.

Here I am over a decade later still playing!

There are a few places that host table top games: the game shop at the mall, the comic shop etc.

I've always wanted to jump in and learn.

I've mostly been skittish because I'm a shy person, and also because I really don't understand the rules very well.

Playing a video game is easy. Learning to make friends again seems weird. I feel I'm too old. I'd feel like an interloper.

Growing up, none of my friends were even slightly interested in D&D even though we played board games like Risk.



For some reason I am getting an itch to try it out. Any advice on how a Johnny-come-lately can get into a game?

Haven't played it for years now. I've got all the AD&D 1st edition books though last rime I think I played 3.5. I'm not s big fan of what they've done to the rules and generally the tone of the game any more. I don't like how it's gone from a game of random adventurers having adventures to a game of heroes saving the world.

Finding people to play games like that is hard though. The people I used to play with have all moved to different places and I haven't really met anyone into it since.

Have been trying to get into a campaign myself recently, after my stint playing MTG for a little bit. Always saw the groups up at the shop playing, and really wanted in on it. Unfortunately the shop closed and I haven't played MTG in paper in over a year since that closure, so I play online now instead. I do wonder where all the D&D groups went though, as there aren't a ton of gaming shops in the area, and the one that opened to replace the old one is strictly CCG based games, and the guys that run it aren't exactly friendly hence my hesitation to play paper MTG in the store.

The other thing about table top is it varies greatly between group to group.

Some are mostly roll players in that few interactions are actually role played and most of the game is combat.

Some are mostly role players and you might find there to be little dice rolling and even fewer combats as the players role play their characters and interact more with the world and npcs in it.

Some are serious and game time is purely game time, leave non game stuff out. If roll players is a really dour affair and of role players is very bad to break character.

Some are more casual and games are more chill and are about hanging out with friends, joking around and having fun gaming. Being too serious is a no no here.

Oh right, and some games are on rails with a strictly enforced plot, and others are very open world where much of the plot is created by the players interactions in the world.

Then there's all the variations that are a mix of all these extremes which is where most fall.

My home group for example is RP heavy and mostly casual, though we have bouts of heavy combat and occasionally things can get heated and serious. We are definitely open world though. No rails in our group.

What I enjoy most about tabletop is the ability to do all those things you simply cannot do in video games. Go wherever you can get to, talk to whoever, npcs don't have limited dialogue nor are your options limited to a few dialogue choices. When there is a problem to take care of there is often multiple ways to solve it limited only by your creativity and skills. More than any video game, table is, if you have a good imagination a way to explore being another person in another world with another life like no video game yet built could accomplish.

originally posted by: eriktheawful
a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Every 1 to 2 weeks, we (my family) meets with our small DnD group. We play ver. 3.5.

We make a dinner out of it and have a lot of fun with it.

That is superb!
Jealous of you, mate.

OP, for you...
www.meetup.com...

I'm a player in a 5e group of all friends. We try to meet once a month. We all have families and so real life gets in the way.

You need to really try it out if you are at all curious. I grew up on video games. If someone says they like video games better than tabletop pen and paper adventure games, then they don't like adventure games, had a terrible DM, or your imagination just sucks.

With 5e, there is not a huge learning curve. I would grab the players handbook, and learn as you go. You do need a understanding of basic math. Also visit Chessex and get you a set of 10 dice. (4x 6sided, 1x 20sided, 1x 12sided, 1x 10sided, 1x Percentile, 1x 8sided, 1x 4sided.)

I use a program called Hero Labs to create characters and track them as you level. It will step you through the whole process. There are many others that do the same thing, but i just like Hero Labs.
But yes, find you a local group somehow, hopefully they will be pretty cool guys or gals, and you will love it! Good luck!

Ah the dice!
I remember playing years ago and rolled strength rating of 18/00 for my character
This thread prompted me to go and check the latest edition and it looks like they removed the secondary percentile score from strength if you rolled the top primary rating?

I began playing in 1986, but had to keep it a secret from my parents. At the time, there was some controversy surrounding the game- there were tales of college students taking to the sewers with real swords and killing other players "for real". It was touted as being a tool of the devil by religious organizations, and the news media warned parents of the potential dangers that playing might have on children.

This actually caused a lot of friction in my family, and I ran away from home at one point because of role playing games. It seems silly now.

Although I enjoyed D&D, I preferred games like Gamma World, Metamorphosis Alpha, and Traveler.

Have been meaning to get back into it we play D&D original and AD&D 2/2.5. Has been years since we have got in a good game. Must organize it for a few weeks time.

Played Boulders Gate too and all the old computer versions, including D&D online for a couple of years in a guild. Have not go into the free new version on Sony though. Nothing matches P n P with dice and people though. And the books mmm.

a reply to: aliensanonymous

They are a great read I went out and bought the monster manual today gonna read it in bed .
I mostly played 2nd edition and others like cyberpunk 2020 and call of cthulhu but after reading through 5th edition d&d I like it less rules than 3.5 but an added edition of advantage and disadvantage with certain situations make you roll 2 d20's and you pick the best for advantage and the worse for disadvantage, gonna be cool to try that.
Like I said 5th edition really appears to be going less on stats and more on roleplay.

Many years ago when I was at uni I joined in a group playing dnd 3rd edition, I didn't know the rules at the time but I had help off the other guys and after a few weeks had a badass ranger, the dm was very helpful knowing I hadn't played before.

The dm for the first few sessions would ask if I was sure I wanted to do what I had chosen to do, which meant have a think of all your options, look at your abilities and stats, then I would be like oh yeah I will do it this way

Once I had learned the rules after a couple of months he wasn't so accommodating, by that point if I made a mistake it was down to me.

I haven't played D&D but have played Call of Cthulhu, Rippers, Werewolf the Apocalypse, and Tales from the Floating Vagabond. Games have been few and far between lately. I'd like to play something. I have a lot of games.

Find a group/s through CL, or other, and or at a local gaming/hobby shop.

a reply to: Puppylove

Your post is somewhat discouraging haha.

You make it sound like it's almost impossible to find a group to mesh with.

I guess I found a new way to be outcasted -__-

a reply to: Tekaran

Chessex also makes a wet erase grid map for when you want to get really technical and do maps