My Dungeons and Dragons Life by OPPYH

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

My Dungeons and Dragons Life

POSTED BY: OPPYH
UPDATED: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 08:29
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 10368
PAGE 1 of 1

Monday, July 25, 2005 9:03 PM

My best friend in the whole world was Jim. He, and I started playing D&D when we were about 14, along with 2 other friends. We would play all the time. After school, and on Friday nights we would usually spend the night at Jim's house in his basement. His basement was darn near sound proof, so that meant we could be as loud as we wanted, battling Dragons or Beholders, and his mom wouldn't wake up. Perfect conditions for a D&D adventure. And to make it all the more cool, his mom usually got us Pizza, snacks, and soda. We had it made. Friday nights were the best. From around 10 p.m.- 5,or 6 a.m. Saturday mornings we were in the Fantasy realm.

It wasn't easy though, most people in my neighborhood , including my mom at one point thougt we worshipped Satan because the nightly news, and Churches throughout the U.S. said if your child plays D&D they will either a. kill themselves, or b.worship the Devil. I never understood that logic. That's like saying if you play a game of RISK, when you finish packing up the gameboard, you'll go out and try to conquer the world. At school, we were just labeled geeks, and I guess I can't argue that one, after all I used to ramble on to classmates about obtaining the Sword of Mumulus, or escaping the Kobold Dungeons in the Gemvir Forrest. The reward of playing D&D was more than worth the minor hassles we got. It was creative fun, and most importantly, it ws pure escapist entertainment.

My friends of that time are no more. People change. The last time I spoke to Jim was about 10 years ago. We went different directions, and lost touch. If I ever see him again, I'll be sure to let him know what a great friend, and Dungeon Master he was.

I'm not through playing Dungeons and Dragons yet. recently I bought back all the D&D books I once had on E-Bay. I have dice, Graph paper, and a friend who also grew up playing Dungeons, and Dragons, and wants to get back into it. We can round up a couple more people, and Presto! I'm 31 years old, I hope when I play again this Fall, I'll feel like Im 14.

So, any Browncoats out there who played D&D, or have any good stories about playing D&D?

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 2:26 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

I've played D&D since I was in kindergarten. My older brother and I found a boxed set my dad was given as a gift but never used, and picked it out and started playing. I remember there were times when I was in kindergarten and I only went to school half days, but my brother went to school whole days, waiting for him to come home so we could play.

Later, in our school we had 'reading buddy' programs, where an older student teams up with a younger student and reads with them in class. Because we were brothers, my brother was usually teamed up with me - and we read D&D Manuals in class. When the teachers realized this, there was some consternation, but they were more surprised that we could both read at that level.

Played through most of my youth (I remember being annoyed when the game books described the game as being for ages 10 and up, because I was younger), in my teen years got with some of my friends to play during lunch hours at their place (which was near school).

Since then, I've played on and off, though do most of my RPGing online and not in D&D type settings.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through another world)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 3:22 AM

DAIKATH

Me? Personally I never heard of it, other then it was for geeks. Ive been born in the 80s and in europe so I guess I missed out on a lot on this stuff.

Ive only began to grow interest in it when there was a special Serenity RPG announced. Although I haven't actually played a session yet I do know what it all is about now.

This might not be the most interesting story for most poeple here to read. But I'm really looking forward to this one.

Ive come to realise it is just the same kind of roleplaying we all had a blast doing as kids, acting out our fantasys. Only this time without the 'Bang! I shot you!' 'No you missed!' 'I didnt miss!' part :). And I was the one who always wanted to play that as a kid when the others refused a whole lot

.

Maybe if I get enough poeple together and we have the time, money and place for it we can get to recreate the dining room of Serenity to play it in. Think of the immersion for that one

. I wouldt want to build it if it had no use, nor do it alone. But it would still be very cool.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 4:17 AM

JADEHAND

I still play. I had a few encounters with the game before college, but mostly got into it there. Friday nights sci-fi fantasy guild. met some good people there and kinda split off from the guild to do our own thing. Tried several systems but mostly stuck with 2nd ed. After college I have remained friends with most of these guys though or local group switched to Rifts (also a lot of fun). currently I drive about 2.5 hours every third week or so for a current 3.5 ed game run by one of those college friends. In game we're in and around Candle Keep on the Sword Coast if that means anything.
So, If you're anywhere near NC....

Visit WWW.Marillion.Com for a better way to live
Visit www.TheInside.org and see Tim Minear's show Weds. 9:00pm EST.....ah FUX nevermind.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:03 AM

RABIT

Started DMing in 1980 at the age of 10 - I've never really played a lot, just been DM, or GM in other RPGs. In 1984, I moved to a _small_ town in Washington called Pe Ell, and brought the game with me, introducing a bunch of guys to it. We'd play regularly at lunch and after school. In 1985, the high school succumbed to pressure from the local religious groups and "outlawed" D&D from the school. I tried to explain to the principal (a very good guy, I might add) about how ridiculous it was, but there wasn't much he could do.

So I brought in Star Frontiers, a Sci-Fi game from TSR that actually says "From the producers of D&D" on the front cover...

Eventually the principal realized how silly it was and gave up the rule, allowing us to play again.

In Boy Scouts, I was told we couldn't play because it was "immoral".

So we just played without dice or books or anything - the players would make up characters in their heads, I'd make up the situation, and we'd go from there, no dice, no rules, just fun stories. My first experience with dice-less gaming, really, and I didn't even know it...

I got to college and played a lot. Left college and kept playing. I have two current campaigns I'm running, one that started in 1998 and another that started in Feb; both are set in the same world I started in high school and played through college.

I'm using the 2nd edition rules, primarily because I'm tired of spending money every time they decide to update the rules. I have also grown up a lot in my style of play, and am not as interested in the power gaming style of D&D. I'm currently working on creating my own rules specifically for playing in my game world.

I've GM'd and played a lot of other RPGs over the years, too: Star Frontiers, Traveler, Twilight:2000, Shadowrun, Amber, Everway (well, a variant, anyway), Bunnies & Burrows, etc.

I love my games...

And I'm really looking forward to checking out the Serenity RPG!

Rabit

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:11 AM

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

I started roleplaying in the second year of university and was hooked from the start. We've had a year long D&D campaign which a friend ran, a year long firefly campaign which I ran (based on my own d20 system) and another short lived D&D campaign that I'm sure we'll tie up eventually.

I'm actually getting a little fed up of D&D at the moment, 3 or 4 times a week people in my house will just pick up a book and start reading through and discussing stats for things they've found. While I really enjoy roleplay, discussing numbers is not my idea of fun and unfortunatly it's really turning me off the system.

Am currently working on a campaign set in the 1920s about a prison break, so hopefully it'll get me out of the roleplay slump!

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:36 AM

RAYSTON

I have been Roleplaying since 12, started with the basic boxed set (the red one) played 1st edition advanced D&D for a while. Went on to palladium robotech and Rifts, from there have played many different types including shadowrun, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Vampire, Witchcraft, Armageddon, etc. etc.

If your interested in talking to other gamers theres quite a few online communities. I would start with rpg.net

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:

I'm actually getting a little fed up of D&D at the moment, 3 or 4 times a week people in my house will just pick up a book and start reading through and discussing stats for things they've found. While I really enjoy roleplay, discussing numbers is not my idea of fun and unfortunatly it's really turning me off the system.

Here here, I love Roleplaying, but sick to death of my Number 12 beats your number 10 and takes your 52 gold type of games. Otherwise known as "I kill the orc and take his stuff".

I am currently in a Game of Thrones Face to Face game, using WFRP Rules. Will be starting a series of oneshots using All Flesh Must be Eaten, and Maybe Witchcraft by Eden Studios, then after that maybe some Call of Cthulhu 1920's style.

Also waiting on a couple of Play By Posts to start, An Angel game (also by Eden Studios, god I love those guys) where we all play high powered "negotiable morales" types who were wronged by Wolfram and Hart. and another call of cthulhu game, using the Mountains of Madness Published adventure.

Love roleplaying, have come to hate dungeon crawling. Dont get me wrong, I dont begrudge anyone else there good time. If your havin fun? then go for it.

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:

Am currently working on a campaign set in the 1920s about a prison break, so hopefully it'll get me out of the roleplay slump!

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 7:11 AM

LETOV

I started playing quite young with my older brother and sometimes his friends. By the summer of my 11th year I was still playing D&D but I also started playing some other systems. I went to an 8 week long summer camp at Interlochen in Michigan. While technically a fine-arts camp, if you'd peeked into any of the cabins for the Junior or Intermediate boys divisions you'd have probably thought it was a role-playing camp. It was the primary activity day in and day out for 8 weeks two summers in a row. By the end of the 2nd summer I was playing as much of the Marvel Comics RPG as anything.
Even into high school I loved playing the games with my brother and friends. By high school I'd lost interest in D&D and played mostly Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Champions, Vampire... heck, it would take a while to list every system we tried at one point or another ... might try at some point for the heck of it.

Throughout all of it, I mostly only played with my brother, mostly him running games and me playing. I think to us in the end the best part of it all was just creating the story. Heck, sometimes we'd just sit down, create characters, design a story together like we were writing a module for publishing and then go on to the next one.

All that finally pretty much came to an end when he started college. He's only 2 1/2 years older than me so we were quite close but that was basically the end of serious RP'ing for me. Although, I was addicted to Evercrack for a couple years. These days I pretty much only find time for computer or console RPG's (I can't believe I'm probably going to buy an XBox 360 just to get the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). With my two small daughters I can't really commit to on-line games anymore (its amazing how peeved people get when you have to go AFK to take care of a diaper or screaming child) and I don't really have friends playing P&P games anymore, but I do sometimes think back fondly to those days.

I'm still toying with the idea of buying the Serenity RPG even though the chance of actually playing it is near nil. I'll admit that, while I swear it had nothing to do with power-gaming or anything like that, I probably drew more enjoyment from RPG's in simply sitting down and reading all the source material, creating characters, and designing games than I ever did from actual playing.

- Leto_V

"Well, my days of not taking you
seriously are certainly coming to
a middle." - Mal

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 7:35 AM

REAVERMADNESS

Started playing back in the 80s. Had a hard time though finding very many people who wanted to play (I lived/live in a small town) I really liked it though. Sometimes a group of us would get togther and head out into the woods near our houses and build a camp fire and play late into the night.

I loved DMing, but I think I loved playing even more. That was fun.

Later I also got to play a little with Rifts. That was a very cool game too.

Years later I happend to be going to a friends house and the person next door was having a yard sale. I glanced over there and they had some comics and some board games... and there sat the first run of the "Red Box" (Basic) and "Blue Box" (Expert) sets. The Red Box had been opened, but the dice (and crayon) never were. The books looked like they had never been opened. The Blue Box was (and is) still in its plastic wrap. So I looked about as bored as I could muster and asked "How much?" They looked at them for a second and said $5. I calmly took out my wallet and handed then $10 for the both of them... and as I was starting to walk away with my new found treasure, they stopped me... and handed me $5 back in change! They sit almost as trophies on a self in my computer room.

When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandpa. Not screaming and yelling like everyone else in the car he was driving.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 8:01 AM

OPPYH

Excellent. your stories are great. Thank you Gary Gygax. I can't wait to start playing again. I always wanted to get into Ravenloft, always seemed a bit too creepy when I was younger, but now I'm ready explore some castles of the undead.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 8:03 AM

SIGMANUNKI

I started playing in my early teens and played consistently for years. Unlike some that started playing in Univeristy, that is when I started to slow down and stop. I'd still like to play and/or DM, but the people I used to play with are now too busy to be able to.

But you asked from some stories as well, so here's one in short form. I don't know if it would be considered a 'good' story, but it's one none-the-less.

One campain (2nd ed), my buddy was DM'ing and his girlfriend was playing. He wanted to play with skills and since I was a fighter I didn't pick literacy... and he enforced that. Fortunately, his girlfreind was playing a wizard; her character started to teach mine.

After a few weeks (real life time) of playing I thought that since they were getting along so well that maybe they would be good to get married. So, while my buddy was in the bathroom I presented the idea to his girlfreind, she agreed.

After the game resumed, my character bought a ring, got the wizard, went to the library (where our chars spent all there time; my buddy was getting curious at this point) and proposed.

My buddy got all wide eyed and said "NO! She says NO!"

Our chars did get married, but he payed the ultimate price. Later, while in a dungon, a ceiling fell on him size 10'x10', puddle'O'characater.

Other than D&D, I've played BubbleGum Crisis, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 8:13 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

Quote:
Originally posted by OPPYH:
Excellent. your stories are great. Thank you Gary Gygax. I can't wait to start playing again. I always wanted to get into Ravenloft, always seemed a bit too creepy when I was younger, but now I'm ready explore some castles of the undead.

I liked Ravenloft (although I never actually got to _play_ any of it, I enjoyed the boxed sets), but my favorite D&D setting was Planescape. That one really got my Sensawunda.

Besides D&D, also did a lot of Marvel Superheroes (which is kinda still with me - I currently run a diceless, statless MUSH online combining Marvel Comics and Lovecraft themes), and some Cyberpunk, a tiny bit of Vampire, GURPs, RIFTS, Paranoia, Teenagers from Outer Space, and a bunch of of assorted 'let's play this for a week' games.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through another world)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 8:27 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

Oh, and my favorite death story.

I had a character, Darius Sonnovale ('Son of Ale') - a half-elven thief/acrobat. He was one of my more well-rounded tabletop characters, I fleshed out his history, developed him some particular quirks (he had a big superstition about stealing from tombs, and outright refused once when the opportunity presented itself).
So, as it turns out, he died on his second adventure (ironically, the character I created on the spot to replace him and join the rest of the party, didn't flesh out at all before hand, never wound up dying at all, but that's another story).

It happened something like this:
Our party was paid to gather spell components for a wizard. We got some of them, but there was one type that was in a swamp, one full of bullywugs. So after a few negative encounters with them, we were getting kind of suspicious - we had a line of twine set up with bells to alert us to danger when we slept, etc, and we saw some of those mushrooms in an empty clearing, and we knew it was some kind of trap, because we'd come to understand the mushrooms were sacred to them. So, we came up with a plan... my character would wrap the twine-with-bells around himself, and go running through the clearing, and the rest of the party would run in and attack the people who showed up to ambush us. Okay, we did, bullywugs jumped out, battle was joined... the party lost. Except me. The decoy. Somehow, I, alone, escaped. But I knew I couldn't leave my party there, so I snuck around following the Bullywugs to their camp, where they had the party, all naked and weaponless, as well as a few other humans in a cage as live meat. So my character decides he'll cause a distraction by throwing his waterskin on their fire, and then opening the cage. It worked, everyone got free... except we were all recaptured, myself included... but some of the NPCs got away. The DM was feeling generous, and decided that NPCs would return to try and rescue us in a number of days determined by a die roll, then said that they'd eat the NPCs first, once a day, but there was still one day left between rescue and the last NPC dying, so one of us had to buy it. Random die roll time, and me, the one who risked my neck to save them all when I could have run, gets roasted on a spit. The next day they're released by an NPC and manage to get out of the swamp naked. So yeah, an ignoble end, but fun anyway (I later revived the character for another game, with a modified version of the same story, except with a new ending - that they got a druid to reincarnate him... sadly in the body of a talking, intelligent raccoon. That was for an online statless Planescape game, and he was fun to play)

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through another world)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 9:28 AM

VLADT

I've been playing since the late 70's. (79-80, I was 23 when I started.) I've been playing ever since. We have a core group of five people and a couple of others who come and go. There are three of us who DM. One does Forgotten Realms, one does Shadowrun, the other does Ravenloft. We use the same charactors in all three. We try to play every other week.

Vlad

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 9:33 AM

VETERAN

Don't squat with your spurs on.

I first started playing in junior high, back in the '70's. After my first few characters I managed to keep one alive for years, we had a whole epic adventure based on my friend's variation of the Celtic Mythos. I still have his character sheet along with all the NPCs I picked up along the way. Recently we created versions of them all in a NWN world another friend set up. It worked out pretty well.

I was talking with the guy who DM'd the old game the other day. He's trying to talk me into playing the old way again. After reading your post I'm inclined to get back to it. After all I have to hold back the Forbold Warlords long enough for the true king to be chosen by the Lea Fael.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 10:56 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by Veteran:
I was talking with the guy who DM'd the old game the other day. He's trying to talk me into playing the old way again. After reading your post I'm inclined to get back to it. After all I have to hold back the Forbold Warlords long enough for the true king to be chosen by the Lea Fael.

Although the 2nd edition of D&D was a great time, I bought all the original books(monster manuals 1, 2,Deities and Demigods, players handbook, DM guide,etc.) I'm really going to play old style. I recently looked through The 3rd edition Monster manual at Barnes and Noble, the illustrations were fantastic, and I liked some of the new monsters, (crystaline Troll anyone?) but as far as the rules and everything go, I didn't know what was going on. Don't think I'll ever invest in 3rd edition D&D.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:01 AM

VETERAN

Don't squat with your spurs on.

Well we played a little loose with the rules. For instance, we found combat took too long and seemed unrealistic so we started to use Arms Law from Iron Crown Enterprises for melee. It added a more fun to the game too, especially the fumbles table

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:07 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by VladT:
I've been playing since the late 70's. (79-80, I was 23 when I started.) I've been playing ever since. We have a core group of five people and a couple of others who come and go. There are three of us who DM. One does Forgotten Realms, one does Shadowrun, the other does Ravenloft. We use the same charactors in all three. We try to play every other week.

Vlad

Is a good Ravenloft Campaign better than a good Forgotten Realms campaign? It just seems Ravenloft would be a more eerie atmosphere, and would add volumes to the role-playing experience.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:15 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by Veteran:
Well we played a little loose with the rules. For instance, we found combat took too long and seemed unrealistic so we started to use Arms Law from Iron Crown Enterprises for melee. It added a more fun to the game too, especially the fumbles table

Oh yeah, definately. For my group it was always give, and take from all different D&D editions. The easiest way is the best way. My friend had every single Handbook from the 2nd edition,(Fighters, Thieves, dwarves, etc.) sad thing is, we only used a handful of them, leaving about 20 or so to sit on the shelf undisturbed. Man, he spent a lot of money on those things.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:42 AM

TRESCHONDE

I'm still very much a role player. Back in the day when I was younger I played alittle D&D, but mostly played Vampire:TM. Nowadays, I play a rpg called Deadlands. There's a specific reason I bring up Deadlands.. not only is it the best tabletop rpg I've ever played, and exceptionally fun.. but it's a Western. And one of the expansions turns it into a Space Western. I've heard of people that have created Firefly mod systems for Deadlands, although I've never tried any myself. But for anyone who thinks they would enjoy fighting the undead with a six-shooter and a deck of cards, go grab a book for Deadlands. You'll love it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 12:03 PM

VLADT

Both are pretty good. I've found that it doesn't matter what the game is, it's the DM that makes it work. I had one DM who put 40 orc's in a 10 by 15 foot room. The orc's were all 4th level, we were all 1st. Needless to say, we didn't last long.
We play fairly loose with the rules, also. Gygax put an afterward in the original DM's guide that said "These are merely guidelines".

Arms Law has been great. We converted to that system some 15 years ago. I wouldn't play without it. Trying to kill something with 100+ HP with a bow gets real boring using the standard system.

We play a combination of 1st and 2nd edition, and we converted Shadowrun to work with those rules. It is fun crossing from one plane to another.

Our "Group" formed "The WorgWolf Detective Agency". It gives the DM a much wider selection of games to run. NPC's come in with problems or mysteries to solve and the group gets to pick which jobs they want to do.

Vlad

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 12:22 PM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

More random D&D stories...

I've both run and played.. not the greatest at running them, but my favorite adventure I ever ran was one in the Planescape campaign setting.
I called it "Charge of the Dark Brigade"... the plot had the PCs awakening on a baatezu (one of the demon races back when they weren't allowed to call them demons) mobile fortress, having lost some days of memory after exposure to some spray from the River Styx. They were told they'd signed a magical contract offering their services opening portals across the lower planes along the way on the fortresses trek towards The Abyss, where they'd all surely die in a suicide mission. They had to figure out how to escape without the contracts killing them, figure out why they were _really_ there, and get involved in all sorts of different problems and schemes with the baatezu (including the second in command trying to get the PCs to kill the leader). Naturally, it was a high powered adventure, but still a lot of fun. Had it written up and it was available on the net for a while, but can't seem to find it anymore. Ah well.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through another world)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 12:40 PM

FREMDFIRMA

*snort*, Gygax was a latecomer..

Steve Jackson's MELEE and WIZARD systems were my teeth-cutting experience, although when they came out with D&D it definately added something (besides rules-lawyering, grr!

) to the experience.

Might I note that orcs were originally PINK and swine-based...

Yeah, that's me, Bluecover original, B1-B2 modules, and later AD&D set, but 2nd edition for rules-lawyering pansies ? NO THANKS.

ICE (Iron Crown Enterprises) made some good supplemental stuff but the thieving bastards of Palladium and the Anal-retentive White Wolf can also kiss my alcoholic warrior/theif's booze-sodden rump.

One of the more favored bits of RPGish fame was a supplement that came out with the first poorly-constructed sets of cyberpunk (man they were bad, good rules, shoddy production) by the name of Friday Night Firefight and with many RPGs involving firearms, we discard the somewhat ridiculus combat systems they use and stick with FNF cause it's so very realistic.

Note: Getting shot at is BAD, getting hit is WORSE, cover is your friend, stupidity your enemy.

Car Wars and Ogre strike a chord as well, but all the recent same-rules ripoff card games coming out of SJ Games now remind me of what killed Avalon Hill... 200 cheap trashy games with one basic ruleset, oh yea, that's gonna sell... argh.

Guess I've both completely blown the profile and severely dated myself with the above commentary, but what the hell, i'm badder than any of the characters I play, so I doubt anyone's gonna make an issue out of it, heh.

Final note to Games Workshop/Citadel Miniatures.. cult behavior BAD, wrecking game rules to sell more miniatures BAD, and dumping peoples preferred customer status for using non-standard unit organizations and paint schemes is WORSE.
And you wonder why US sales tanked ?

The concept of RPGs was/is to have fun, and when gaming companies forgot this in their quest for profit, they rammed it to gamers without the benefit of a reacharound.. but gamers endure, and the old stuff still works as well now as the day it was printed.

Geezer-Gamer,

-F

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:11 PM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
*snort*, Gygax was a latecomer..

Steve Jackson's MELEE and WIZARD systems were my teeth-cutting experience, although when they came out with D&D it definately added something (besides rules-lawyering, grr! ) to the experience.

Might I note that orcs were originally PINK and swine-based...

Yeah, that's me, Bluecover original, B1-B2 modules, and later AD&D set, but 2nd edition for rules-lawyering pansies ? NO THANKS.

ICE (Iron Crown Enterprises) made some good supplemental stuff but the thieving bastards of Palladium and the Anal-retentive White Wolf can also kiss my alcoholic warrior/theif's booze-sodden rump.

One of the more favored bits of RPGish fame was a supplement that came out with the first poorly-constructed sets of cyberpunk (man they were bad, good rules, shoddy production) by the name of Friday Night Firefight and with many RPGs involving firearms, we discard the somewhat ridiculus combat systems they use and stick with FNF cause it's so very realistic.

Note: Getting shot at is BAD, getting hit is WORSE, cover is your friend, stupidity your enemy.

Car Wars and Ogre strike a chord as well, but all the recent same-rules ripoff card games coming out of SJ Games now remind me of what killed Avalon Hill... 200 cheap trashy games with one basic ruleset, oh yea, that's gonna sell... argh.

Guess I've both completely blown the profile and severely dated myself with the above commentary, but what the hell, i'm badder than any of the characters I play, so I doubt anyone's gonna make an issue out of it, heh.

Final note to Games Workshop/Citadel Miniatures.. cult behavior BAD, wrecking game rules to sell more miniatures BAD, and dumping peoples preferred customer status for using non-standard unit organizations and paint schemes is WORSE.
And you wonder why US sales tanked ?

The concept of RPGs was/is to have fun, and when gaming companies forgot this in their quest for profit, they rammed it to gamers without the benefit of a reacharound.. but gamers endure, and the old stuff still works as well now as the day it was printed.

Geezer-Gamer,

-F

Car Wars rocked, I used to play that as well as D&D. As far as the rules thing with D&D, the group I used tp play with were fairly liberal meaning we used to have a good time above all, never sweating the small stuff. On the other hand I've played with other groups who were by the book only, and frequently argued for 2 or more hours on one subject. I gamed with them a few times, but soon stopped. To them D&D was about power, and as we all know power corrupts.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:21 PM

TROTSKY

Wow. I started thanks to Car Wars in the late 1980s. I joined a group of guys who, more or less, hung through until a few days ago, we are all essentially split up, kinda sad.
Anyway, we cut out teeth on Twilight 2000 and progressed from there. D&D, Exhaulted, Shadowrun, Star Wars (Westend, baby!) Some Deadlands. I don;t play since I moved, but 2004 and 2003 were every Friday night, beer and Pizza flowed freely and so did the gaming.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 3:57 PM

VARDEN

I loved D&D from the moment I saw an ad for the miniatures in an old 1979 JC Penney's catalogue. My mother wouldn't let me play because of all the hysteria back in the day. Then we saw Mazes and Monsters on TV one night, and realized how silly it all was.

My sophomore year of high school, 1982, I played my first game.

It was up and down after that. We played Gamma World, Car Wars, Lost Worlds and AD&D. We had some good games, we had some really awful games, we didn't even finish a lot of them - we could never get a solid group of gamers together who would commit to a regular game.

When I got back from GenCon 2000 and the premier of D&D version 3.0 I was able to get an outstanding group of guys together, "Dice Club," and we started playing the Adventure Path modules.

4 1/2 years later, we just finished them up. We went from 1st to 20th level, some of the guys with the same characters!

I'm looking forward right now to the Serenity Roleplaying Game which I had a chance to preview at Origins this year. Read my review:

[url] http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=11195

Thanks for the memories guys. Great D&D stories!

Oh, and OPPYH, You really should invest in the 3.5 rules. They are the gold standard in roleplaying gaming right now. They have been playtested by like half the civilized world, and they really do make D&D play faster, better and more fun. I'm telling you you're cheating yourself and your gaming group if you don't at least pick up a used copy!

Seriously, email me, I'll walk you through it - the rules are that simple.

May have been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:03 PM

WUGGLYUMP

I’ve been playing RPGs off and on since 79. I started with D&D but preferred sci-fi and quickly moved to Traveler. I’ve played about everything else eventually settling on Harnmaster for medieval fantasy and a 2300AD like universe using modified Twilight 2000 rules and later my own rules for my sci-fi role playing fix. Yes I’m a geek and I have great fun being one.
I no longer enjoy D&D finding D20 unfulfilling and pretty much corporate, customer fleecing what with all the myriad colorful books and what not. Go try Harnmaster or Riddle of Steel for more fantasy fun and go on line and find a copy of Gunmaster, TW2000 or, Traveler the New Era for sci-fi adventure.
Jade Hand has even played in a few

Yay, we're doomed!
Gir, Invader Zim "Bad, bad Rubber Piggies"

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 3:30 AM

VARDEN

D20 is where it's at right now - you could go into any game store or college convention, let alone a big con like Origins or Dragon Con, and almost everyone will be able to join you in a d20-based game. If all you knew was one of those game systems you'd be really hard pressed to get something going.

Just go on eBay or to your locally owned mom-and-pop game or comic book store and pick up a used copy of PHB, DMG and MM. They're really all you need. While you're there pick up an old copy of Dungeon Magazine that has 3-5 adventures for like 5 bucks. Or - download an adventure from one of the small on-line publishers - next you'll be writing your own.

Nobody has to get "fleeced."

As far as sci-fi, Sovereign Press/Margaret Weis Productions as the official Serenity licence for their game, and I think we should support them. I played a demo, I can say it plays great!

May have been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 7:08 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by varden:
Oh, and OPPYH, You really should invest in the 3.5 rules. They are the gold standard in roleplaying gaming right now. They have been playtested by like half the civilized world, and they really do make D&D play faster, better and more fun. I'm telling you you're cheating yourself and your gaming group if you don't at least pick up a used copy!

My friend is a 2nd edition AD&D fanatic. We have talked a great deal about going all new, or old style D&D. We are very farmiliar with the old rules, but the 3rd edition looks fantastic. Here's the problem, if we play the 3.5 rules, is there a coversion to use older monster manuals along with monsters from the new books in the current rules? If this is possible then we will probably just do that. It's been about 10 years since both of us have played, and the 3rd edition just looks so different, as if every aspect of AD&D has been completely revamped. If it's backward compatible, then we will definately jump into it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 7:12 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

Fun stuff...I got curious about D&D after watching an episode of Greatest Ameican Hero. I kid you not. Some rich kid had been missing for days and he was feared kidnapped. Turned out he wa just really into the game.

I don't have any great stories to tell though. None of my friends were interested.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:14 AM

WUGGLYUMP

Yep, D20 is the hot stuff right now. Everyone has a copy and it’s easy to get a game going. I totally agree with you on that. As for fleecing, a buyer only gets as fleeced as he allows so buying used core rules books can help save you there. I’ve just seen too many people go Pokemon and get the “gotta buy them all” fever; expensive, Ouch!
I’ve tried out 3.5, D20 Modern and D20 Future and personally dislike the inconsistencies inherit to table and level based systems. They just aren’t my cup of tea. Give me a force modeled, skill based system any day!
As for D&D conversion from version 2, there is a .pdf document on the WOTC site available for download. Well, it was there a year ago anyway.
Also, if you’re determined to go the D20 route, get the open source “free” copy of PCGen http://pcgen.sourceforge.net/01_news.php
It is a great tool for character creation for both 3.0, 3.5, modern and other D20 genre’s.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:42 AM

STEVETHEPIRATE

I've only played D&D a little in the last several years. Always liked it, but my stable of friends have all moved in different areas (geographically), and we don't get together often enough to get a good campaign going.

My favorite D&D memory: DM tells us were approaching a body of water. Before anyone can say anything, I gather a couple of characters and start constructing a boat made from the trees in the surrounding forest. No one thinks to ask how wide the body of water is until we've spent several minutes building the boat. When we discover it's not that deep and about 20 feet wide, we deconstruct the boat and make a bridge out of it.

OK, not the best story now that I see it in front of me. But it's a story nonetheless.

----------------------------------------------
"MY APOCALYPTIC TENOR HAS NOT BEEN DISPELLED!" - T-Rex ( www.qwantz.com)

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 11:41 AM

ANFA

First off, let me say how fun it is to see everyone talk about their D&D past!

I was first introduced to the whole concept back in high school, by my little brother. He and 3 of his friends got into Star Wars (he's been a SW freak since the ripe age of 5), and he'd tell me about their adventures sometimes. For what ever reason, I never bit.

Years later, after becoming quite close to 4 of my coworkers, did my buddy Gary suggest running a game for us. He and his wife played back in their college days, and he thought since our group was so creative, we might like to give it a shot.

We said yes, and ended up playing a 9 month campaign of Mage, the Ascension. Since we were new to it, he had us play a diceless game, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had. I'll never forget my first character, a Verbena witch with an attitude . . . Ah, to be someone else for a while - and with kick ass powers, to boot!

I'm currently getting ready to run a session of my own this coming Sunday, and my brother has gotten back to Star Wars and is preparing a campaign for myself and one of his buddies from days gone by. I'm having the time of my life, and only regret that I never got hooked sooner.

" We're just too pretty for God to let us die."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 2:29 PM

VARDEN

Quote:
Here's the problem, if we play the 3.5 rules, is there a coversion to use older monster manuals along with monsters from the new books in the current rules?

Yep, there is! Well, a conversion from AD&D to 3.0, anyway. Convert characters too!

I found the Conversion Manual from August 2000 on some French website:
[url] http://www.tatoola.com/aide_de_jeu.php?option=conversion_add_a
It's right in the middle of the page labled "version anglaise." (I have Adobe 7.0 but needed to download an old 5.0 to read it, but I got it to work!)

Now, I got one of those back when I went to Gen Con in 2000. Wish I knew where the hump in was now!

If the download don't work I'll email you this version.

The manual from 3.0 to 3.5 is on the Wizards site, but it's only about a dozen pages long, really only involves Rangers and Druids.

May have been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 3:19 PM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by varden:
Quote:
Here's the problem, if we play the 3.5 rules, is there a coversion to use older monster manuals along with monsters from the new books in the current rules?

Yep, there is! Well, a conversion from AD&D to 3.0, anyway. Convert characters too!

I found the Conversion Manual from August 2000 on some French website:
[url] http://www.tatoola.com/aide_de_jeu.php?option=conversion_add_a
It's right in the middle of the page labled "version anglaise." (I have Adobe 7.0 but needed to download an old 5.0 to read it, but I got it to work!)

Now, I got one of those back when I went to Gen Con in 2000. Wish I knew where the hump in was now!

If the download don't work I'll email you this version.

The manual from 3.0 to 3.5 is on the Wizards site, but it's only about a dozen pages long, really only involves Rangers and Druids.

May have been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Download worked like a charm. Thanks for your help varden. Now I'm ready for some great, and fantastic gaming.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 3:29 PM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by STEVEthePIRATE:
I've only played D&D a little in the last several years. Always liked it, but my stable of friends have all moved in different areas (geographically), and we don't get together often enough to get a good campaign going.

My favorite D&D memory: DM tells us were approaching a body of water. Before anyone can say anything, I gather a couple of characters and start constructing a boat made from the trees in the surrounding forest. No one thinks to ask how wide the body of water is until we've spent several minutes building the boat. When we discover it's not that deep and about 20 feet wide, we deconstruct the boat and make a bridge out of it.

OK, not the best story now that I see it in front of me. But it's a story nonetheless.

Thats what makes D&D so great. All the moments like that one. Sometimes when your faced with what seems to be an impossible task, you'll surprise yourself, and come up with a grand solution.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 4:37 PM

SIGMANUNKI

Another story.

This campain I was playing a mage. The DM asked whether I cared if people knew what spells I had and I said yes. I think that it adds to the mystery of the mage.

Anyway, my mage was rather powerful (relatively to the others) but I kept it a secret. I only cast spells that where required; only as powerful as required. Which pretty much meant nothing really beyond magic missle.

So, of course this trend had to end sometime. I forget what we were facing, but it was a lot. Sometime in what would have been the middle of the battle if I didn't act, I cast fireball.

We were somewhat loose with rules, so I was allowed to shout a warning before unleashing and they were given just enough time to get away. I placed the fireball just behind the bad guy(s) and it/they was/were incinerated (I got reallyl good rolls)

Everyone was of course rather surprised at what had just happened; they thought I was "low level."

Other Char: "Why didn't you do that before?"
My Char: "Didn't need to be done before."
OC: "Do you know how many times we almost died?"
MC: "Did anyone die?"
OC: "Well, no but.."

My character was already walking away (he was a bit of a prick

).

*sigh* I really miss playing.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 5:04 PM

HONORBOUND

My husband is at the guys playing as I type this. I even played for a while with them until the kids came along. Watching a 1 year old drool and choke on the 12 siders is just not a good thing. Maybe when they're older I'll be able to get back into it. One of my favorite campaigns was with a group who were not exactly good or evil... we called ourselves LRU "Looters R Us". We took everything that wasn't tied down. Curtains, Chandelier pieces, once we even set up our portable hole on a wall and pushed a huge statue into it. We were sent on a quest to defeat a bunch of differnt lands. At one land, the people there paid us off to NOT defeat them. We took the money and fiqured that when we were done with the rest we could come back and do them later.

A kind word turneth away wrath, but not as well as superior firepower

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, July 28, 2005 12:17 PM

DAIKATH

http://www.m90.org/view_image.php?image_id=2766

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, July 28, 2005 2:52 PM

LUNATIKAT

Hi! Anybody out there know where I can find a good floor plan of Serenity? The cutaway on the DVD still leaves me unable to completely visualize the whole thing.

lunatikat - beyond the pale and into the saturated

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, July 28, 2005 5:11 PM

SIGMANUNKI

@DAIKATH:
LOL!!! Thanks

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, November 10, 2008 11:40 PM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by varden:
Oh, and OPPYH, You really should invest in the 3.5 rules. They are the gold standard in roleplaying gaming right now. They have been playtested by like half the civilized world, and they really do make D&D play faster, better and more fun. I'm telling you you're cheating yourself and your gaming group if you don't at least pick up a used copy!

Huge bump.

I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for about 4 months now(it only took 3 years to get a group of friends together to play). Anyway, yes 3.5 is quite awesome.
Drinking beer instead of Pepsi makes for a whole new gaming experience also

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 1:16 AM

KHYRON

Thanks for bumping this. I couldn't care less about D&D, but I love looking at old threads and seeing who's still around and who I still remember of those who aren't.

------------------------------

What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 2:13 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

OPPYH of 2005 seems like a different sort than the one posting in RWED now, hmmm... interesting...

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 4:22 AM

SCOUSERATHEART

I have also played since 1979-80. I can also speak to the crazy parents who got worried in high school (even though their kid had been my friend for eight years - all of a sudden we were SUSPECT...). Silly.

While we are all doing vastly different things with our lives now (HS teacher, neurologist, university administration, international businessman, kung fu teacher), we still get together for a week every two years to visit and game. Brilliant.

One of our favorite stories was the culmination of about two real years of gameplay where we had finally chased a corrupt evil mage into the bowels of a huge castle. We penned him into a small room (no teleport left) and he wall of forced himself in. We rock to mudded the ceiling. Then dispelled it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:08 AM

KHYRON

Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
OPPYH of 2005 seems like a different sort than the one posting in RWED now, hmmm... interesting...

Yeah, and I'm also surprised he's in his 30s, I basically only know him from his current presence in RWED and I was sure he was a teenager with too much time on his hands.

Not trying to insult you here, OPPYH, that just really is what I thought.

------------------------------

What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:29 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by Khyron:
Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
OPPYH of 2005 seems like a different sort than the one posting in RWED now, hmmm... interesting...
Yeah, and I'm also surprised he's in his 30s, I basically only know him from his current presence in RWED and I was sure he was a teenager with too much time on his hands.

Not trying to insult you here, OPPYH, that just really is what I thought.

No more RWED posts for me....ever!
I'm getting back to the stuff that really matters. Fantasy, and escapism is where it's at.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

YOUR OPTIONS

SHARE THREAD

NEW POSTS TODAY

USER

POST DATE