D&D

[Araciel]

i may have introduced this thread a while ago, but regardless it's gone now...

who plays Dungeons and Dragons...what edition, what campaign setting, or is it a homebrew?? anyone play any of the videogames or computer games?

what races/classes do you prefer and why?!?!?

[Lost Number]

I play NWN when i can. I play as a Ranger, and possibly with a bit of Arcane Archer. Rangers, I just like them. I rp them the best, too.

[Araciel]

oph yes yes rangers are good...people usually go with the melee weapon training and forget all about the archery aspect of the class :(

[Pike]

I'm a ranger in one of my current games. And in my other I'm a Spellthief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellthief_(Dungeons_&_Dragons)). D&D 3.5... woo, I'm up to date. XD I don't play nearly as often as I'd like to be able to, though.

I also play Neverwinter Nights on occasion.

[Araciel]

o i guess i should list mine...*ahem*

i play a human paladin in one current game, paladin of torm in the forgotten realms

also i have a warforged rogue in an eberron campaign

in NWN2 i have a human fighter

i recently retired an elven sorceror in another FR campaign

all of this is 3.5 of course

i was indoctrinated under 2nd ed. rules just before 3.0 was introduced a few years ago...it was quite a while ago as i remember...i played a human thief and was killed in the first session...i then rolled up his brother, a fighter, whose quest was to have him resurrected...but when we finally reached our goal, he had been tainted by an evil force and became the BBEG heheh so much fun!

[Lost Number]

oph yes yes rangers are good...people usually go with the melee weapon training and forget all about the archery aspect of the class :(

I always go for ranged weapons. Mines generally never use meleé weapons.

[Araciel]

yes when you said arcane archer i was pleasantly surprised hehehe

[Lost Number]

Another build I tried once was the Wizard/Arcane Archer. Its not the strongest class, but its fun to play as.

[Dr Aum]

I played one campaign as a cleric for a few months, setting generic. Then I DMed an Eberron campaign for a short while. Neither got very far.

[Araciel]

Another build I tried once was the Wizard/Arcane Archer. Its not the strongest class, but its fun to play as.

i tried to do that once...played an elven wizard from 1st-4th level but he changed his focus and decided to go the way of a high mage...never made it...became a slave to the illithidss....gr...

[Shoeberto]

My friends and I run the occasional pickup campaign based on various rulesets (usually D&D, D20 Modern, or Dice Chucker) that usually never last for more than an hour or so.

[Bahamut2000X]

I never played too much D&D as me and my friends never could sit through a campaign (let alone the same character) and play the rules correctly (we had that one dude in every group that has to be the best and cheats to do so. >.<)

When we did play though, I liked the rouge and monk classes. Monk just for sheer power, and rouge for all the nifty little out of battle tactics I could use.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'm generally willing to play just about any available class, there are all kinds of character concepts that generally interest me. Sadly, as I'm more often than not the one who has to organize and thus DM the games, I don't get a chance to actually play a character a whole lot.

My last two characters were for the same campaign.

The first character was a chaotic neutral druid. He was a half-elf (using a different variant to make them more mechanically attractive that the DM had created) who was a believer in the power of nature through chaos. When riled, he would unleash upon his foes the full fury of nature.

However, outside of combat, he was fairly laid-back devil-may-care, likely an aspect of his chaotic nature. He went around and did as he pleased, so long as things weren't interfering with the natural world and were at least remotely amusing, he was up for it.

However, there was a point in the campaign where the DM approached me and said that a Druid, even with the Spontaneous Healer feat, was just not going to work as the primary healer of the party and asked that I switch, which I had no problem with.

The session before that people had gone after the party for what later turned out to be nefarious reasons. After the ranger got in an extended (and extended and extended) conversation with the guards about why they were being arrested, my druid (who had flown away as an eagle) flew back and gave himself up, essentially to get the ranger's player to shut up so we could move on, despite it being very out-of-character.

The session ended there, but I instead rolled up a Favored Soul and we ruled that the druid had just left, which is what he would have done anyway.

The Favored Soul was a fun one. He had 19 charisma, and thus I felt compelled to give him long silver hair. He also wielded a greatsword. And was a communist.

The party was first introduced to him inside of a cell as he was cursing the "imperialist bastard opressors" at the top of his lungs. He had the subtlty of a hammer to the face, and tended to be quite loud whenever he said anything.

Currently, I'm working on a campaign setting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27066) that I will start running when I get back to school, based off the video game Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. It'll be a really silly campaign, but has been in general a lot of fun to create. I will, of course, be DMing.

[fantasyjunkie]

I play usually modules from various settings. Wow, I started playing in 1981 right after the hardback handbooks were published! :eek:
The most popular module back then was Tomb of Horrors.

[NeoCracker]

Haven't played for a while, but I like rouges and Bards mostly. The Spirit shaman that came with Complete Divine was awsome as well.

I like using the specialized Necromancers from one of the Mongoose books though.

[Araciel]

I play usually modules from various settings. Wow, I started playing in 1981 right after the hardback handbooks were published! :eek:
The most popular module back then was Tomb of Horrors.

tomb of horrors is good...i like all the old classics, barrier peaks, TOEE, castle spulzeer, etc...they remade TOEE back when 3rd edition first came out but it was more of a sequel than a remake, as i discovered after i bought it

[NINJA_Ryu]

D20 Modern anyone?

[Spammerman]

Is D&D online? Or is it only offline. I remember my friends playing it at lunch for a while.

[fantasyjunkie]

D20 Modern anyone?

I have never played it but have seen it.Can you tell us a little about it? :)

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'm not terribly fond of D20 Modern's Base Class and Advanced Class system. Urban Arcana is still also really low magic. If I want to play in that kind of a setting, I'm much more inclined to go with Shadowrun.

[escobert]

I"VE played NWN I PLAYED a shadow dancer.it was leet.

[Dragon Mage]

Dang! You beat me too it!; I was going to make a D&D thread!

anyways...

I'm in 3 games right now, one a d20 game.

The first and longest I've been playing I have a female human wizard at 7th level. (and she has a str of 17 :D) I just got my psedodragon familiar! :D Right now, the game has gone to the Underdark. We just recently took down a mature adult Shadow dragon in a darkwood forest.
I chose a wizard because there was no wizard in the party. Had to fill it out, you know, that kind of thing.

In the 2nd game (different DM), I have made a 17th level Swordmaster. (don't look for it in the book; I made this class myself). I've yet to introduce her into the game, but I'm looking forward to it. (I've always loved fighters. Especially this one...) More details?

and my third game is d20. I have a 9 level strong hero who it a demolitions expert. We're in the year 2569. A virus is out killing people. Basically the virus destroys the hemoglobin in the blood and blood transfusions are required to keep you alive. A full blood transfusion can cure you, but that much blood is hard to come by. and guess what? My character's got the virus! Ani't that just peachy! (don't matter, I didn't like her anyway)

There's a total of 4 people in my group and I'm the only one that hasn't DMed yet. But that'll change soon. I'm writing the campain.

[Spammerman]

Is D&D online?

[Dragon Mage]

There is a D&D game online, called Stormreach. You have to buy the software though. It's a D&D equivalent of Warcraft. There's also tabletop D&D which is very common and what I prefer.

[NeoCracker]

The only way I'd pick up Modern and play is if I could find the Post apoctalyptic Walmart Takover setting. Walmart had taken over the world, and now everyone lives in one giant walmart. You have classes designed to be shoplifters and such. Don't remember to much about it, but it sounded funny as hell.

[Shoeberto]

There is a D&D game online, called Stormreach. You have to buy the software though. It's a D&D equivalent of Warcraft*
*World of Warcraft :]

[Markus. D]

I"VE played NWN I PLAYED a shadow dancer.it was leet.

Hide in plain site :(

always massacred me in PVP.



:(



I think Wizards are more l337 overall.


edit: Stormreach > WoW.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

The common saying is Wizards win D&D. Wizards are also often equated to Batman. Some of the new spells like Celerity, and old favorites like Timestop and Forcecage make Wizards nasty opponents.

[Araciel]

wizards are cool but i like the sorceror class...somehow it just appeals to me more...a wizard adventuring is still a bit hard to believe, along with a cleric of any god other than travel/exploration centred ones

bythe way, BTV, your campaign setting seems pretty well written! if i could play in your group i definatly would!

[Markus. D]

I always Play Bard.


best Bard I made turned into a RDD.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

wizards are cool but i like the sorceror class...somehow it just appeals to me more...a wizard adventuring is still a bit hard to believe, along with a cleric of any god other than travel/exploration centred ones

bythe way, BTV, your campaign setting seems pretty well written! if i could play in your group i definatly would!

Glad you liked it. I have a bit more to do, mainly in the way of statting NPCs, but I'm having fun with it.

As far as Wizards and Clerics traveling though, there are usually plenty of reasons. The Cloistered Cleric varient lends itself more towards the "staying in the temple all day" mindset, but the standard Cleric class is a combat monster that's meant for battle. Wizards might adventure to find scrolls of ancient lore and power and other magical shinies. That's why a lot of people adventure, really. They want to get rich by killing things and taking their stuff.

[theundeadhero]

I've enjoyed playing AD&D second edition in the past, but my group prefers to play Shadowrun so that's what gets done more often.

[Mirage]

I play D&D 3.5 now and then, but I prefer nWoD :p

[Laddy]

Meh, just got a D&D 3.5 set... God I need help. Anyway, I usually play the D&D games as either a Half-Elf Ranger or a Elf Wizard/Thief.

[Markus. D]

Go Human or Half-Elf :3!

[Araciel]

As far as Wizards and Clerics traveling though, there are usually plenty of reasons. The Cloistered Cleric varient lends itself more towards the "staying in the temple all day" mindset, but the standard Cleric class is a combat monster that's meant for battle. Wizards might adventure to find scrolls of ancient lore and power and other magical shinies. That's why a lot of people adventure, really. They want to get rich by killing things and taking their stuff.

hah which, as we all know, is the REAL core dynamic of D&D :P

[Mirage]

Meh, just got a D&D 3.5 set... God I need help. Anyway, I usually play the D&D games as either a Half-Elf Ranger or a Elf Wizard/Thief.
Changeling rogue for the winrar.

[Araciel]

heheh i don't know about anyone else but the new races in eberron kinda irk me

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Everyone who's played in Eberron has really liked it. I need to try it out myself someday, but I'll be damned if I'm buying any more D&D sourcebooks. I have all the ones I need right now.

[Araciel]

it's good if you like FF7...it's steampunk if you ask me

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

VII is definitely not steampunk, although I do like steampunk. FFVII would probably work best with Shadowrun or D20 Modern and some of the D20 Modern supplements. I believe FFVII qualifies as "cyberpunk".

FFVI is Steampunk, albeit not heavily. Iron Kingdoms is also more heavily steampunk, and something I've also been wanting to try. I think Ebberon leans in that direction though.

[Araciel]

well it's more magic-punk (tee hee) now that i think about it...magic pervades everything so much in eberron that it's almost annoying, but as with any setting, it's the DM and players that make the game anyway, and most people are in love with eberron, so it's easy to switch over to.

iron kingdoms is awesome! but we never play it...

[Dragon Mage]

Sorcerers are cool but in my opinion, Wizards are better. Sorcerers may get more spells, but they're weak spells. Wizards are just more powerful than Sorcerers.


Go Human or Half-Elf :3!

haha that reminds me of; "Hail to Half-orcs! Because who really cares about charisma?"

And they're right. Who here really cares about charisma?

In the last edition of Dragon magazine, they went over all the different worlds of D&D in detail. Ebberon seemed....weird. It was too odd to really understand. (oh, btw, they described a city in Ebberon that was basically half above ground and half below. Midgar, anyone?)

[Araciel]

well they advance more slowly, yes but they eventually get to the same spells....the metamagic thing sucks though for sure

my sub to dragon ran out recently :(

[Dragon Mage]

eh, metamagic thing is optional. What got me though was feats like Precise shot can apply to spells. Heh. I don't know why, but I never figured that those would apply to spells. Now, the ranger's and my list of feats are quite similar lol.



my sub to dragon ran out recently

That sucks. You have my sympathy.

[Araciel]

metamagic is the way to go for wizzies

i like how you can weap. focus in rays hehehe sweeeet

yeah i have to re-uppz soon...though i don't like how the new class acts works...i liked it when it was all about the core classes individually

[Ender]

I have a fairly keen interest in the concept of DnD as well as the technical aspects of rpg systems in general, but the handful of experiences I had with "tabletop" gaming have turned me off from it. I attribute that mostly to a mind that feels really strongly about specifics regarding story and characterization which doesn't translate well to role-playing games the way they're played by most people. I'm more comfortable playing through a story that makes sense and feels real and relevant to the game world "to me" than trying to imagine a living setting where things are "made up as they go"--even though the game is still being directed by the GM to certain goals. So from that standpoint the DnD-based computer games are great for my level and type of interest.

I own and still often play Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, NWN and it's official expansions, PoR: Ruins of Myth Drannor, and Temple of Elemental Evil. Plus KoTOR 1 & 2 which is customized/modified d20.

As far as favorite characters types/races/classes, I'm generally more interested in the "character" and his or her background than the specific race or class. And as I enjoy writing fantasy I often write detailed backgrounds for my characters. Often I'll base them off of fantasy or pseudo-fantasy characters from books or movies, but I also enjoy trying to come up with characters that fit in the typical race A = class B equation but which have non-cliched backgrounds.

If I had to choose a favorite type of character it would be anything that was a hack at the profession he or she wanted to be but had a natural aptitude in an area they couldn't care much for. Something like a hack mage that was actually an extremely strong, agile fighter or thief. Or perhaps a dwarf that wanted to uphold his family's/race's fighter herritage but who was actually better suited as a "lucky" magic-based cleric despite his grumblings about it...etc. etc. etc. I also like bards, not the jack-of-all-trades game rules tend to make them out to be--but as an adventuring companion--someone who can sing, tell tales, secure room and board or items on the cheap, and fire a bow from behind the tree he/she's cowering behind to save his/her bolder party-fellows.

[Dragon Mage]

I attribute that mostly to a mind that feels really strongly about specifics regarding story and characterization which doesn't translate well to role-playing games the way they're played by most people. I'm more comfortable playing through a story that makes sense and feels real and relevant to the game world "to me" than trying to imagine a living setting where things are "made up as they go"--even though the game is still being directed by the GM to certain goals.

Are you playing with twinks? They can really screw things up if you haven't played the game very long. They're mostly about 'let's see how much my character owns!" and that's about it. Not the best people to be around to get 'in character'. And a DM that makes things up as they go is a lousy DM. You sound like you would make a very good DM. Have you tried it before?


Something like a hack mage that was actually an extremely strong,

I've got a character like that, lol.

[Araciel]

yes, ender, a lot of people who play D&D actually have a lot of experience in video games and so ONLY focus on the numbers, being more powerful, getting magic items, all at the expense of good characters...i don't know how many greedy paladins i've had to pull aside from the game and eventually punish in game!

i think a lot of people forget that it's a roleplaying game, and don't find a good balance...which only means i shouldn't play with those people. it's just difficult to find young gamers who like to focus on the story.. but it's working now that i put up an add at a local college that's famous for its english programs.

the main thing is finding a group that plays at your level, and having a good DM is key as well. being the dm is fun and rewarding, but sometimes you just wanna get in there and play!!

the gameworld itself can be as realistic as is necessary for the players, and the focus of a good DM often shifts to what his players want to see and hear and smell, so i think, while not having any actual experience with your gaming sessions, that you just need a good group.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Yeah, I too become irritated playing with a group that's more numbers-oriented. Heavy roleplay games are always my favorite.

[Araciel]

exactly....my latest group and i once spent an entire session shopping in waterdeep....and investigating a murder...it was honestly one of the best sessions i've ever played

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

My groups have tendencies towards pyromania. I can't begin to count the amount of things they've torched.

[Araciel]

what i love is the 'i'm so badass i'll fight anybody' players....who like to pick fights at random in town because they're bored..sometimes they win, but the city guard or militia generally shows up..

[Laddy]

I love the story!!! :D:D:D:D:D I'll only mess with anything if the story's any good, so I started my first time as dungeon master! (I doubt I'm doing it right, but I'm trying.)

[Mirage]

Never forget. (http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp)

[oddler]

Never forget. (http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp)

I could not have just laughed harder! The funny thing is that that's a real comic, isn't it?

I've played some D&D before but I'd have to say that I'm guilty of the number greed even though I'm always the DM. I just do what the others enjoy, I guess. Also, I'm nowhere near following the rules. We always go homebrew. It's the fun that counts.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Never forget. (http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp)

Indeed, a comic so infamous a quote from it adorns our own Roleplay forum. (http://forums.eyesonff.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72)

[NeoCracker]

D&D at its finest. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html)

[Araciel]

D&D at its finest. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html)

yeah order of the stick is awesome

i like zogonia better but they're all good

i miss my dragon!

[Dragon Mage]

I've got a problem.
In my one game, I have a wizard with a pseduodragon familiar (and I, personally love dragons. And love is an understatement) The problem? There's a ranger (the player is a real power player) and the person hates dragons and magic-users of any kind. How can I get him to respect me?

He recently got mauled to 0 hp by a shadow dragon, so that tactic didn't work. 5 of my lighting bolts [and blinding it and suppress breath weapon spell] really hurt it, but he delivered the killing blow. Now he's prancing around like he owns the dungeons and all but says that he took down the dragon single-handedly. But he really endangered the cleric and the whole party, not to mention handicapp some of my best spells.

So you see my problem. Any suggestions?

[Araciel]

try to gain his respect?? if he's a powergamer and one of his character's personality traits are that he hates dragons and spellcasters, you're kinda screwed...powergamers don't like to give up the little character quirks they call roleplaying.

what kind of character are you playing?? does he really want the respect of someone like that?? would he rather the ranger gain a respect for ALL spellcasters or just yours? would your character become aloof or even confrontational about it?? would you try to save his life to gain his respect, or show off to earn his respect through fear?

i personally would probably go the latter route with my character, becoming increasingly agitated with him and trying to display the power of magic...if i were human...and anything but ultra-good

[Dragon Mage]

Nononononono. I'm trying to get him to respect me.

[Araciel]

then i dunno...like i said...if he's a power gamer he won't change his personality trait easily.

[NINJA_Ryu]

Dont play with powergamers.

They are the pondscum on the caviar of D&D

[Araciel]

Dont play with powergamers.

They are the pondscum on the caviar of D&D

teh winnar

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I will, however, say that, as a Wizard, you have only scratched the surface of how easily you could own him.

Especially at higher levels, Fighter-types can't handle wizards. The amount of spells they can cast give them insane benefits that in some cases.

What level are you at? If you want to fight fire with fire, I can give you a whole compliment of spells that should make things interesting ^_^

I don't normally advocate that, unless you're stuck playing with irritating people like that guy appears to be.

[Araciel]

party infighting can be great hahahah

[NINJA_Ryu]

Although, if i may steal attention for a minute, i have a few questions.

ONe, where can you usually pick up books? ( im especially looking for D20 modern) And dice for that matter?

[Araciel]

Although, if i may steal attention for a minute, i have a few questions.

ONe, where can you usually pick up books? ( im especially looking for D20 modern) And dice for that matter?

in tacoma?
no idea...look in your yellow pages for comic stores or gamshops/hobbyshops...chapters or other high end bookstores can get any books you need and sometimes dice, etc. if you ask them

[The Triumphant Hero]

I haven't played in a while, but I like the Ranger and Paladin classes. Most of my Paladins end up with a greatsword, and my Rangers always use longbows. My most...interesting character would have to be my half-orc druid. He tended to run out of spells halfway through missions so he usually ended up beating down the hard enemies with a quarterstaff and blowing the weak enemies up with flame strike.

EDIT: I usually tend to stay away from wizard/sorceror classes - I find the play style for them to be hard to do for me. As I said, I usually have my characters waste all their magic early.

[Dragon Mage]

I will, however, say that, as a Wizard, you have only scratched the surface of how easily you could own him.

Especially at higher levels, Fighter-types can't handle wizards. The amount of spells they can cast give them insane benefits that in some cases.

What level are you at? If you want to fight fire with fire, I can give you a whole compliment of spells that should make things interesting ^_^

I don't normally advocate that, unless you're stuck playing with irritating people like that guy appears to be.

I've just attained 7th level. :D

oooooooooo, fire. yum.

And he isn't that bad as you may think, but he really likes to make the Mary sue characters. All the time. And he hates spellcasters because they're so powerful and 'don't do anything to achieve that power.' He thinks they're too powerful, and shouldn't have that kind of power because the magic users have done nothing to gain it. i.e. training in sword fighting, really strong physically, etc. Everything I like, he hates. And because he acts so badass, he takes the spotlight, so to speak, and goes rushing into something without giving anyone esle a chance, because he's sooo confident he can do it alone. the 'i'm badass don't screw with me i don't need your help watch me' type. It's annoying and I really need to bring him down a notch. It can be done, becuase he's humbled when he can't do anything or is up against a really strong monster....that isn't a dragon.

[Araciel]

yeah LET him do it alone...i tend to make some pretty petty characters sometimes :)

[Dragon Mage]

hahaha, good idea. His last character died that way after all. but the problem is that he's strong enough and twinked enough to handle a few orcs or your ususal random encounter. and when he rushes after a shadow dragon (which was supposed to be a challenge and which he ruined by rushing it) he foils the stratedgy and we're trying like hell to cover him or at least buy him a break to get out. But he doesn't. and it's always like this. there has to be a way to humble him. (and he's the only mary sue player in the group and he isn't too bad, so there may be a cure)

[ValkyrieWing]

*raises hand*

Did somebody say D&D? :)

[NINJA_Ryu]

or another way to do it is realistically up the monsters to higher levels that cant be handled by one person, and let him go with it.

No help whatsoever

[Laddy]

*puts hands down*

Okay, I'm a bad dungeon master!

[ValkyrieWing]

I love D&D

I think i'm playing 6 different games right now...or maybe it's only 5? I don't really know. :)

[Dragon Mage]

wow. how do you keep track of all the character sheets?

[NINJA_Ryu]

*puts hands down*

Okay, I'm a bad dungeon master!

Relax Red, it takes time

I have never DMed in my life, though thats gonna change, and ill be in the same boat as you. If your playing with more experienced players, ask for advice! D&D is meant as a fun, delightful, and supportive game (outside the role play that is) and good players would be happy to oblige!

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

DMing is tough, I've always been the one to have to do it and even I have a lot of problems with it, although those tend to be moreso when I play with rules whores.

Let's see, you are 7th level which means you can cast up to 4th level spells.

From the 4th level spell list, (Evard's) Black Tentacles (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blackTentacles.htm) is a nice way to go. Have him charge in and then use the Black Tentacles. They then grapple EVERYTHING in the area, including Mr. Gung Ho Ranger. They do a good amount of damage, but you start flinging blast spells around you should kill everything else long before he dies, allowing you to dismiss the spell and have the healer patch him up. A good admonishment here is to not get in your way.

Against a low-Will low-Fortitude type like say a Rogue enemy, Phantasmal Killer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/phantasmalKiller.htm) can kill it immediately, before Stabby Mctwink gets a chance.

There's also Polymorph. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/polymorph.htm) However, that spell's so hideously broken I suggest not inflicting it upon your poor DM except for extreme cases. There are plenty of 7 Hit Dice nasties that can tear through a mob far easier than any warrior.

From the level 3 spell list, Deep Slumber (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/deepSlumber.htm) or Hold Person (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/holdPerson.htm) can take people out of the battle entirely. This still, however, allows him to brag about killing them, even if they are asleep/utterly paralyzed when he does so, due to your spell. Feel free to point it out to him though.

Those are just a few things you can do. I definitely encourage putting such players in their place, I would hate playing with someone like that and I'm still unsure of how he managed to "twink" a Ranger, since they're often considered to be more than a little nerfed mechanically, especially in pure combat situations. Especially if he's going two-weapon fighting.

[NeoCracker]

One game I played was pretty funny. The party ditched me, just to be ass holes. We were going to talk to a goblin tribe fighting agaisnt a group of hob Goblins. They went to the goblins, but when they left me alone and asleep, I went the other way to the Hob Goblins, and led to a strategic counter strike against the other PC's. OF course, inevatably I also led to the destruction of the Hob Goblins and the freedom of the Goblins.

Good fun.

[ValkyrieWing]

wow. how do you keep track of all the character sheets?

I paper clip them to my character pictures. :)

Seriously...

I have 2 characters per game, except for one. so that's about a dozen characters...it's a lot to keep tracl of, but i LOVE it so much! :)

[Araciel]

*puts hands down*

Okay, I'm a bad dungeon master!

what happened??

you don't have the DMG anyway :P

being a good DM takes time and practice and a good working knowwledge of the rules, it will come.

[ValkyrieWing]

We play 3.5 and d20 modern usually.

The only thing consistent about my character choices is that i am ALWAYS female...cause, you know...i am female. >D

[Tasura]

D&D ftw.

My usual choice for 3.0 is Human Cleric, for 3.5 it's Elven Sorcerer. D20 modern I am generally a Shadowjack becuase Shadowjacks = <33.

Also, my Cleric's are never really the healing type, I am more apt to rain fire down upon your head then heal you =) Or of course, Blade Barrier, or if you really piss me off Slay Living.

Right now I'm in 2+ campiagns, one as an evil Cleric, one as a good Cleric, and the D20 modern campign isnt started up yet, so I dont know waht I'll be, but as i was typing this I got a call to tell me that D&D is happeneing tonight, so I get to play with my lvl 15 Cleric, which is just awesome.

[Araciel]

we should have an EOFF online game :P

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I tried starting one awhile back but it didn't get off the ground. I'm all for it though.

[Araciel]

and you would get the chance to play!

i tried play by post on the wizards of the coast message boards...it went ok but my players quit on me

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Yes, being able to play would be good.

[ValkyrieWing]

:)

I'm in if someone wants to set it up. We just have to set up rules for stats and what have you. Since, you know...cheating sucks. :p

[Araciel]

if i'm running it i wouldn't mind using the elite array, that's the most balanced though admittedly boring for most players, but i like roleplaying more than most of the game, so if everyone is cool with that...should i setup a thread in the writer's board?

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I tend to prefer higher point buys myself, but we'll go with whatever you choose if you're running it.

What you might want to do is do the sign-ups in the roleplay thread and then we'll all play over an instant messenger system, it's a lot better for D&D-based roleplays, and we can keep our character stats and the like in the thread itself.

Also, list what splatbooks we're allowed to use, that'll definitely help with the characters. I personally own all the core rulebooks plus the Expanded Psionics Handbook, PHBII, and Tome of Battle. If possible, I'd like to play a class from one of the latter books, but I'm also willing to defer to the party roles people need.

I also have PDFs of all the Completes except Complete Mage, the Complete Scoundrel book that hasn't been released yet, and the Complete Psionics which is an abomination anyway. Not as interested in using those, but I do have access to them.

[Araciel]

i'm tempted to go with core, since i don't know who has what or whatever, but i think i'll head over and make a thread there now...or maybe i should plan it out first :P

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Having an idea for a campaign helps, as will specifying which sites we use for keeping track of our character sheets and die rolling.

Also, we can use the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm) for reference, it has core plus psionics and Unearthed Arcana variants, which are nice.

There's a feat database here (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/datafind/feats.shtml), which is also helpful.

[Araciel]

o i have ideas for campaigns all over my apartment heh some of which are actually WHOLE ideas...hard to believe i know!

but yeah i will no doubt post the invitation/info thread tomorrow

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Then I'll sign up probably when I get back on campus.

[Araciel]

alright then! from what i know of you i have one good player so far :)

[Tasura]

You've got 2 now ;)

[NeoCracker]

Count me in. I'll go look up some of the rules later, since it's been a while since I've played.

[ValkyrieWing]

four!!!!!!!!

[~Storm Ninja~]

second edition, lvl 2 human theif, randomly created home campaigns for the moment.

I like humans, because I like being normal height. Probably should have been an elf, but i didn't =P

Also, theives for the win, but i want to become a ninja someday (no seriously, prestige class.)

[NINJA_Ryu]

five! ^^

[Dragon Mage]

Let's see, you are 7th level which means you can cast up to 4th level spells.

From the 4th level spell list, (Evard's) Black Tentacles is a nice way to go. Have him charge in and then use the Black Tentacles. They then grapple EVERYTHING in the area, including Mr. Gung Ho Ranger. They do a good amount of damage, but you start flinging blast spells around you should kill everything else long before he dies, allowing you to dismiss the spell and have the healer patch him up. A good admonishment here is to not get in your way.

Against a low-Will low-Fortitude type like say a Rogue enemy, Phantasmal Killer can kill it immediately, before Stabby Mctwink gets a chance.

There's also Polymorph. However, that spell's so hideously broken I suggest not inflicting it upon your poor DM except for extreme cases. There are plenty of 7 Hit Dice nasties that can tear through a mob far easier than any warrior.

From the level 3 spell list, Deep Slumber or Hold Person can take people out of the battle entirely. This still, however, allows him to brag about killing them, even if they are asleep/utterly paralyzed when he does so, due to your spell. Feel free to point it out to him though.

!!!!! Excellant!!! Thank you soooo much, this should work perfectly. My only reservation is gaining everyone's resentment for attacking/hindering an ally. (not like I really care....)


Those are just a few things you can do. I definitely encourage putting such players in their place, I would hate playing with someone like that and I'm still unsure of how he managed to "twink" a Ranger, since they're often considered to be more than a little nerfed mechanically, especially in pure combat situations. Especially if he's going two-weapon fighting.

The race is a Wood Elf. They get a +2 to beefyness and thumpability, I think. And his character is all about range. A wasted oportunity in my opinion since two-weapon fighting is my fav. My char. class that I made is based on Two-weapon fighting in fact. Anyways..added to that he's got an insane attack roll (he hit a flower from 200 feet. Seriously. He did) and just recently gained a dragonbone bow. His feats allow him to fire like, 10 arrows per round and he gets bonuses to boot. The uber badass that's always the loner and rubs in the fact that he's strong. (but it was funny when he wet himself--a future note not to piss off any clerics!)

[The Triumphant Hero]

I'm in too, but I kind of have a strict schedule when I'm online. As in, I can't get on except for a couple minutes in the morning and a little while in the evening except on weekends.

[Araciel]

I'm in too, but I kind of have a strict schedule when I'm online. As in, I can't get on except for a couple minutes in the morning and a little while in the evening except on weekends.

HAHAH ok

[Dragon Mage]

I'm in too, but I kind of have a strict schedule when I'm online. As in, I can't get on except for a couple minutes in the morning and a little while in the evening except on weekends.

same here. (and dial-up sucks btw. I could get kicked off any minute.)

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'm probably going to run a Wizard or a Psion if allowed. I'll also keep an adventure diary and post it in the writing section, written entirely in character :)

Oh, and get the feat combos. A level 7 character should NOT be shooting more than two, maybe three arrows a round.

If he's a ranged fighter, then I say go with option 1: Black Tentacles. He'll be far enough away not to get hit by it and it'll be VERY clear who was the one doing the work.

[Dragon Mage]

I know, it's terribly broken. I think it's because of the Rapid, Many, and Precise shot feats. And speed on the weapon doesn't help.


If he's a ranged fighter, then I say go with option 1: Black Tentacles. He'll be far enough away not to get hit by it and it'll be VERY clear who was the one doing the work.

:D :D :love: :love: Brilliant! Thank you soooooooo much!!!! It'll be perfect! Ha, can't wait to see his face! *evil laughter* You, sir, have just made me very happy indeed. This may very well solve my problem. I am in your debt.


(Oh, and, erm, can I use my two-weapon fighting class? I'll give you the stats and everything and can change it however you want.)

[edczxcvbnm]

Sephex and I have recently started playing D&D with our friends. Too bad our game master(the only one who had previous experience in playing the game) suck at being a game master. Granted I come up with some pretty crazy :skull::skull::skull::skull: to do but he tries to look up everything and it just slows everything down. The rules or more like guide lines anyways. Just make some :skull::skull::skull::skull: up that makes sense sometimes to keep stuff moving along. Not everything needs to be looked up.

I have no clue what version we are playing but I hate a lot of the HP system type stuff. Low HP and the weakest weapon still can kill just about any level one character in a single turn with a good role.

I think we might be done playing it for good. I might try to convince them to try Vampire. My brother has played it and I like the setting much more and the different time periods you can play in and the way damage works appeals to me more.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Homebrew is probably not the best for this game, but I'd want to take a look at the class myself to see it..

Let's see... a speed weapon and those feats means...

To have Rapid Shot he MUST have Point Blank Shot. That gives him +1 to attack and damage rolls within 30 feet on ranged weapons.

Precise Shot simply eliminates the -4 penalty for shooting into melee. So probably not a part of this combo.

Rapid Shot and Manyshot CANNOT be used together, if he is he's cheating.

Rapid Shot allows you one extra arrow as part of a full-round action attack. Rapid Shot plus a Speed weapon allows him to make three attacks at level seven at +7/+7/+2, OR four attacks at +5/+5/+5/+0.

If he is multishotting, he can only make two attacks (Speed doesn't apply to attacks that aren't full-attack actions). He can make two attacks at +3/+3, but he can still move that round.


Sephex and I have recently started playing D&D with our friends. Too bad our game master(the only one who had previous experience in playing the game) suck at being a game master. Granted I come up with some pretty crazy :skull::skull::skull::skull: to do but he tries to look up everything and it just slows everything down. The rules or more like guide lines anyways. Just make some :skull::skull::skull::skull: up that makes sense sometimes to keep stuff moving along. Not everything needs to be looked up.

I have no clue what version we are playing but I hate a lot of the HP system type stuff. Low HP and the weakest weapon still can kill just about any level one character in a single turn with a good role.

I think we might be done playing it for good. I might try to convince them to try Vampire. My brother has played it and I like the setting much more and the different time periods you can play in and the way damage works appeals to me more.

It's very likely you're playing standard 3.5. I don't like it when a DM digs through books, I am a big proponent of winging crap when it suits you/is cool.

[Dragon Mage]

Sephex and I have recently started playing D&D with our friends. Too bad our game master(the only one who had previous experience in playing the game) suck at being a game master. Granted I come up with some pretty crazy to do but he tries to look up everything and it just slows everything down. The rules or more like guide lines anyways. Just make some up that makes sense sometimes to keep stuff moving along. Not everything needs to be looked up.

Wow, you NEED to get with another group, one with a good DM. Here's an easy way: take a rulebook to school. Unless your afraid of being called a geek (unlikley) you should take a rulebook, players handbook or DM's Guide, or MM works best, and you will run into dozens of D&D players. Talk to them, tell them your problem, if they know a group you can play with. You'll get good results, trust me.


Rapid Shot and Manyshot CANNOT be used together, if he is he's cheating.

The bastard. That's exactly what he's doing. That's it he's DEAD! You do not piss of the wizard! Thanks again, I cannot begin to tell you how much this helps.

[edczxcvbnm]

Instead of quoting I will just talk in order.

Yeah. I really wish he would just wing it and give the player the benefit of the doubt(although I play a Evil Chaotic character). I think it might be version 2 on top of that. Not even 3.5. He is too hung up on the rules.

As to finding new people...we are all 24 or older and out of college. Not really an option in my opinion.

As an example of some of the stuff I come up with to play my character, when we were in a town last night I just wanted to murder a woman for no good reason. I totally snapped her neck. Or how about when I started a brush fire? That was pretty cool until he gave the fire an initiative and got a chance to attack everyone every turn and if you backed off again you would be in the same position you were just in. Come on. I started it to force the enemy back into it but NOOOOOO. It turned into a 'brawl' and everyone was everywhere in chaos.

He REALLY sucks as a DM. My brother who has much more experience in everything tried to help him be a better DM but he just takes too much time thinking about stuff instead of just coming up with something.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

That's hideously stupid. It sounds like a railroad DM, who punishes players for doing things he doesn't want them to do. Yeah, get a better DM, it'll be a lot more fun.

Also, if it's 2nd Edition then the rules are an utter quagmire. This is most easily recognized by the mention of "THAC0".

[edczxcvbnm]

That's hideously stupid. It sounds like a railroad DM, who punishes players for doing things he doesn't want them to do. Yeah, get a better DM, it'll be a lot more fun.

Also, if it's 2nd Edition then the rules are an utter quagmire. This is most easily recognized by the mention of "THAC0".

YES! I recognize that fucking word. I was wondering what the fuck THAC0 was. Something about armor class.

To be fair the last time he played was like...15 years ago and it isn't like we play every week even. I want to give him time to grow and maybe become a better DM. He also doesn't want to punish the player be he has his own ideas of how that kind of stuff works and how battle works. Example: I got zero punishment for murdering that woman.

He just has to be faster and realize that this is suppose to be fun for those playing and battle right now is a pain in the ass at level 1 but I blame D&D HP and hit rules more than anything for that one. He is never rolling to see how many creatures we battle again after going at it against 24 skeletons with 5 level 1 characters. He was just following the rules of the book on the roll. He is playing 2 level 5 characters to help us out but that is no where near enough for that bull:skull::skull::skull::skull:.

He has pretty much been told we all quit or he is done being a DM if that :skull::skull::skull::skull: ever happens again.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

THAC0, for the record, is "To Hit Armor Class 0", meaning that you need to roll that number on a D20 to hit someone with an Armor Class of 0. Positive Armor class subtracts that number from your THAC0 every time you attack someone, and negative adds to the THAC0. 2nd Edition is weird, you never know if a positive number is good or bad.

By the time you hit level 2 (which isn't long), everyone besides the wizard should be a lot less squishy (and the wizard shouldn't be anywhere near the front anyway). However, this much better handled in 3.5, especially since you get max HP at the first level.

[NeoCracker]

THAC0, for the record, is "To Hit Armor Class 0", meaning that you need to roll that number on a D20 to hit someone with an Armor Class of 0. Positive Armor class subtracts that number from your THAC0 every time you attack someone, and negative adds to the THAC0. 2nd Edition is weird, you never know if a positive number is good or bad.

By the time you hit level 2 (which isn't long), everyone besides the wizard should be a lot less squishy (and the wizard shouldn't be anywhere near the front anyway). However, this much better handled in 3.5, especially since you get max HP at the first level.

It's much easier in second eddition to just subract your total roll from the THACO to see if you hit their AC, rather than figure the AC into the THACO. But thats just me.

Also, even starting with Max HP, I once ended up with a warrior, who after a few levels, had less HP then the wizard.

[ValkyrieWing]

lol

I dabble.

My sorcerer has an 18 con. :3

[Tasura]

Me and my Clerics are the kings of inventive ways to take down enemies, a couple meetiongs ago, there was a Chaos Lord who was attacking the main city, the PCs were charged with protecting it, and so I was riding on the back of a Black Dragon, I swooped down , flipped over, held onto the reigns with one hand, and kicked him in the face and cast Harm with my foot, Harm + the subdual damage of my kick knocked him out.

[Araciel]

thac0 was so stupid...when i played D&D in the beginning i asked 'why not just make AC positive, and thac0 positive, then all you have to do is add up and match the numbers....

then 3.0 came along, i'm guessing many had the same idea

[oddler]

I grew up with THAC0. :p I don't find it hard at all; it just comes naturally now.

[Araciel]

maybe, but i'm sure you can see the simplicity of the attack bonus system...just beacuse people learned to use sliderules doesn't make them the best way to do things

[oddler]

Not sure about the whole "attack bonus system" as I haven't played in forever but I agree with you on the whole sliderule deal.

[Araciel]

oph sorry...attack bonus...you wear armour and your dex bonus accrue to a positiv armour class, starting at a base of ten....say you had a +2 dex bonus and were wearing leather armour, granting another+2 for AC 14....all warriors get +1/level to hit, so he rolls a d20, ADDS his +1 and any other modifiers to try and hit HIGHER than the AC of 14

just all adding instead of going negative, etc.

[Araciel]

oops gotta double-post...the thread is up in the RP board so...go there and stuff...

http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?p=2058500#post2058500

[Dragon Mage]

wow, this thread went down fast.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

That's because we've all moved to the making a game thread.

[Dragon Mage]

But don't let this one die--it's too good to be forgotten. It's neccessary for good ol' discussion of D&D and talking about things. If people need help understanding a rule, if they want an opinion for the story they're writing, if they're having trouble with other players--they can come here. It should be allowed to live. Don't ignore this thread, please.

[Araciel]

i won't ignore it!

[NeoCracker]

I probably will ignore it.

[Dragon Mage]

Hmmmm, I'll start a topic to liven the thread........

ah ha! What's one of the funniest things that's happend during a D&D session?

[NINJA_Ryu]

Well, being a lvl 1 rogue, and having the o so wise idea of speaking to a chain demon. And subsequently going out in the back, getting down to 1 hp, having my monk friend start getting creamed, and me just hiding. Then chain demon went on a spree to find me, while my monk friend went to the guards.

Bad thing was, the guards were inept. (checking a 12 foot book that had topics on 6 diffrent species before doing anything) And once they finally got to moving (and arriving 12 turns later) my monk friend tried speeding them up.

Which also led to slowing them down, as he hijacked a horse, and traveling so fast a horseshoe flew off and knocked out a guard.

How did we beat this horrible monstrosity? Well, he had walked into a quiet (and striking beautiful girl) that our wizrd frined (lvl 7) tried to immediately woo while we were getting killed. In the end, the lady morphed into a giant dragonlike harpy and killed the damn thing, while destroying the in where the fight was.

[rih29]

When me and my friends were playing real-life D&D, we decided it would be really cool if we took out sticks and started clobbering each other with them. Since I had a +5 strength bonus, I smashed my weapon right across my friends stomach and he fell on the lawn. I was prancing around telling him he owed me 5 dollars and he got up and punched me and then we started shoving each other down a hill and I lost too much HP and died.

[thegirth]

half elf, fighter, great axe, power attack , Cleave , GreatCleave, WIN

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Great Cleave and Whirlwind attack are generally regarded as suboptimal since if you can take down the mooks that easily, they're not really going to damage you anyway.

[Dragon Mage]

XD that's a good one N_R.

I've got one here. You all remember that twinked elf ranger I told you about? Well him and the ninja were fighting (again). This happened in a town in the Underdark, as we were talking to the head cleric (hot elf chick, so described by the DM) about the strange happenings going on in the town. (turns out everyone was controlled by puppeteers.) Anyway, the cleric tried to get the two to stop fighting but they wouldn't listen to her. So she wades into the fray, knocking the ninja to the ground and cast Command on the ranger. She then looked right into the rangers eyes and said: "Deficate." And right there, in the middle of the town, the uber I'm-sucha-badass-i-can-kill-anything-i-don't-need-any-help ranger wet his pants. To hide the fact that he did so, he jumped into the fountain. So now, he's throughly soaked. And he waddled away with what dignity he had left. (not much. We all laughed for about 10 minutes before we returned to the game.)

[Dragon Mage]

*cricket, cricket*

ooooo, tough crowd.

[Araciel]

half elf, fighter, great axe, power attack , Cleave , GreatCleave, WIN

why put half elf in that equation?

[Dragon Mage]

Whoa, someone's here! Hello, stranger.

[Araciel]

hooooly anxious much?!?!?!

[NINJA_Ryu]

Lol, since this is somewhat breathing, I must know. Where are we on the game? I havent seen anyone on IM or MSN for a while. Im getting sad :(

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

half elf, fighter, great axe, power attack , Cleave , GreatCleave, WIN

why put half elf in that equation?

I actually also wonder about Great Cleave, it's cinematic and all that but if there are enough mooks to the point where Great Cleave is useful, then you're in no real danger anyway.

[Dragon Mage]

Elves get bouneses and move silently bouneses and such. Being a half-elf still grants you this without the major strength deductions. And great cleave is just asskicken'.

[Araciel]

the only move silently bonus an elf gets is due to the +2 dex, which a half-elf does not get.

the online game has suffered because i'm never home right now....family stuff going on but once i get more stable i will try and get it organized

great cleave is good for those people who like to max out their strength, always use a two-handed weapon, and say things like 'MARAGH SMASH' a lot in character.

[ValkyrieWing]

LOL

oUR PARTY GOT WIPED OUT BY ANOTHER PARTY MEMBER. :d

[Dragon Mage]

Don't go bashin' Great Cleave! With my one fighter character that I have, Great Cleave is excellent, especially since most of what we fight are little pukes in the army that are basically just there for effect. You know. They're not worth the fight. And if your two-wielding, with Great Cleave and a few others, nothing can stop you. Deliciousness.

(and the one thing all my chars have is high dex, str, and int. Con depends on what I rolled and what class it is. So str is kinda a given. I'm the only wizard that has a natural str of 17!)

On of the funniest lines ever in a game:(the fighter killed 2 orcs by coming up behind and smashing their heads together.)
DM: All right, the orc steps up to you and draws a sword.
Player: All right I swing at him. How much damage do I do?
DM: well, since it's an unarmed--
Player: No, no, I swing with the orc. How much damage do I do?

[Araciel]

i would rule it subdual damage unless the orc was wearin lots of armour...heheheh

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Technically not supposed to be able to do that, but I'm all for bending the rules when the situation warrants.

I had a Drunken Master in the game I was running once who grappled down an enemy wizard and proceeded to beat the monk with him. I counted it as an improvised weapon, and he was doing quite a bit of damage with it. I ruled half-damage to the wizard. Pretty much ruined the encounter (what with the failed Will save sending the cleric fleeing to the toilet), but it was fun.

It also set the precedent of the Drunken Master using enemies to club other enemies to death.

[Takara]

That sounded like the best batle ever, Void. xD

I haven't played D&D in... gosh, almost a decade! My dice are collecting dust. Our group was just the best, we roleplayed half the time and went on quests/into battles the other half. That way everyone was happy.

[Dragon Mage]

XD that was genious Void.

the best battle was when we had a few extra players come over to take out the people that were being mind-controlled. One person made their character based off of Wakka. Seriously. Volleyball and all.
So we were having a hard time with this high level wizard. The wizard (10lvl) steps out of the building (and I'm getting excited ya know, a wizard duel. yay!) When the player with the wakka-char rolls a double critical. So it basically went like this: Wizard--"I shall destroy you all with a single wo--" BAM! a volleyball in the face! He was goin' on a good rant and then he just got owned by a guy with a volleyball!

*sigh* those were good times I'll tell ya.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Double critical? How do those work? Is that the twenty followed by 20=instant kill house-rule?

[Dragon Mage]

yeah, but what your talking about (instant kill) requires rolling 3 19-20's in a row. That's your instant kill. A double crit just does more damage than a regular crit. Critical+Critical.

[Tasura]

Double critical? How do those work? Is that the twenty followed by 20=instant kill house-rule?

Its *normal crit range* critical *20* the crit modifier doubles, say from x2 to x4 *20* instant death.

[Araciel]

that's the stupidest rule i've ever heard.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I never play with instant kill on a special kind of crit, it ruins a LOT of things for both PCs and players, and also gives a 1st level commoner the ability to 1-shot a Great Wyrm Red Dragon with as much frequency as a 20th level Fighter.

[Araciel]

it's stupid because crits can kill parties often...instant death would make it happen MORE often...no one cares if the bad guy dies...but the PCs get upset when they die.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Well yeah, that too, but I thought it obvious :p

[Araciel]

Well yeah, that too, but I thought it obvious :p

often i overstate the obvious...it's a bad habit, but it helps in writing heheheh

[Tasura]

But you also have to look at the chance of it happening, first you need to crit, which is between marginal chance, then roll another 20, which is even less likely, then ANOTHER 20, the chances of that happening are extremely low, in my many years of playing D&D I've only seen it happen twice, maybe 3 times, the most recent was to me last year, a possessed Dwarven Defender 1-hit killed me after I took down two others.

Yes it sucks when a PC dies, but it also depends on the DM, my DM plays a unique game, you dont get exp from killing monsters, you get it from completing a floor of the dungeon, or another major part, and the 3 life rule, your character can be resurrected for free 3 times, afrer that your soul can no longer withstand the stress and you are perma-dead, at the point you can make a new character, but the race and class have to be different, also at any time you die you can forgo resurrection and make a new character.

I really like the way my DM has it set up, and he throws in massively insane puzzles for us to solve, and most generally I'm the only one who can solve them, unless it's an obvious answer.

[Araciel]

i thought the rule was 20, 20, hit...but k

just depends on how you like to play, is all. the critical hit system is sufficient for me as it is without the optional death rule.

[NeoCracker]

This one time my friend, literally, rolled nothing but 1's or 20's for a 2 hour sitting.

The 1's were the majority of the important rolls.

[Grendal]

I'm trying to get into OD&D. ("Original D&D" -- the game before 1st edition) I've played 3rd edition, but never liked having too many class options. 3.5 made it even worse.

I usually favor bards, or sometimes a simple fighter. Usually half-elf.

[Dragon Mage]

Yeah, the probability of rolling 3 20's in a row is next to my room ever being cleaned. It. Just. Won't. Happen.


This one time my friend, literally, rolled nothing but 1's or 20's for a 2 hour sitting.

The 1's were the majority of the important rolls.

Don't you hate it when that happens!!!?!!! Some of my dice just hate me. The d8 and the d12 are just vicious. I think I should get some holy water or something. It could get dangerous if I don't do something.

[Tasura]

If I roll someone else's dice I generally accidentally curse them, somehow. I'll roll a 15 or higher, then all they can roll is under 5 until I roll badly on that die, speaking in terms of d20.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

It's always amused me that even the most respected statisticians who play D&D will always test-roll a die before they purchase it, to see if it rolls well.

[NeoCracker]

I never do that. Though perhaps I should try it.

[fire_of_avalon]

I'm involved in two campaigns right now. One is based on Tolkien's First Age histories, and the other is a homemade campaign setting.

The first one is very interesting because the DM weaves our characters into the established plot, but let's us explore other venues. In that campaign, I play a 9th level Ranger (Rohirrim) called Alastriona (al-AS-TRI-na). She has lost her village, fought her brother (at the time she was level 5, he was level 12. I have no idea how I held him off) due to his madness/possession by Sauron, and developed a relationship with Curufin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curufin). Yes we are nerds.

In the latter campaign, I play a character who is actually three separate people imbued into one. The character has physical attributes of all three people, and the minds of the three struggle for control. Each time the character wakes up from sleep or unconciousness, we roll a percentage (based on the spiritual dominance of each character) to determine which persona the character has. The character is comprised of a quarter silver dragonian swashbuckler, a drow cleric and a human monk. The drow, obviously, is an evil character, while the swashbuckler is neutral/good and the monk lawful good. Each character has a similar goal, but a different purpose and way of reaching that goal. It is very interesting. Unfortunately, I haven't much used the cleric in battle. It's disappointing because I've never played a magic user before, and still haven't gotten to experience it.

We play a homebrew of 3 and 3.5, using the rules that make the most sense.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

My major campaign right now is the Disgaea one I'm running. I must say it's patently awesome.

[Tasura]

Right now the only one im playing in is my friends Warhammer home brew campaign, it started at lvl 1, we are now lvl 16. My character has survived for 2 years, he is a Cleric, half of the Chaos realm wants me dead, the other half run in fear of my appearnce or just the mention of my name.

[Dragon Mage]

My main campaign just went down the crapper. The DM (my idiot brother) has no inspiration and.....well here this is how the 'session' went today. After killing the Shadow dragon we went back to town. That was the last session. Today, the ranger got his dragonbone bow, dragon hide armor, which he gave to the rouge, and cloak. A pseudodragon adopted me as it's 'person', which also was last session. When I (not my character) tried to get them to go back for the hoard, they refused. Are you kidding?! A dragon's hoard, with magic items and 66,000 gp to be split up amongst the 3 of us. Instead we walked out of town with 2,000gp and me with practically nothing new, save some cool looking daggers.
The real pisser is that the ranger claimed the dragon as his kill. Me, the wizard, who suggest he make an effing dragonbone bow, wasn't allowed to touch the dam thing for spell components. He got first claim to all the armor and crap, and when he got what he wanted, he wouldn't go back for the hoard. I mean, God forbid if there's something that someone else might need or find valuble. The whole session lasted about 20 min. And this is the first time we've played in about 8 monthes. I'm. Pissed. And I'm thinking about joining another group. any reasons why I shouldn't? Can I get any help?

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

If you don't mesh with the group, don't stay in the group.

Seriously, the Ranger has a Will save of what? +4? Hold Person his ass if he tries to shaft you again.

[Dragon Mage]

This group is made up of my brother and my best friend!!! I've only got 2 other friends.

And it's not like I can go out right cast hold person on him. He did a lot of damage, yeah, but it's just the way he does it....You can't accuse him of stealing the goods outright. It would seem like I'm being selfish and bitchy if I forced him to spread the wealth. What the hell can I do?

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

You AREN'T being selfish. If he's the one who's taking all the wealth and leaving you with nothing, you're getting hugely shafted.

Another thing you might consider is say "Well, all right, screw you guys I'm going back to the Dragon's Horde and taking it all for myself. I'll be back in a bit."

Plus, you aren't meeting regularly anyway. Why bother? Honestly, a game like that is not at all worth my time.

[Dragon Mage]

Yer right, I just should've claimed the entire hoard.

And school causes a lot of problems with making regular sessions. And the DM is being a lazy arse and can't get any inspiration. A few things he can wing, but the rest is history. It takes him months to plan a REAL session.

*sigh*

Do you know of any good campaigns out there that we can pick up/buy? I'm not even going to suggest it to the dm. I'll DM it myself.

[Dragon Mage]

Like, what's Ravenloft? Is it any good?

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Ravenloft is a low-magic Gothic horror setting. Basically, when you get sent to Ravenloft you're pretty much screwed for ever getting out again. I've not played it myself, but I've heard good things. You, of course, can decide for yourself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft)

[Tasura]

Playing a campaign from a book is good and all, but it can get boring both for the DM and the players, in the end you're just reading from a script and dont have to much leeway on what to do, since it gives you step by step what happens, though, if you do want one, I recommend "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" The best thing to do is just make up your own campaign, which is what I'm planning to do, since I have access to mostly all the books I could ever want or need. The one I'm making will augment the current one and the D20 Modern/Future one that my other friend is starting up, so there is a possibility to play some form of D&D all nights of the week but Sunday.

[Dragon Mage]

The big problem with making your own campaign is that it takes a REALLY long time, and when inspiration is low, you're screwed. That's the only reason I'm looking towards pre-set campaigns. We haven't played in months, though we've had plenty of opportunities, all on the account of the DM not having any ideas for what's to come. It's really killing our game. He's got some stuff planned out, but not clearly enough. After a long time of wanting to play D&D, I'm going to the last resort: pre-made campaigns.

[Tasura]

You don't have to make the entire campaign at once, just make as much as you think you'd play through in one sitting, then based on how things go then, make more of the campaign.

[Araciel]

both ways are easy and fun if done right.

ravnloft is ok i guess, it's not like playing other D&D campaigns though.

[Dragon Mage]

You don't have to make the entire campaign at once, just make as much as you think you'd play through in one sitting, then based on how things go then, make more of the campaign.

Well, erm, that's what we're doing. It'd be retarded to make an entire campaign all at once. It's being built step by step. The problem is that the DM is having a hard time coming up with the next small step.

[Araciel]

well what i have done in the past is allow players to detail their homelands a bit, and then build on them, incorporate them into my world. it usually works out beautifully.

[Dragon Mage]

Cool. Good idea. But here's the problem: my character and the DM's char are siblings,(like real life) and there's only one other character.

It's....well here, let me explain. We just defeated a Shadow Dragon in the Underdark. K? We got the stuff, saved the town from the puppeteers, and are ready to leave the town. We're going to head to Sparklegem city, a major city that we left from earlier. Now here's where the DM gets stuck. The journey to the city, for one, poses a problem. And where to go after that, that's where he REALLY gets stuck.

[Araciel]

sounds like your DM lacks or is in short supply of a crucial DM commodity: imagination....just hearing that setup, i can think of ten or so things that could happen along the way, places to go related to such things, etc.

[Dragon Mage]

It's a writer's block.

! You have ideas? !!! please, please do tell. any little bit helps.

[Araciel]

well let's see...you could run into any number of random quest-giving npcs on the road...a band of traveling cultists, good, evil, or neutral who are trying to find their messiah says that one of the party members is said person, leading to all kinds of trouble. a wizard randomly falls out of the sky (a la morrowind)...if the shadowdragon was old, you find out it had a hidden rookery with eggs or hatchlings with no parent....what do you do? uhm...what else... while camping on the road, it starts to snow, though it's not the season for it...what is happening with the weather? you have to seek out a druid to find out if they know anything, or ignore it and find out something sinister is afoot...

the possibilities are endless, that's the point of the game.

[Dragon Mage]

Snowing? In the Underdark? COOL! Awesome. You. Are Awesome. I'm in your debt.

[Araciel]

didn't know you were still IN the underdark...but that would be nuts for sure

[Dragon Mage]

More nuts than a squirrels heaven. Thank you!:love: