Dungeon & Dragons (or other RPG) Stories and Memories

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#41

Huh. Makes sense. I guess my D&D experience was like a Monopoly house rule variant. Your relative position in the adventure was a shared responsibility between yourself and the DM. I can see how having a physical representation would be useful, but I can also imagine it could slow gameplay down.

It is funny tho, now I am having flashbacks to sixth grade and going down to the hobby shop to pickup one of those lead D&D tiny figurines. I had no idea they were used as part of actually playing the game and just assumed they were to D&D as action figures were to Star Wars.

#42

If anyone is thinking of getting into paper and dice style RPGs, here’s something I REALLY recommend:
Get yourself a Chessex battlemat and some wet-erase markers.
With them you can sketch out the place your player characters are in —rooms, woods, dungeon corridor, space ship whatever---- with the wet erase markers, do your battling or role playing —and then when you get to the next encounter, simply erase it and then draw the next location. So convenient.

(fyi—this isn’t my own pic-- I got it from the googles)

#43

Meh. We just used figures for our characters, chess pieces for monsters, and whatever was at hand to describe boundaries that were likely to be important.

#44

As I discussed in my longer post above, I was fortunate to have friends who had huge collections of metal figures----knights, orcs, dragons ----everything.
And one friend in particular —the D&D DM incidentally (Gary) ---- had the not only the biggest collection, but was an artist and very talented at painting metal figures.
Those figures really enhanced the game play. Did they slow things down? I dunno. Even so I can’t imagine not using them. But yes, if a player character Magic User was doing a let’s say a Silence 15’ radius spell against an enemy Necromancer, he would have to be range to do the spell, and that range we did indeed enforce using the metal figures.

#45

I absolutely see the value of this approach don’t get me wrong. It is clear to me in seeing this that my friends and I took a much more casual (I didn’t say better mind you) approach. We clearly sacrificed some preciseness for gameplay…which also could translate to that my DM was lazy. Either way I would be interested in seeing this play out (har har) and my re-engineering mind is already trying to solve for the perceived efficiency problem. Drawing out those rooms and moving the pieces has to take time. Hmmm. Shared digital maps perhaps revealed as you progress.

Anyway, thank you for answering the question.

#46

Personally I only used maps and tokens/figurines during crucial moments and especially battles. It helped the players to relate where they were in relation to enemies and allies, and useful terrain, things they could hide behind or use to seek cover.

I also often did illustrations of monsters and major NPC’s, especially if they are larger than humans. So that they had a sense of scale. To avoid the old problem of----

Player 1) I rolled a twenty I decapitated him!

DM) I don’t care if you have a Vorpol blade, you are fighting a giant. It is 15 feet taller than you, you can’t FRAKKING decapitate him!!:mad:

#47

What if I jump really high

#48

There’s is no “right” way to play. But for me and my BFFs — all board-game geeks too---- our way worked for us.

#49

You are right…if you mean that there is the right way and they way you played. :stuck_out_tongue:

So, to that end as my boss just delayed our meeting by 10 minutes I can quickly summarize my D&D experience. It started in fifth grade, I had four or five good friends who were really into it but as described above we taught ourselves how to play based on the classic AD&D rules. Although I resisted I ultimately fell into the role of Dungeon Master and led our merry band through several adventures that lasted months. We dabbled in other role-playing games such as Toon which I remember fondly. We had more fun designing the characters then actually playing, but it was a good time none-the-less.

In high school I found myself in the nexus of all things geek. I was an AV Geek, a Band geek, a Theatre geek, a Photography geek…and through these domains I found another group who played. This was short lived but I truly enjoyed the time I spent on it. I never found a group in College or real life to play with which is why I gravitated towards the nearest substitute: Gemstone. Gemstone was one of the first online MMOs. All text, thousands of players payed monthly service. I rolled a few characters to try it out but finally settled on a Cleric whom after a great deal of thought I gave the name:

Solai.

#50

So awesome! So That is the Solai origin story! You’ve made my day.

#51

I remember years ago I joined an adventure in progress, as a somewhat lower level fighter. I was running from some nameless thugs and came on the existing party. The thugs were pretty easily dispatched by the rest of the group. In the process, I got a nasty cut on my arm, which made me close to useless.
The leader of the group was all for leaving me behind, since from his point of view I could very well be a spy working with the evil empire they were trying to overthrow. The healer (who worshiped the goddess of Justice) argued that it he would call on his goddess to heal me. If she did, I was OK. If not, they could leave me behind.
He rolled, and got a critical success, which gave me double or triple the amount of healing rolls. I made the first two or three very well, and started to heal quickly. I then had two or three complete failures right in a row, and rounded out the series with rolls that didn’t help or hurt me.

The GMs description was that in the space of a few seconds, the cut shrank down to almost invisible, and then exploded in a mess of rot, which only stopped when it destroyed my heart, and I fell over dead.
The healer turned to the leader, shrugged, and said " I guess you were right ". they packed up camp, and quickly moved on.

I spent the next few minutes rolling up a magic user so I wouldn’t have to get that close to a sword or the healer ever again.

#52

I was played it with my friends, we played for about 20 hours straight. by the end everyone fell asleep accept me and my buddies sister abby. we talked about our characters, for a while and than she kissed me. Our characters got married. and me and abby dated for about 6 months. i can still close my eyes and see her beautiful brown eyes.

#53

I was introduced to table-top RPGs in Junior High by one of my classmates. He was working on a modified version of the Gamma World setting as part of a project that he was doing, and I was asked to participate. I remember playing as a large humanoid tiger, and having my arm ripped off during a particularly nasty fight. It was awesome!

Later, I would pester one of the other kids to let me read his Battletech Technical Readouts, though by this time the act of actually playing one of these games was out of the question, what with all of the furor over D&D being satanic and whatnot. Instead, I spent my freetime drawing mechs and flying cars and dragons.

Later still, I found myself working for a Comics and Games store, and finally played my first honest-to-Gygax game of AD&D. The rules were confusing, and I didn’t really like how the math went everywhich way, but I eventually caught on - just in time for the big 3rd Edition shake-up. I survived, of course, and used the new stream-lined rules set to run my own games, and to participate in the Living campaign.

A lot has changed over the years, but the imaginative storytelling, humorous tales of adventure, and the lasting friendships make up the best parts of my memories of D&D.

#54

Bumping this thread to make it easier to find. And cuz of the awesome person who PMed just now me asking me if there was such a thread. :smiley:

#55

I thought I would copy and paste my post about D&D being villanized after that young boys suicide, it seems to fit in here. So here it is…

Sorry I am so far behind, but NaNoWrimo put me way behind. As to Mazes and Monsters…

This made for TV movie did what most do, they rode the shirttails of a recent news event and quickly threw together a movie to make use of the hype around the event. A kid had committed suicide because his high level D&D character that he had been building up for years had been killed off in a game. Schools were banning the game from campuses, and Churches were joining in on the ban because they believed it drove children into witchcraft (I am serious, you cant make this shit up…).

And yet if you pay attention to the movie, it has far more in common with LARPing than it does with tabletop gaming. I remember this hysteria well because I lived through it. I was a young and up and coming DM when this backlash hit, gaming stores were picketed, and parents were forbidding their children from playing the game.

When some of the teens at my local church learned I was a DM they wanted to play a game and roll up some characters, of the 12 kids interested only 2 were allowed to play. One day we were playing at their house and the Father asked me over dinner about, “What do you think about parents who think that this game can lead to delving into witchcraft?” I smiled and told him, “I think they are ignorant.” He was shocked that I was so blunt, and I used the pause to explain, “I mean ignorant because they are condemning a game without even looking into it or how it is played. You have seen some of the game-play, do you see your kids waving their hands in the air and uttering incantations?” He shook his head, I perked up, “Well there you go.” He grimaced a bit and then asked, “But what about that kid who committed suicide?” I shrugged, “He was obviously disturbed, and his life was out of balance. If he had not committed suicide about that, it would have been about something else. People who become that obsessed about something will glom onto anything and ride it all the way down, destroying themselves and hurting their friends along the way.”

He seemed pleased with my answer and never gave me any grief after that, and never hovered around us anymore either. We had much freer and more fun games once the parents let us be. And no one ever committed suicide or delved into the black arts…

#56

it seemd appreopriate to post this here
but fundamentally, what the frak
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/26/dungeons-dragons-threatens-prison-security-court-rules/
Alan

#57

Holy Crap, WTF is right!

According to the published ruling, Captain Bruce Muraski, who serves as disruptive group coordinator for the Waupun Correctional Institute in Wisconsin, elaborated that “during D&D games, one player is denoted the ‘Dungeon Master.’ The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang.”

What an idiot! He’s making judgements about D&D and he doesn’t even get how it works? Saying the Dungeon Master gives direction like a gang leader is like saying the director of a movie gives direction to a movie audience
(well, not a perfect analogy but still…WTF!!)

#58

The frak, indeed.

The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang.

Um, no. That’s not how it works.

#59

Roleplaying games are my chief hobby; I figure everyone needs at least one. Some people collect hot sauce bottles or rebuild engines, I play RPG’s.

I love GM’ing, but don’t get the chance that often and am very rusty at it - mostly I get to play with others. I’m fortunate enough to have two (2) great groups that each meet bi-monthly so I get my weekly gaming fix. Finally, I began listening to a great RPG themed podcast named “Fear the Boot” and this has lead me to an increased involvement in the RPG community, including (but not limited to) my own humble podcasting efforts.

My actual gaming experience is petty slim compared to many others, in part because I’ve been in a couple of long running campaigns - which means I haven’t played as many different systems as some others. When I can get to a gaming convention, though, I get to try a lot of new stuff (at least for one-shots) and that’s always fun.

Because of our strict religious upbringing, my brother and I didn’t play any game system with magic, while growing up. So it was all super spies, super hero’s, and sci-fi. Champions, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Traveler, Marvel Super Hero’s (FASERIP) were the big ones. As an adult I’ve gotten a lot of D&D 3.5 experience as well as a bit of 4.0 and GURPS and a little QAGS, Dogs in the Vineyard, LOOM, The Window, The Puddle, Shock: Social Science Fiction, Dust Devils … though my two regular groups are D&D 3.5 & GURPS.

For what it’s worth, the hobby is going through a very weird transition right now. All of the publishers are reporting a shrinking market, with many players being lost to MMORPG’s. It’s becoming harder and harder to make any money in the RPG publishing business. But, at the same time, there’s a sort of renaissance going on with new indie games, PDF only version or print-on-demand and a sort of explosion in experimentation in what it means to be an RPG and what sorts of rules are even possible. I’m honestly not sure we’ve ever had as much variety so easily available to more people than at any point in history … and yet market is shrinking. So, I don’t know what to say about that, except that these are very interesting times to be alive if you happen to share or have an interest in this particular hobby.

#60

Here’s a neat account of a D&D Birthday Party that was held for eight year olds. They were very clever at stripping the game down to the basics and managing the game.