# The Dimensions Dungeons and Dragons (DD&D) Thread!



## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 3, 2011)

Per a comment from *Diana_Prince245*, I thought I'd create a thread since many of us have been discussing the classic role-playing game recently.

I've been a D&Der since 1982 with my redbox and soon after Advanced D&D 1st edition. I played continually through high school, took a break in college and grad school, but got back in a bit on 3E and finally, after finding out 2 years ago that my neighbor has been a DM for 10 years, got into a 4E campaign up the street with him and a bunch of his buddies. I went to my first GenCon in 2009. So far I'm liking the new ruleset but we're a seasoned group of players so there's often a lot of tweaking going on.


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 3, 2011)

Haven't done a campaign session since February. It's driving me crazy--the players pester me to run something then don't turn up!!


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 3, 2011)

Sasquatch! said:


> Haven't done a campaign session since February. It's driving me crazy--the players pester me to run something then don't turn up!!



Our group is made up of all guys, 35-42, all married with infants or small children. We all have normal jobs and all live within 30 miles of the DM. You'd be AMAZED how difficult it is to schedule one 6-7 hour session a month. I've never seen anything like it. 

I would take a life/lemonade stance and list some minimum expectations, that being if you cannot make the scheduled games you already agreed to, either leave your character for someone else to run or take the risk of being booted out. Of the three campaigns in the past two years, we've had 2-3 alternates who sub in for a couple sessions or some who opt out of one campaign but go for another.

It also depends on where you game. Most gaming/comic book centers have stricter rules as to the variability of players in their sessions. Plus, if you're in something like Wizard's Encounters Program, if you miss sessions you forfeit certain player achievements.


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 3, 2011)

Our group is made of 24-30 year olds. There's 6 players but recently only 2 -3 people have been turning up at a time. It's not fair to run a game I designed for 6 people on such a small group, nor is it fair on them to tone things down as it make things entirely less epic.

I've tried refusing to run, but I keep getting badgered and stood up again and again (by rotating people). It's in my own house, I clean the place especially and my flatmates go out for the night when they know we're supposed to be playing. It's frustrating no end.

Campaign-wise I've decided to give the setting a bit more of an african feel... half the deities have african names, and the environment varies from quite arid/sandy to tropical.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 3, 2011)

Sasquatch! said:


> Our group is made of 24-30 year olds. There's 6 players but recently only 2 -3 people have been turning up at a time. It's not fair to run a game I designed for 6 people on such a small group, nor is it fair on them to tone things down as it make things entirely less epic.
> 
> I've tried refusing to run, but I keep getting badgered and stood up again and again (by rotating people). It's in my own house, I clean the place especially and my flatmates go out for the night when they know we're supposed to be playing. It's frustrating no end.
> 
> Campaign-wise I've decided to give the setting a bit more of an african feel... half the deities have african names, and the environment varies from quite arid/sandy to tropical.



We found running with less than 5 players in a 4E standard game is VERY difficult; you have to uplevel people or downgrade monsters and it unbalances gameplay in our opinion. And as you said, for a campaign that you put a lot of work into, it's unfair to you to have to micromanage it at the last minute.

I'd say you should solicit for more reliable, responsible players. I am sure they are out there, and I think there's a board on WOTC's page specifically for player hookups. One thing we also found fun was DM 'rotation'; once a year we take 2-3 months worth of gaming and rotate to those who want to play off-hand adventures. We recently did Orcs of Stonefang Pass and it was fun and enjoyable, especially with one of our other players being a slightly more ruthless DM.

I would have suggested doing something with the Mulhorandi pantheon of Forgotten Realms (which was based on Ancient Egypt), but they retconned them out of the Realms in 4E. It's not quite continental/congo African but pretty close. Good luck with it.


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 3, 2011)

Yeah, WOC recommend 4 don't they? I would say that would be the most manageable size for a GM to handle.
I think the main issue with lack of attendance (and uncharacteristic rudeness) is that this is these people's first RPGing experience. They've never been exposed to the unspoken rules of behaviour when it comes to gaming. I don't think they realise how much work goes into GMing either (and I make it look so effortless! hahahaha)
Pantheon-wise I've stayed clear of Mulhorandi/Egyptian and headed a bit further south for names like "Olokun" and "Ngebe" and made them desert and sea gods respectively.

Of course, because the players are using the DMG quite a bit, the usual gods like Bahamut and Erathis are still there.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 3, 2011)

Sasquatch! said:


> Yeah, WOC recommend 4 don't they? I would say that would be the most manageable size for a GM to handle.
> I think the main issue with lack of attendance (and uncharacteristic rudeness) is that this is these people's first RPGing experience. They've never been exposed to the unspoken rules of behaviour when it comes to gaming. I don't think they realise how much work goes into GMing either (and I make it look so effortless! hahahaha)
> Pantheon-wise I've stayed clear of Mulhorandi/Egyptian and headed a bit further south for names like "Olokun" and "Ngebe" and made them desert and sea gods respectively.
> 
> Of course, because the players are using the DMG quite a bit, the usual gods like Bahamut and Erathis are still there.



Yes, in 4E they classify four character types (leader, striker, defender, controller) representing the various classes your players would choose, also to give the largest variety of gameplay/roleplay possible. For example any small group going in without a healer of some kind (either as a warlord who gives second winds or a cleric healing with spells) is going to have a tough go. We've learned this firsthand several times. This arrangement creates the balance that makes 4E work.

Usually every DM I've worked with has either a gameplay basic rules list or a manifesto for how games will be conducted. In our group, I am the only non-conservative/libertarian/ liberal, so one decree is that any political topics among the players are _verboten_. It gets people riled up and wastes gaming time. He had several previous campaigns where this was a testy situation; one of their former players is a very gruff and proud asshole, and gave no end of grief to our Mormon player. He has since left the gaming group. I would say if your players can't agree to a few simple rules it's time to find other players.

Two years ago a colleague of mine and her hubby invited me to teach them 4E and I ran a game with them, their daughter (a cheerleader) and two of their daughter's high school buddies. If they can learn and get along, anyone can. Alas, once the older daughter got her driver's license the party had an unfortunate encounter with The Beast of Monte Carlo and was forever lost. 

Again, I still recommend you check the web boards. Most comic book stores are fine with people putting up flyers asking for new players, and more often than not you will find people who can behave and know the game.

I forgot to mention earlier whether you checked into the D&D Dark Sun campaign setting. Not so much African but very desert-based (almost a Conan meets Lawrence of Arabia feel), with some interesting tweaks on the original 4E ruleset that many people love (it was a very popular 2E setting and the 4th edition version was well-received).


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## Tad (Jun 3, 2011)

I played a lot of AD&D (starting before the DM guide came out, which was interesting....) in grades six through about 8 or so. Then we moved on to other role playing game rule sets that we liked better. 

I've not been part of an in-person role playing group in about 20 years, but I play some HeroQuest through email/yahoo groups, and I've been running my son through a game using the HeroQuest rules too (wonderful, "story-first" set of rules that you can use to run pretty much anything, but they won't suit those who like lots of crunchy bits in the rules to work around and optimize against).


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jun 3, 2011)

One of the groups I play with just started a Dark Sun campaign. We only have three people we can count on to show up (mind you, one of the regular nonshowers lives with the DM), and the DM really doesn't want me to post a three chicks seek two men for adventure notice at the game store or on Meet Up.

I've been stuck playing two players for the last two weeks and forget who has what power. I tried to have a my warlock cast one of the psion's things.


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## Dism4l (Jun 3, 2011)

I just started 4e around two years ago, and since then I've tried to DM but with underwhelming success. My games are crazy ambitious and take forever to make, so my players have been getting frustrated lol.:doh:


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 3, 2011)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Usually every DM I've worked with has either a gameplay basic rules list or a manifesto for how games will be conducted. In our group, I am the only non-conservative/libertarian/ liberal, so one decree is that any political topics among the players are _verboten_. It gets people riled up and wastes gaming time. He had several previous campaigns where this was a testy situation; one of their former players is a very gruff and proud asshole, and gave no end of grief to our Mormon player. He has since left the gaming group. I would say if your players can't agree to a few simple rules it's time to find other players.
> 
> Again, I still recommend you check the web boards. Most comic book stores are fine with people putting up flyers asking for new players, and more often than not you will find people who can behave and know the game.



Yeah, I'm probably going to have to recruit new people. There seems to be a MASSIVE negative feeling towards 4E, which strikes me as ridiculous.



Diana_Prince245 said:


> One of the groups I play with just started a Dark Sun campaign. We only have three people we can count on to show up (mind you, one of the regular nonshowers lives with the DM), and the DM really doesn't want me to post a three chicks seek two men for adventure notice at the game store or on Meet Up.
> 
> I've been stuck playing two players for the last two weeks and forget who has what power. I tried to have a my warlock cast one of the psion's things.



I really like the look of Darksun, except for the low-tech/magic element. That's what spurred the campaign creation.

I prefer gaming with at least one female, it (usually) changes dynamics a bit and player solutions tend to get a bit more creative.



Dism4l said:


> I just started 4e around two years ago, and since then I've tried to DM but with underwhelming success. My games are crazy ambitious and take forever to make, so my players have been getting frustrated lol.:doh:



I try to treat my campaign like a running TV show, every session has a plot and purpose... a lot easier to keep track of that way, and allows for a lot more fluidity.


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## rockhound225 (Jun 3, 2011)

On and off again 3.5 games are what I tend to find myself flocking towards. Something about the character generation and customization is what really drew me in, though I willingly admit that I have not yet sat down to play 4e. Chances are that I'm missing out on something.

As for age ranges, one campaign is 23-30 while another sets me as the definite baby of the group, being 26 compared to the late-30's to early 40's of the other party members.


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## penguin (Jun 3, 2011)

*has a small nerdgasm at the awesome you lot are exhibiting*

I haven't played in forever, but lately I've been getting the urge. I should look into seeing if any of my friends still do around here. I am pretty happy watching a game, too. I don't mind sitting on the sidelines listening to everything as it happens  So, carry on and let me sit over here and fap, I mean, listen.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jun 3, 2011)

There's a game Saturday night one of besties and I watch while we wait for the late show to start. Her hubby plays, and I've learned oodles from watching the guys and gal play. Plus if I have any questions (I haven't been playing that long), the guys don't make fun of me and explain it really well.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 3, 2011)

We have a modest group, the regulars number ~6 (not counting the DM), with an additional 2-3 that make it when work allows. Ages range from 18-27 (I'm 25, second oldest). One of the regulars is also there more to observe and chill than play; she also tends to be our token healer. We have a 4-5 hour game session once a week. Currently we're doing a survival horror campaign of the DM's making, using 3.5E. He's breaking our characters so he can throw brokenly large hordes of zombies and powerful undead at us and not guarantee a TPK.

We currently have a Dwarf Barbarian; a Human Cleric; a Human Fighter/afflicted Werebear; a Human Ranger; a Human Bard; a Human Druid; a Human/Demon-cursed Monk (LG); a Pseudodragon Dragon Apprentice (Copper) (those last two are mine); a Half-Minotaur Monk; and a Human Noble Rogue (CN) with lots of low-level followers including Dwarf Fighters, Clerics, and Blink Dogs. Through sheer luck we have managed to survive a lot longer than we should have (we've had several near deaths).

I first got introduced to D&D through the Neverwinter Nights game series (I own both originals and all the expansions). My first introduction to P&P was with 4E, with a mostly different group that included two of our current regulars as well as me. My two favorite 3.5E classes are Favored Soul and Monk, in that order, though I need to try out the Warmage sometime, as it looks like something I'd dig.


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## luvbigfellas (Jun 3, 2011)

I really only played in college. We had a group with people in between the ages of 18 and 50. (Sounds weird, but my college campus is fairly open to the public.) Most were students, a couple were either alums or just people who knew a lot of people on campus.

We played 3.0 and 3.5. I knew of the previous editions, but I hadn't played any campaigns before 3rd.

I typically play a sorceress or a druid. And as weird as this sounds, I really am typically Neutral. I'm very good at playing it, because I very much am Neutral in real life too.


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## BBW Betty (Jun 3, 2011)

Frank and I used to be part of a small group that would get together. We played the 3E and 3.5E. Our group has since broken up, and getting the 4E manuals just looked too expensive.

Towards last, there were just 3 of us playing. We took turns DMing, and ran Gestalt characters - each character leveling up in two classes at the same time, always going with the better stats. (I think that was from Unearthed Arcana.) I had a lot of fun creating my challenges, but learned to be very careful; a few crit dice rolls almost finished off the others! 

We are in a small town, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in D & D. My favorite characters to play were bards, but I had a Dwarven Ranger and a Half-Orc Sorceress that kicked butt!


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 6, 2011)

My DM's work schedule is temporarily changing to overnights most of the week. As such, he's gonna run a ~LVL 10 serialized campaign for us. He's looking at making it pirate themed.

I'm looking at playing a Water Mephit (not normally a PC race, I know) or a half-fiend human. Should be fun.


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 6, 2011)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> My DM's work schedule is temporarily changing to overnights most of the week. As such, he's gonna run a ~LVL 10 serialized campaign for us. He's looking at making it pirate themed.



Funny you should mention pirates, a friend of mine is starting a skype game tomorrow in 3.5 ed.--it'll be my first campaign as a player!

I've rolled up a Dexterity based Fighter (Rapier, weapon finesse, combat reflexes) so I can swash many a buckle!

One of the other players thinks I should just have chosen a rogue... but who cares? I need the feats.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 7, 2011)

Sasquatch! said:


> Yeah, I'm probably going to have to recruit new people. There seems to be a MASSIVE negative feeling towards 4E, which strikes me as ridiculous.



Every iteration of DND has it's haters. 4E was much more maligned I think for two reasons: 1) Quick on the heels of the 3.5, which was another chance for Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) to squeeze more money out of fans, and 2) Too much balance, similarity to MMORPG gameplay. There are dozens of different other reasons to hate, but I found it to be quite enjoyable. I do however dislike the Essentials version they started pushing now, which was their simultaneous homage to the red box edition of yore and also a toned-down ruleset designed to snare younger and inexperienced players to the game. There seems to be this mindset that to make it more enjoyable in the mainstream you have to dumb-down the rulesets to make it more WoW-player friendly.



> I really like the look of Darksun, except for the low-tech/magic element. That's what spurred the campaign creation.



I was never a Dark Sun person (Forgotten Realms FTW), but I read through the setting and were I to have two campaigns running at the same time--or had I been in the Encounters program--I would have tried it. It presented some interesting nuances to the traditional DND world.



> I prefer gaming with at least one female, it (usually) changes dynamics a bit and player solutions tend to get a bit more creative.



My group is strictly boys-only. I never understood that because to me a woman would add a very interesting and different mindset, not to mention geek girls are like those rare jewels you get to bask in only every so often. It would also in many cases, given the group I play with, change the level of acceptability in the banter, but that would vary from group to group. With all of us having spouses and kids, the game is a guy's "poker night" away from all that, so very little in that regard is allowed to interrupt us, except if the game master's daughter is coming in to give her dad a goodnight kiss.



> I try to treat my campaign like a running TV show, every session has a plot and purpose... a lot easier to keep track of that way, and allows for a lot more fluidity.



My DM maintains a web forum for us to post updates, session summaries and the like. We have bonus feat/get-out-of-death free cards and the like we are awarded if we do outside-game things like write up session summaries, generate new NPCs, write detailed bios of our characters and so forth. It's makes it easier for the DM to then develop plot hooks for the upcoming sessions. I currently play a half-orc monk who had a falling out with a fellow monk at their temple many years back; she was scarred from the nose down during an attack in her youth but has this amazing singing voice that had a magical quality. She's apparently going to be our primary antagonist (some sort of weird monk/assassin/bard combo I reckon) in the next session, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.



rockhound225 said:


> On and off again 3.5 games are what I tend to find myself flocking towards. Something about the character generation and customization is what really drew me in, though I willingly admit that I have not yet sat down to play 4e. Chances are that I'm missing out on something.



I will admit the variety of character possibilities in 3.5e is still one of it's more endearing qualities, as long as it doesn't unbalance the game group. We still have sessions where we do a throwback to 1E rules, just for variety's sake.



> As for age ranges, one campaign is 23-30 while another sets me as the definite baby of the group, being 26 compared to the late-30's to early 40's of the other party members.



I know given my DM's experience, he prefers older players simply--sad as it sounds--for maturity and reliability. Last-minute changes to game sessions are a huge pet peeve for him, and it got irritating when one of the younger players simply forgot about it and it affected the entire night's play.



Forgotten_Futures said:


> We have a modest group, the regulars number ~6 (not counting the DM), with an additional 2-3 that make it when work allows. Ages range from 18-27 (I'm 25, second oldest). One of the regulars is also there more to observe and chill than play; she also tends to be our token healer. We have a 4-5 hour game session once a week. Currently we're doing a survival horror campaign of the DM's making, using 3.5E. He's breaking our characters so he can throw brokenly large hordes of zombies and powerful undead at us and not guarantee a TPK.



My DM is doing a 4E-upgraded version of the original Tomb of Horrors, not to be confused with the complete reimagining of the module that WoTC put out last year. He sees it as a puzzle/trap adventure more than a loot and kill one. One of our players is big into Lovecraftian horror, so the next one will be a Call of Cthulhu/gothy based adventure. 



> We currently have a Dwarf Barbarian; a Human Cleric; a Human Fighter/afflicted Werebear; a Human Ranger; a Human Bard; a Human Druid; a Human/Demon-cursed Monk (LG); a Pseudodragon Dragon Apprentice (Copper) (those last two are mine); a Half-Minotaur Monk; and a Human Noble Rogue (CN) with lots of low-level followers including Dwarf Fighters, Clerics, and Blink Dogs. Through sheer luck we have managed to survive a lot longer than we should have (we've had several near deaths).



That's a very interesting combination of races/classes you have there. My best characters (both in straight DND and a miniatures adventure game I play every week) have always been dwarves. Having a dwarf with the right qualities can be a great benefit to the party. The last campaign I played a dwarf paladin vs. a fighter/cleric build, and it was an amazingly tough character, able to dish out AND heal with equal toughness.



> I first got introduced to D&D through the Neverwinter Nights game series (I own both originals and all the expansions). My first introduction to P&P was with 4E, with a mostly different group that included two of our current regulars as well as me. My two favorite 3.5E classes are Favored Soul and Monk, in that order, though I need to try out the Warmage sometime, as it looks like something I'd dig.



I will be curious to see how the Neverwinter CRPG does this year. It's supposed to be a combination of Baldur's Gate II and the PC Neverwinter games, so I hope it lives up to the hype. 



BBW Betty said:


> Frank and I used to be part of a small group that would get together. We played the 3E and 3.5E. Our group has since broken up, and getting the 4E manuals just looked too expensive.



I think the core books came to around $70 US when they were first released. I have no doubt you could find them used on Amazon for half that price now. The BIG problem with the 4E release is they started out with a small, core set of class builds in the 1st Player's Handbook, but you have to buy PHB 2 and 3 to get additional class builds, races and feats, which to me was a bit disingenuous. We had to wait nearly 2 years for the monk build to be officially released and while it was kick ass, many players were floundering because that was their favorite 2E/3E class, and 3E conversions were not that successful.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 8, 2011)

Sasquatch! said:


> Funny you should mention pirates, a friend of mine is starting a skype game tomorrow in 3.5 ed.--it'll be my first campaign as a player!
> 
> I've rolled up a Dexterity based Fighter (Rapier, weapon finesse, combat reflexes) so I can swash many a buckle!
> 
> One of the other players thinks I should just have chosen a rogue... but who cares? I need the feats.



Why not just take the Swashbuckler? I think my favorite broken build is Dex fighter/Swashbuckler/Duelist. High dex and int, and if it (the enemy) is not immune to crits you will destroy it, while evading attacks like a Monk = P

Damn, I wish I had more free time these days, I would love to join up with you, but sleep needs would make me miss half the sessions...


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 8, 2011)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> That's a very interesting combination of races/classes you have there. My best characters (both in straight DND and a miniatures adventure game I play every week) have always been dwarves. Having a dwarf with the right qualities can be a great benefit to the party. The last campaign I played a dwarf paladin vs. a fighter/cleric build, and it was an amazingly tough character, able to dish out AND heal with equal toughness.



I have an intense dislike of standard races, and also play female characters enough that my group would be honestly surprised if I played a male (in case some of you haven't noticed, I write female lead characters almost exclusively as well). I really can't explain this fixation, but given the dislike of standard races, it's probably mostly boredom. I'm male, why play one?

The upcoming side game we'll be playing while the DM is on overnights, I'm pre-building three characters, in order to be ready to play what the rest of the party will allow for. I've got an NE female Sea Elf Half-Fiend Duskblade, which I'm going to push to level 10 in both Duskblade and Dragon Disciple forms, depending on whether I want to spec as a tank with light magic ability or continue the hybrid approach. I'm also going to build up a CN female Tiefling Swashbuckler/Duelist, and a CN "female" Air Mephit Ranger.



> I will be curious to see how the Neverwinter CRPG does this year. It's supposed to be a combination of Baldur's Gate II and the PC Neverwinter games, so I hope it lives up to the hype.



Hadn't even heard of it. Bioware?



> I think the core books came to around $70 US when they were first released. I have no doubt you could find them used on Amazon for half that price now. The BIG problem with the 4E release is they started out with a small, core set of class builds in the 1st Player's Handbook, but you have to buy PHB 2 and 3 to get additional class builds, races and feats, which to me was a bit disingenuous. We had to wait nearly 2 years for the monk build to be officially released and while it was kick ass, many players were floundering because that was their favorite 2E/3E class, and 3E conversions were not that successful.



Well shit, I've got 500MB of 3.5E books in pdf format, so supplemental rulebooks is hardly a new thing = P


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 8, 2011)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> I have an intense dislike of standard races, and also play female characters enough that my group would be honestly surprised if I played a male (in case some of you haven't noticed, I write female lead characters almost exclusively as well). I really can't explain this fixation, but given the dislike of standard races, it's probably mostly boredom. I'm male, why play one?



Well, to me the standard race builds provide enough minor variation to overcome the standard human race characters in the game. Remember that humans typically get an extra feat at 1st level to compensate for the baseline racial effects. Whether you play a male or female matters little to me - as you said, it's ROLE-playing - and what better way to go outside your normal box than playing another gender?



> The upcoming side game we'll be playing while the DM is on overnights, I'm pre-building three characters, in order to be ready to play what the rest of the party will allow for. I've got an NE female Sea Elf Half-Fiend Duskblade, which I'm going to push to level 10 in both Duskblade and Dragon Disciple forms, depending on whether I want to spec as a tank with light magic ability or continue the hybrid approach. I'm also going to build up a CN female Tiefling Swashbuckler/Duelist, and a CN "female" Air Mephit Ranger.



Ok, my question here is how do you adjust character levels with the sea elf/half-fiend? Seems like a crazy combination of racial qualities, and from a DMing perspective (not knowing the stats) I would wonder if such a build would unbalance gameplay. It's not as odd as say, a party of six characters where one is a vampire sorcerer, but I would be curious to know how effective character levels work in that instance.



> Hadn't even heard of it. Bioware?


Not Bioware: Cryptic Studios and Atari. It's a new MMORPG which is supposed to be more multiplayer-oriented but with a single-player feel like the original NW I and II games.



> Well shit, I've got 500MB of 3.5E books in pdf format, so supplemental rulebooks is hardly a new thing = P



True, but there's nothing like having a good, hardcover tome under your fingertips . Not to mention that whole copyright thing.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 8, 2011)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Ok, my question here is how do you adjust character levels with the sea elf/half-fiend? Seems like a crazy combination of racial qualities, and from a DMing perspective (not knowing the stats) I would wonder if such a build would unbalance gameplay. It's not as odd as say, a party of six characters where one is a vampire sorcerer, but I would be curious to know how effective character levels work in that instance.



Sea Elf is a variant on the basic Elf, and has no LA, but is slightly different from the base Elf, and has an issue regarding water and breathing = P It's in the MM1, near page 100, I think. Half-fiend is also in MM1, and has a +4 LA. That template comes with a number of nifties that make the character stronger and more resilient, but at the cost of 4 class levels. As such, I'm actually behind other level 10 characters because they have more class levels than I do, which pretty much means I have a lower BAB, lower HP, fewer feats, skill points, spells known and spells per day, and haven't hit my second attribute boost. It's an interesting give and take situation. Since I created her as a Duskblade (PHB2), in the long and short of things I have a to hit on par with a cleric, damage above that of a normal level 10 fighter, moderately high AC, some DR (5/magic) and some SR, and a small selection of spells particularly suited to being cast in a combat environment.



> Not Bioware: Cryptic Studios and Atari. It's a new MMORPG which is supposed to be more multiplayer-oriented but with a single-player feel like the original NW I and II games.



Oh joy, another MMO I may have to try and devote free time I don't have to.



> True, but there's nothing like having a good, hardcover tome under your fingertips . Not to mention that whole copyright thing.



Ahh yes, that whole copyright thing... Incidentally, I have the PHB, MM, and DMG for 4E. No clue where they are, though.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jun 8, 2011)

I bought a handy warlock kit for my game tonight. I'm totally using the daily that turns me invisible just so I can use the invisible figurine.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 9, 2011)

I just rolled these 3 stat lines:

13 13 13 12 16 17
18 12 10 12 16 13
16 10 15 10 15 12

All 3 are awesome for entirely different reasons. I can't decide if I want the 18 and 16 in my two primary stats, and make Charisma a dump, or take the 17 and 16 with above average stats for all the other attributes.

Oh, this is for a Tiefling, Swashbuckler/Duelist, so primaries are Dex and Int. I'm also not sure if I want to put the higher value in Dex or Int. Probably Int.

Conclusion: Yeah, Int. I can level up into it, and the +5 damage bonus will be nicer than a +4 = P


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 9, 2011)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> I just rolled these 3 stat lines:
> 
> 13 13 13 12 16 17
> 18 12 10 12 16 13
> ...



The trick in 4E is choosing the class kit variant and powers that best fit your primary stat. Paladins are a favored class of mine, and you can choose powers that base off STR, CHA or CON, all of which have their goods and bad aspects, and this varies from level to level. I make up for the CON stat by being a dwarf, but trust me, choosing the wrong kit with the wrong prime stat sucks, because you find out you have a really nifty power, which gets you a whopping +0 when using it because you didn't think your average DEX mattered. 

I recently played a dragonborn sorcerer with a high DEX, and ironically I ended up being the _de facto_ rogue of the party (or rather, "the rogue who could find traps, throw fireballs and breathe acid", muhahahaa) because I managed to score well on all my thievery checks. That being said, someone could throw a ball of feathers at me and I'd drop because I had the CON of an infant.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 9, 2011)

Mm.

I've played NWN long enough that any AC below 20 feels like crap to me, and 30 is an AC to aim for.

That said, my Swash/Duel build is 17 AC, all of it useless if she's caught flat footed or otherwise denied her Dex bonus to AC. The Duskblade has a 19 AC, 4 of it coming from armor. The S/D has a slightly higher to-hit and higher melee damage potential, and the ability to move about the battlefield almost with impunity. The Dusky, on the other hand, has a higher damage potential (with use of spells), but can't go forever, and her only mobility-friendly ability is that of (average) flight = P


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## Lamia (Jun 9, 2011)

What's everyone favorite type to play? Everyone who games with me knows I am going to be a fighter/barbarian...probably half-orc with a great sword...or glaive. 

I can't help myself that's what I like to play. I have no desire to heal or cast. I want to "maim, multilate and slaughter" to quote a gaming friend.


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## penguin (Jun 9, 2011)

Apart from the Kender halfling I played as a dare, I've only ever played female human fighters. I should probably branch out more. One fighter accidentally became a high priestess, which changed things around for her quite a bit, but I played her and her cousin for quite a while.


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## Sasquatch! (Jun 9, 2011)

Lamia said:


> What's everyone favorite type to play? Everyone who games with me knows I am going to be a fighter/barbarian...probably half-orc with a great sword...or glaive.
> 
> I can't help myself that's what I like to play. I have no desire to heal or cast. I want to "maim, multilate and slaughter" to quote a gaming friend.



In RPG I've tended to stay away from arcane-based characters like the typical wizard. I've usually gone for the Badass Mofo, the Witty Smartass or the Wise Strategist/Healer.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 10, 2011)

I generally avoid anything that's very skill intensive or has to prepare its spells. I particularly like Favored Soul, Monk, and Sorcerer.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jun 13, 2011)

I like to hang back during fights, so I tend to play warlocks and rangers. I played a beast master ranger for a while when I first started playing, but I didn't really know what I was doing yet.

Next time I build a character, I'm going to play a fighter, maybe a dragonborn, just for something different.


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## luvbigfellas (Jun 13, 2011)

I will NOT prepare spells. I'm generally a smartass in game. And I will use fire to illustrate my point.


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## EMH1701 (Jun 13, 2011)

I'm a D&Der as well. 

I am also the only girl in my group. Sadly, the guys I play with are either married, engaged to be married, or too young for me.

My goal is to get a mage to level 5 so I can start throwing around fireballs. I have a 4th level mage in one campaign and a 5th level invoker in another.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jun 14, 2011)

Lamia said:


> What's everyone favorite type to play? Everyone who games with me knows I am going to be a fighter/barbarian...probably half-orc with a great sword...or glaive.



I tend to play dwarves, either paladins or fighter/clerics. You get the bonuses to axes and hammers, plus shorter healing times and overall better stacks for striker/defender balance. Multi-classing tends to blow in 4E, so dwarven clerics are still a good class for the game.

I also tend to play halfling or half-orc rogues, both of which have their own signature appeal. Monks are fun to play in 4E but you have to be very careful in the early stages, because their ability to draw fire can get them embedded in a pile of attacks they can't easily escape from.



> I can't help myself that's what I like to play. I have no desire to heal or cast. I want to "maim, multilate and slaughter" to quote a gaming friend.



The one advantage of a dwarven paladin is that you get an amazingly tough fighter with the buff benefits of a cleric. Add in magic items that augment/multiplex healing (there is one item in 4E, a Healer's Sash, that other characters can donate healing surges to, allowing the dwarf to heal more often) and I ended up with an amazingly versatile character. Most of our adventures involved some sort of undead, and having a fighter whose powers were 90% radiant damage helped out considerably.



Forgotten_Futures said:


> I generally avoid anything that's very skill intensive or has to prepare its spells. I particularly like Favored Soul, Monk, and Sorcerer.



I've tried I found a dragonborn sorcerer in 4E to be an amazing character to run. If you take variant breath weapon feats, you can end up with a magic thrower who can have each type of elemental power (fire, cold, lightning, acid) in a given skirmish. Take another feat to augment the breath weapon's range (it's to-hit bonus tends to suck but when it works, it works, especially if you can get 5-7 minions in the blast) and another feat that allows allies to gain bonuses to hit if they're caught in the radius of the breath attack (instead of taking damage) and it became a very powerful character.

My only complaint about that particular build is that per the rules, sorcerer classes involve a race with some taint of draconic ancestry. I would think if you're actually a dragonborn playing that class, you'd get a bonus feat simply because you have more of that bloodline in you. Maybe it's a balance thing (because we know balance is EVERYTHING in 4E).


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jun 14, 2011)

I got my twizzlers, soda, and extra dice. I expect my beloved tiefling to blow some people up tonight (including, maybe, her own people depending on how I roll).


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## luvbigfellas (Jun 15, 2011)

I've got the song "In the Garage" by Weezer stuck in my head.


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## 1love_emily (Oct 19, 2011)

So I've recently become obsessed with the TV show community. In season 2, they do a D&D themed episode. And it got me kind of interested in playing this game. 

Where can I start? What should I do?


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## Dromond (Oct 20, 2011)

We need to have a Dims D&D bash. I'll bring my 4e books.


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## Dromond (Oct 20, 2011)

1love_emily said:


> So I've recently become obsessed with the TV show community. In season 2, they do a D&D themed episode. And it got me kind of interested in playing this game.
> 
> Where can I start? What should I do?



You need to find a group, first of all. You could start one, but it's much better as a beginning player to find a group of experienced players to learn from. The old way of finding a group of players was to go to your friendly local game store and talk to people. That's still a good option, but now you've also got Meetup.com. I found my present group through meetup. You could also try Craig's List.

You need rule books. At the very least you need the Player's Handbook and the Player's Handbook 2. Be advised that there is a not inconsiderable upfront capital cost to getting into D&D. Try to find used rulebooks if you can to defray some of the cost. If you can't, you'll be spending somewhere around $60 to $70 for the two books (that's including tax).

If you are in college/university, there should be groups on campus. You just have to find them.


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## penguin (Oct 20, 2011)

I haven't played in almost 7 years. I think I'm still stuck on 2nd Ed!


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## Forgotten_Futures (Oct 20, 2011)

Dromond said:


> You need to find a group, first of all. You could start one, but it's much better as a beginning player to find a group of experienced players to learn from. The old way of finding a group of players was to go to your friendly local game store and talk to people. That's still a good option, but now you've also got Meetup.com. I found my present group through meetup. You could also try Craig's List.
> 
> You need rule books. At the very least you need the Player's Handbook and the Player's Handbook 2. Be advised that there is a not inconsiderable upfront capital cost to getting into D&D. Try to find used rulebooks if you can to defray some of the cost. If you can't, you'll be spending somewhere around $60 to $70 for the two books (that's including tax).
> 
> If you are in college/university, there should be groups on campus. You just have to find them.



And if you find a group that plays 3.5E... PM me = P


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## Tad (Oct 20, 2011)

Dromond said:


> If you are in college/university, there should be groups on campus. You just have to find them.



This. Most likely your college has some sort of gaming club or at least a science fiction club (which usually has a lot of gamers in it). I'd suggest finding out when they meet and going to a meeting. Make it clear that you've not played role playing games, that you are interested in giving it a try but that you don't know for sure how you'll like it, and bring into the conversation that you have a boyfriend (maybe "If I like it, the only thing is I'll have to persuade my boyfriend to give it a try, too!")

Most likely someone will offer to bring you into a game, or set up an introductory session. 

You absolutely don't need any of the books at first--if you get more into it you'll probably want some, but players don't need to have their own copies of anything but their character sheet.

Also, there are a ton of different gaming systems out there. D&D is the best known and most played, but there are a lot of people who much prefer other systems. D&D is a pretty rules heavy game--it has about as much to do with re-creating fantasy novels as Monopoly does with with setting up a business. There are other systems that are much lighter on the rules and focus more on the drama and story telling, and there are systems that do have a lot of rules but put more focus on re-creating the source material.

In short, if someone offers to bring you into a game, it may or may not actually be Dungeons and Dragons, for better or worse.


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## BBW Betty (Oct 22, 2011)

Dromond said:


> We need to have a Dims D&D bash. I'll bring my 4e books.



This would be great! Frank and I could bring our 3.0 and 3.5 stuff. At least we can if it's not too far to drive.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jan 11, 2012)

OK, gonna resurrect this thread.

By now most of the gamers have heard that D&D is coming out with a 5th edition ruleset, with their focus being on _user input_ as part of their new approach. I for one am too uncertain about it yet. I lost my gaming group when I moved to Michigan, and six months before we had abandoned 4E for a stripped down quasi-1st edition variant called, ironically enough, Simplicity, which worked well for a campaign that lasted several months. I loathe the thought of shelling out another couple months of salary for the rulebooks, minis and other various accoutrements that are necessary for me to be in with the new 5E crowd. Fie on them, I say. I'll just dust off my old TSR Silver Anniversary D&D Software disc and go back to 2nd Edition Plus. 

And now, for something completely different. I'm sure many of the guys remember that the 1st Ed. Monster Manuals and rulebooks were their first foray into naked succubi and bare-breasted monsters. Apparently there's been a contest on who could design some erotic Monster Manual images. Some of them are NSFW, and if you can ignore the "we're trying to be satirical like the Onion and failing miserably" article, the pics are hilarious.


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## rockhound225 (Jan 13, 2012)

Lamia said:


> What's everyone favorite type to play? Everyone who games with me knows I am going to be a fighter/barbarian...probably half-orc with a great sword...or glaive.
> 
> I can't help myself that's what I like to play. I have no desire to heal or cast. I want to "maim, multilate and slaughter" to quote a gaming friend.



My personal favorite to play still remains a dwarven ranger or fighter, but that's just because I'm such a friggin' rock-nut. Beyond that, I was attached to a gnome transmutor that, when paired with a half-way decent meatshield, kicked some decent butt.

The one concept character I'd like to play is a dwarven monk that progresses towards the Drunken Master prestige class. How would that not be fun? Just imagine the hijinx that would insue!


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jan 13, 2012)

I like to think that in some parallel universe, a group of adventurers are gathered around a table. A burly dwarf is playing his level 12 IT Technician with the Virginal Potency feat, and a svelte, busty barbarian woman is playing a level 8 Chubby Administrative Assistant wearing a Bra of Charismatic Allure, both of them role-playing an adventure in a 20-floor business complex, facing off against a District Manager Boss with a Scroll of Demotion and a Narcissistic Personality Disorder weakness.

Offices and Org Charts?


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## LinathSuru (Jan 14, 2012)

First... Oooh, I'm in love with this thread I think. Wonderful to stumble upon. 

More specific responses though:



Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Every iteration of DND has it's haters. 4E was much more maligned I think for two reasons: 1) Quick on the heels of the 3.5, which was another chance for Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) to squeeze more money out of fans, and 2) Too much balance, similarity to MMORPG gameplay. There are dozens of different other reasons to hate, but I found it to be quite enjoyable. I do however dislike the Essentials version they started pushing now, which was their simultaneous homage to the red box edition of yore and also a toned-down ruleset designed to snare younger and inexperienced players to the game. There seems to be this mindset that to make it more enjoyable in the mainstream you have to dumb-down the rulesets to make it more WoW-player friendly.



This pretty much sums up why I hated going from 3.5 to 4E. My gaming group likes 4E, but I just can't... get into it. Especially when there's an arcane caster in the chronicle. I think of all the variety of spells that were lost and I cringe. I'm assured this can be made better. We shall see. No 4E campaigns have held my interest yet, and that's definitely not from a lack of my willingness to try.



Lamia said:


> What's everyone favorite type to play? Everyone who games with me knows I am going to be a fighter/barbarian...probably half-orc with a great sword...or glaive.
> 
> I can't help myself that's what I like to play. I have no desire to heal or cast. I want to "maim, multilate and slaughter" to quote a gaming friend.



I tend to enjoy any character I play so long as I actually take some time to build them and give them a story... And I LOVE playing characters with really big and evident personality flaws... Like recently I was playing an Aasimar Bard who was literally terrified of being hurt. She fought because she was traveling with family, but when monsters started looking her way she either turned invisible, played dead, or ran away. She was so, _so_ fun!

I tend to think a party needs certain roles filled though, and if the other players aren't inclined to fill one that's the role I aim for in one form or another. 



Dromond said:


> We need to have a Dims D&D bash. I'll bring my 4e books.



This would be awesome, though I'd be bringing 3.5 books and Pathfinder books myself. 



Admiral_Snackbar said:


> I like to think that in some parallel universe, a group of adventurers are gathered around a table. A burly dwarf is playing his level 12 IT Technician with the Virginal Potency feat, and a svelte, busty barbarian woman is playing a level 8 Chubby Administrative Assistant wearing a Bra of Charismatic Allure, both of them role-playing an adventure in a 20-floor business complex, facing off against a District Manager Boss with a Scroll of Demotion and a Narcissistic Personality Disorder weakness.
> 
> Offices and Org Charts?



Hahaha. That is an entertaining thought.

I'd rep every participant in this thread if I could, but alas, too much rep given out already today. That's fine. All in good time.


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## Lamia (Jan 14, 2012)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> I like to think that in some parallel universe, a group of adventurers are gathered around a table. A burly dwarf is playing his level 12 IT Technician with the Virginal Potency feat, and a svelte, busty barbarian woman is playing a level 8 Chubby Administrative Assistant wearing a Bra of Charismatic Allure, both of them role-playing an adventure in a 20-floor business complex, facing off against a District Manager Boss with a Scroll of Demotion and a Narcissistic Personality Disorder weakness.
> 
> Offices and Org Charts?



Crap I can't rep you, but this needs epic rep. 

( I just read that back to myself and rep sounds a little like rape, if you use some sort of derelict accent)


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## Lamia (Jan 14, 2012)

I like 3.5 best. I have never played 4.0, but hear it sucks. I need to play been working so much not much time for anything fun....you know...fun the reason I work so I have money for fun.


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## Dromond (Jan 14, 2012)

4E has it's charms. If you think of it as World of Warcraft on pen and paper, you'll get the idea. It's not really Dungeons and Dragons, and if you think of it as such you'll only get an aneurysm.

Biggest selling point: Relative simplicity vs. 3.5E.

Biggest drawback: See above.

I kinda skipped 3.5, going from 3.0 to 4E. I've heard great things about Pathfinder, and would love to try it. I just don't know anyone who plays it around here.


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## LinathSuru (Jan 14, 2012)

Dromond said:


> -snip-
> 
> I've heard great things about Pathfinder, and would love to try it. I just don't know anyone who plays it around here.



I swear by Pathfinder nowadays. It's the system my boyfriend and I use. Which I suppose I forgot to mention. He's the DM for our group which consists of three people. Our campaign is currently in Greyhawk and very focused on Rhenee and river travel. My character is a Rhenee cleric of Myrhiss (forgive my spelling on all these proper names. I don't write em often), but right now she has a tattoo of a dead love bird on her forehead (a lovebird being Myrhiss' holy symbol). Myrhiss still gives her spells, but she has been basically excommunicated from the church and people with abundant faith in any deity tend to view that in a negative light (aka, -6 when dealing with other members of the church of Myrhiss, -4 when dealing with any other really faithful people). Good thing the Rhenee don't tend to be overly faithful. We're trying to kill Vecna. *winks*

Anyway, he also runs games for my by myself where I get to play multiple characters. I don't want to totally flood the thread so I won't tell you much about our current 'solo campaign' save to say it's epic! 

And Pathfinder is epic! Though we do, of course, have our house rules.


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## Frankhw (Jan 15, 2012)

My biggest gripe about 4E was that one of the reasons they gave for it was that in 3.5 it took to long to have a "powerfull" character. I say Bulls**t.

At the time I was writing a short story and one of the characters was a Half orc barbarian youth that had been taken under the wing of a Psionic Monk. In the story the character, Thok was a LN 6th level Brb2/Mnk4 (he lost access to rage but I'd never been a fan of that class feature anyway.) His attributes were 20 12 18 10 13 10, maximum ranks in Jump and his three bonus feats were taken by Wild Talent, Up the Walls, and Speed of Thought.

The ranks he had in jump combined with the speed boost from both Monk and Barbarian allowed him to clear more than 30 feet in a leap so long as he didn't fumble. Not to mention the up the walls feat allowed him to simply walk up(or down) the wall of any building shorter than his normal movement.

It's debatable as to whether 6th level is considered lower or middle in power but Thok was definitely able to do some cool things long before reaching double digits in level.


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## penguin (Jan 15, 2012)

I miss playing. I had some good times back in the 2nd ed days.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jan 16, 2012)

Frankhw said:


> My biggest gripe about 4E was that one of the reasons they gave for it was that in 3.5 it took to long to have a "powerfull" character. I say Bulls**t.
> 
> At the time I was writing a short story and one of the characters was a Half orc barbarian youth that had been taken under the wing of a Psionic Monk. In the story the character, Thok was a LN 6th level Brb2/Mnk4 (he lost access to rage but I'd never been a fan of that class feature anyway.) His attributes were 20 12 18 10 13 10, maximum ranks in Jump and his three bonus feats were taken by Wild Talent, Up the Walls, and Speed of Thought.
> 
> ...



The idea that it takes a while to become powerful bugs me after last week's game. I'd set up an encounter for my PCs consisting of 6 level 1 (ECL 4) Gnoll Rangers and 2 level 1 (ECL 4) Gnoll Clerics. They decided, for once, NOT to simply kill them, but to use diplomacy to talk them into playing bait for a raid on a nearby encampment of enemies, basically a bunch of level 10 human fighters.

So I set 5 PCs (3 level 3 and 2 level 2) against 2 level 10 fighters. I expected them to get slaughtered (this is not as bad as it sounds). THEY WON with no casualties (though the glass cannon went KO twice). And now I have 2 level 5 and 3 level 4 PCs mixed with a couple level 2s who weren't present last week...

Oi.

Note to self: More magic items on the opponents next time.


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## LinathSuru (Jan 16, 2012)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> -snip-
> 
> Note to self: More magic items on the opponents next time.



Ha! I loved this line after reading your anecdote. Of course, if the PCs win, then they have magic items too.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jan 16, 2012)

I'm sure I said it before in this thread but what hurt 4E the most, imho, was their incessant need for _balance_. Every class had to have a certain max to their ability and damage/hit, and the model of 4E was based around the whole striker/leader/controller/defender paradigm. If you want a party made entirely of evil halfling rogues, go forth young squire, but you'll get your ass handed to you because the opposing party has a few spell hurlers and buffers in their ranks.

It was precisely the ability to unbalance a character that at times made D&D exciting, although given too much leniency by a naive/lazy DM, it would also be your downfall. Magic Items in 4E were piss-poor, both in design and execution. Gee, I have this magic sword and can only use it's special ability once per day? What if maybe, just maybe, I roll criticals twice in a game (it's happened) and the normal activate-on-a-critical ability from 2E is only usable once in 4E because that's just how it's designed?

I never played WoW or any MMORPGs consistently, but the guys in my game group said it was only slightly comparable to pen and paper D&D of yore, being more focused on a Magic The Gathering style of play with MMORPG-styled combat rounds. Given that your once text-heavy Player Character sheet was now divided into a couple text sheets and the rest being removable power cards (while initially interesting), the mechanics of the game took a decidedly routine turn. 

The one reason I did like 4E was, ironically, ease-of-use. As a single teen with no responsibilities for the most part, I had literally HOURS to devote to building characters, designing magic items and otherwise spending a ridiculous amount of creative time immersing myself in the game world. Game nights were every weekend, and in some cases every day at lunch for an hour. As a father of two kids with a demanding job and now adult responsibilities, the 38-year-old me, who was now only able to play one 8-10 hour session per month, found it easier to prep and play the game since it demanded far less of my free time. 

I have to thank my DM for HIS creativity, because he did in fact take that into allowance. If you wanted to write a story continuity between games or a summary of the gameplay that night, you'd get bonus power cards the next session, which came in very handy. Having a requirement to build your backstory into your character was also key, because it made the campaign far more interesting once it came to an end. I was able to play the game without being consumed by it.

My only fear is given a lack of local players and the need to shell out another $200-300 for the 5E core books and assorted 'crackhead' items, I may be done with it. I am sure I will end up getting into one or more MMORPGs in the near future (I'm looking at you, Old Republic) which will be even easier for me to manage outside of work and home. I also hope (in a waiting-to-be-disappointed manner) that they will come out with a decent Star Trek MMORPG which will kick the ass of anything prior. I'd love to see Bioware collaborate with Peter David and the Reeves-Stevenses for an awesome Trek game built around the New Frontier or continuing Next-Gen adventures.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jan 18, 2012)

We have a guy in our group with Asberger's, who insists on arguing about everything with the DM, even the existence of Gods in Desert Sun. Last night, he called my roommate a bitch because she told him to cut it out. I really don't want to have to ask the DM to kick him out, but if he's gonna pull that shit constantly, I don't think she and I should have to deal with the namecalling (or the only getting 5 hours of sleep before work because he argued all damned night).


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## Tad (Jan 18, 2012)

I was in one play-by-email RPG that fell apart because of basically the same issue. We put up with a fair bit from her, but I guess one of the frequent traits of people with Aspergers is inability or unwillingness to back down from what they've said? Anyway, I guess it was more or less inevitable, eventually she said something that was pretty offensive to a couple of us (essentially insulting our wives), and when this was pointed out to her she just got more vehement on the point. And the game ended, in the middle of a climatic scene. We just didn't have the stomach to deal with her anymore.

I'm not saying this is what will happen with you, but from what you've said it does sound likely that sooner later a line too far will get crossed--sounds like it may just about have happened with the name calling--so perhaps it would be best to start figuring out what you would do if/when that happens, to avoid losing your group altogether?


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jan 18, 2012)

The DM has actually posted on some message board for D&D about the situation trying to see what other people have tried in similar problems in their groups.

I'm pretty sure my roommate, who just started playing, will quit if he doesn't cool it. The kid joined us in November, and he's had some major issues with understanding the basic rules -- even after we loaned him all the books. The rest of us have been playing together since the beginning of the campaign last summer, so I think the group as a whole is safe.


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## LinathSuru (Jan 18, 2012)

Diana_Prince245 said:


> The DM has actually posted on some message board for D&D about the situation trying to see what other people have tried in similar problems in their groups.
> 
> I'm pretty sure my roommate, who just started playing, will quit if he doesn't cool it. The kid joined us in November, and he's had some major issues with understanding the basic rules -- even after we loaned him all the books. The rest of us have been playing together since the beginning of the campaign last summer, so I think the group as a whole is safe.



Well at least the group chemistry for the rest of you is there. I don't know what my D&D group would do. Probably lay down some basic rules and ask him to leave if he didn't abide by them. Arguing with the DM to a point is acceptable, but we often favor the DM's ruling during the session and bring up the point of conflict later, off game time, so as not to disrupt our sessions.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Jan 18, 2012)

My Illinois group was an interesting mix. We had a Mormon with a black belt in karate with a big gut who drank caffeinated Coke all night. We had a tall multi-gamer (board games, cards, D&D, Warhammer) who looked more like a basketball jock, we had a couple balding musicians, a hippie atheist who looked like Jesus but had a doctorate in mathematics and then we had Matt, the Glennbeckian. He was fellating everything that came from Fox News, and given that he was a technical writer/IT expert who dealt with years of layoffs, going from job to job, he was a staunch Republican. If he could have, he'd have Sean Hannity's baby. He was the closeted nerd but was into cosplay, so occasionally photos of him in a Batman costume would surface...hilarious.

He made it difficult because the DM was very much insisting on non-partisanship, so anytime a discussion veered towards politics, he'd nix it. Realize too that aside from the DM, I was the only non-Republican in the group, which made me an immediate crypto-fascist babykiller who hated America, even though I had no real perspective other than speaking frankly. Matt actually started following me on FB, challenging me to political discussions in emails, and the DM finally had to put a stop to it after he aggravated an online argument, saying my views and my attitudes were unwelcome at the game table and I should leave if I wasn't happy with that. He was passionate about his feelings, but then again so was Idi Amin.

More often than not my gaming encounters were enjoyable, and we were all pop culture addicts who could jibber jabber about anything. It became a tradition during the game night to somehow work in the "rudimentary lathe" speech from Galaxy Quest during the session. Glorious.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jan 19, 2012)

We have a pretty strict no politics talk policy. It's Idaho, two of us are batshit lefties, and it will end badly. We keep our talk to Harry Potter and whether or not the Elder Wand is inherently evil.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jan 20, 2012)

We've never discussed politics or any kind of "controversial" topic in our sessions, but not due to any rule I'm aware of. Probably for the best; I highly doubt all my friends agree with me on all my points of opinion.

As for the difficult people, I know I can trust the weekly game host to deal with any of them. We haven't had any truly difficult sorts, but we did have one guy who joined on unrealized pretenses who just wasn't trying and was holding us back. He was quietly expelled.

No one's complained about me DMing yet, which is good since it's my first time and I'm a little out of my depth still. We get into a bit of rules lawyering from time to time, and if I'm wrong I either admit it or pull rank if I must for the sake of the campaign.

On that last note, why the fuck is Identify such a low-level spell? Goddamnit...


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## penguin (Jan 20, 2012)

We very rarely discussed politics in my gaming group, but we were all pretty much on the same page with our views that it was never a heated affair. Plus, most of us were stoned for the entire session so we weren't really interested in arguments. 

I liked our DM, he ran good campaigns and was very open to bribery. Not that you always got what you wanted, but passing him the pipe or buying him his favourite chocolate bar (and in my case, supplying baked goods and the occasional dinner) went a long way. We took the gamer seriously enough to get stuff done, but still took the piss out of each other the whole way through. Ah, the good ol' days when we would play from midday to 9pm each Sunday. I haven't played since 2004, so I'm well out of practice.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jan 21, 2012)

For better or worse our sessions wind up being part game part social gathering, so the amount of gaming that gets done is directly proportional to the number of people who make it each week. The extreme prevalence of mobile gadgets and wifi does not exactly help (although I do keep everything game related on my netbook except that which must be physical).

(At this very moment I have 7 books open from which I've been pulling rules and monsters to throw together a long list of potential encounters, from random easies to scripted challenges to plot related. Due to the way my group plays I need to have options ready, so I plan to salt the world they're working in with combat and spelunking.)


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## bigteddy4bbwu (Jan 21, 2012)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Per a comment from *Diana_Prince245*, I thought I'd create a thread since many of us have been discussing the classic role-playing game recently.
> 
> Haven't played D&D for years, but am in Exalted, Star Wars, and Dragon Age (set in Skyrim) campaigns.


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## Frankhw (Jan 21, 2012)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> No one's complained about me DMing yet, which is good since it's my first time and I'm a little out of my depth still. We get into a bit of rules lawyering from time to time, and if I'm wrong I either admit it or pull rank if I must for the sake of the campaign.
> 
> On that last note, why is Identify such a low-level spell? Goddamnit...



My ADD/OCD kicked in when I read your post and had to look up how Pathfinder handles Identify.
Basically Identify is no longer the instant "This is a potion of healing" spell it used to be. In Pathfinder at least it functions the same as Detect Magic with the addition of giving the caster a +10 bonus to their spellcraft check to figure out what the item is.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jan 24, 2012)

Frankhw said:


> My ADD/OCD kicked in when I read your post and had to look up how Pathfinder handles Identify.
> Basically Identify is no longer the instant "This is a potion of healing" spell it used to be. In Pathfinder at least it functions the same as Detect Magic with the addition of giving the caster a +10 bonus to their spellcraft check to figure out what the item is.



Oh that would be so helpful. But no. I shall have to come up with a good reason to deny that functionality on some items.


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## Dromond (Feb 21, 2012)

I am now in a 3.5E game, and I have my doubts about the GM.

The amount of treasure we've gotten is obscene, as is the amount of help we get from friendly NPCs. The group just reached third level. The group consists of my single classed Bard, a Rogue/Cleric, a Fighter/Mage, and a single classed Ranger. We've already been visited by a deity and been given permanent Divine bonuses (+1 to all Bard skills and abilities for me), we stumbled across an Elven blacksmith who is able to craft gems that imbue weapons with magical abilities (and now we each have one), we've found an herbalist with a potion shop who has a seemingly endless supply of whatever potions we might want and can afford (and thanks to the huge amount of treasure we've found, we could afford quite a bit). My bard has a +2 chain shirt with some sort of special ability that turns it into a wreath of flowers while you sleep. It turns back into armor upon awakening. This effect also eliminates armor check penalties on light armor and allows the character to wear the armor comfortably even in the hottest weather. All at third level.

... So, yeah. Monty Haul. I feel dirty.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Feb 22, 2012)

Dromond said:


> I am now in a 3.5E game, and I have my doubts about the GM.
> 
> The amount of treasure we've gotten is obscene, as is the amount of help we get from friendly NPCs. The group just reached third level. The group consists of my single classed Bard, a Rogue/Cleric, a Fighter/Mage, and a single classed Ranger. We've already been visited by a deity and been given permanent Divine bonuses (+1 to all Bard skills and abilities for me), we stumbled across an Elven blacksmith who is able to craft gems that imbue weapons with magical abilities (and now we each have one), we've found an herbalist with a potion shop who has a seemingly endless supply of whatever potions we might want and can afford (and thanks to the huge amount of treasure we've found, we could afford quite a bit). My bard has a +2 chain shirt with some sort of special ability that turns it into a wreath of flowers while you sleep. It turns back into armor upon awakening. This effect also eliminates armor check penalties on light armor and allows the character to wear the armor comfortably even in the hottest weather. All at third level.
> 
> ... So, yeah. Monty Haul. I feel dirty.



It's almost pornographic...he needs to get a grasp on the idea of avoiding the Nerf Effect. The golden rule should never be that all players get a magic item at every level. In some cases during my campaign we'd have to wait a few levels for our character arc to swing around to get an ideal item. Plus, we had side quests for epic weapons and so forth, and in many cases you didn't always get the powers you asked for.

It's a delicate balance.


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## Dromond (Feb 22, 2012)

I've never played in a game before that had even close to this amount of goodies handed to the players. Munchkins would love it, but I'm 48 and my munchkin days are a quarter century behind me.

Did I really just say "quarter century?" Shoot me now.

I'm hoping the GM has something truly epic in mind to justify all this. Otherwise I'll get bored really fast.

Edited to add: This is the first D&D character I've had that received a divine bonus from an actual deity. It boggles the mind.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Feb 22, 2012)

Dromond said:


> I've never played in a game before that had even close to this amount of goodies handed to the players. Munchkins would love it, but I'm 48 and my munchkin days are a quarter century behind me.
> 
> Did I really just say "quarter century?" Shoot me now.
> 
> ...



If he brings in Orcus or Demogorgon at Level 5 I would GTFO. Just sayin'.


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## Dromond (Feb 23, 2012)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> If he brings in Orcus or Demogorgon at Level 5 I would GTFO. Just sayin'.



A TPK would resolve things, at least.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Feb 23, 2012)

Dromond said:


> A TPK would resolve things, at least.



Until the "oh, look, Orcus dropped a Rod of Automatic Resurrection with six charges left! How fortunate! And he left his Wand behind, too!"


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## Dromond (Feb 24, 2012)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Until the "oh, look, Orcus dropped a Rod of Automatic Resurrection with six charges left! How fortunate! And he left his Wand behind, too!"



If this happens, I'm going to blame you.


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## LinathSuru (Feb 27, 2012)

Dromond said:


> I am now in a 3.5E game, and I have my doubts about the GM.
> 
> The amount of treasure we've gotten is obscene, as is the amount of help we get from friendly NPCs. The group just reached third level. The group consists of my single classed Bard, a Rogue/Cleric, a Fighter/Mage, and a single classed Ranger. We've already been visited by a deity and been given permanent Divine bonuses (+1 to all Bard skills and abilities for me), we stumbled across an Elven blacksmith who is able to craft gems that imbue weapons with magical abilities (and now we each have one), we've found an herbalist with a potion shop who has a seemingly endless supply of whatever potions we might want and can afford (and thanks to the huge amount of treasure we've found, we could afford quite a bit). My bard has a +2 chain shirt with some sort of special ability that turns it into a wreath of flowers while you sleep. It turns back into armor upon awakening. This effect also eliminates armor check penalties on light armor and allows the character to wear the armor comfortably even in the hottest weather. All at third level.
> 
> ... So, yeah. Monty Haul. I feel dirty.



I remember the most ridiculous game I played in... It was set in Ravenloft and my character was a Vistani... The other party members were a half-demon and... someone with some ridiculous template. The DM was like, "You don't want a template?" I said no. 

So... instead.. my horses were intelligent, my raven could talk, I had a little wolf pup that was originally just a fluff thing for me, but he later turned it into a Winter Wolf pup (who wasn't evil). At second level (we started at 2nd) my character found a clearing with a stick poking out of a pond. She took a tree branch and tested the depth of the water.. But hit something... A troll came out of the water and attacked her, though there was a blade stabbed into it...

The DM said she felt the impulse to grab the blade, and so she did, and in pulling it free of the troll she killed it.. By herself, completely alone. The sword turned out to be 'Jereld the Mage-Slayer'. He was an ego 35 when we added up all of his abilities... >.>

That game was ridiculous in scale, but this DM made it so fun. I loved the feeling of it. On the other hand, I love the feeling of games where my party barely survives each encounter and has to flee the dungeon to rest in order to do so.

It's all in the style. Maybe he will justify it. Here's to hoping you find a way to enjoy it, Dromond.


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## PandaGeek (Mar 14, 2012)

So I'm a 3.5 kinda guy, I like the customization, the ability to multi-class, the prestige classes. 4ed isn't bad but its not DnD, its tabletop WoW, that being said I do play in a 4e game of Dark Sun which I can only really wrap my head around because its not the traditional setting. I haven't gotten into a 3.5 game for awhile and damn I miss it.

I am surprised no one has mentioned any other games. I'm a big fan of the Heroes System and I've been in a few really good superhero based games using that system. Also World of Darkness, old school version, not the new stuff. I'm actually in a larp run in Brooklyn that's pretty damn good. I'm playing a Nosferatu Ex-Mafia... the concept being I'm the Devil you make deals with. I even make it out to the occasional gaming convention here in New Jersey... might even make it back up to Boston for Intercon... and if I'm very lucky I'll be going to Origins this year. Anyone else get into gaming outside there local friends?


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## Dromond (Mar 14, 2012)

LinathSuru said:


> I remember the most ridiculous game I played in... It was set in Ravenloft and my character was a Vistani... The other party members were a half-demon and... someone with some ridiculous template. The DM was like, "You don't want a template?" I said no.
> 
> So... instead.. my horses were intelligent, my raven could talk, I had a little wolf pup that was originally just a fluff thing for me, but he later turned it into a Winter Wolf pup (who wasn't evil). At second level (we started at 2nd) my character found a clearing with a stick poking out of a pond. She took a tree branch and tested the depth of the water.. But hit something... A troll came out of the water and attacked her, though there was a blade stabbed into it...
> 
> ...



I decided to embrace the madness, but the game is collapsing upon itself. Even the GM now feels like she made a mistake in direction. The game is probably dead.


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## riplee (Mar 14, 2012)

Many thanks to Gary Gygax for introducing me to words like gelatinous, necromancer and corporeal which I still work into everyday conversations.

Here's an alignment chart I found on the interwebs.

(Here's a link in case you have trouble reading the attachment.
http://4thehorde.deviantart.com/art/Alignment-Chart-194659958) 

View attachment alignment_chart_II.JPG


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## LinathSuru (Mar 14, 2012)

Dromond said:


> I decided to embrace the madness, but the game is collapsing upon itself. Even the GM now feels like she made a mistake in direction. The game is probably dead.



Darn. And here I was hoping for a better conclusion. But hey, every failed campaign is a learning experience, right? 



riplee said:


> Many thanks to Gary Gygax for introducing me to words like gelatinous, necromancer and corporeal which I still work into everyday conversations.
> 
> Here's an alignment chart I found on the interwebs.
> 
> ...



Love this!


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## mediaboy (Mar 14, 2012)

I've played and off and on since I was thirteen. I had a necromancer that was a total bad ass and hated invisibility and non humans. He wore elven plate mail and had a totally sweet undead shadow dragon well as a familiar. He was quite a character. I played him for about five years off and on with mostly the same group of guys at a local comic shop.

That group disbanded when our dm got a job in norcal writing auditing software tools for the san Francisco city comproler

After that it just wasn't the same. I tried to play with some friends from high school but by that time dnd was just about hanging out with nerds and getting loaded. I won't lie I got loaded quite a few times myself but never to the point that I stood in front of a bass amp with the squelch all the way up and tried for hours to replicate the sound of a demon giving birth to a giant spider.


Its true it happened.

In those days I played door kicking barbarians that were short on words and quick with a triple crit axe.

it was terrible.

I played with q guy named jimmy who's mother was supposedly a pyromancer IN REAL LIFE WTF and he was apparently a male white which who could communicate with demons via dreams.


PUT THW BONG DOWN, JIMMY.

You know that scene in SLC Punk where that anarchist tries to summon the devil?

That shit happened at the last dnd game I played with this particular group of "friends".

Jimmy was the DM and had the brilliant idea of breaking the fourth wall by having all of us "role play" a sayance at the card table. 

He sprung this on is after I was powerfully drunk and every one else was incredibly stoned.

I remember I was trying to get my barbarian to score with the most beautiful demon princes when all of a sudden Jimmy turned her into a pillar of salt for no reason at all.

What a jerk.

Ten minutes later we had all the lights but a single dark blue candle lit and were "role playing" a spirit summoning.

I don't really remembered what happened next, i think i drank so much i blacked out but i do remember breaking into character irl and pissing in the sacramental goblet jimmy used to put his blood in from a fresh slice on his hand be put there with a retarded looking dragon dagger with a giant fake red ruby in the pommel he bought off a "druid" at dragon con.

The next thing i remember was wrestling jimmy to the ground and giving him a huge Indian burn on his kneck. I think i might have been trying to choke him to death because he had taken a mouthful of my piss and realizing what it was spit it out in my face.

The smell of it all comingled with the stench of six mouth breathing greasy haired unwashed neck beards and made my friend men puke all over my grand mothers card table.

Insenced, i stormed out to the front yard to get some fresh air and wash the piss spit off my face and also to secretly pume in the back of Jommys pick up truck. You know, in the bed.

I had just finished throwing up in jimmy truck bed and was washing my face of expectoration and urine when from out of no where the rest of my idiot companions and jimmy come outside to check on me.

We had words and since every one else played either a hard or a sorcerer of some kind i was at a disadvantage in the conversation.

Apparently people don't take kindly to you pissing in their kings cup which they were playing just prior to our dnd game and they demanded i pay for the vodka i had urinates in and also apologize to them but especially to jimmy.

I tried to explain to them that jimmy just wanted to suck their souls and give them over to his dark master ge lay dreaming at the bottom of the sea.

They turned on jimmy and he readily confessed.

We then all made up and took turns pissing on the side of jimmy's truck so no passer bus could see our genitals.

Later that night we finished the campaign. It was a good one. jimmy was about fifty fifty as a dm. That night was to be his apex. A campaign filled with intrigue, violence, sorcery and tits. Hot demon princess tits.

Later still jimmy went to take a piss out front and ended up passing out with his shoes on in the back of his truck.

In my five hour old dominoes pizza and goldschlager vomit.


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## Dromond (Mar 14, 2012)

Are you serious?


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 14, 2012)

Dromond said:


> Are you serious?



Yeah, that entire tl;dr could be summed up as "what is this, I don't even..."

All it's missing is a busload of nuns dropping acid and invading the local men's strip club with dart guns. :doh:


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## PandaGeek (Mar 15, 2012)

Just tried out the DnD boardgame. It was pretty fun, I suggest giving it a shot if you and a few friends are hanging out and no one wants to DM.


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## mediaboy (Mar 15, 2012)

Dromond said:


> Are you serious?




Yes/ 




Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Yeah, that entire tl;dr could be summed up as "what is this, I don't even..."
> 
> All it's missing is a busload of nuns dropping acid and invading the local men's strip club with dart guns. :doh:




Sounds like a great idea for a campaign!!

Can they be DEMON nuns?


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## LinathSuru (Mar 15, 2012)

mediaboy said:


> ...I played with q guy named jimmy who's mother was supposedly a pyromancer IN REAL LIFE WTF and he was apparently a male white which who could communicate with demons via dreams...



The entire story you relate after the bit I've quoted here sounds like something out of a nightmare to me. Course I'm a 'straight-laced' type.. No drinking, no drugs. I get that it floats other peoples' boats, but then I read about having piss/vodka spit in your face and puking in the back of a truck for revenge before all taking turns peeing on the side of it and I just...

I don't get it.. really. What's appealing about that?

I think I'll keep taking my D&D with at most light drinking and in relatively focused company. Hope you find a pleasant way to take yours.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Mar 19, 2012)

LinathSuru said:


> I think I'll keep taking my D&D with at most light drinking and in relatively focused company. Hope you find a pleasant way to take yours.



One hang out with friends resulted in the puking of large amounts of Monster Khaos in the back of someone's truck. And on the sidewalk.

Apparently the poor guy couldn't handle chugging 4 cans in quick succession...


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## LinathSuru (Mar 19, 2012)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> One hang out with friends resulted in the puking of large amounts of Monster Khaos in the back of someone's truck. And on the sidewalk.
> 
> Apparently the poor guy couldn't handle chugging 4 cans in quick succession...



Ha, oops. :doh:

We had Bawls floating around a few of our games... Sometimes some Asian drinks from the Asian market nearby. No one's ever gotten sick on them at the gaming table though.


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## Dromond (Mar 19, 2012)

That's such an alien experience to me. In groups I've been in, the game was the only escape from reality we needed. No booze or other mind altering substances were involved.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 19, 2012)

Dromond said:


> That's such an alien experience to me. In groups I've been in, the game was the only escape from reality we needed. No booze or other mind altering substances were involved.



Yeah, I for one found that only a few drinks were necessary for the guys; mostly a couple beers or some malt liquor/fruity beverages. Even then no one drank to excess. The CabinCons (the getaways to a cabin in the woods away from spouses, kids and incriminating technologies) were different, sometimes, but since I'm a teetotaler I never partook of the festivities.

The only thing gamers in my experience ever got shitfaced on was a combination of No-Doz and Mountain Dew Gamer Fuel.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Mar 19, 2012)

I think I had a beer once during a game. Mostly my BFF and I OD on sugary candy and Orange Crush. The beer just makes me fuzzy, which certainly has a place in my life, just not when I'm rolling dice.


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## penguin (Mar 19, 2012)

Most of us got stoned while playing, back when I used to game. I might discover I'm a better player if I do it while sober!


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## Dromond (Mar 19, 2012)

penguin said:


> Most of us got stoned while playing, back when I used to game. I might discover I'm a better player if I do it while sober!



That'd be a requirement to gaming with me. What people do for fun is their business and I try not to judge. But weed (or stronger) is not welcome at my game table.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 19, 2012)

Dromond said:


> That'd be a requirement to gaming with me. What people do for fun is their business and I try not to judge. But weed (or stronger) is not welcome at my game table.



"After narrowly defeating Mingyclorox the green dragon, your party discovers a massive iron-bound chest. Inside, spread amongst the gold pieces are Twinkies. Lots and lots of Twinkies."


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## penguin (Mar 19, 2012)

Dromond said:


> That'd be a requirement to gaming with me. What people do for fun is their business and I try not to judge. But weed (or stronger) is not welcome at my game table.



No problem there  There was only one guy who wouldn't smoke, and I think he used that to his advantage many times.



Admiral_Snackbar said:


> "After narrowly defeating Mingyclorox the green dragon, your party discovers a massive iron-bound chest. Inside, spread amongst the gold pieces are Twinkies. Lots and lots of Twinkies."



Twinkies? Get some taste, man  I know Twinkies will keep forever, which is probably why someone stuffed them in there, but there better be some chocolate in there, too.


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## Dromond (Mar 19, 2012)

penguin said:


> Twinkies? Get some taste, man  I know Twinkies will keep forever, which is probably why someone stuffed them in there, but there better be some chocolate in there, too.



Chocolate gives a +5 will save vs. PMS.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 19, 2012)

penguin said:


> Twinkies? Get some taste, man  I know Twinkies will keep forever, which is probably why someone stuffed them in there, but there better be some chocolate in there, too.



Well, I thought the other story idea of "your famished party arrives back in town, and plops down many a coin in "Ye Olde Taquoe Belle" would be a little too cliched.


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## penguin (Mar 19, 2012)

Dromond said:


> Chocolate gives a +5 will save vs. PMS.



Will the save work for me or for everyone else? 



Admiral_Snackbar said:


> Well, I thought the other story idea of "your famished party arrives back in town, and plops down many a coin in "Ye Olde Taquoe Belle" would be a little too cliched.



Would you need to roll save vs explosive diarrhoea afterwards?


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## Forgotten_Futures (Mar 20, 2012)

penguin said:


> Would you need to roll save vs explosive diarrhoea afterwards?



Yes, Fortitude, and you'd take a -5 circumstance penalty on it as well.


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## Dromond (Mar 20, 2012)

penguin said:


> Will the save work for me or for everyone else?



It working for you is, by definition, it working for everyone else.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 20, 2012)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> Yes, Fortitude, and you'd take a -5 circumstance penalty on it as well.



You'd gain a +5 bonus to your Perception and Athletics skills for your ability to quickly seek out a bathroom and navigate all obstacles in between.


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## Durin (Mar 21, 2012)

I play Pathfinder every monday and I like it better than 3.5 especially for 1 thing. Combat Deffense/Attack modifiers. You want to know if your bullrush, trip, grapple or disarm worked just role your Combat modifier and compare to the defense.

Awesome!

I am currently the GM running Serpent's Skull Adventure Path:bow:


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## Forgotten_Futures (Mar 24, 2012)

Admiral_Snackbar said:


> You'd gain a +5 bonus to your Perception and Athletics skills for your ability to quickly seek out a bathroom and navigate all obstacles in between.



But take a -10 circumstance penalty to search for an empty stall.


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## Admiral_Snackbar (Mar 24, 2012)

Forgotten_Futures said:


> But take a -10 circumstance penalty to search for an empty stall.



I think we just found a really devious 20th century version of the Mimic from Monster Manual #1. Grab a toilet to cop a squat, giant porcelain fist shoots out of the commode to smash the shit out of you (literally and figuratively). 

View attachment dnd_mimic.jpg


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## penguin (Mar 24, 2012)

I wonder if the merry adventurers would be at all suspicious if they came across a lone public toilet, about a half hours walk after leaving ye old taco stand.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Mar 25, 2012)

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0086.html


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## penguin (Mar 25, 2012)

Hah! I'd completely forgotten about that comic. I used to read it all the time, but stopped a few years ago for some reason.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Apr 19, 2012)

D&D sessions are starting up again May 1st after an unpleasantly long hiatus (the host wanted a break and no one else in the group is really capable of hosting). I have no clue what we're doing, except that the host is effectively banning electronics of any kind, so I'm going to have to get used to actual P&P gameplay now = P


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## Forgotten_Futures (May 15, 2012)

Oh gods, I've missed my group. We had an awesome game tonight, inspired by the fact we are all creative, twisted, and power game without thinking about it.

DM sets us in a small town in a desert wasteland. We are level 5 characters (or equivalents - I'm a Centaur) and all NG or NN. Our first goal is to find information on some place we want to go. One party member starts asking locals in the transportation business. I go to the tavern and start an arm-wrestling contest with water I've just bought by trading in 5 days' worth of firewood (yay 459-pound light load limit!) to try and fish for info. The third party member takes note of the extremely tight water rationing, spends a spell to locate water, and finds some below the town. Cue side quest.

Third party member offers town leadership to help dig a well to the aquifer by using stone shape to reinforce the walls. Townspeople like the idea, but say they can't spare people to dig the well because everyone has a task that MUST be done on a daily basis for them to survive. Most of the men who could be spared, for instance, are part of a series of caravans, two groups of which must go a days' travel *every day* to bring ~1500 gallons of water back to the town to keep the inhabitants from dehydrating (based on 3 gal/person/day). Insert excessively complicated plan: Centaur uses massive carry capacity to haul a train of sledges to the oasis, fill them with barrels of water, and haul them back, in a one-day period. Three townspeople provide disparate aid in the form of a rented pair of Horseshoes of Speed, which the Centaur is intelligent and wise enough to acknowledge as not demeaning and put up with; three DM created potions which grant +6 STR for 24 hours, each; and a DM created Reduce Object spell which will allow us to temporarily shrink up to 4 sledges and their contents. (The DM was having some fun with this, being the type of DM he is and honestly liking to see what hilarity we can come up with if allowed enough leeway.) So, with my medium-sized Centaur (large size comes with level 6, sadly) @ a boosted strength of 34, we calculated that we can flat-tow up to 21,000 pounds of shit in one go (with a base move speed of 100'/round, so nice and fast, too!).

So our aim at the moment is to bring back 1875 gallons of water, the crocodile we killed at the oasis, 4 dire vultures we killed at the oasis by baiting them with a dead were-crocodile, which we also killed at the oasis, and an uprooted tree (because I can). All so that the townspeople will commit manpower to digging a well in their town.

This is going to be fun.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 28, 2012)

Our DM asked me to build 3 ECL 10 PC-grade NPCs for our campaign: one Barbarian or similar, one Divine caster focused on party buffs and combat, and one all-out mass-murdering mage. All three are to be NE, LE, or CN. There is no race restriction, except the DM wants nothing with an LA above +2.

So far, I've built a super-complicated Tiefling Barbarian/Swashbuckler/Duelist (a severe divergence from the basic Barbarian build, but oddly effective looking without being majorly broken) and an Anthropomorphic African Elephant Barbarian (which is so ridiculously broken it hurts - literally). For the divine caster, I'm planning to either go with a Catfolk Fighter/Favored Soul, a Centaur Cleric, or find something else with a wisdom bonus and do a Blackguard or Warpriest. For the mage, I intend to go with a Catfolk and build pure Sorceror.


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## LinathSuru (Jun 30, 2012)

Hehe. Sounds like you're having fun with your sessions back on, Forgotten_Futures. I particularly enjoyed reading about your activities in relation to convincing the town to build a well.


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## Noir (Jul 6, 2012)

LOVE DND!!!! I havnt played since 4th edition came out though. Cant find a group sadly


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## penguin (Jan 25, 2013)

I figure some of you would be interested in this: they're releasing all the old books, manuals and modules for sale as PDFs.


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## Tad (Jan 25, 2013)

Interesting--thanks Penguin!


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## Lamia (Jan 26, 2013)

Have any of you gamed with a group whose dynamic tested your moral convictions?

When we moved back home to Illinois to the small rural area I am from it's no surprise that gaming group pickings are pretty slim. My boyfriend is 45 and he's finally found a group to game with, after 3 years. The problem is that the group is all 20 years younger and they have no spirit of teamwork and spend most of their games trying to kill each other as much as the NPCs. Also, they're bigots, racists and homophobes. 

Honestly if we still lived in the city he would have nothing to do with any of these players. 

He finally called them out on their behavior even though doing so might cost him people to game with along with this sanity. Thankfully the guys understood his position and apologized for giving offense.

Have you ever been in this sort of situation and how did you deal with it?


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## Tad (Jan 28, 2013)

Nothing nearly so bad, but the flip side is I’m perhaps less willing to put up with pain for my gaming fix?

I started playing D&D in the sixth grade, and I’m still friends with some of that group. But the last couple of years that we gamed together (in the first part of high school) I was coming to enjoy it less and less, because they were increasingly all about killing each other or otherwise showing that their character was better/tougher than anyone else. And woe betide anyone (i.e. me) who tried to push non-combat solutions to a situation—non-combat abilities were clearly just a waste that made you weaker.

I moved out of town for the last part of high school and didn’t really have a gaming group, but then when I was off at University I hooked up with a great GM and really enjoyed playing in his games in a few different rules systems. Later when I moved back to my home town it was great to see old friends again, but I never really pushed too hard to get us going as a gaming group, because having seen a good game I didn’t have much patience for a bad one. However with work, family, and keeping up with existing friends, I never really had the time/ambition/energy to find a new game group, so did without gaming for years. Eventually I picked up some play-by-mailing-list games, although those tend to only last so long before players drift away. And for the past couple of years I’ve been running a campaign for my son, giving him an alternate view to the gaming that he does with his friends (they have all just started high school….).

I do hope that he can change the dynamic in that group. I totally think that it is worth it to try and give them a different take on how things can be done, rather than just give up.


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## supersoup (Feb 2, 2013)

Has anyone here ever played the board game Hero Quest? It's old, out of print. If so, was it fun? I'm really hurting for ideas for my nerdy better half for Valentine's Day, and was trying to come up with a board game he doesn't own/hasn't played a bunch recently. I was thinking maybe this one, I'm chasing it on eBay right now, haha.


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## penguin (Feb 2, 2013)

My BIL loved it so much he had several copies.


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## supersoup (Feb 2, 2013)

penguin said:


> My BIL loved it so much he had several copies.



Oh good to hear!!


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## Tad (Feb 4, 2013)

I hadn't played it, Soup. Just responding to say: be careful, because more recently HeroQuest has been used as the title of a role playing game (D&D type thing), so I'd imagine that is most of what your web searches are finding. Good luck on the board game!


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## Lamia (Feb 4, 2013)

supersoup said:


> Has anyone here ever played the board game Hero Quest? It's old, out of print. If so, was it fun? I'm really hurting for ideas for my nerdy better half for Valentine's Day, and was trying to come up with a board game he doesn't own/hasn't played a bunch recently. I was thinking maybe this one, I'm chasing it on eBay right now, haha.



I own it and it's hella fun.


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## Dromond (May 18, 2013)

supersoup said:


> Has anyone here ever played the board game Hero Quest? It's old, out of print. If so, was it fun? I'm really hurting for ideas for my nerdy better half for Valentine's Day, and was trying to come up with a board game he doesn't own/hasn't played a bunch recently. I was thinking maybe this one, I'm chasing it on eBay right now, haha.



I'm way late to the topic, but I hope you got the game. It's a blast.


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## crosseyedhamster (Jun 1, 2013)

I've been playing Neverwinter and so far I really like it!

I know a lot of people are down on 4th Ed (I actually really liked it...) and Neverwinter is 4th Ed, but one of the most common complaints I hear is that it's DnD the MMO. So Neverwinter being a DnD MMO using 4th Ed Setting seems like listening tot he fanbase to me, personally.

I play on Mindflayer and Beholder, @colxgard if any of y'all come check it out!


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## flyingsolo101 (Jul 9, 2013)

Hey, there. I'm kinda wondering what the best way to learn D&D is. A couple of friends and family play it, and they've gotten me very interested in playing! Not to mention the D&D episode of Community, the segments on Harmontown, and the entire podcast of Nerd Poker. Also, I'm not entirely sure which version I should start with. I hear the 3.5 is a really good one, but also that 4e is one that makes it seem like a regular RPG? That might be good for me? Help? I would turn to the friends or family, but I've kinda lost touch with the friends.


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## Diana_Prince245 (Jul 9, 2013)

flyingsolo101 said:


> Hey, there. I'm kinda wondering what the best way to learn D&D is. A couple of friends and family play it, and they've gotten me very interested in playing! Not to mention the D&D episode of Community, the segments on Harmontown, and the entire podcast of Nerd Poker. Also, I'm not entirely sure which version I should start with. I hear the 3.5 is a really good one, but also that 4e is one that makes it seem like a regular RPG? That might be good for me? Help? I would turn to the friends or family, but I've kinda lost touch with the friends.



If you're just starting, I'd find a 4E game to join. Spend the money to get a DnD Insider account (so you don't need to buy all those books) and dig around and figure out how to build the type oc character you want. If there's a local game store where you are, I'd go check to see if they have a place where players and DMs can post stuff to find a game.


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## Tad (Jul 9, 2013)

Another option: look around to see if there are any game conventions in your area (aside from big ones, sometimes collges will hold smaller ones). Often they'll have games you can sign up for, and should indicate which are suitable for beginners. The people running those games love introducing new players to the game, it is a big part of why they run them.

And while it is not the same, there is a free on-line MMORPG based on D&D. It would at least get you familiar with the races and classes.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jul 9, 2013)

flyingsolo101 said:


> Hey, there. I'm kinda wondering what the best way to learn D&D is. A couple of friends and family play it, and they've gotten me very interested in playing! Not to mention the D&D episode of Community, the segments on Harmontown, and the entire podcast of Nerd Poker. Also, I'm not entirely sure which version I should start with. I hear the 3.5 is a really good one, but also that 4e is one that makes it seem like a regular RPG? That might be good for me? Help? I would turn to the friends or family, but I've kinda lost touch with the friends.



4E is the bleeding newbies' friend. It's rather light on mechanics and focuses more on the Role Playing side of things. It's a lot more of a "game" for most people. It will not challenge you much with character building, past deciding on what kind of person your character is. 3.5E is a complicated mess that lets you do incredibly awesome stuff if you feel like it (and your DM doesn't restrict you to official WotC publications). If you're a fan of the 4E(x) (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) or Puzzler genre of games, 3.5 Edition is for you, because you'll like the fine-tuning and minutiae. If, however, you prefer Action titles, play 4E.

I'm also hearing good things about 5E, that it's basically following the XP -> Vista -> 7 track.

For reference, I feel like Diablo III was to Diablo II as D&D 4E is to 3.5E. A friend of mine has also been known to refer to 4E as "World of D&D-Craft".


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## Dromond (Nov 9, 2013)

*casts Animate Dead on thread*

I've found a 2nd Edition D&D game, believe it or not. I have yet to build the character, but I've decided on a hoo-mon cleric. The DM has a few house rules, one of which I am tickled pink to see. Clerics use "freecasting" which means they don't need to memorize spells. They have to stay within the limits of their spell slots, of course, but beyond that they can cast whatever they like as needed. I've always hated the spell memorization rules, which is why I always chose the sorcerer class for magic spell slingers in 3rd Edition.

I don't have any of the splat books, but I do own Tome of Magic. That's a good supplement for spell chuckers.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 9, 2014)

I am so pissed.

Towards the end of last year, I was gearing up to join a friend's D&D 3.5E group, inserting myself into the campaign at level 18, and I built something that was going to be ALL KINDS OF FUN.

Starting with a level of Scout (for the skills, man, the skills! Oh, and the Skirmish class feature), then 5 levels of Ranger with the alternate build noted in Unearthed Arcana - swapping out the fighting style class feature for Wildshape! Then immediately into Master of Many Forms, and then two levels of Duelist.

That character was NUTS. I had high knowledge in several areas, to justify knowing a vast array of things to transform into, though ultimately my five most common options were going to be: Human (day to day, because my character hated her birth form), Storm Giant, Troll Warrior, Will 'o Wisp, and Arcane Ooze. I had a bevy of magical items, and did heavy research into determining which I would get to keep in which forms (which ultimately led to figuring out that Oozes, which don't have any magic item slots, retain nothing when you transform, so you don't have to worry about melting your own gear). In order to arm the two bipedal forms, I put Sizing on both my ranged and melee weapons. which themselves had much combat potential (a greatbow with 2 magical +1d6 damage types in addition to physical, and a spiked chain which, in Cloud Giant form and augmented by a magical item which conferred the Monkey Grip feat while worn, gave me an attack range of 35', all of which I threatened). I could go five hours on a single Wild Shape charge, and switch forms on the fly without spending additional charges within that time frame (Evershifting Form, you are awesome!). I could also heal myself to full in 7 or 8 charges, if I finished a day with spare charges and less-than-full HP.

Unfortunately, I was forced to move and lost access to that group. So no fun for me.

I need to find another group and make that character again...


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jun 13, 2014)

Example of how I powergame:

+4 Glamered, Slick (+5 Escape Artist), Shadow (+5 Hide), Silent Moves (+5 Move Silently), Acid/Cold/Electric/Fire Resistance (10 each) Beastskin Mithril Breastplate, 126,150 GP, 15#


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