Dungeon and Dragons!

[caldsteven]

Ok I bought the D&D version 3.5 book about 3 months ago. My boss and Iwere supposed to play, but he moved away!! So i spent $30 on something I haven't even been able to use! Is anyone here willing to try and do a TG D&D thing? It would have to be done over TS or something like that. I would LOVE to try this. I've always been interested in D&D, but never had the chance to try it. If anyone is interested in this please post here or send me a private tell!


p.s. I got permission to post this before I posted it. Just so the admin ppl know ^_^

[ScratchMonkey]

Is that D&D or Advanced D&D (AD&D)? I've only played the latter, many years ago, and I know the advocates of each think of the others as heretics.

For a short time I was reading the AD&D-based Spelljammer novels. I particularly liked the Gnome-built Spelljammers that were powered by giant space hamsters running in huge wheels to turn riverboat-style paddles. The space hamsters also provided meat for the crews, and the meat was (of course) called Sp'ham. (I am not making this up!)

[Gunrack]

I used to play pen & paper D&D when I was young, but it's much harder as I've gotten older and friends aren't around as much. What satisfies my D&D fix is to just go online and play a pc game called Neverwinter Nights (NWN), which uses AD&D rules (3rd edition). Here's a review from 2002: http://pc.ign.com/articles/363/363038p1.html

It's still somewhat popular online (around 3000-5000 ppl online at a given time, as seen here: http://archive.gamespy.com/stats/ ). Plus, the bonus, it's cheap (around $20-$30), and doesn't cost anything to play online. It doesn't have the popularity of WoW, of course, but like I said, it uses AD&D rules, and I find some of the NWN persistent online worlds more fun than WoW.

Anyway, just my $0.02.

[Pokerface]

TG has (had?) an NWN server.

[Gunrack]

Thanks Poker for the info. I just tried the TG NWN server now, but I guess it's not up.

[SmokingTarpan]

Don't forget, D&D Online is supposed to be hitting sometime in the next few months.

www.ddo.com

[Mateo]

Yep, we had a D&D server. I think it's been down for a while. NWN is a great D&D engine, and there are lots of modules to explore.

I might be interested in this. We would need a good DM, which I am not. I did track down all the manuals in PDF format, so all I need is the dice.

[Redleg75]

I would be interested in some NWN. You can get the diamond edition with all the expansions for about $30. The best part of NWN is the community and player developed mods. If you have time you can create a whole world, your imagination is the limit, and host it up for the world.

Also, there are sites that host the Pen and Paper D&D, whatever version you want to play. There are tools for dice rolling, chat, DM screen, etc. All these items are shared and seen by everyone in the party. I think also using TS would make it even better. I will dig up some of the links and post here.

[TheFeniX]

Damn, haven't played D&D in quite some time. In fact, I think the last character I ever played was my knife-throwing specialist who I created to prove a point to my online DM that Skills and Powers is game destroyingly overpowered. He could deal 85 damage a round at first level.

Anyways, nostalgia aside: Shadowrun has been my poison for years. Never played 3rd ed. D&D.

What setting would you be playing? Planescape is pretty fun if you've got a DM who is well-versed in the setting.

[Redleg75]

Originally Posted by SmokingTarpan

Don't forget, D&D Online is supposed to be hitting sometime in the next few months.

www.ddo.com

From what I have read this game looks to be more like GuildWars, except you have to pay a monthly fee. The combat system is more like a first person shooter with swords, big difference from the normal auto swing MMORPG.

You have a central meeting area that you use to meet up and run instances with friends. The instance quests are where you gain Exp, but only if you complete the quest.

There will be no open areas for exploration only the instances, so it has been described as not a true MMORPG. Some say this is better. I am looking forward to giving it a try.

[SmokingTarpan]

Originally Posted by Redleg75

From what I have read this game looks to be more like GuildWars, except you have to pay a monthly fee. The combat system is more like a first person shooter with swords, big difference from the normal auto swing MMORPG.

If I had played any version of DDO, I obviously couldn't say anything because it would violate the NDA, and I would never do that. However, this guy I know named TokingSmarpan, allegedly had this little bit to say of the game.

It's fairly action-oriented; no auto-attack. Gotta click every time you want to swing your weapon. It's forced party interactive, even the low level quests require groups. Experience (and largely rewards) is gained only at the end of an adventure, making it feel more D&D like. The quests/adventures feel like actual dungeon crawls instead of the typical "go here, kill this, come back and get paid" thing.

For example: one quest required you to go and destroy an evil altar under the city. You fight through a few kobolds, and make your way down to the altar. As soon as you mess with it, the "DM" says something about maniacal screaming about usurpers, and the cave starts falling down around you. As you are running back out and trying to avoid being clobbered by large falling rocks, the evil priest of the altar ambushes you, and you have to take him out while avoiding the cave-in. It's essentially a "go kill the bad guy" quest, but made to feel like a real adventure.

Everything is instanced except for the starting area and main city, so it is pretty much like a private adventure for you and your friends. There are some annoying things though, like the constant d20 image that is rolling on screen for any action you do. The action bar looks nice, but getting from page 1 to page 2 or 3 is hard. Above all, the camera is a bit weird, and for those sensitive to such things, might make you sick.

[AzzMan]

Toking made me laugh.

As for the DND thing, I'm probably the only person on the entire forum who CONSISTANTLY plays it, even now.

Well actually my current group is in tatters but I still play and know the rules and what have you, and I know most of Eberron in and out (which is the setting DDO takes place in, also my personal favorite that Wizards have released).

If we did this, someone would need to make sure I got involved or many men would cry after I said "I told you so" ))))

[SmokingTarpan]

Oh, and by the way, this week's VG Cats fits in well with this discussion.

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=181

I like the "Attack Radius vs. Horrible Rape Radius" frame. That can describe a lot of MMO encounters, heh.

[Gunrack]

DDO seems interesting, Tarpan. I'll probably wait to try it when they get around to handing out some free trials, like WoW & Eve did. Maybe this will finally be the closest pc game to pnp D&D.

Edit: Just noticed this on the front page of DDO, Tarpan. They've lifted the NDA. I guess no more TokingSmarpan.

Turbine is pleased to announce that the confidentiality obligations in the Preview and Non-disclosure Agreement for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ Beta have been lifted earlier than anticipated. This means players in the Beta Program and those who took part in the Stress Test Events are free to talk about the game on public forums. After getting so much positive feedback from our Beta players, we felt it was time to let them share their opinions and praise for DDO with the rest of the MMOG community.

[TheVegeet]

I used to play D&D quite regularly, but my current campaign is pending. I would happily play with a mature group, which we are all part of here at TG. If no one else is comfortable taking on the position of DM/GM, then I would gladly step up.

As for getting this thing started, caldsteven, just PM if and when you get together a group of 4-6 players, not including me if i am DM. Also, we would probably need a TS channel, unless we want to squat in on another one, so you'll need to contact an admin about that.

PS: Advanced D&D was a revision of the original, and is also known as 2nd edition. After that, naturally, came 3rd edition, with which i have all my experience. A while later, they released 3.5, which tweaked some rules to make the game better, but is still basically the same as 3.0

Hope this works out