squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
we suspect one of em lived in a basement but didnt stink. he was cool though.
there was no trace of cheetos to be seen and no one had mountain dew.
dungeons and dragons (D&D) anyone?
we suspect one of em lived in a basement but didnt stink. he was cool though.
there was no trace of cheetos to be seen and no one had mountain dew.
Even some of those guys aren't bad people to be around either. :1orglaugh
I think as time goes on more an more (or at least a higher percentage of the total) women get into it also, but maybe that's just personal perception. :dunno:
Petra
Cult Mother and Simpering Cunt
No, you're right. My saturday night group consists of 4 females and 3 guys. My Friday group consists of 2 females and I'm the only one in my Sunday group.
It's good to see more girls get into it...but I think movies like LoTR, Harry Potter, Twilight, and other vampire/elf/fantasy movies are helping greatly. And it's not so stigmatized anymore.
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
:rofl2:
I think video games, and not just recent or online ones might have helped also.
(Although I try not to give MMOs any more credit than I have to.) :1orglaugh
Petra
Cult Mother and Simpering Cunt
I think games have just become much more mainstream in the last few years. I'm not 100% sure if 4ed D&D made playing any easier, but I can remember when I was running a meetup campaign monthly at our local meet in Amsterdam..it was Savage Worlds Necessary Evil.
I had 3 regular players and then the other 3 seats went to people who showed up but hadn't registeredd for a game. One month this guy showed up with his GF who had never role-played, never seen any other die than a d6, and thought her boyfriend's hobby was stupid. But, just to prove she didn't like it she agreed to play one game at the meetup.
I sat her down, explained the character sheet and gave her my cheat card, and within the hour she was so proud of herself because nobody had to tell her what to do. She even started thinking in terms of what the character she was given would do and stopped asking permission to do something in game.
She's still playing.
So I think that computer games, console games, and the easier table-top RPGS along with girls like Felicia Day are making gaming a lot less complicated and more attractive to girls.
But this is my own opinion. ;-)
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
from what i hear, yeah, 4e made things a lot easier. it doesnt mean its a simple game to learn compared to a video game, but, with some time and explanation, even my 13 year old sister is getting it.
i think gfs, wives, and sibling are jumping in too. for instance, my girl plays now. and when my sister came to visit, we got her to try it. and then my other sister wanted to give it a go.
at the meet up was a couple of wives/gf but they were all adamant about gaming and you could tell they werent just latching on.
im not sure if its more mainstream though. the only thing i can say is one time and one time only, i saw 1 copy of the redbox starter set at walmart. i have no idea why it was there as ive been looking for months since if a few of them carry it, and they dont. it must have been a shipping error or something. it was kinda laying near the cards haphazardly without a stop for it.
because of seeing it that one fateful day, i thought, oh wow.. d&d. ive always been curious about that...
but i didnt know who the hell played it. in fact, i was surprised a new package even existed. also, i had no idea whatsoever of what i needed to play it. none. and ive been a board and video gamer for life. you dont actually hear about dungeons and dragons besides that its for nerds. no one says u need books, or maps, or dice. its just not common knowledge.
when i went to the meet up and we discussed 3.5 vs 4e, i told them that all i knew was 4e so i couldnt compare, but, i said that red box set was amazing because it had every single thing you needed to get started. i was super excited about that, especially for 20 bucks. i commented that, people who arent introduced into d&d have no idea where to start, and explained about the box's contents.
it included a 2 sided map, a set of polyhedral dice, a compressed dm guide, a compressed players guide, character sheets, and a bunch of tokens of players and monsters.
when i stated that it just made it so easy and took the mystery out of everything about what u actually needed, everyone agreed with gusto. a new gamer has no idea where to start, but 4e really helped people start out. and i mean big time. at least, to 3rd level.
i think gfs, wives, and sibling are jumping in too. for instance, my girl plays now. and when my sister came to visit, we got her to try it. and then my other sister wanted to give it a go.
at the meet up was a couple of wives/gf but they were all adamant about gaming and you could tell they werent just latching on.
im not sure if its more mainstream though. the only thing i can say is one time and one time only, i saw 1 copy of the redbox starter set at walmart. i have no idea why it was there as ive been looking for months since if a few of them carry it, and they dont. it must have been a shipping error or something. it was kinda laying near the cards haphazardly without a stop for it.
because of seeing it that one fateful day, i thought, oh wow.. d&d. ive always been curious about that...
but i didnt know who the hell played it. in fact, i was surprised a new package even existed. also, i had no idea whatsoever of what i needed to play it. none. and ive been a board and video gamer for life. you dont actually hear about dungeons and dragons besides that its for nerds. no one says u need books, or maps, or dice. its just not common knowledge.
when i went to the meet up and we discussed 3.5 vs 4e, i told them that all i knew was 4e so i couldnt compare, but, i said that red box set was amazing because it had every single thing you needed to get started. i was super excited about that, especially for 20 bucks. i commented that, people who arent introduced into d&d have no idea where to start, and explained about the box's contents.
it included a 2 sided map, a set of polyhedral dice, a compressed dm guide, a compressed players guide, character sheets, and a bunch of tokens of players and monsters.
when i stated that it just made it so easy and took the mystery out of everything about what u actually needed, everyone agreed with gusto. a new gamer has no idea where to start, but 4e really helped people start out. and i mean big time. at least, to 3rd level.
I think in some way technology in general has made it easier. Thinks like good dice rollers, interactive character sheets, and especially map utilities make things easier online. If it's possible to bring laptops to the table the map utilities make it a lot easier for people to run the game and do maps for people, and have placement on the maps who are familiar with it. (Still, it doesn't have the old school feel, and some people just like rolling real dice. )
Even a lot of the well designed PDFs you can get now help. If there is a rules question it's a lot easier to search it and get to it in ten seconds than it was in the past where you had to just wing it or hold off the game and potentially derail it by searching for it for ten minutes.
)Even a lot of the well designed PDFs you can get now help. If there is a rules question it's a lot easier to search it and get to it in ten seconds than it was in the past where you had to just wing it or hold off the game and potentially derail it by searching for it for ten minutes.
Petra
Cult Mother and Simpering Cunt
I think in some way technology in general has made it easier. Thinks like good dice rollers, interactive character sheets, and especially map utilities make things easier online. If it's possible to bring laptops to the table the map utilities make it a lot easier for people to run the game and do maps for people, and have placement on the maps who are familiar with it. (Still, it doesn't have the old school feel, and some people just like rolling real dice.
Even a lot of the well designed PDFs you can get now help. If there is a rules question it's a lot easier to search it and get to it in ten seconds than it was in the past where you had to just wing it or hold off the game and potentially derail it by searching for it for ten minutes.
I have to agree that technology has made it a lot nicer.
I love the fillable character sheets. Plus, if there isn't one for the system you're running, you can make it in adobe. Hell, I made one in excel for EQd20 years ago.
As far as gadgets at the table, while I admit I love my netbook and I'll eventually get a tablet (when a reasonably priced one that reads .pdfs well hits the market), I hate gadgets at the table. Dice are required, no dice rollers on the phone because after the 85th time the player "drank beer" from his iGay, I had enough. Same with other gadgets where they're not paying attention to the scene. Usually when they finally pay attention again and ask what they missed, I tell them to roll Intelligence at the highest difficulty possible for the system. They sometimes get lucky, but are usually clueless (been known to hand out the clueless hinderance in Savage Worlds too).
But I really think with technology DMing has become a hell of a lot easier and while I love the physical copy of the book...I much rather have the .pdf on my memory stick. Much lighter.
Let me butt in with a 'prediction' of future games
Rolling the dice is fun, but keeping up your character sheet and all that other stuff can be a pita at some times.
Now consider an ADnD table (large, shape doesnt really matter) - with plenty of usb connection. Lets plugin you're character (which yuo carry with you at all times ofcourse, being the adnd addict) and you're ready to roll. Literally, move your hands over the tabel to 'throw the dice'! Impossible? Not really - apps are already on phones (shake it baby).
Tables like that, with multitouch capabilities? Exist too, I think Philips made them already.
I can see it happen in a few years! A special DM usb stick or even connections via wifi with phones or tablest (iphone, android) that communicate with the table.
The only thing I'd miss is the feel of the dice and thinking I can steer them to drop to what I want them too :elaugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfpVYYQzHs&feature=related
give a nice showcase.... it's being developed people!!!! Be ready!
Rolling the dice is fun, but keeping up your character sheet and all that other stuff can be a pita at some times.
Now consider an ADnD table (large, shape doesnt really matter) - with plenty of usb connection. Lets plugin you're character (which yuo carry with you at all times ofcourse, being the adnd addict) and you're ready to roll. Literally, move your hands over the tabel to 'throw the dice'! Impossible? Not really - apps are already on phones (shake it baby).
Tables like that, with multitouch capabilities? Exist too, I think Philips made them already.
I can see it happen in a few years! A special DM usb stick or even connections via wifi with phones or tablest (iphone, android) that communicate with the table.
The only thing I'd miss is the feel of the dice and thinking I can steer them to drop to what I want them too :elaugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfpVYYQzHs&feature=related
give a nice showcase.... it's being developed people!!!! Be ready!
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
i agree, the tablet with full pdf capabilities would be nice. im hoping for a cheap piece of shit that does nothing but read a pdf with images one of these days. otherwise, i have no desire for them except for gaming pdfs.
and totally, hitting searc in a pdf and looking up "wizard" or "skeleton" is a hell of a lot easier than scouring the table of contents.
however, i do want a physical copy of some of the books to flip through when im bored sitting on the couch sitting through another episode of food network star. especially since my laptop took a shit on me. :baconsalt:
oh, and you gotta totally roll real dice. thats half the fun. plus i like stacking them!
and totally, hitting searc in a pdf and looking up "wizard" or "skeleton" is a hell of a lot easier than scouring the table of contents.
however, i do want a physical copy of some of the books to flip through when im bored sitting on the couch sitting through another episode of food network star. especially since my laptop took a shit on me. :baconsalt:
oh, and you gotta totally roll real dice. thats half the fun. plus i like stacking them!
Petra
Cult Mother and Simpering Cunt
I think I have about a half pound of d10s so during the vampire game I play in, if I'm not involved in a scene I have a habit of making little structures out of them. :1orglaugh
But I agree on the real dice thing...I think for hardcore gamers, this will never become obsolete. Especially the stupid supersticions we have with them.
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
exactly!
Have you ever tried making a structure out of d4s? It's hard to do. :1orglaugh
I was thinking more along the lines for dice rollers online. I would always like to roll physical dice personally, but at least it makes it so nobody can lie about their rolls and just tell others that's what they got when in an online game. In some gaming setups it quickly does modifiers for your game also. I've even heard of people putting things into the game that automatically adjust modifiers for distance and spells effects and other things.
(The downside is that the DMs rolls are often all out in the open also. Some people like that, but I have seen some groups get into trouble in play by post and other online games because of bad adventure design or mistakes by the Dm where the DM wasn't allowed to fudge or wing it to correct it once things were in too deep and it was finally obvious without blatantly telling the players it was happening.)
I have to agree that technology has made it a lot nicer.
I love the fillable character sheets. Plus, if there isn't one for the system you're running, you can make it in adobe. Hell, I made one in excel for EQd20 years ago.
As far as gadgets at the table, while I admit I love my netbook and I'll eventually get a tablet (when a reasonably priced one that reads .pdfs well hits the market), I hate gadgets at the table. Dice are required, no dice rollers on the phone because after the 85th time the player "drank beer" from his iGay, I had enough. Same with other gadgets where they're not paying attention to the scene. Usually when they finally pay attention again and ask what they missed, I tell them to roll Intelligence at the highest difficulty possible for the system. They sometimes get lucky, but are usually clueless (been known to hand out the clueless hinderance in Savage Worlds too).
But I really think with technology DMing has become a hell of a lot easier and while I love the physical copy of the book...I much rather have the .pdf on my memory stick. Much lighter.
I was thinking more along the lines for dice rollers online. I would always like to roll physical dice personally, but at least it makes it so nobody can lie about their rolls and just tell others that's what they got when in an online game. In some gaming setups it quickly does modifiers for your game also. I've even heard of people putting things into the game that automatically adjust modifiers for distance and spells effects and other things.
(The downside is that the DMs rolls are often all out in the open also. Some people like that, but I have seen some groups get into trouble in play by post and other online games because of bad adventure design or mistakes by the Dm where the DM wasn't allowed to fudge or wing it to correct it once things were in too deep and it was finally obvious without blatantly telling the players it was happening.)
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
thats a toughie. i roll in the open as a DM but theres still been a time where i went easy on the calculation because of ridiculous consecutive rolls.
let me as you guys, do you announce the monster in its entirety when they are encountered?
what i mean is, do you tell your players the HP, the AC, its attacks, and the possible damage?
personally, when im a player, i dont like to know things like that. i mean, if you really come across a monster in "real life" you wouldnt exactly know how many hits its gonna take to kill it, right?
announcing when its bloodied is a cool way to let you know how much more you gotta go, in my opinion.
As long as the players don't mind playing in a kind of game where the DM is just not going to pull punches it's one thing and doesn't bother me as much. If they do something really stupid it might not bother me that much either, and sometimes the dice fall really bad for them one way or another as occasionally happens.
It's when I as a DM make some mistake or the adventure as planned just isn't balanced well and things fall apart that I would feel bad.
I will say though that for the players and luck it's not always easy, because while luck averages out over time, they have to make it through every time at least good enough for the party to keep going on. They might have gotten lucky on encounters at some points, but there is always the next one and the next one and the ones after that. It just takes an opponent or a group of opponents getting really lucky once to screw them up badly or TPK them though. The opponents might only have to get lucky once.
squallumz
knows petras secret: she farted.
yeah, sometimes youll roll 3 1's and thats bullshit. but for everytime that happens, someone rolls 3 20s.
at the meetup i went to, someone had house rules where 3 20s was an instant kill. they said it actually happened once.
i think rolling in their faces without the DM shield creates some major dice drama. they can see it and are hoping to god its gonna be low enough to miss their defense.
where i have fudged, for the benefit of the players, isnt on the dice rolls, but the actual damage given. instead of 30ish damage for a couple of d8 rolls, ill just call it a 20 damage or something like that against them. i think ive only done it once or twice.
the way i create encounters, its never a walk in the park so its still fun.
but you gotta admit, those close calls are the best. i faced my first death a couple of months ago at the hands of 2 vice jaw crocodiles. i was in its damn mouth being shaken like a rag doll. but, by a miracle, i lived. i was at -10 hp or something. almost fucking dead. i barely made it out alive.
but ill never forget it. that was a sweet adventure!
at the meetup i went to, someone had house rules where 3 20s was an instant kill. they said it actually happened once.
i think rolling in their faces without the DM shield creates some major dice drama. they can see it and are hoping to god its gonna be low enough to miss their defense.
where i have fudged, for the benefit of the players, isnt on the dice rolls, but the actual damage given. instead of 30ish damage for a couple of d8 rolls, ill just call it a 20 damage or something like that against them. i think ive only done it once or twice.
the way i create encounters, its never a walk in the park so its still fun.
but you gotta admit, those close calls are the best. i faced my first death a couple of months ago at the hands of 2 vice jaw crocodiles. i was in its damn mouth being shaken like a rag doll. but, by a miracle, i lived. i was at -10 hp or something. almost fucking dead. i barely made it out alive.
but ill never forget it. that was a sweet adventure!
