Dungeons and Dragons

[apepi]

Never played D&D, am playing a few others though. I am dming a Dungeon World Campaign, and I am playing in two Stars Without Numbers games, and playing one Apoc game and one hacked Apoc/Dungeon World game to test it out.

[Dsonsion]

Never had the chance. I wish there was a plain "no" as poll answer. I would love to try it some day.

[Hardkorr]

I played 3.5 & 4th edition of D&D. Imo, D&D is the ultimate RPG game. It is basically playing imagination with friends except there are rules so no one is saying stuff like "NUH UH I TOTALLY GOT YOU!" I tried it with a few friends and there were some mistakes here and there, but the biggest problem was that people were not really role playing. So I tried being DM once and it was a complete shitfest in the best way possible. To help my buddies get into character and really RP instead of acting like themselves but with power, I did mini introductory sessions with each one of them individually that indirectly tied their stories together. Despite all my careful planning and plot weaving, literally everything went wrong. The "good guy" players kept accidentally killing civilians and saving murderous cultists while the sneak thieves kept rolling 1s on the easiest things and stacked strength for god knows why.

Still, they all somewhat developed their characters and each origin was unique and packed with plot potential. The best things I could ever recommend are:

1. Using dice rolls + stats as degrees of success/failure. Rather than just do pass or fail checks on breaking down a door, say something like "the door creaks & splinters as you throw your weight into it. Unfortunately it is not enough and the glowing runes upon it still hold it together" or "Charging as fast as you can, you collide into the door. You feel the hard wood press against your body, but only for a moment as the enchanted obstacle is ripped from it's rusted hinges and falls to the ground. As you recover yourself, you see the runes slowly fade from the door's wood."

2. Give really vivid imagery. Like it is one thing to say "you roll a one on attacking a civilian and fail your attack. Take 3 damage. You are so bad at this." and another to say "Your foe stands before you, an old man cowering in fear as your enormous figure casts a shadow over his small frame. The sun beams bright on this day but your conviction burns brighter knowing in your heart of hearts that this seemingly innocent bystander is the leader with the Cult of Sorak. You know that with one true strike, this creature's death will bring about the everlasting peace you so desire for the poor people in this desert city. Even though it is the middle of day in a crowded market, there is no time to spare. Bystanders by damned, overwhelming heat be damned, this thing must die! You tense your muscles and bring your great-axe over your head. The fear is his eyes is true and you know that you will prevail! You begin to swing with all your might and cleave this foul beast in two when the sweat from your palms let your axe fall from your grip. It slips and the heavy pommel dashes you upon the head. You are stunned for but a brief moment, but it is enough for your prey to escape you and you feel your warm blood drip down your face and mix with the sweat." Also, that is just a beginner example of DMing that I used to help my buddies understand RPing. For the most part you want the player to say stuff like "I tense my muscles and swing with all my might." and say what they think like "Bystanders be damned, this creature must die!" because that shows you that they understand and want to act like their character. The only problem with describing their thoughts is trying to keep other players from commenting on what is supposed to be just thoughts. Remember the player must be the one to describe their character's thoughts and initial actions while DM describes literally everything else.

3. Letting the players have fun with it. I mean this guy was supposed to be a holy paladin fighting evil and the player decides that he thinks old people are demons. So instead of my initial idea of him seeking out this evil in a tower outside the city, he starts purging the city from "evil." So DMs gotta deal with the occasional silliness, but that's the great part of being a DM, you can just make it up as you go along. Suddenly that evil demon actually was the old man, or the paladin gets arrested and is tempted to kill fellow inmates by the demon, or the whole city is an illusion created by the demon, or whatever. Go with the flow and avoid telling players they are wrong or messed up somehow. Instead let that stupid thing they did be right or be epic. It makes for much more interesting stories anyways.

Unfortunately, this session was the first and last time I was DM. It started out with 3 other guys but because of the hype and rep I got, I was suddenly running a 9 man campaign that was a nightmare to manage. Trust me and just stick with a few guys and don't be too concerned to tell your friends no.

[Gorgodeus]

Been playing it since ADD&D came out in 1977. Currently running a weekly 3.5 campaign online.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Never tried it, wouldn't even know who to play with, since I'm already the nerdiest among my friends and even I have no clue about it. My sister's husband does play it, but he lives quite a bit away and I can't sand both of them and their body mod crap...

[Flutterguy]

I cast sleep.
Cue de gras.

[Thetruth1400]

I haven't gotten a game going since 4th edition came out. Lots of people express interest, roll up characters, but when it comes time to schedule real game time everyone has lost interest.

My 4th edition books are essentially completely unused and I haven't bought a legitimate copy of 5th edition yet.

That's the same situation with me and the 5th generation. I got the stuff, people came over and made their characters, we sat down once to play, but the team ended up dying on the first part of the starter set adventure, then they never wanted to play again. I even went through the entire player's handbook and created a cheat sheet of important rules broken down with all sorts of things, but can't get them to come back and actually play. Would have been nice to not waste almost $100 on things for everyone to lose interest after one failed attempt.

Frankly, I'd love to try playing one of my characters I made as a player and not a DM. I thought about trying to find an online game to join, but have no idea where to start on that.

[Gorgodeus]

Frankly, I'd love to try playing one of my characters I made as a player and not a DM. I thought about trying to find an online game to join, but have no idea where to start on that.

www.roll20.net

[Osoroshii]

Done several tabletop RPGs, but D&D itself never interested me, despite essentially being the granddaddy of them all. Loved the old Star Wars game when West End Games had the license, absolutely hated the D20 D&D-fied version Wizards of the Coast published.

[Independent voter]

Everquest was the best attempt at bringing D&D to MMOs. D&D was the whole inspiration for that game. Leveling up slowly, emphasis on grouping, meaningful death penalty, etc.

You'd need an AI to DM a campaign in a game and I can't see an AI becoming advanced enough, creative enough to do that any time in the near future.

[Deleted]

Dude there are several levels of nerd. The D&D level of nerd is the highest, really, even Star Trek nerds laugh at you, and that's just low.

[Bakis]

Havent played for ages but I think I still got a 1983 2nd edition copy of UK D&D edition basic and expert set in a box at my parents attic.
Maybe it is worth a penny

[Karrotlord]

Always wanted to play. Finally got a chance last year. Loved it.

You'd need an AI to DM a campaign in a game and I can't see an AI becoming advanced enough, creative enough to do that any time in the near future.

Such as when my halfling rogue had to take on 5 bandits at once. Threw an acid flask in the air. Shot it making it spray all over their faces. Proceeded to backstab them all to death as they stumbled around in searing blindness. Ingenuity is hard for AI to handle.

[Deleted]

Such as when my halfling rogue had to take on 5 bandits at once. Threw an acid flask in the air. Shot it making it spray all over their faces. Proceeded to backstab them all to death as they stumbled around in searing blindness. Ingenuity is hard for AI to handle.

Yes, I can see why an AI who uses logic would have difficulties in dealing with utter bullshit like that.

[Cairhiin]

Still play. I'm DM of a group of 6 that runs D&D 3e. We tried 4e but we all hated it and went back to 3e. Might invest into 5e some time in the future but I spent too much money on all the 3e source books.

[Mentia]

Nope, too nerdy for me.

[endersblade]

Played back in the 2.0 days, played on in 3.5, and haven't touched it since. Everyone around here is picking up Pathfinder instead. I've had some craaaaaaazy adventures in D&D though.

[ItachiZaku]

I played some Pool of Radiance on the computer.

[Sorshen]

5th edition is a miss imo. Characters feel like paper and the customization is down in the gutter. I'll stay with Pathfinder.

[Pachycrocuta]

I still play it, and by "play it", I mean I am the DM. I run 2 5th edition games, one Wednesday evenings, one Friday mornings. Started back in 1997 with a single mini-session of 1st edition AD&D during lunch break in high school, bought the 3 core books of 2nd edition AD&D in 1998, and played a bit with my sister and her then-boyfriend (now-husband), then 3rd edition came out in 2000, so we switched to that. Only one I haven't played was 4th edition. I am greatly enjoying 5th edition, though sometimes I miss playing Pathfinder. I refuse to play Pathfinder except for with the exact perfect group. I have played in over 20 difference Pathfinder games, all of them over roll20.net, and except for 2 groups, all of them (that's about 100 different people) focused on the numbers and what the different choices could do to make them obliterate absolutely everything in front of them. It gets absurd when you slaughter a rather powerful high ranking demon lord in 2 rounds... Yes, that happened, and that game made me refuse to play Pathfinder with basically anyone.